Cream Bassist Jack Bruce Dead at 71

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music.yahoo.com/news/cream-bassist-jack-bruce-dead-71-153400112-rolling-stone.html

"Jack Bruce, the singer and bassist for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Cream, has passed away, his family confirmed the musician's passing on his Facebook page. He was 71.

"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," the Bruce family wrote. Bruce's publicist added, "He died today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family." No other details were revealed but the Press Association reports that the bassist suffered from liver disease.

As one-third of one of rock's greatest trios, along with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker, Bruce was the voice and songwriter behind classic tracks like "White Room," "SWLABR," and "Sunshine of Your Love," which Bruce co-wrote with Clapton. Considered to be the first rock "supergroup," Cream pumped out four studio albums in three years – three of which landed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time – before going their separate ways.

The band reunited briefly in 1993 for their Rock Hall induction, then again in for a triumphant series of 2005 concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall and New York's Madison Square Garden. In 2006, Bruce and his Cream mates received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Bruce also occasionally served as a member of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band and collaborated on the title track of Frank Zappa's Apostrophe.

Following Cream's breakup in 1968, Bruce kickstarted a long solo career with 1969's Songs of a Tailor. He would release over a dozen solo LPs over the next 45 years, including his latest album titled Silver Rails in March 2014. "I quite like to just enjoy my life. I'm thrilled to make this album. I put my heart and soul into it, and I'm very pleased with the way it came out," Bruce told Rolling Stone of his new album in April.

Cream also landed on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists, and in an ode to the trio written by Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd bassist writes, "Then there's Jack Bruce — probably the most musically gifted bass player who's ever been.""

[eddy]

RIP Jack Bruce.

[LOVELYRITA]

Wow....they are dropping like flies....it's weird to think these men are in their 70's, or those who died young would have been in their 70's. ....

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A Farewell to the Soul of Cream, Jack Bruce
Bob Lefsetz November 6, 2014 Variety

www.yahoo.com/movies/s/farewell-soul-cream-jack-bruce-180022782.html



"Clapton might be God, but there was no Cream without Jack Bruce. He sang most of the songs. If he’d found his Delaney Bramlett, maybe he too would be a household name instead of a footnote.

That’s right, Clapton had the instincts, but it was Bramlett who got him to stand out front and sing. Bruce was born with that ability. And although he cut “Songs for a Tailor” with the indelible “Theme for an Imaginary Western,” times were changing so fast, and Bruce was moving so slowly, that all the hopes and dreams we had in him were transferred to others.

But we remember the records.

Hipsters owned copies of “Fresh Cream.” They knew about John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. The cognoscenti picked up on “Disraeli Gears.” During the “Wheels of Fire” era, Cream was the biggest band in the land. And everybody went along for the victory lap on “Goodbye.”

Bruce wrote the riff for “Sunshine of Your Love” — one of the most famous songs in rock ’n’ roll history. Sure, Clapton executed the solo, but he and Bruce tag-teamed verses on the vocals. The song seemed to bubble up from nowhere, on the first side of “Disraeli Gears,” and then it got played on nascent FM underground radio, and then it unexpectedly exploded onto AM radio in the summer of ’68, and the world was revolutionized.

“Sunshine of Your Love” was the “Royals” of its day, but with more impact, and made by people who’d been there and done that, who had a wealth of experience in their souls. Anybody who bought “Disraeli Gears” went back and bought “Fresh Cream.”

Badda-ba-bup, bmm bmm bmm baddum bmm … Come on, it’s in your DNA. Your head is nodding like a beatnik, you can’t wait for the whole band to come in, you too want to feel free. That’s what our music did back then. It wasn’t tied in with corporations or featured on the “Today,” show. It was just for us — a few like-minded people; a group that kept growing until the whole world realized its size at “Woodstock.”

Cream had a wealth of hits; you didn’t buy the albums for the singles — or if you did, you were enraptured by the other tracks you discovered. So many were originals, but there were reworkings of old blues numbers like “I’m So Glad,” another Jack Bruce vocal.

That’s right, Bruce wasn’t a sideman, he was the frontman. And now he’s gone. The great migration continues. From terra firma to that spirit in the sky. Our heroes are fading away. Truth is, most of this material is not going to be remembered by later generations. But we’re never going to forget it. We grew up on it. It’s the elixir in our lives. Classic rock built the modern music business, everything from radio to arena shows, and we still go, because we still need the hit.

So, so long, Jack Bruce. You were born too young, before the Internet era — before everybody could know every detail of your life and hold you close. So long, album radio, where the deejay didn’t want to be your friend so much as he wanted to demonstrate how hip he was by playing tracks that stretched boundaries. And so long to the era of albums, when you didn’t need a hit to succeed, but they were so expensive that if you bought one, you played it incessantly and knew it by heart.

And so long to the dream that every band will reunite and come to your city, and you can relive your youth. Cream unexpectedly reunited in 2005; Bruce, Clapton and Ginger Baker together again. Played London and New York. But that was it.

Now, Jack Bruce’s music must speak for him, and ultimately, that’s grand."

[eddy]

Jack Bruce: The Man Behind the Bass
BBC ArtWorks Scotland Documentary and picture credit

The late Jack Bruce fronted the 1960's Supergroup Cream alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker and has played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Jimi Hendrix and from Lulu to Lou Reed. ArtWorks Scotland tells the story of his life, from childhood in Scotland to global superstardom. Six specially chosen tracks mark crucial moments in the life of Jack Bruce, all of which he re-recorded with the help of Scottish artists, including folk trio Lau, percussionist Jim Sutherland and keyboard player Andy May play some of Jack's favourite songs, featuring contributions from Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Adam Clayton of U2.

The story encompasses some of the biggest riffs and rifts in rock, taking in family tragedy, drugs and near death. A specially chosen set of six songs mark crucial moments in Jack's life, including Cream's Sunshine of Your Love.

Narrator Edith Bowman
Series Producer Andrew Lockyer
Producer George Cathro
Director George Cathro

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DUFFY POWER I Saw Her Standing There (1963)

"At Lennon and McCartney's insistence the song was recut for release (in May) at EMI's Abbey Road studios on March 20 1963. John [McLaughlin] was ill on the day and Big Jim Sullivan deputised, though it hardly mattered, as no guitar is audible in the mix. Directed by producer Ken Jones, the arrangement is tighter, the the lyrics faithful, the jazz fills absent: in short, a solid performance of a song that was never well suited to Duffy or the band." (Bathed in Lightning). Graham Bond - Hammond, Ginger Baker - drums, Jack Bruce - bass, Big Jim Sullivan - guitar, Duffy Power - vocal.

[eddy]

The title track is an instrumental jam featuring Cream bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Jim Gordon. Jack Bruce is credited on the album cover with bass guitar and co-writing the title song. However, in his interview for Polish rock magazine "Tylko Rock" he jokingly insisted to journalist Weiss Wiesław that he had not played any bass guitar parts on Apostrophe ('), only the cello parts. Bruce learned cello as a child and plays it on some of his other recordings. However, his cello comments regarding Apostrophe (') can't be taken seriously because there is in fact no cello on the title song or on the album. His bass playing on Apostrophe (') does in fact sound at times very much like the bass lines that he played with Cream.