LONG-TERM prisoners to Jack Bruce's charms know only too well the

first commandment: thou shalt forgive his excesses. And forgiveness was

required again around midnight on Friday. Mostly because he let his

first gig in Glasgow for 10 years descend into something of a guitar

slinging match.

Still we forgave him. Because he had started off with the lovely FM, a

solo piano piece written for and dedicated to a young ballet dancer

called Maiya, although I still hear a wee boy practising piano when I

listen to it. Because he sang Can you Follow? from the exquisite Harmony

Row (with a hoarseness which made one wonder if his voice would survive

the next two hours). And because, when that granite-edged purr intones

-- as it did -- the ''When the wagons . . .'' opening line from Theme

from an Imaginary Western, I could forgive him anything.

Bruce's frequent returns to Cream's powertrio format, however much he

enjoys living on their knife-edge, can never reach the musical highs of

his larger-staffed, more arranged (though equally deranged) albums. Why?

Because set against Bruce's huge, bossy basslines (and in this instance

drummer Gary Husband's selfless drive) the guitarists he chooses always

sound like cardboard cutouts.