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Jack Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014)


JazzDoc

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Jack Bruce's family released the following statement today:

 

"It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts"

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Jack Bruce was Cream. Clapton was just the guitar player. A major loss, so sad. RIP Jack.

 

Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce enabled Clapton to shine. Jack's voice was strong and confident, while Eric was just developing his vocal chords. Ginger Baker was the influence that was the most crucial in Cream.

 

Its kind of like John Bonham, without Bonham drums their is no more Led Zeppelin. I'm not saying that drums are the most important part of a band. Cream, Zep, and The Who's Drummers were not effectively replaceable.

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I'm sorry JB died. I'm very happy I went to the trouble and expense of seeing the reunion concert in London 9 years ago.

 

The posts about which member of a 3 man band was the most important are ridiculous. All 3 wrote, arranged, and sang. Cream wouldn't have been what it was without any of them. The whole was more than the sum of the parts.

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I'm sorry JB died. I'm very happy I went to the trouble and expense of seeing the reunion concert in London 9 years ago.

 

The posts about which member of a 3 man band was the most important are ridiculous. All 3 wrote, arranged, and sang. Cream wouldn't have been what it was without any of them. The whole was more than the sum of the parts.

 

You are right, of course. My previous comment did not come across as I intended. Clapton's contribution to rock music was gigantic in the 1960's. More than anyone else, he created that fat "British blues" tone with his use of overdriven Marshall amps and humbucker-equipped Gibsons.

More directly influenced by traditional American blues artists than his peers, he developed an exciting, driving psychedelic guitar style that was very inventive and articulate. However, his later switch to nasal Stratocasters and dry-sounding Fender tweeds is a disappointment to me. I did not attend the reunion concert, but I bought the DVD, and, IMO, his guitar tone was thin and weak, compared to the old days.

 

I have been a huge Cream fan ever since they played a concert in the gymnasium of my little town's Catholic high school in 1968. Of course all three contributed to their powerful sound, but I still think that Jack Bruce was the driving force and leader of the band, and wrote and sang their best songs.

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You are right, of course. My previous comment did not come across as I intended. Clapton's contribution to rock music was gigantic in the 1960's. More than anyone else, he created that fat "British blues" tone with his use of overdriven Marshall amps and humbucker-equipped Gibsons.

More directly influenced by traditional American blues artists than his peers, he developed an exciting, driving psychedelic guitar style that was very inventive and articulate. However, his later switch to nasal Stratocasters and dry-sounding Fender tweeds is a disappointment to me. I did not attend the reunion concert, but I bought the DVD, and, IMO, his guitar tone was thin and weak, compared to the old days.

 

I have been a huge Cream fan ever since they played a concert in the gymnasium of my little town's Catholic high school in 1968. Of course all three contributed to their powerful sound, but I still think that Jack Bruce was the driving force and leader of the band, and wrote and sang their best songs.

 

I agree that each member made the whole. Its not ridiculous to have an opinion. I also feel that Clapton should have stuck to the Gibson line of electric guitars. His tone was at its best in the Sixties.

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Agree that arguing over who was the best of these three is absurd but one cannot argue that CREAM was one of the most influential bands to define the "Rock Era" beginning in the mid to late 60's setting a standard few if any could ever touch. Surely a remarkable band particularly given it was "just" three. Pretty remarkable.

 

While I was not a fan of his LONG drum jams I recognized his genius as well as the groups. Like Hendrix I was hooked the first time I heard Cream.

 

Pretty amazing given his lifestyle he lived this long. May he RIP.

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While I was not a fan of his LONG drum jams I recognized his genius as well as the groups.

 

Pretty amazing given his lifestyle he lived this long. May he RIP.

 

Bruce was the bassist, most often the lead vocalist, and wrote most of the original songs.

 

I was surprised and sad to hear of his death.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Jack Bruce was Cream. Clapton was just the guitar player. A major loss, so sad. RIP Jack.

 

Jack Bruce was an incredible talent and wrote most of the group's songs. But, IMO, it was the synergy of the three that made Cream truly great!

 

Of course, Bruce's career continued for decades after Cream.

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

There is available a multi-CD compilation covering all of Jack Bruce's career: I first heard him live when he and Ginger Baker were playing in the Graham Bond Organisation at the local cinema in Lincoln in the UK... the curtains were closed and then there was the sound of Jack Bruce playing lead guitar on his bass, followed by Ginger Baker and then the curtains opened....!

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Just seeing this post reminded me: BBC Radio 2 did a programme "Jack Bruce: A Life in Blues" last night.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04q0x5v

 

Available online for the next 4 weeks including overseas (iirc).

 

Programme description from above link...

"Paul Jones looks back at the career of Jack Bruce (1943 - 2014). Including his solo work and recordings with bands including Cream and Baker, Bruce and Moore. Jack, whose approach to the bass guitar revolutionised the instrument enjoyed a career spanning more than 50 years.

 

"The blues loomed large in Jack's life from the time of his arrival in London shortly after being asked to leave the Royal Scottish Academy of Music for the then grievous sin of playing in dance bands. He joined Blues Incorporated before moving to the Graham Bond Organisation as well as spending brief spells with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Manfred Mann.

 

"After the successful but tempestuous existence of Cream (1966-69), for whom Jack wrote most of and sang lead vocals on their hits such as White Room and The Sunshine Of Your Love, his solo career took off. Thereafter his work would be a series of collaborations with a long and diverse list of musicians including Frank Zappa, Ringo Starr, Robin Trower and John McLaughlin. Through all of this the blues remained a constant in Jack's work right up until his final album Silver Rails, released earlier this year."

Eloise

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...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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