CB was already a big fan of the man with two first names. This was the first solo album by one of the members of Cream that CB acquired. He was expecting to get some of the same music. He got that and a whole lot more. He was not disappointed.
Album opens up with “Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out of Tune’ funky horns and saxes, Jack’s heavy bass, then in with the familiar voice. Right away I was into the music. Even though it was different from what I was used to there still was lots of familiar Jack Bruce things. The sax really got my attention. A jazzy/funky tune Jack style. Great opening cut. ‘Imaginary Western’ is just a great tune. Lyrics, singing, playing. Beautiful song. Solidifying why I like this guy’s music. ‘Tickets to Waterfalls’ is another very cool tune. Pete Brown’s lyrics (poetry) fit with Jack’s voice and his style of singing. This song is a good example. They were a good team. So many of the songs off this album got into CB, ‘Weird of Hermiston’ was one of them. The opening lyrics especially. ‘Rope Ladder to the Moon’ became a CB fave pretty fast. Loved this music. So many good sounds and good playing. Reminded me of the Cream tune ‘As You Said’. Mainly Jack’s cello. Great piece.
Side two opens with ‘The Ministry of Bag’. What a cool title for a song. Bluesy/jazz. Like Jack’s singing on this one and Brown’s lyrics. ‘He the Richmond’ just kept the albums vibe going. ‘Boston Ball Game’ has a jazzy big band sound. Certainly some new music for CB to chew on. I love Jack’s vocals on ‘To Isengard’. Starts out acoustic then changes into a funky jazz/rock piece at the end. Jack certainly liked to change things up. One of the reasons I liked his music. ‘The Clearout’ is a great way to end the album. Starts out with military style drumming, then bass and Bam! Heavy rock. Absolutely love this cut. Jack lays down some great bass. The whole band cooks on this one. Again some great lyrics, ‘You’re leaving my head all chewed”.
Like they say, leave them wanting more. Well CB wanted more Jack Bruce music, there was no question about that. Even though this is a JB solo record he gets some great help. CB was introduced to some new musicians that he would get to know on his musical journey, Chris Spedding, Felix Pappalardi and Dick Heckstall-Smith to name a few.
After hearing this album, CB realized what a big part of Cream’s sound Jack was. But it also introduced his musical leanings towards jazz. It said on the album “Words and Music by Jack Bruce/Pete Brown”. I really liked the creativity between these two. ‘Song For a Tailor’ is a CB fave. It was new music for him to enjoy. This music appealed to CB and would open up more doors down the road. Jack Bruce was going to become a mainstay in the future.
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I certainly know of this album but don’t really know it. The only tune I know is “Imaginary Western” and that thanks largely to Mountain. I’ll definitely add it to the “to listen” pile because I should have done so years ago. And I love Bruce’s sound. Only problem is .what with Little Village, this album, VC’s recommendation of ‘Timeless, the music is backing up like planes at JFK on a rainy day..
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I hear you on the “back up”. With this new listening device you turned me onto it’s over whelming. I really have to ration and give all this new stuff a fare listen. Mountain does a good version of “Western”. Jack had a long relationship with those guys. I followed all the Cream guys on their solo recordings. I really dig Jack’s music. I gave ‘Timeless’ a spin yesterday. It’s real good! I’ll pop over to KZYDOC later.
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Better hurry. We are deep into ‘opinion time.’ It’s all good.
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Now you have me curious.
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Took me a while but finally found this on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/6XjAvIaFCzyxiZ6OSWa8H2?si=UUziA9n5
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Will give it a listen
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I lived in his music for a long time. He never stood still. Always surprised and at the same time had his signature stuff.
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Didn’t know this album and just started listening to it. I’m with you, the funky horns on the opening tune are pretty cool. I’m now a few tunes in and definitely like what I’m hearing. Jack Bruce was a great artist. As this album shows, apart from being a fantastic bassist and good vocalist, he also was a great writer.
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Jack is one of my favorite musicians. All his albums have lots of great music. (For CB anyway). This album I think was done in the 60’s. He went onto so much more and collaborated with some great musicians . Check out the tune ‘Apostrophe’ he did with Zappa and Gordon. It rocks hard. Cool that you’re digging it.
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Always loved his bass playing. He was a big talent. Wish I had seen him in person.
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He was involved in so much music that I dig. I’ve seen a lot of my faves perform. Not Jack. He must have had an ex wife in my neighborhood. He never came near. Did we talk about you catching John McLaughlin on his final tour.? That would be a good one. One of Jack’s buddies.
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Right, I’m going to see John in November. Should be great.
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I thought so. That will be a good one. My mind is still retaining and sorting. I feel better. If you’re talking to John ask him his health secrets. He looks great. Him and Jack made some good music together.
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John is a cool guy.
He says this will be his final tour of the States.
Maybe he’s coming to your neck of the woods.
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Bravo! Such a fine record. One of my faves back in final school days. Having this one showed you really were on the case!
Thom.
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I pretty much a sucker for anything Jack did. After this one there was so much good music to come. I think The Immortal Jukebox is due to put his touch on a JB piece.
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Right!
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CB, you’ll probably be as disappointed to hear as I am to say that apart from a few songs, this album didn’t really do it for me. I t recall that Cream mixed good, quirky songs with bluesy stuff. But this album seems to lean towards the quirky. I’ll give it another spin but my esteem for Bruce aside, probably not gonna be one of my favorites.
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Not “disappointed” in the least. I know you lean more towards Eric’s sound ( I like it also) but i do really dig Jack and the musical direction he took. This was just the first taste for me outside Cream. I probably have most every thing he did and a lots he guested on. Did you ever get into West Bruce and Laing? More straight forward hard rock which I also like. How about he third member of Cream? I also like Gingers music. I think the Doc and CB are in the same ball park with most music.
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Actually not entirely true that I lean towards Eric’s stuff. I dig Jack a lot. His voice, his songs, his playing. “As You Said” is classic. “Tales of Brave Ulysses,” all that stuff. It’s just I don’t think Jack’s best songs are on this album and it doesn’t always work for me. I liked West Bruce Laing but haven’t heard in ages. Ginger I lost touch with after Air Force. I’m a funny bird in that after a band I really like breaks up, I rarely follow the individual members. I like a given band’s sound and that’s always the sum of those parts. Some essence for me is lost and that includes the Beatles to a certain extent.
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The three together in Cream came up with some of my favorite music. Pretty unique stuff All those ideas they brought. It doesn’t always work but Cream did big time The individual thing doesn’t always work. With these three it did for me. They all took their music to different places. I think the blues (which I know you dig) was probably the biggest bond in Cream. The best thing about thee guys is any interview with Ginger Baker. He’s a piece of work.
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Yeah and I know we talked about this before but Cream was gateway for me (and I suppose a lot of people) into jazz. After listening to Cream with three guys essentially improvising for fifteen minutes, it wasn’t a big stretch when somebody introduced me to Coltrane. It was different music but I was no longer a stranger to guys laying out on their instruments.
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Bingo! Ginger in Air-force really stretched out. Jack with all his stuff with Lifetime etc. Your right on with that comment. I remember reading when so called music people were down on the long solo stuff. As long as it’s well played an interesting I’m in. Jazz took it to another level especially when you have people like Coltrane who play so well. CB loves a variety from ‘Boom Boom Boom’ to ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ to ‘Gloria” to ‘Statesboro Blues’ to ‘Bitches Brew’ and all the great music before and in between. I’d say it’s given me (us) a lot of enjoyment over the years.
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