Legendary bassist & vocalist of psychedelic power rock band Cream has passed away. He was 71 years old and had been suffering from liver disease. He maintained a solo career that spanned several decades, and also played in several musical groups. Known as a vocalist and bass guitarist, Bruce was also a songwriter. He was trained as a classical cellist, and considered himself a jazz musician, although much of his catalogue of compositions and recordings tended toward blues and rock and roll. The Sunday Times stated “… many consider him to be one of the greatest bass players of all time.
Trained as a classical musician, Glasgow-born Bruce had a powerful melodic voice and was also a talented, jazz-influenced bass guitarist. He formed Cream with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker and was responsible, with co-writer Peter Brown, for penning the majority of the band’s songs. Their most famous hits include I Feel Free, White Room, Politician and (with Clapton) Sunshine Of Your Love, which features one of the world’s most frequently played guitar riffs. The group were distinctive for the high quality of their musicianship and played a key role in establishing rock as a serious art form in the late 60s. Cream sold 35 million albums between 1966 and 1968 and were awarded the world’s first platinum disc for their album Wheels of Fire.
Bruce was born in Glasgow on 14 May 1943 and was educated at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. Bruce left the academy prematurely to pursue a career as a jazz and blues musician in London and in 1962 joined Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was the drummer. Later Bruce joined Ginger Baker in the Graham Bond Organisation but left after three years. Bruce then played for John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, where he first met Clapton, before joining Manfred Mann for a brief, unhappy stint which Bruce found unacceptably over-commercial. In the end it was Baker who initially asked Bruce to form Cream with Clapton, who insisted that Bruce would be the singer. Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity in part because Bruce felt they had strayed too far from the music he wanted to play. He recorded several solo albums, including Songs For A Tailor and Harmony Row, which were a synthesis of rock, jazz and classical formats and which featured leading UK musicians such as guitarist John McLaughlin, blues saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Jon Hiseman. Bruce also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with such rock musicians as Lou Reed and Frank Zappa.
For many years Bruce fought addictions, in particular with a long-term heroin problem. In 2003, Bruce developed liver cancer. He was given a transplant which his body initially rejected and he was left gravely ill. However, he recovered and in 2005 he went on to re-form Cream who played a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Later Bruce toured the world with other projects. In June 2011, he played a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary in an evening that marked the 50th anniversary of the blues in Britain. Bruce played with his Big Blues Band. The next year he played at the Gerry Rafferty tribute concert in Glasgow when BBC Scotland recorded a one-hour documentary on Bruce. His death was announced on his website.
John Symon Asher “Jack” Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014)
