In the late '50s and early '60s, the bass guitar was a simpler, safer beast. You listened to your guitarist and plunked away at your root notes, taking care not to step on the drummer’s toes, of course. (Full interview on Guitar World)
That was just the way it was, and that was the way it would always be – that is, until the bass guitar’s role was changed forever by a small group of pioneering players, including Paul McCartney and the late John Entwistle. And, of course, Jack Bruce.
After Cream split in 1968, Bruce released a string of solo albums that demonstrated his trademark blend of jazz, rock, blues, and – latterly – world and ethnic influences. He also participated in a number of high-profile tours in Ringo Starr’s band and elsewhere, and worked with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker in the BBM project.
“I was the first guy to bring Jimi on stage. We’d heard of him through a friend who had claimed to have seen him play in New York. Cream was playing at – I think – St. Martin’s School Of Art, and I was having a pre-gig pint. This guy came up and said, ‘Hi, I’m Jimi Hendrix, can I sit in with your band?’ And I said, ‘Well, I dunno, let’s go and find out.’
“So we went across the road and Eric was very keen for him to play and Ginger, of course, was completely against it. But he did play, and he blew us all away, playing with his teeth and all that. Eric was stunned. There’s a demo that we did the next day, and you can tell in Eric’s playing that he’s trying to emulate some of that stuff.”
“Certainly I would say that Cream were a more interesting band, although obviously we didn’t have Jimi. But I would say that Eric was a better guitar player. Obviously Jimi was Jimi, and he could have played the Indian nose flute and it wouldn’t have mattered, because he was playing himself – I think he regarded the guitar as an extension of himself. But in an instrumental sense, I would argue that Eric was at least as good as Jimi, probably better.
