Jack Bruce's Best/Favorite basslines?

[Rocker949]

Crossroads, Spoonful, Pressed Rat and Warthog, Politician, Badge

 

[Tommygunn]

Politician!

This

 

[benjammin420]

Politician, Crossroads (its mind blowing what he does with the 12-bar blues structure) and Sunshine, as mentioned, its a bit of a cliche, but with good reason reason. I started off on guitar and always thouht SOYL was a great riff, but it wasn't until I started playing bass that I realized that it is really meant for bass

 

[Ortus]

"Passing the Time" on Cream's Wheels of Fire. Jack absolutely SHREDS on the rockin' parts. The master! Also "Tales From an Imaginary Western" from his first solo album Songs For a Tailor.

 

[Mark Olson]

The Doctor. Pure Jack (although a heroin addicted Jack at the time). The tone!

 

[Turock]

Yeah, The Doctor kicks ass, as does the whole album.

 

[plangentmusic]

Crossroads isn't really a line -- more just jamming on the blues.

The groove on Strange Brew is more elusive than it seems. It really fits in a pocket like nothing else.

 

[Frohman]

Tickets for waterfalls. It's just such fun to listen to.

 

[pedro]

For the moment concentrating on his work with Cream I'd have to say that what Jack did to Crossroads took a garden variety blues to another world. I've always loved his line on 'Outside Women Blues' and find it strangely difficult to play. But check out bass work on 'Pressed Rat and Warthog' and especially his Bach-like decending bass line at the 2.03 mark and then again the contrasting line at 2.45 or so.



I've been listening to this guy since 1966 and I think he maybe the most talented guy of his generation - certainly the most versatile.

 

[jplunara]

anything from live cream days is outstanding

 

[PhR]

He The Richmond
Keep It Down
Post War
Peaces Of Mind

Just to mention of few from his wonderful solo albums.

 

[odysseios]

- Badge
- SWLABR
- White Room

 

[pedro]

Glad to see that 'Smiles and Grins' was mentioned. How the heck he sings and plays that live is beyond me.

 

[Quirkydude]

Lou Reed's Men of Good Fortune

 

[joebeadg]

OMG! You can really just pick anything he plays on, its all THE BEST bass as far as I'm concerned, he"s the man. Him and Jamerson for me. One that comes to mind is the upright introduction to the wind and the sea off jack bruce and friends. The solo in WB@L live power house sod is incredible, as are crossroads and spoonfull .

 

[bassobrutto]

 

[bobyoung53]

I love just about everything he ever played until he got rid of his EB-3 and Marshalls, for me that was the sound I'll always love, he was a monster player and for me one of the top two or three electric bassists of all time. I do have some of his later albums and they're good but just don't have that sound. Someone mentioned the simplicity of Badge, it's actually not that simple of you really listen to it especially in the last verse and the middle. I'll post a song which I think showed his virtuosity and his sound at the same time and he was actually a great upright jazz bassist before he started playing electric. I read a story once of Jaco Pastorius playing at a jazz gig in NYC sometime in the 80's when he invited Jack onstage thinking he was going to cut him, I guess he didn't realize that Jack was a schooled musician who graduated from a conservatory and played cello and upright and knew all the jazz classics.


You can't do much better than Leslie West, Jack Bruce and Corky Laing



Jack playing upright:

 

[Michedelic]

I find the work on his solo albums more interesting, where he wasn’t hemmed in by Cream’s guitar/bass/drum format. “Songs For A Taylor”, “Harmony Row”(I wore that album out), “Into The Storm”, the songs were more expressive, complex and harmonically rich. Then there was stuff where he was hired to come in and just be Jack Bruce...tasty fills here...

Plus the sprawling Escolator Over The Hill and Tony Williams albums.
But there was one goofy little run that he did on one of the least heard Cream tracks(an outside writer throwaway pop tune that Robert Stigwood forced on them)that I always liked...

 

[bobyoung53]

I find the work on his solo albums more interesting, where he wasn’t hemmed in by Cream’s guitar/bass/drum format. “Songs For A Taylor”, “Harmony Row”(I wore that album out), “Into The Storm”, the songs were more expressive, complex and harmonically rich. Then there was stuff where he was hired to come in and just be Jack Bruce...tasty fills here...

Plus the sprawling Escolator Over The Hill and Tony Williams albums.
But there was one goofy little run that he did on one of the least heard Cream tracks(an outside writer throwaway pop tune that Robert Stigwood forced on them)that I always liked...

I like just about anything Jack played bass on including the Manfred Man stuff. That playing on Lou Reed's tune is especially good, I've never heard it before.

 

[west al]

Badge: from Goodbye Cream
Tales of Brave Ulysses: from Live Cream Volume ll