This morning, the home page of the great British blues/rock bassist Jack Bruce announced his passing, of unspecified causes.
 

 
Bruce was of course best known as the bassist and singer of Cream, the heavy blues-rock band of the late ‘60s that is justly credited with contributing to the invention of heavy metal, and which also featured guitarist Eric Clapton and completely insane drummer Ginger Baker. After that band’s dissolution, Bruce was the only band member not to join Blind Faith, instead pursuing a career playing bass in jazz and blues trios, and working solo, and notably, he was the bassist on almost all of Lou Reed’s high-watermark album Berlin.

Just six months ago, Bruce released his first solo album in over ten years, Silver Rails. It will presumably be his last word, though there will surely be some posthumous blood-from-a-stone compilations in the offing. There’s excellent background info on Bruce’s early career (and terrific recent interview footage with him) in the must-see Ginger Baker documentary Beware of Mr. Baker, which is streaming on Netflix. The 1969 documentary on Bruce, Rope Ladder To The Moon details his early solo career. You can watch it here. Among other great performance moments to be seen here, about 17 minutes in there’s some SCORCHING live footage of Bruce playing upright jazz bass with Dick Heckstall-Smith and John Hiseman of the British prog/jazz/rock band Colosseum. The song is “Over the Cliff” from the 1970 LP Things We Like. Naturally there’s Cream footage included, as well.
 

 
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, Tony Palmer’s 1969 documentary about the making of Songs for a Tailor, aired as Rope Ladder to the Moon on the BBC in 1971. (Isn’t Jack Bruce a ringer for Julian Barratt from The Mighty Boosh?) If you don’t like this, you don’t like music, it’s as simple as that:
 

 
You can never judge a man by his knitwear, as Jack Bruce proves in this documentary Jack Bruce: The Man Behind the Bass, in which the legendary musician returns to his homeland of Scotland, to give a guided tour through his life and career, and re-interprets 6 of his classic songs. Here are the ingredients:

Jack Bruce fronted the Sixties supergroup Cream alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, and has played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Jimi Hendrix and from Lulu to Lou Reed. ArtWorks tells the story of his life, from childhood in Scotland to global superstardom, through some of Jack’s favourite songs and with contributions from Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Adam Clayton of U2.

The story encompasses some of the biggest riffs and rifts in rock, taking in family tragedy, drugs and near death. A specially chosen set of six songs mark crucial moments in Jack’s life, including Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love”. Jack rerecorded the tracks with some of Scotland’s finest musicians including folk trio Lau, percussionist Jim Sutherland, keyboard player Andy May, guitarist Taj Wyzgowski, drummer Chris Peacock, his nephew Nico Bruce on bass and string ensemble Mr McFall’s Chamber.

This is an excellent documentary, which showcases some of the best of the brilliant Jack Bruce.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds

‘Rope Ladder to the Moon’: Solo genius from Cream’s Jack Bruce

 
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:
 

 
After the jump, a live performance of “Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out of Tune”...

 
Farewell Concert is a documentation of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker’s final concert performance together as Cream at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. It was originally broadcast by the BBC in January of 1969. The film was directed by pioneering rockumentarian Tony Palmer.

Farewell Concert was always regarded as a bit shoddy due to the muddy sound, herky-jerky camera movement and the often out-of-sync editing. To say nothing of the annoying voice over and the fact that the whole thing consists of tight close-ups.

A new version of Farewell Concert was released in 2005 where the musical performance were shorn of the interviews and narration. Three songs were added and the audio was remixed to 5.1 DTS surround.

Embedding disabled, watch it on YouTube.