After Cream broke up, bassist extraordinaire Jack Bruce went on to release Songs for a Tailor, his 1969 solo record. Songs for a Tailor is a stunning collection of brass and bass-led jazz-rock fusion, a sound that traveled (quite) far from the heavy rock sound Bruce was known for in Cream. The songs were co-written with Pete Brown, the poet and lyricist with whom Bruce wrote many of Cream’s most memorable songs.

Although Songs for a Tailor was well-received by fans and critics upon its initial release, it remained somewhat of an undiscovered gem until its CD re-release in 2003. The best known song from the album, is the gorgeous Theme For An Imaginary Western, but not Bruce’s version, rather the cover by Leslie West’s Mountain.

Bruce went on to re-record and refine every number on Songs for a Tailor throughout his career, save for one.

Below, Bruce performs “Rope Ladder to the Moon” solo, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. If you don’t like this, you don’t like music, it’s as simple as that:
 

 
A live performance of one of the album’s stand-out tracks, “Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out of Tune,” taken from the documentary titled Rope Ladder to the Moon. George Harrison actually played guitar on the recorded song, using the same pseudonym (“L’Angelo Misterioso”) he used when he recorded “Badge” with Cream. The studio version can be heard here.

Isn’t Jack Bruce a ringer here for Julian Barratt from The Mighty Boosh?