your damned -RIGHT-ON -I saw this band "LIVE" and it was all JACK BRUCE[so to speak] he sang it all and wrote all their tunes -except the covers.HE was a unique bassist and musician .i was totally influenced by seeing JACK, HE BLEW ME AWAAY and im a Drummer....
Funny, I'm a piano player, and a big fan of Clapton, but it's Ginger that does me with this band... but I believe that Ginger's magic comes from playing against Jack.
Whether you like Clapton or not, I think you're sort of missing his point. Remember that many people at the time (and still today) were saying things like "Clapton is God", and so he was coming to terms with the fact that everyone ELSE thought he was the best - EC himself has actually always been pretty humble about his playing.
Eric Clapton....my number one inspiration in music....I also think he should agree with being one of the best guitar players in the world lol...don't deny it Clapton....u ain't foolin' nobody hahahahaha.
Jack may have written the songs, but Ginger put the band together, organised the management, early gigs etc. The band got away from him after that but it was definitely Ginger's band to begin with.
@truthwhore Jack is so multi=talented =it is hard to even classify him=he not only is one of the premier bassists (electric and upright)inthe world-but a killer blues harp player,pianist,cellist and guitarist,songwriter par excelence=and of couse no one onthe face of this earth sings like him
I don't how good a guitar player he was I think he could play good rhythm guitar but agree an exceptional all round musician /composer singer/ songwriter
Actually, Cream was Ginger Baker's idea. He'd just split from the Graham Bond Organisation if only to get away from Jack Bruce. He asked Clapton if he wanted to form a band, who said, "okay; can we bring Jack Bruce aboard?"
True, Jack did do most of the songwriting, but it was a true collaborative effort. It's hard for one person to really "drive" a band in a power trio except when the leader is extemely evident like in Primus. Jack is my favorite aspect of the band as great basswork is not heard as often as great guitar and drum playing, but Cream's sound cannot be given more credit to one member. They were the perfect storm.
Classic clips from the South Bank Show on Eric Clapton circa 1986-87. I was watching some of the 2005 Reunion show and I remembered this clip of Clapton & Bruce playing in the backyard of Hurtwood, Clapton's house outside of London. It's crazy seeing this to think that if they did the reunion back then in say 1987, Bruce would be in top form and Clapton would be at the tail end of his drinking, i.e. not playing his best. What we got in 2005 was Clapton playing better than he had in decades and Jack was not at his best having just had a liver transplant the year previous. Still such an amazing set of shows...glad they happened.
@triptoheaveandho glad to see someone else that agrees with me, i have been into jack since his days with graham bond, before Cream, and then followed him even more than Eric as far as solo careers go, love Songs for a Tailor and Harmony Row, have been listening to those since high school, circa 1969-1971
what really got those guys in sf going was watching mike bloomfield play. he was a major inspiration for most of those jamming bands back then, also what clapton said is true at least at the times none of those guys were jammin the way cream was at those times, sure by the time 70 rolled around the grateful dead were playing long instrumental jams but most of that was from listening to bloomfield and from cream.
I have this whole documentary, it's actually on Eric Clapton's carrear from Yardbirds to late 80's. It was from a British program called The South Bank Show, and I think it was made for the BBC. I love the Dead and think his comments on them are hysterical. Yes that is "Cat's Squirrel" they're playing, very funky!
Despite all of Bruce’s many talents, it seems when he plays with his peers, it can’t last long. I can only speculate that he doesn’t like to share the spotlight. Most of his bands were well paid sidemen. Clapton was never afraid to share the spotlight. And Ginger... well, that’s a whole other can of beans. You’d best know how to keep up.
ERCO. We loves Ya 💖..Gonna read you 'You in you Own Words..' On that train to Cardiff this Evening..A Journey of Love they Say...Give Planty The Wolves Man My Heart and Us Tell him Baggies are Going to Kick Ass this Sunday..Us from Heaven @ B.71..
Respond to this video...They were touring relentlessly (Bruce mentioned the touring was relentless.). There was tension in the band because Baker and Bruce did not like each other (Baker threatened Bruce with a knife in Graham Bond). Clapton was hurt by a Rolling Stone review that criticized Cream and called him 'master of the blues cliche' (I never like Rolling Stone) and Winwood started playing with Clapton after Cream disbanded. Baker showed up at the Clapton/Winwood jams.
George Used a Fender Telecaster a LOT in the later records like "let it be" and tons of songs They (John and George) played epiphones a lot but also the Rickenbacker was hugely a part of their sound George swore by that baby
Pfft. Clapton was the "glue" - he was a mediator and helped keep Jack and Ginger from fighting all the time (although they still fought with some degree of regularity). Musically, they're all virtuosos. They're each other's favourite musicians, even though Jack and Ginger hated each other personally. And the band was Ginger's idea in the first place. Jack Bruce rocks, best bassist in the world as far as I'm concerned, but that's no reason to take anything away from Clapton.
Jack is a monster performer and musician. Solid song writer as well. At times, too experimental, but always searching! A legendary musican for certain!
I read an interview in 1970, Clapton said the best guitarists were those southern US guys, then he connects with Duane Allman. Clapton gives his props to Allman, Hendrix, et al. Clapton is saying he does not embrace the theory that he was best in the world; for a reader to interpret this otherwise is to contradict Claptons other interviews.
In the mid-60s wah was VERY new. Clapton was one of the first players with the guts to use a baby sound effect on an album. It's like saying can't do 2-handed tapping very well, only one-hand pulloffs. Well, duh, Eddie Van Halen hadn't shown it to the world yet.
People probably are clueless about how superbly imperative this documentary is in the history of mankind. For instance, Jack & Eric came together in '87 to jam and totally enjoyed each other's company. But then, in 2005 *Cream* reunited and gave us something unbelievably magnificent!
Not just me. Look up the 3-part Led Zeppelin Plagiarism on youtube. Willie Dixon had to sue them and got a million dollar settlement for ripping him off w/out credit.Jake Holmes, Steve Marriot, the band Spirit...the list is endless for the people whose music they took the soul from and reduced to cock-swinging adolescent noise.Pete Townshend (their peer) said he couldn't stand them. When Peter Grant introduced himself to Bob Dylan as Zep's manager, Bob said 'I don't bother you with my problems.'
Yeah, cuz musicians can't spell integrity. Listen, you don't have to be Mozart to be a musician. Music resonates with you. Sometimes, as a musician you are gifted, and the music you play bewitches the listener as well. But, you don't reach those pinnacles without listeners; such is the paradox of "great musicians." Clapton is still amazing, but at this point, his depth needs the maturity of his audience, too. Fascinating, eh?
You're entitled to your opinion, however it's a little bit of a cop out to say that and not give any justification as to why. Do you not like his phrasing? Tone? What don't you like about him?
@seltzer30 I hear ya' - it's a travesty the way so many Black artists were screwed - not only pure Blues guys but proto-rockers like Little Richard. But, the gate swings both ways in that the Brits who jumped on the old Blues & juiced 'em up DID make a lot more people aware that Blues was awesome and that the pioneers you mention at least existed and should be mentioned and venerated. But, you're right....they didn't get their due, financially...for sure.
@pyannaguy i agree with EC ...American bands and the people in general were not pursuing their blues roots..who was BB king? a nobody until the English musicians came around him, and the whole blues scene came into light, just listen to the beach boys or even jimmy Hendrix, it sounded as though they wanted no connection to the blues, some of my African American friends either don't care or know very little about the blues, they seem to know and feel rap music or hip hop more than other music
Thank you for the clarification.. Maybe I'm just coming down, but it seems so counter-productive to try and label people/things the "best". Did they ask every person in the world? No, they didn't ask me...therefore, they/it is the "best" according to a very small group of people.
@anthonymanetti Not entirely true either. Ginger and Jack were fighting with each other and Eric didn't want to referee any more. Jack and Ginger's animosity dated to their Graham Bond days when Ginger threatened Jack with a knife. it showed again in the reunion shows at Madison Sq. Garden. NME may have given reviews, but the review that hurt Clapton was Rolling Stone (as If it should have mattered!) calling Clapton "master of the blues cliche". Clapton jammed w. Winwood after Cream ceased to be
My point is , that these people(like yourself) who watch the plagiarism videos and then dismiss the bands entire catalogue on the grounds that they stole their way to success are both naive and narrow minded.Jimmy Page surely was unethical in the way he dealt with copyright law but he did plenty of material that was wholly original and ground breaking. If you dont like their music , I get it ,but pretending not to like them for some percieved ethical violation is just weak.They earned respect
that's why Bonnie Raitt and other artists (like Keith Richards) publicize the Black artists contributions b/c they know that they got screwed and try to help right a wrong
im agree only superegos plays stratos,yngwie,blackmore,clapton etc,but real rock rhythm back beat musicians who believe interaction use gibson;young bro.kossoff,rolling stones,beatles.and many mores
@doobs250. It has nothing to do with the damn interviewer. Jack dropped some acid and jammed with Clapton in his backyard. Yes, they hadn't played together in a while. What does that have to do with it? Jeez, I'm beginning to think you're on acid.
TONS of people use fender and TONS of people use Gibson you can't banish one to the depths of "superego only" status besides most of the people you listed were certainly not exclusively gibson players i mean comon ---- the rolling stones? Kieth and Keef play teles and strats ALL the time
Well I knew where the songs came from because I actually have some knowledge of American music , not because I watched a youtube vid about plagiarism . Anyone but the novice classic rock fan knows that . And Pete Townsend doesnt like Zeppelin because they were more popular and sold more than his band , he has said as much. As far as Dylans comments , they were regarding Zeppelin's rep as a hedonistic lunatics while on tour .Gilmour , McCartney N Young , Glenn Hughes , Brian May, all Zep fans
first off dont compare 2005 cream to the late 60's cream , clapton didnt even play the gibson sg for the reunion, second listen to bloomfields playing and see how it inspired those west acts.
thats not the total truth,if robert stigwood gave a them a break from the constent touring and average 3 gigs a day,and was not so greedy,they would of survived longer as a 3 piece..what your talking about was when they got together
The Kingston Trio was an acoustic Folk music act from the late 1950s and early 60s. Clapton was implying that lots of American bands weren't properly versed in classic Blues.
And doesn't it suck that Zep is being honored at the Kennedy Center in Dec., after having ripped off so many black artists (to say nothing of white folk artists) without credit?
"Never accepted the fact that I was the best guitar player in the world"... For some reason that statement made me lose a lot of respect for EC. How could someone ever say they're the "BEST"...at anything, especially given the fact that blues/rock is just *one* of the countless genres in music?? Given that it's pretty much impossible (and pointless) to 'grade' your musical talent?
more record sales dont mean a band is better, dude. people buy shitty music, too. look how many records nsync and the fucking backstreet boys sold, that doesn't make them suck any less.
Oh you're so modest Eric - "I never thought I was the BEST guitarist in the world." Well, no you are nowhere near the best. If you had heard Gatton you would have certainly chopped you're Strat up for firewood and taken up basket weaving instead. Now Jack Bruce - he's a very different animal - if not THE BEST then certainly in the top ten. Maybe his early classical cello made the difference.
