Legacy of rock star who climbed Ben Nevis high on acid lives on

Bishopbriggs-born Bruce, an innovative and highly influential bass guitarist - Roger Waters of Pink Floyd once said of him that he "probably the most musically gifted bass player who's ever been” - made his name as one-third of Cream, the virtuoso, blues-rooted rock trio with Eric Clapton on guitar and Ginger Baker on drums. The trio sold some 35 million albums during its all-too-brief lifespan.

Cream, formed in the summer of 1966, made four albums - Fresh Cream (1966), Disraeli Gears (1967), Wheels of Fire (1968, the first double album to earn a platinum disc) and Goodbye (1969). Live, they were a formidable proposition, their long, improvisational jams highlighting to spectacular effect the trio’s astounding individual skills.

Jack Bruce. Photographer: Marek Hofman (Image: free)

Cream’s many classics ranged from I Feel Free and Politician to Crossroads, White Room, Sunshine of Your Love, Crossroads and Deserted Cities of the Heart. Bruce was the lead singer and wrote most of the songs, with the poet Pete Brown.

According to a new post on Bruce's profile on X/Twitter, the Scot once said of the trio: “I think Eric thought he was going to have this little blues trio and he would be sort of like Buddy Guy standing out the front. And then I thought: great, I can be a composer and get some songs out there. And I think Ginger just wanted to conquer the world, basically, like Genghis Khan or somebody. We had different ideas! Meanwhile, the management – the dire management of Robert Stigwood – was thinking, Let’s milk this for all it’s worth because it ain’t going to last. So let’s get them out there and make them play every toilet in the US for as long as they’ll last before they go barmy or kill each other…”

After Cream broke up for a variety of much-publicised reasons, Clapton and Baker initially made a brief detour into the short-lived Blind Faith, alongside Ric Grech and Steve Winwood. Clapton then went on to consolidate his reputation as a global guitar hero - a reputation that had been forged long before Cream, as evidenced by the ‘Clapton is God’ graffiti that had been spotted in London during his time with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

Bruce himself embarked on a long and distinguished career, much of which is reflected in the Smiles & Grins anthology. Present here is a captivating video record from November 1970 of The Tony Williams Lifetime with Jack Bruce - Williams on drums, Larry Young on organ, John McLaughlin on guitar and Bruce on bass and vocals. It bears out something that Bruce told interviewer Jim Clash in 1997, when he said of Cream: “We got to be very good. Sometimes there was so much power from that band that it was incredible. There were only two groups I've been in that had a similar kind of energy: Cream, and the one with Tony Williams, John McLaughlin and Larry Young”.

Also included here are recordings of Bruce from Radio One’s Sounds of the Seventies (1971), BBC Radio Three’s Jazz in Britain series (1971 and 1978), a Radio One ‘In Concert’ special from August 1971 and another concert, for the same station, in April 1977. There are also two filmed appearances on the seminal TV music programme, The Old Grey Whistle Test, one from June 1975 and the other from June 1981. The first OGWT show features a band that includes not only Bruce but also Carla Bley on keyboards and former Rolling Stone guitarist Mick Taylor; the second, recorded at the University of Surrey, has Bruce playing with drummer Billy Cobham, Clem Clempson and David Sancious. It is, all told, a riveting collection, one that shows Bruce’s wide-ranging interest in music, which extended went considerably beyond rock music.

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A childhood prodigy, he studied at Glasgow’s esteemed Royal Scottish Academy of Music, having won a scholarship for cello and composition but, as his website today relates, he left the Academy, and Scotland, at the age of 16 because of poverty and because he was discouraged by his professors’ lack of interest in his ideas.

He played double-bass in dance bands and jazz groups, and joined his first important band in 1962, in London - Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. The drummer was Charlie Watts, who would later join the Rolling Stones. In 1963 Bruce formed a group with organist Graham Bond, guitarist John McLaughlin and Ginger Baker. The group became the Graham Bond Organisation after McLaughlin left. Bruce and Baker clashed often - and Baker even fired Bruce from the group for playing “too busy” on his bass guitar.

Bruce turned down the chance to join Marvin Gaye’s US-based group as he was about to get married. He became part of Mayall's Blues Breakers, where he first met Clapton. Then, eventually, came Cream, the first rock supergroup.

It was well-known that Baker and Bruce had a combustible relationship. “There had always been problems between Ginger and myself”, Bruce told Jim Clash. “We’re kind of like brothers. When it’s nice it’s great, but then sometimes, it can go really wrong”.

Free from Cream and able to pursue his own musical ambitions, Bruce was prolific as he switched effortlessly between rock, jazz and classical. As his website reminds us, he was a session player on Lou Reed’s 1973 album, Berlin, and played with Frank Zappa. In 1991 he travelled to Vienna to take part in a specially commissioned work accompanied by a symphony orchestra. He toured Europe with a thirteen-piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra, played with Ringo Starr And His All-Star Band, was one-third of the blues-rock trio West, Bruce and Laing (with Leslie West and Corky Laing), and was also a talented exponent of what became known as World music.

Jack Bruce died 10 years ago (Image: free)

Cream, for their part, played together again in 1993 when they were inducted into the Rock and Hall Hall of Fame, and in 2005 they reunited for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Madison Square Garden.

In 1997 Jim Clash asked Bruce if there had been any animosity over Clapton getting so much credit for Cream. Replied Bruce: “I suppose I do have some feelings in that there was a deliberate attempt [by the record company] to promote Eric. I didn't get as much recognition, that's true. But that's show business, you know. On the other hand, I'm basically just a musician who's been quite fortunate. If I look at it from that sense, I've been able to make a very good living doing what I love.”

Many call you THE bassist of that period, responded Clash. “I'm very happy to get the recognition, for sure”, said Bruce.

Cream's songs are today recreated by Sons of Cream, which features Bruce's son Malcolm, Baker's son Kofi, and guitarist Rob Johnson.

Pressed for a funny story from his days with Cream, Bruce recalled that the band once climbed Ben Nevis with the idea of doing cover photos for the Disraeli Gears album.

“We were all on acid”, he told Clash, “and the photographer, Robert Whitaker, I think, forgot to put film in the camera, or it didn't work or something.

“So when we got down - it was a day, you know, really quite hard, and we didn't have photos. We had had this fabulous expedition and then had to go to Regent's Park and take them there! I'll never forget when we were above the scree line, where there was snow, we saw these real climbers looming out of the mist with ice axes, the whole bit. And there was us, wearing pink boots. They said, "Oh my God, it's the Cream!" and we had to sign autographs…”

* Smiles & Grins: Broadcast Sessions 1970-2001 is available from jack bruce.com and cherryred.co.uk