Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Brucewas a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter known primarily for his contributions to the British supergroup Cream, which also included guitarist-singer Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker. In March 2011 Rolling Stone readers selected him as the eighth greatest bass guitarist of all time. "Most musicians would have a very hard time distinguishing themselves if they wound up in a band with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker," the magazine said at the time, "but Jack Bruce...
ProfessionBassist
Date of Birth14 May 1943
eric middle played record wake
I know he played on the last record but I don't wake up in the middle of the night thinking of Eric Clapton.
writing years play
I played upright bass. I wanted to write great tunes, play the bass, be a band leader, and smoke a big funny pipe like Charlie Mingus. So I went out and bought the pipe when I was around 18 or 19 years old. You know even women smoke a pipe in Glasgow. I worked with Carla Bley and she smoked a pipe, which I find fascinating.
player thinking interesting
I think people who basically do one thing like Eric Clapton is great. But I've always enjoyed playing different kinds of music and playing with different kinds of musicians because I find that really interesting, like learning and working with Kip Hanrahan. There's a great conga player called Milton Cardona and he taught me a lot of the nuances, he's a Santeria Priest and so he knows his onions as it were.
player bass ultimate
Bach is really the ultimate in bass players you know
aim early money owning rights success
I've always had money because of my early success with Cream, so I tell young musicians to aim to write their own material, because owning the composition rights makes a very big difference.
african great music source
I've always been interested in any kind of great music, and African music is, I think, the source of it all.
age band began dance earning evenings money performing pleased
At the age of 16 I started performing with a dance band in the evenings and began earning more money than my father, but he was pleased for me.
definitely
I think I'm an okay parent, but I'd put myself in the category of a musician-who-happened-to-become-a-father. I'm definitely not a father-who-happened-to-be-a-musician.
draining liberty
What we feel is that it's so special, and also so emotionally draining that it's not something we could do every day. We will play more, but where and when I'm not at liberty to say.
money
Growing up in inner-city Glasgow, it sometimes seemed to me money hadn't been invented.
audience carry difficult hit hopefully huge records singles striving
So I do think of myself in that way as hopefully someone who will go on as long as there's an audience and as long as I can without striving to have huge hit records because I think in a way if I'd had hit singles or something like that years ago it would have been difficult for me to carry on the way I have.
dad incredible
Some musicians I know are incredible fathers. Like Keith Richards. A fantastic dad.
contentment dark horses ran silver smiles
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes. / Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment.
certain food since tastes
Since I got my new liver, some of my tastes have changed. There are certain things I don't like anymore. I loved Indian food before but not now.