Just heard the breaking news that legendary bass player Jack Bruce has died.  One of my ultimate heroes.

Time to find the Cream LPs

I was (am) a bonkers Cream fan and have been playing albums this pm ... I didn't have to search mine out - they were stacked in pride of place with the rest of my music.  Some years ago I bought the complete set of Cream's catalogue on CD simply to save wear & tear on the my vinyl collection*.

 

I was lucky enough to get two tickets to see the reunion concert at the Albert Hall in 2005;  I've seen the film of the '68 farewell concert and the reunion was almost an exact copy ... none of them had lost any power in their playing or singing during the intervening period.  Jack's voice was especially vibrant.

 

I did see Jack when he was with Tony William's Lifetime at a gig at Goldsmith's College in London in 1970.

 

*point of interest my copy of Goodbye Cream was damaged by me in 1970 ... a tiny fragment of hot resin dropped from a joint I was toaking and landed on the LP melting into one groove. Whenever I play the LP the stylus jumps at that spot reminding me of that party that night ... it always brings back fond memories of the debauchery suffered by me in London.

 

Have a look here for a snippet of Jack playing at that Albert Hall '68 concert:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29773799

Edited October 25, 201411 yr by Symptoms

I believe my uncle bought a bass off him....

It's a damn shame, Saw him at the Tyne Theatre last year and you could see that he wasn't very well. A shadow of the Jack Bruce we all admired so much, the concert was very disappointing for me. As a bass player myself from the 60's, he was an inspiration to me and I so loved playing Cream numbers.

 

He will be sorely missed, but I'm happy that he got voted into the US Music Hall of Fame with Cream, however I'm sure they would have put him in there just as Jack Bruce.

Paul Jones, on his Radio 2 Monday night Blues show, will be doing a tribute to Jack.  Set your dials on Monday 1st December at 7pm.

Pod casts are good to Symptoms.

Listen again anywhere.

BBC 4 tonight at eleven

Jack Bruce The Man Behind the Bass.

It is a repeat.

Watched it Maggie, brilliant, he will forever be a legend and an inspiration to all bass players.