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The greatness which is Jack Bruce!!

#21
Blue Moose said:
I always loved his playing but never liked his sound and tone. But I have to remind myself that the Cream sound wouldn't be what it was without THAT bass sound.

We just added White Room and Badge...both songs are fun to play. The guys was definitely a master.
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Around 1980 or so, his sound got a lot cleaner. I seem to remember an interview with him where he said that he didn't really like his early, distorted tone, either, but the gear manufacturers just hadn't caught up yet! (With Cream, he used Marshall guitar amps turned all the way up... you could hear that the speakers were busted, or at least begging for mercy.)
Ironically, I've already preferred his early tone. ;)
 
#24
i loooooove jack bruce and i listned to a bootleg recently that put his playing into a whole knew context for me "the john mclaughlin super quarter" mclaughlin,bruce,cobham,and stu goldberg....it sounds like mahavishnu orchestra if mclauglin was actually enjoying himself and jack bruce is absolutley amazing, words can not describe his playing, he puts all the fuison bass players of the time to shame (pastorius and clarke included)
 
#25
I too am a big Jack Bruce / Cream fan, and have been for years. I've only been playing for 2 months or so, but I find myself drawn to his percussive, driving, bluesy style more than any other bassist. Simply fantastic. IMO, he was truely one of the most revolutionary bassists of rock & roll.
 
#27
I happen to be a pretty big fan of Macca, as well as Gene Simmons:hiding:, those are probably my two biggest influences. Felix Pappalardi was pretty cool as well. Ironically, Simmons cites Mccartney, Bruce and Pappalardi as his biggest influences. McCartney will probably always be my favorite bassist, but Jack Bruce is looking mighty fine himself.
 
#28
Noseferatu said:
I happen to be a pretty big fan of Macca, as well as Gene Simmons:hiding:, those are probably my two biggest influences. Felix Pappalardi was pretty cool as well. Ironically, Simmons cites Mccartney, Bruce and Pappalardi as his biggest influences. McCartney will probably always be my favorite bassist, but Jack Bruce is looking mighty fine himself.
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McCartney and Bruce have their similarities, actually; both are brilliant composers, singers and multi-instrumentalists, with bass playing being merely one outlet for them.
 
#29
Try to listen to each live version of "I'm So Glad." Each one has a different take on the bass lines and improvisations. Just plain amazing.

I tend to agree that for me the best bass players are the ones that understand how the whole band works -- i.e. they also have a background playing other instruments, production, song writing and so on. As the bass player is the glue, they need to figure out how the whole works from the parts.
 
#31
Jack's discography provides much to dig into. I recommend Kip Hanrahan's albums "Veritical's Currency" and "Desire Develops an Edge," with Jack singing over a rhythm section of him and Steve Swallow on basses and a passel of Latin percussionists.

I had been wondering if Jack was gigging lately. Turns out that he's at Ronnie Scott's in London this Sunday - Tuesday. Unfortunately, sold out.

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#35
dougjwray said:
Around 1980 or so, his sound got a lot cleaner. I seem to remember an interview with him where he said that he didn't really like his early, distorted tone, either, but the gear manufacturers just hadn't caught up yet! (With Cream, he used Marshall guitar amps turned all the way up... you could hear that the speakers were busted, or at least begging for mercy.)
Ironically, I've already preferred his early tone. ;)
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He once said that he annoyed Frank Zappa by bringing a load of high-tech clean stuff to a session. FZ was expecting the overdriven mudbuckers.

Mind you, turn it up loud enough...



For an absolute Monster Tone feast, lay your hands on "INAZUMA SUPER SESSION" from 1987

Pete.
 
#36
The early stuff he did with Trower was really good, too. BLT and Truce... also released together as No Stopping Anytime. The new stuff is good, too, but it doesn't rock as hard as the stuff from the eighties.

Also, as far as his solo stuff goes, A Question of Time is a must have. His best, in my opinion. It featured Alan Holdsworth, Vernon Ried, Viv Campbell, and Albert Collins.
 
#37
HeavyRockBasser said:
The early stuff he did with Trower was really good, too. BLT and Truce... also released together as No Stopping Anytime. The new stuff is good, too, but it doesn't rock as hard as the stuff from the eighties.
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that was my favorite stuff with jack bruce outside of cream. also, west, bruce and laing had some great moments. but that first blt album was kickass. no hits, but kickass just the same.
 

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