I know some of you are probably wondering why I’m writing about a \nbass player who is not really known for playing a Fender Bass, although \nBruce did play a Fender VI Bass early on in his career.
The main \nreason I feel I should include an article about Jack Bruce is his \nenormous impact on how the electric bass was played and perceived in \nrock music, regardless of whether he was using a Fender or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Born in Scotland in 1943, Jack Bruce<\/a> gained fame and recognition as \nthe lead vocalist and bassist of the 1960’s super group Cream. Growing \nup in a musical family, Bruce went to the Royal Academy of Music in \nGlasgow, Scotland where he studied cello. Soon after he switched to \ndouble bass and became more interested in jazz than classical studies. \nPlaying upright bass<\/a> in jazz and dance clubs, Jack saw a blues band that\n featured an electric bass player. He was immediately fascinated by this\n “new” instrument and soon purchased a cheap electric bass guitar and \nbegan experimenting with it. After experimenting with several different basses, Bruce purchased a \nFender Bass VI, (one of the few notable bassists to play one). This \ninstrument had a 30″ scale, three pickups, a tremolo bar and six strings\n tuned just like a guitar only an octave lower. Using his new short \nscale 6 string Fender, Jack’s busy, complex style so annoyed drummer \nGinger Baker, that it got him fired from the band. After that experience\n Jack briefly joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers where he met \nsoon to be legendary guitarist Eric Clapton. Less than a year later \nBruce was asked by Clapton to join his newly formed band, which they \neventually named Cream. Clapton had some serious persuading to do when \nit came to Ginger Baker who was not fond of Bruce’s busy, lead bass \nplaying style.
Bruce was much more interested in \nplaying the electric bass more like a guitar<\/a>, rather than just playing \nroots and fifths like most bassists of the day. Hugely influenced by the\n great Motown bassist James Jamerson, Bruce began to develop a busy, \nlead bass style using melodic phrasing and complex syncopation. In 1965 \nBruce was playing for the Graham Bond Organization on upright but soon \ndecided to switch to his electric bass and push the boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCream<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Bruce used his Fender Bass VI on Cream’s first \nalbum Fresh Cream. His playing on this record was not yet fully formed, \nbut you can hear him pulling away and entering areas that other bass \nplayers of the time wouldn’t dare go. I good example of this early style\n is heard on “I Feel Free” where he uses repeated riffs mixed with quick\n melodic sections that both drive the song and glue it together. Bruce \ntruly believed that the electric bass should be able to stand alone in \nthe mix and take more of a melody role in rock music.
After a \nbrief stint using a Danelectro Long Horn Bass, Jack switched to a four \nstring Gibson EB-3 bass that he found secondhand in a pawn shop. This is\n the bass he used on Disraeli Gears and would come to define his sound. \nThe small, short scale Gibson was perfect for his busy, exploring lines \nand note bending, blues-laden riffs. Bruce’s tone had also changed at \nthis time. The bass now sounded very distorted and even more up front in\n the mix…a sound he would become famous for. During this time Bruce \nusually played through a stack of 4 x 12 Marshall bass cabinets powered \nby Marshall 100 heads. This sound and approach would have a huge \ninfluence on rock bassists for years to come.
On songs like \n“Spoonful,” the epic 17 minute live track, Bruce displays his \nimprovisational talents switching from double-time blues to R&B to \nheavy rock with the greatest of ease. He even takes on a solo after a \nduet with Clapton in a bluesy call and response section. On “Politician”\n he sings and plays two completely different lines with no problems. \n“I’m so Glad” features some of Bruce’s most soulful playing and high \ntempo syncopated fills with plenty of bluesy bent notes.
Being \nthe lead vocalist and songwriter of the band gave him more influence on \nhow the bass would sound and how the bass lines could be expressed and \nshaped to fit his powerful vocals. The interplay between Bruce, Clapton,\n and Baker is regarded by many to be the pinnacle of heavy blues rock. \nThe group only lasted about three years, but Cream’s mix of blues, \npsychedelic rock, jazz and extended live jams has had an enormous \ninfluence on numerous bands that followed. Jack Bruce’s bass playing was\n one of the main reasons so many young musicians decided to take up bass\n rather than guitar.
After Cream broke up in 1968, Bruce started a\n solo career that saw him working with many different musicians in \nseveral genres. He has recorded and performed with John McLaughlin, Tony\n Williams, Mitch Mitchell, Mick Taylor and even made a guest appearance \non Frank Zappa’s album Apostrophe’.
Bruce was diagnosed with \nliver cancer in 2003 and almost died when a liver transplant was \nrejected by his body. Amazingly, he recovered and was playing again \nwithin a year! Cream reunited briefly in 2005 playing a handful of live \nshows in London and New York City. Jack Bruce is still playing and \nrecording solo albums as well as collaborating with many other artists, \nand hopefully for our sake that will continue for a long time to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n