Jack Bruce

Jack Bruce with Ginger Baker (left0 and Eric Clapton (right)

The announcement by his family of the death of rock legend Jack Bruce at the age of 71 will be mourned by the thousands who were privileged to have seen and heard him play. It finally extinguished my hope to see Cream play live again. I had the great fortune as a student to to see Cream play live shortly after their formation at a gig in the Sheffield Student's Union. It was memorable for the truly amazing music performed with Jack Bruce on base guitar and vocals. He had written most of their material with Pete Brown, a Liverpool beat poet. Cream may have had a short life but they were the outstanding rock/blues group of the era. The event resonates in the memory as probably the best concert that I ever witnessed and that includes two Jimi Hendrix gigs and a stupendous Pink Floyd concert.

Ginger Baker dissolved in sweat as he played Toad, giving us a 15 minute drum solo. Eric Clapton played spine tingling riffs throughout the set in a way that only he could perform. But the abiding vibes are of the rhythm of Jack Bruce's base playing and his haunting vocals. NSU and I Feel Free had been their hit singles and were greeted with raucous cheers but they performed most of their first album, 'Fresh Cream'. The highlights were Jack Bruce's playing and vocals on I Feel Free and Spoonful which was similar to this live version from 1968. Even the light show captured on this video reflects the mood of the time. Listen to this with a spliff and after 5 pints of Mansfield bitter and you will be back in the summer of love.

In the late 1990's I heard that Jack Bruce lived locally and had rehearsed in hotel function room in Bannockburn. I made contact to see if he could be persuaded to perform at Stirling Castle esplanade for the Millennium celebrations. I was delighted to get a reply to the effect that he would be delighted but that Ginger was very difficult to pin down and Clapton was tentatively scheduled to perform in Wiltshire.  I had tried and was frankly surprised to get such a positive response. They did eventually come together for some concerts in London and New York in 2005.  The CD of the 2005 Albert Hall concerts is good but I enjoyed my Cream fresh and I'm So Glad that I saw them when they were sitting at the top of the world in 1967.

Jack Bruce also wrote some wise lyrics about Politicians in 1968, he was ahead of the curve in this take on them too.

I'm a political man and I practice what I preach.
I support the left, though I'm leaning, leaning to the right.
I support the left, though I'm leaning, leaning to the right.
But I'm not there when it's coming to a fight.

Hey now baby, get into my big black car.
I just want to show you what my politics are.