Things We Like

Things We Like

Enough about me; let's get to the point of this blog, ruminating about various things we like. This time, it's specifically about the man who created the album, 'Things We Like', Jack Bruce. The most crucial member of one of the seminal groups in classic rock history, Jack was the main songwriter and singer of Cream, responsible for 3/4ths or more of the new material, as well as a world-class bass player. He was the one multi-instrumentalist in the group, also playing piano, cello, and even acoustic guitar. Yet, if he is remembered at all today, it is as the least important and flamboyant member of that trio. This post will help set the record straight.

Jack came from a dirt poor background in Scotland, made even worse by his father's Communist affiliation, strong enough to get the entire family kicked out of Canada when they tried to emigrate in the early 1950s. Despite these setbacks, Jack won a contest as a youngster for having the best voice in all Scotland and received a classical music education. As a result, he was the only major rock star of the 1960s in Britain who could actually read and write music, although you wouldn't know it by his output. He rose through the ranks of jazz and blues artists at a very early age, eventually meeting his musical soul mate and arch nemesis, Ginger Baker.

The relationship between these two is legendary; they could erupt in a verbal or physical fight at any time, on stage or off. Together, they were revolutionary in the Graham Bond Organization, but sales were meager. One oft-told tale is Ginger firing Jack from the band, but Jack refusing to accept; he simply kept showing up at gigs. Eventually Jack left and started working as a session musician and showing up in groups such as Manfred Mann and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. It was there, in a very brief tenure, that he met and impressed an even younger Eric Clapton.

Slowhand put the two best freelance musicians on their respective instruments together with his fast-growing mastery, and the rest is history. Cream became big very quickly, and they almost single-handedly put Heavy White Boys Blues on the musical map. But there was always a little something off kilter about their music, and that usually came from Jack. He could interpret the blues with the best of them, but there was always another aspect to his songs, such as 'Wrapping Paper' , 'Dreaming', 'World of Pain', or the sublime 'As You Said.'

Relentless American touring and old animosity spelled the end of the group, but Jack was the first to jump at the chance to try something new. He had a jazz fusion album waiting in the wings, although (a portent of things to come) the record label held it back until something more commercial emerged. Jack played a stand-up bass with authority, wrote the material, and corralled players such as a very young John McLaughlin, making his first important recording debut. Here's a sample from that album:

Bruce did get a more commercial album out, 'Songs For a Tailor', although it was a unique combination of big band jazz and up-tempo singer-songwriter material, often very good but certainly not top forty. He even had George Harrison play on one track. There was a period of wandering, common to his career, more like an average jazz player than a rock god, including the legendary but never recoded band with Mitch Michell and Larry Coryell. I'd give my left nut to hear a decent live recording from that band, although it must be said that everyone involved back then was often wasted when playing.

Jack guested on other albums, such as Donovan and Carla Bly, joined the proto-fusion Tony Williams Lifetime but barely recorded anything with them, did some BBC recordings and a documentary, and generally did exactly what he wanted to. This drove his management crazy, the mighty Robert Stigwood Organization, who needed to syphon off as much money as they could to support the Bees Gees slow rise to fame (I'm not kidding - ask Eric Clapton!).

Eventually a second album appeared, perhaps the finest of his stellar career, 'Harmony Row'. It was by definition a full-fledged progressive rock album, teaching younger artists like Yes and King Crimson how to get it right, and it is a stellar work. Here's a sample; listen to the magnificent bass playing as well as the clever song writing and excellent singing.

Jack never did get a good group together to showcase the new material during this time, as the first disc of 'Spirit- Live at the BBC 1971-1978' demonstrates. He was soon falling back to the trendy supergroup format, this time with the best two musicians from Mountain, who owed more than a little of their style to Cream. It was an easy fit; too easy, in fact, and although the two studio albums they released have some good material, and the first one hangs together pretty well, the live album 'Live & Kicking' is atrocious. Still, here is a sample of Jack shaking things up again in a power trio setting;

Once that group ran it's course after a couple of tours, Bruce went back to his solo career, but the years in the limelight were over. He was relegated to the b list, his consistently quality albums ignored by the press and the public. He even tried another progressive supergroup, with Mick Taylor straight from the Rolling Stones as well as Carla Bly, but they disintegrated before even getting into the studio. It was to many drugs and other problems, and it was a shame, but times were about to change and they probably wouldn't have gone far, anyway. They did do an hour on the Long Grey Whistle Test, and here's a taste;

It was really the wilderness years from then on, as Jack acquired a heroin habit around this time to really muck things up. Things got so bad that one of his albums 'Jet Set Jewel', was rejected by his record label. Things looked up briefly at the end of the decade when there was a two album collaboration with Robin Trower, but they never toured together. As a bass player, this guy had great tastes in guitarists! Here's a sample of the material these guys cooked up together;

It was tough going for a few years, saddled with crippling debt and an addition. He got together a fusion supergroup with Billy Cobham, but sales weren't there; the moment had passed. Jack fought back, finding a new wife and a stable life in Germany. By the end of the decade, he was even back touring with Ginger Baker for a short time. In 1989 there was a retrospective double album and a new one as well, and the younger guys like Vernon Reid and the Golden Palominos were playing with him. Here's a song left over from Cream, with Ginger Baker on drums, from 'A Question of Time':

The nineties were better than the previous years, but he was still a b level musician; always the sideman, never the star. There were some highlights, such as a two night 50th birthday celebration on German television. It is recommended viewing; you get a feel for the breathe of this man's talents, which were wide indeed.

Health problems and the sudden death of his son plagued his comeback years, but he did soldier on. While he did keep doing new material, such as the all keyboard album 'MoonJack' with Berny Worrell, there began to be the feeling of nostalgia in his music, understandable to a man that was facing his own mortality due to liver problems. There was a temporarily successful Cream reunion with a visibly weak bass player, not long after a  transplant, but the music holds up well, even if it is now definitely Eric's band. Here's a sample of the type of sound that only they were capable of producing together;

Having barely escaped death, there was a greater appreciation for this great man's talents towards the end of his life. He started exploring Latin big band music and even did another album with Robin Trower, which managed a brief but documented tour this time. There was some sublime material here, seasoned with age and wisdom;

'Silver Rails' was his last album, and he was visibly frail during the creation, but it was a powerful work and a fitting summation of his career. He died shortly after its release in 2014, and he leaves the legacy of a man who would constantly search for his muse to the detriment of his fame and fortune. There are elements of jazz and classical in his material, and he benefited from a long relationship with Peter Brown, who wrote great lyrics for his melodies, although they both had careers separate from each other. To sum up his talent, here's a song from his last album;

Hats off to a musician who could play shoulder to shoulder with musicians as diverse as Frank Zappa and Fela Kuti, who could write classics like 'I Feel Free', 'Sunshine of Your Love, and 'White Room', who could play world-class piano when needed, was a true jazz man but was a primal architect of heavy metal, and had the classical education to put it all together but never was a musical snob. He deserves more love than he gets, and I hold him in the highest respect. And he always did what he wanted and didn't worry about the consequences, paying his dues as he went along, the sign of a true artist. Hats off to Jack Bruce

I had the pleasure of meeting him once. I used to do some roadie work back in the late 1970s. He was playing at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, and I was helping out the opening act. The headliner was Todd Rundgren, and after Jack's set, there was a case of brandy for all the roadies in his dressing room because it was New Years Eve. He told a series of very amusing tales, mostly about Cream, usually with Ginger the butt of the joke. The room was packed; even Todd's roadie's were there, and he was on-stage playing until he realized that his crew was missing in action. Todd burst in and cursed out his roadies, demanding that they go back to their spots.

Todd was right, of course, but he was also wrong. After all, it was New Years Eve, and the great Jack Bruce was telling stories in the dressing room. Jack stared Todd down and simply said, 'Well, aren't you precious'. The room erupted in laughter and Todd stormed out, his crew straggling behind. I was a third-rate roadie in a dingy dressing room, but it still is one of the highlights of my life. Thank you, Jack, for that and a whole lot more.