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Jack Bruce
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Jack Bruce was a Scottish bassist, singer and composer, born in 1943 in Bishopbriggs. As a teenager he played jazz bass and received a scholarship to study cello and composition in Glasgow. In 1962 he went to London to play with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, where he met the drummer Ginger Baker. After that he played in the Graham Bond Organisation, where he switched from double bass to electric bass guitar. After short spells with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, with Eric Clapton, and with Manfred Mann, he founded Cream in 1966.
Music and breakthrough
In Cream Bruce sang most of the songs and wrote a large part of the music, often with the poet Pete Brown as lyricist. This is how Sunshine of Your Love, White Room and I Feel Free came about. The trio played blues and rock with jazz influences, and in concert let the songs grow into long improvisations. After the end of Cream in 1968 Bruce made solo albums such as Songs for a Tailor (1969) and the free jazz album Things We Like (1970). In 1972 he started the power trio West, Bruce & Laing. He worked with musicians from jazz, fusion and world music, and in 2005 he played with Cream once more at the Royal Albert Hall.
Influence
Bruce played his bass not just as accompaniment, but as a full voice alongside guitar and drums. In this way he became one of the most influential bassists in rock, with followers such as Sting, Geddy Lee and Geezer Butler. He died in 2014.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1969Songs for a Tailor
- 1970Things We Like
- 1971Harmony Row
- 1974Out of the Storm
- 1980I've Always Wanted to Do This
- 1981B.L.T.
- 1981Truce
- 1982Everybody Needs It
- 1989A Question of Time
- 1993Somethin Els
- 1994This That
- 1995Monkjack
- 2001Shadows in the Air
- 2003Jet Set Jewel
- 2003More Jack Than God
- 2008Seven Moons
- 2009Automatic
- 2009hr-Bigband featuring Jack Bruce
- 2014Silver Rails
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still PopNL Reader
- After Hours: Session 3NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Blues rock Genre
Cream, the trio of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, took the blues to the big halls, with long solos and loud amplifiers; Clapton played Robert Johnson's Cross Road Blues as Crossroads.