Cream - The First Supergroup Cream - Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce - the world's first super-group was born in 1966... CREAM MYTHICAL BLUES GODS by Howard Druckman The virtuoso playing of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made Cream the first band of soloists. In their two year career they brought the blues to a whole generation of white rockers and spawned legions of power trios, boogie bands and heavy metal groups... According to rock critic Dave Marsh, Cream created “the fastest, loudest, most overpowering blues-based rock ever heard, particularly onstage.” Though they lasted only two years, Cream sold 15 million records; earned the first certified platinum album in history (for the double set Wheels of Fire); played to standing-room-only audiences across Europe and North America; and redefined the instrumentalist’s role in rock.

Indeed, the trio is often cited as the first “supergroup.” Eric Clapton’s passion and fluidity on guitar inspired a spate of “Clapton is God” graffiti in London; Ginger Baker’s brutal intensity helped create the tradition of the drum solo in rock; and Jack Bruce was one of the first bassists to introduce a jazz sensibility to a hard rock format. Eric Clapton, born in March, 1945, was first inspired by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and later by Jerry Lee Lewis. He quickly graduated from a plastic guitar to a real one, and from small-town Ripley to cosmopolitan London. There, he immersed himself in the nascent British blues scene, playing in the Roosters and Casey Jones & the Engineers before achieving an axemaster’s reputation with the Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. In the last Bluesbreakers lineup, Jack Bruce was playing bass. He left to join Manfred Mann, but not before Clapton had become excited enough by his work to want to form a band.

When drummer Ginger Baker, about to leave the jazz- tinged Graham Bond Organisation, asked Clapton if he wanted to start a band, the trio became inevitable. Despite animosity between Bruce and Baker, Cream was formed in July, 1966. They made their debut at the 1966 Windsor Festival in England, and rapidly established their legendary live style — a combination of high-volume blues jamming, extended solos and flashy instrumental showmanship. Their first album, Fresh Cream , was released in January, 1967 , to moderate U.K. success. It included such chestnuts as Skip James’“I’m So Glad” and Muddy Waters’“Rollin’ And Tumblin’,” and like their live show expanded the possibilities of blues playing far beyond the traditional limits of slavish imitation. It also turned a legion of white rockers on to the sound, and in April, when it hit the U.S. charts, a host of followers — boogie bands, power trios and heavy metal groups — was spawned. In the meantime, though, flower power, psychedelia and Jimi Hendnx were making their way across the Atlantic.

Consequently, Cream’s second LP, Disraeli Gears, was filled with short, pungent rock originals drenched in fuzz-tone, wah-wah and other then-revolutionary guitar effects. It was released in December, 1967, and a few months later “ Sunshine Of Your Love ” reached number five on the U.S. charts. Spicy, sophisticated rockers like “Tales of Brave Ulysses” and “Swalbr” became FM underground radio staples. This was when Clapton’s comparisons to the Deity began, as he became the focus of the guitar cult that developed in the late ‘60s. Naturally, success was accompanied by tension. Egos bloated, personalities clashed; when Bruce and Baker weren’t fighting amongst themselves — which wasn’t often — they complained of Clapton’s virtual domination of the band. There were also tensions between Clapton’s blues approach and the rhythm section’s jazz snobbery (it was almost inevitable that three overpowering improvisers would step on each other’s musical toes). Offstage, Cream’s drug abuse was mythic. All three indulged in grass, acid and coke.

Baker was using heroin heavily, and Clapton started dabbling down a road that would eventually lead him to a hard, isolated two-year heroin addiction. Against this backdrop, Cream released Wheels of Fire in June, 1968. The album balanced short, clever songs like “ White Room ” (mostly written by Bruce and lyricist Pete Brown) with long blues jams like Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” (mostly guitar workouts for Clapton). The band gave final concerts in London and New York in November, 1968. In January, 1969, they released a post-breakup collection, Goodbye, with three old and three new songs. Among the new was “Badge,” a subtle but powerfully insistent pop song with a mellotron-treated guitar section courtesy of Angelo Misterioso, otherwise known as George Harrison. A live version of “Crossroads” brought a Robert Johnson blues song to number 28 on the U.S. charts in 1969. Jack Bruce went on to jazz experimentation, and turned up on the Golden Palominos’ recent LP, Visions of Excess. Ginger Baker discovered Africa before it got cool, and moved there.

He went through two bands, isolated himself to grow olives in Italy, and was last seen bashing the hell out of a drum kit on PIL’s recent Album. Clapton went on to sessions with the Beatles; to the short-lived Blind Faith supergroup; to being a sideman with Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett; to a solo album; and then to Derek and the Dominoes, whose double album Layla offered the most exquisitely painful guitar pyrotechnics of his career. He periodically resurfaces, most recently with Phil Collins, but few would argue that his laid-back style matches the inspiration of his work with Cream. Ginger Baker, meanwhile, insists that Cream will never re-form. Nevertheless, in these days of post-psychedelic revival, it’s not uncommon to hear Cream down at the dance club or the rock bar, where “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room” are being worked into the mix, sounding every bit as fresh as ever.

Jack Bruce obituary | Music | The Guardian Pop and rock Jack Bruce obituary Composer and bassist who found early success with Cream and went on to perform as a soloist and with many other artists Jack Bruce performing in a Cream reunion concert at Madison Square Garden, New York, 2005. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters Saturday 25 October 2014 20.36 EDT Last modified on Friday 11 November 2016 08.53 EST Share on Messenger Close The singer, songwriter and bass guitarist Jack Bruce, who has died aged 71 of liver disease, is best remembered as a mainstay of Cream, the first supergroup, defined as a combination, often short-lived, of already successful musicians. However, he also had an enduring solo career, worked with a wide range of collaborators across many genres and was respected by those artists for his inventiveness, instrumental dexterity and exacting musical standards. In 1966 the guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker set about launching Cream. Clapton insisted on the inclusion of Bruce despite the bad feeling that existed between him and Baker.

Bruce agreed to undertake the bulk of the singing only after other possibilities had been explored, notably Ray Phillips of the Nashville Teens and the Spencer Davis Group’s Steve Winwood. In the studio, Cream’s output contained piquant touches of blues, experiment and humour – with Bruce adding harmonica, cello and other acoustic subtleties. Moreover, most of the ensemble’s original compositions – including the Top 40 entries Wrapping Paper , I Feel Free , Sunshine of Your Love and White Room – came from the pens of Bruce and lyricist Pete Brown, though Bruce proved a capable wordsmith himself on such tracks as NSU from the debut album, Fresh Cream, and We’re Going Wrong , a highlight of their second, Disraeli Gears (1967). While Cream broke box-office records in North America, their sensitivity and clever ironies were corrupted by high decibels and “endless, meaningless solos”, according to Clapton. “We were not so much indulging ourselves as our audiences – because that’s what they wanted.” The trio stretched out the Chicago blues standard Spoonful for more than a quarter of an hour on the Live at the Fillmore half of the million-selling Wheels of Fire double album (1968).

Having reached a point of artistic stagnation, Cream decided to disband. A farewell tour of the US was followed by two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in November 1968, the second of which was captured on film by Tony Palmer . The farewell was completed with their fourth album, Goodbye (1969). Pinterest Cream performing Sunshine of Your Love at the Royal Albert Hall, 2005 In August 1968, Bruce recorded Things We Like , dissolving the boundaries between rock and jazz with tunes that he had written as a boy. He played the double-bass, and was joined by the saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith , guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Jon Hiseman. It was released in 1970, after Bruce’s debut solo album, Songs for a Tailor (1969), on which he sought out the meaning from the most oblique of Brown’s texts, such as Theme for an Imaginary Western , He the Richmond , Weird of Hermiston and Rope Ladder to the Moon , which lent its title to a BBC TV documentary about Bruce , again by Palmer.

While Songs for a Tailor got into the UK charts, Harmony Row (1971) and subsequent solo offerings tended to sell well over a longer period – as did albums featuring Bruce by the group Tony Williams Lifetime and a collaboration with the drummer Corky Laing and US guitarist Leslie West in an attempt to fill the gap in the market left by Cream. West, Bruce and Laing split after two dull albums, and Bruce became the central figure in a looser alliance, Jack Bruce and Friends. Passing through the ranks were players of the calibre of the jazz guitarist Larry Coryell, former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and Carla Bley. For Bruce, she was a keyboardist: in her better-known capacity as a composer, she had him sing on her jazz opera over three LPs, Escalator Over the Hill (1971). Also in the 1970s, Bruce’s trademark busy and strongly amplified bass was showcased on Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe, and Too Many Cooks , a blues number sung by Mick Jagger with John Lennon on guitar. Coping with his heroin addiction compelled Bruce to keep working.

In 1979 he recorded with Alexis Korner’s Rocket 88 and toured with McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra. The start of the 80s saw his new Jack Bruce Band on the road, mainly in Germany, and BLT, with Bruce, guitarist Robin Trower and drummer Bill Lordan . The next solo album, Automatic (1983), replete with synthesised multitracking, came on a German label. Further challenging albums – such as Monkjack (1995), with the organist Bernie Worrell, and Shadows in the Air (2001) – did not widen Bruce’s audience. In 1993, putting his more avant-garde leanings on hold, he embarked on BBM , with Baker and the Belfast-born guitarist Gary Moore . Focusing principally on the US, they started each evening with an hour’s worth of Cream favourites. Later in the decade Bruce appeared with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band. In 2003, Bruce was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent a liver transplant. Although his immune system initially rejected the organ, he recovered and was able to participate in a reunion of Cream two years later.

Together with Clapton and Baker, Bruce played four sold-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall , recorded as a live album and DVD , and three at Madison Square Garden, New York. Jack was born in Bishopsbriggs, north of Glasgow , son of Charlie and Betty (nee Asher), working-class parents of strongly leftwing convictions. “My mother sang Scottish folk songs and my father was a huge traditional jazz fan of people like Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong. But my older brother loved modern jazz. There’d be literally, physical fights in my house between my father and brother arguing about the role of the saxophone in jazz or something, real punch-ups,” Bruce recalled. “I didn’t adopt music, music adopted me.” He attended no fewer than 12 primary schools before attending Bellahouston Academy, in south-west Glasgow. As a teenager, Bruce sang in a church choir, and went to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music to study the piano and cello. During the skiffle craze, he plucked bass lines on his cello until the purchase of a double-bass enabled him to work on the ballroom circuit with the Freddie Riley Trio.

In 1960, Bruce toured Italy with the Murray Campbell Big Band – whose stage attire included kilts and clan tartans – before joining the Scottsville Jazzmen. After an engagement in Cambridge, Bruce saw an outfit assembled by Heckstall-Smith and Baker for a college May ball. Impressed, he insisted on joining them on stage. Bemused by this arrogance, the group pitched into its most complex arrangements, but Bruce coped admirably. On Heckstall-Smith’s recommendation, he was enlisted into Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated. “It sounded like rock’n’roll to me,” confessed Bruce, “but working with Alexis was the most formative, important time of my life.” Bruce was also one of the Johnny Burch Octet with his flatmate, the organist Graham Bond – and Bruce and Baker became members of the Graham Bond Organisation. It was soon augmented by McLaughlin, who was superseded by Heckstall-Smith. By the time of the group’s LP Sound of 65, Bruce was using an electric bass guitar, but was already at odds with Baker, who found his playing “too busy”.

Bruce left for John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, where he met Clapton, before moving on to Manfred Mann. Pinterest Bruce, left, with Ginger Baker, centre, and Eric Clapton at their farewell performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in November 1968. Photograph: Susie Macdonald/Redferns Bruce’s dexterity on the bass guitar gained him wide recognition. IIn 1965, Bruce was asked to join Marvin Gaye’s band, an offer that he turned down. “Around that time, I was suffering a lot of criticism for playing too many notes, or playing in a certain way,” he later told Bass Guitar magazine. “Marvin loved my playing, though, so I realised I must have been doing something right. It would have been amazing to see a white guy go there and be a part of that scene: it could have changed a lot of things and would have been wonderful.

But I was too young, and you wouldn’t have had Cream.” With Mann’s vocalist, Paul Jones, and Clapton, Bruce was one of the Powerhouse, an ad hoc sextet convened by pianist Ben Palmer for a jam session taped in early 1966. Among the tracks heard on an album released the next year, What’s Shakin’ , was Crossroads . By summer 1966 Cream were up and running, and they too took up the song . Bruce’s final decade as a performing musician was an active one, despite occasional bouts of ill-health. He composed and recorded prolifically, often with Trower and the Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, and played live dates across Europe and the US. In 2007 a rehearsal hall at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, was named after him, and two years later he was presented with an honorary doctorate of letters from Glasgow Caledonian University. In 2011, he was given the International Bassist award by the National Association of Music Merchants; the Pink Floyd bassist Rogers Waters described him as “the most musically gifted bass player who’s ever been”.

Bruce’s album Silver Rails was released in March this year and received many positive reviews. Once again, lyrics came from Brown, and the guest musicians included Trower and the German guitarist Uli Jon Roth. In 1964 Bruce married Janet Godfrey. They had two sons, Malcolm and Jonas, and divorced in 1982. Later that year, Bruce married his second wife, Margrit Seyffer, who was his manager for 31 years. They had two daughters, Natascha (musical stage name Aruba Red) and Kyla, and a son, Corin. Jonas died in 1997; Bruce is survived by Margrit, his children, and a granddaughter, Maya Sage. • Jack (John Symon Asher) Bruce, singer-songwriter and bass guitarist, born 14 May 1943; died 25 October 2014 Jack Bruce, One of Rock & Roll's Modern Architects, 1943-2014 - Rolling Stone PHOTOS: 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

By the time that he joined the Bluesbreakers, Bruce – who died of liver disease in Suffolk, England on October 25th, at age 71 – was already an extremely accomplished musician. A childhood prodigy who won a scholarship to study cello at Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, Bruce had been a part of the burgeoning London R&B scene since 1962 when he joined Alexis Korner's group Blues Incorporated. He found an immediate musical connection with their drummer, a brash jazz-inspired played named Ginger Baker , but their relationship quickly soured when Bruce switched from upright to electric bass. "That wasn't what Ginger wanted," Bruce said in the 2012 documentary Beware Mr. Baker. "I think that's when the problems [between us] started." Tensions aside, Baker and Bruce teamed up again not long afterwards in the Graham Bond Organisation. During one show, they got into a vicious fight onstage because Baker felt that Bruce was playing during his drum solo. "He pulled a knife on me," said Bruce. "And said, 'You're fired.' I said, 'You can't fire me.

It's the Graham Bond Organisaiton and I'm the founding member.' Poor old Graham, he was well into smack by that point and he didn't care. It was very stupid of Ginger because the band was doing well and I was an important part." Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream in 1966. GAB Archive/Redferns The incident was actually somewhat of a blessing because Bruce soon found himself playing alongside Clapton in the Bluesbreakers, and not long after that he joined Manfred Mann just in time to play on their breakthrough single "Pretty Flamingo." But Bruce soon realized very little money was actually coming his way and life in a pop group rapidly grew stale, so when Eric Clapton called him up about starting a blues rock trio he jumped at the chance – even though it meant once again playing with his old drummer. "He came around and ate humble pie," said Bruce. "Ginger approached Eric about forming a band and Eric said, 'Yeah, but if we do, Jack's gotta be the singer.'" One of rock's first supergroups, Cream were an instant success. Their debut LP Fresh Cream was a huge hit, and their concerts were absolutely explosive.

"The blues was the glue that held them together," says Living Colour's Vernon Reid, who toured widely with Bruce in recent years. "But they're the roots of prog rock and parts of the roots of jazz rock and even metal. They're a band that kind of turned everything sideways for the couple of years they were around." Bruce was not only Cream's lead singer, but he co-wrote many of their most beloved songs – including "White Room," "I Feel Free" and "Politician" – with English poet Pete Brown. (Eric Clapton wrote "Sunshine of Your Love" with the two of them.) This didn't sit well with Ginger Baker. "Ginger would have been happy if everything had been written by 'The Cream,'" said Bruce. "But I'm glad I didn't do that. It's not right, and it's not truthful." Writing credit was just one issue that tore Cream apart, though they managed to record four albums and tour extensively during their two-and-a-half year run. "My brother and I took acid and went to see them at the Village Theater early on in their career," says Mountain guitarist Leslie West. "When I heard them open with 'Sunshine of Your Love' I nearly shat myself.

They were a really changing of the guard from the Beatles and the Stones to Hendrix and everything that came afterwards." Related Jack Bruce funeral: Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker pay a farewell in song to the "all round legend" - Mirror Online Celebs Jack Bruce funeral: Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker pay a farewell in song to the "all round legend" The singers were among mourners who were paying tribute to the Scottish-born bass player and singer who died 11 days ago as a result of liver disease Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe View gallery Guests including Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker paid a farewell in song to their former Cream bandmate and "all round legend" Jack Bruce at his funeral today. The composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist passed away on October 25 after battling liver disease having enjoyed a musical career stretching a remarkable 52 years. They were among mourners who also included Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera and Procol Harum star Gary Brooker who were paying tribute to the Scottish-born bass player and singer who died 11 days ago as a result of liver disease.

The dozens who assembled inside Golders Green Crematorium in north London joined together to sing and hear his music, as well as add their voices to a performance of Strawberry Fields Forever. Eric Clapton (Photo: Getty) His friend and Cream lyricist Pete Brown shared reminiscences with guests at today's service, which also included contributions from Bruce's son Malcolm, daughters Natasha and Kyla, a poem written by another son Corin and a tribute from his wife Margrit. The guests sang Morning Has Broken, the Beatles hit Strawberry Fields Forever and Bruce's track Theme For An Imaginary Western to honour the man who was described in the order of service as a "beloved husband, father, granddad and all round legend". Video Loading Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now Also attending were the US guitarist Vernon Reid and the musician and composer Nitin Sawhney. Bruce was most famous for his work with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker in Cream, one of the most successful bands of their era. Regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of all time, Bruce wrote and sang most of their songs, including "I Feel Free" and "Sunshine Of Your Love".

A picture of the Order of Service (Photo: Getty) In a statement, his family said: "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. "The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts." Bruce's death was announced on his official website, and confirmed by his publicist Claire Singers. Cream sold 35 million albums in just over two years and were awarded the world's first ever platinum disc for their LP Wheels of Fire. Bruce wrote and sang most of the songs, including "I Feel Free", "White Room", "Politician" and perhaps the world's most performed guitar riff, in "Sunshine Of Your Love". Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity but reunited for a series of final shows in 2005, 37 years after they went their separate ways.

Jack's coffin is carried in to the Crematorium by his son Malcolm Bruce (L) (Photo: WireImage) When the group split, Bruce felt that he had strayed too far from his ideals and wanted to re-discover his musical and social roots. Bruce was born to musical parents in Glasgow on May 14, 1943, in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire. Growing up he attended 14 different schools, finishing his formal education at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. He left the Academy and his homeland at the age of 16, because of poverty and discouraged by his professors' lack of interest in his ideas. Bruce travelled to Italy and then England, playing double-bass in dance bands and jazz groups, and joined his first in a series of significant bands in 1962 in London. This was Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was their drummer. Bruce had to turn down soul legend Marvin Gaye's offer to join his US-based band because of his impending first marriage.

View gallery He then joined John Mayall's Blues Breakers, where he first met Eric Clapton, followed by Manfred Mann. It was Ginger Baker who initially asked Bruce to form a trio with Eric Clapton with the latter insisting he would be the singer. After leaving Cream he recorded 14 solo albums, which covered a range of genres including rock, jazz and classic music. He worked as session player on carefully chosen dates with the big names like Lou Reed and Frank Zappa, with whom Jack co-wrote Apostrophe, Zappa's biggest selling album. In 1993 Bruce was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and later forming a new group called BBM with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker which led to the top-ten album Around the Next Dream. Uli Jon Roth attends the funeral (Photo: Getty) During the late 1990s, Jack toured with several iterations of Ringo Starr's All Star Band, along with guitarists Peter Frampton and Todd Rundgren.

Aside from Cream's reformation in 2005, Bruce was given the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his pioneering musicianship and his outstanding influence on the development of modern bass technique. The next year he accept a special Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Cream at the Grammys. His 14th and final solo album Silver Rails was released this year to critical accalim. Bruce was married twice, first to Janet and then to Margrit, his wife of 31 years and also his manager. He would have five children - Malcolm, Jonas, Natasha, Kyla, Corin - and one grandchild Maya. Before he passed away, Bruce and Margrit were hoping to retire to Majorca where they intended to make oil from their homegrown olives.

Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Cream bassist Jack Bruce dies aged 71 after a lifetime in blues | Music | The Guardian The Observer Cream bassist Jack Bruce dies aged 71 after a lifetime in blues Tributes for Scottish vocalist who formed seminal 1960s band with Eric Clapton, and helped turn rock into serious art form Saturday 25 October 2014 17.46 EDT Last modified on Saturday 25 October 2014 19.07 EDT Close This article is 2 years old Jack Bruce, the bassist and singer for the seminal 60s rock group Cream, has died aged 71. He had been suffering from liver disease. His death was announced on his official website on Saturday and confirmed by his publicist Claire Singers. “Jack died today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family,” she said. Trained as a classical musician, Glasgow-born Bruce had a powerful melodic voice and was also a talented, jazz-influenced bass guitarist.

He formed Cream with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker and was responsible, with co-writer Peter Brown, for penning the majority of the band’s songs. Their most famous hits include I Feel Free, White Room, Politician and (with Clapton) Sunshine Of Your Love, which features one of the world’s most frequently played guitar riffs. The group were distinctive for the high quality of their musicianship andplayed a key role in establishing rock as a serious art form in the late 60s. Cream sold 35 million albums between 1966 and 1968 and were awarded the world’sfirst platinum disc for their album Wheels of Fire. A host of artists covered Bruce’s songs including Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Ella Fitzgerald. Tributes to the singer poured in from the world of rock, including one from his former Cream bandmate Ginger Baker. “I am very sad to learn of the loss of a fine man, Jack Bruce,” he said via Facebook. Tony Iommi (@tonyiommi) Very sad to hear of the passing of Jack Bruce, a major influence in music and an amazing bass player and singer. He was a hero to so many.

October 25, 2014 Bruce was born in Glasgow on 14 May 1943 and was educated at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. Bruce left the academy prematurelyto pursue a career as a jazz and blues musician in London and in 1962 joined Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was the drummer. Later Bruce joined Ginger Baker in the Graham Bond Organisation but left after three years after Baker complained that his playing was “too busy”. Bruce then played for John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, where he first met Clapton, before joining Manfred Mann for a brief, unhappy stint which Bruce found unacceptably over-commercial. In the end it was Baker who initially asked Bruce to form Cream with Clapton, who insisted that Bruce would be the singer. The band’s driving pace and technical proficiency made them an extraordinarily exciting act, though their tendency to add 15-minute drum or bass solos to live performances also left rock with one of its less attractive legacies.

By contrast many of their songs, including Tales of Brave Ulysses and We’re Going Wrong, have become classics. Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity in part because Bruce felt they had strayed too far from the music he wanted to play. He recorded several solo albums, including Songs For A Tailor and Harmony Row, which were a synthesis of rock, jazz and classical formats and which featured leading UK musicians such as guitarist John McLaughlin, blues saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Jon Hiseman. Bruce also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with such rock musicians as Lou Reed and Frank Zappa. With the latter, Jack co-wrote Apostrophe, which became Zappa’s biggest selling album. For many years Bruce fought addictions, in particular witha long-term heroin problem. In the end he quit the habit though not without a considerable fight. “I went to the clinics, I wasn’t proud, but I’m proof it can be done,” he said in an interview three years ago. In 2003, Bruce developed liver cancer. He was given a transplant which his body initially rejected and he was left gravely ill.

However, he recovered andin 2005 he went on to re-form Cream who played a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Both Bruce and Baker looked painfully thin and fragile during their performances. By contrast, Clapton seemed the epitome of health. Later Bruce toured the world with other projects. In June 2011, he played a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary in an evening that marked the 50th anniversary of the blues in Britain. Bruce played with his Big Blues Band. The next year he played at the Gerry Rafferty tribute concert in Glasgow when BBC Scotland recorded a one-hour documentary on Bruce.

He leaves a remarkable musical legacy, a point stressed by his family on Saturday: “The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and for ever in our hearts.” Composer and bassist who found early success with Cream and went on to perform as a soloist and with many other artists Published: 25 Oct 2014 Member of the 1960s pop band Cream, Jack Bruce, has died at the age of 71 Published: 25 Oct 2014 The singer, bassist and songwriter of the original supergroup had suffered liver disease Published: 25 Oct 2014 Here are five performances tracing the late Jack Bruce’s journey from 19-year-old upright bass player to part of rock’s first supergroup Published: 25 Oct 2014 Cream - White Room (Royal Albert Hall 2005) (17 of 22) - YouTube Cream - White Room (Royal Albert Hall 2005) (17 of 22) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content.

Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Jul 11, 2011 Cream - White Room live at Royal Albert Hall, London. May 2, 3, 5, 6. 1080p 17 of 22 In May of 2005 Cream returned to London's Royal Albert Hall-to the same stage where they had completed what was thought to be their final performance in 1968. It was one of the most eagerly anticipated, hard-to-get tickets in rock history. With the exception of a brief reunion set at their 1993 induction into the Rock and roll Hall of Fame, Cream had not played together in nearly four decades. This DVD documents Cream's momentous London shows. Performances from each of the four nights are featured and much more. Also included are alternate performances and interviews with Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton. Cream formed in 1966 and disbanded in 1968. The band were a prolific and thrilling live act and toured incessantly in their short but remarkable history.

Category Ginger Baker | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Bruce Eder Ginger Baker was rock's first superstar drummer and the most influential percussionist of the 1960s. There were other drummers who were well-known to the public before him, including the Beatles ' Ringo Starr and, in England at the end of the '50s, the Shadows ' Tony Meehan , but they were famous primarily for the groups in which they played and for attributes beyond their musicianship. Baker made his name entirely on his playing, initially as showcased in Cream , but far transcending even that trio's relatively brief existence. Though he only cut top-selling records for a period of about three years at the end of the '60s, virtually every drummer of every heavy metal band that has followed since that time has sought to emulate some aspect of Baker 's playing. He was born Peter Edward Baker in Lewisham, London, in 1939. The nickname "Ginger" came along later, a result of his red hair. As a boy, Baker had a special interest in bicycle racing, but by his mid-teens, his interests had switched to music, especially percussion.

A rebel even at that age, he became devoted to modern art and contemporary jazz, transforming himself into something of a beatnik during the mid- to late '50s. A natural musician, he talked himself into his first professional gig when he was 16 and was on the road that year, working full-time. Baker 's idol during the late '50s was Phil Seaman , a jazz drummer who was probably the best percussion player in England; his own playing tended toward an aggressiveness and articulation that were unusual in juxtaposition with each other. By the end of the '50s, Baker had passed through several of what were known in England as trad jazz bands -- "trad" was the English designation given to what Americans and the rest of the world know as Dixieland jazz. It was the dominant form of popular jazz in England from the mid-'50s onward and it provided employment. He'd been a member of Terry Lightfoot 's and Acker Bilk 's bands, but the fit was an awkward one, owing to the passion that Baker often displayed in his work and his own personally outspoken nature.

Instead, he turned toward the budding British blues scene coalescing around the work of Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies -- less bound in tradition and built largely around younger players, this music was growing and being played in a much more open environment. In 1962, on the recommendation of Charlie Watts , Baker was selected as the latter's replacement in Blues Incorporated , the band started by Korner and Davies . It was here that Baker first crossed paths with two musicians -- saxman and organist Graham Bond and bassist Jack Bruce -- who were to play a key role in his professional career. Their work with Blues Incorporated was successful enough, but it was while the two were playing with a side group, the Johnny Birch Octet, that they began jamming with saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith (another Blues Incorporated alumnus) and began getting a very positive response from the crowds. It was out of those jams that Baker , Bond , Bruce , and (joining a little later) Heckstall-Smith formed the Graham Bond Organization in 1963, the former three quitting Korner 's group all at once.

The Graham Bond Organisation was never as popular as such Blues Incorporated offshoots as the Rolling Stones or the Small Faces , being more jazz-oriented in their approach to R&B, and, thus, a little too complex to find a huge audience, but they were successful and respected on-stage; Baker 's reputation among blues aficionados and more scholarly British rock listeners can be traced to his work with the group. Their recordings, however -- with the obvious exception of the Klooks Kleek concert album -- were never as exciting as their live performances. Its name aside, Ginger Baker was the de facto leader of the Graham Bond Organization . Bond himself was temperamentally unsuited to a leadership role, a condition made worse by the spells of substance abuse and addiction that blighted his life. The Bond group also hooked Baker up in the same rhythm section with Jack Bruce for an extended period of time, and few relationships between constant bandmates -- with the exception of siblings Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey 's efforts at working together in the early '30s -- have been so tumultuous and productive. The two genuinely hated each other on a personal level, and stories of each wrecking (or trying to wreck) the other's instruments and attacking each other on-stage abound.

Still, the group's sound was extraordinary, a jazz-based R&B built around four powerful players, each displaying varying degrees of virtuosity and assertiveness that was quite daringly complex. And their manager, Robert Stigwood , saw them all as talents worth keeping an eye on in the future. Baker eventually fired Bruce , who jumped to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers , which, fatefully, allowed him to cross paths with Eric Clapton for a short time, and then to Manfred Mann , as well as doing session work that even had him playing on records by the Hollies . By early 1966, the Graham Bond Organization had run its commercial course (though it was still sufficiently viable to turn up on a poster outside of the club that David Hemmings ' character enters in Blow Up), and Baker was searching for a new gig. He'd observed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in action and had known lead guitarist Eric Clapton for a couple of years, having jammed with him once in 1964 as part of the Graham Bond Organization , and approached him initially to write together and perhaps form a group.

Baker had, in effect, been running the Graham Bond Organization while Clapton had emerged in Mayall 's group so far into the spotlight that he'd eclipsed Mayall himself; they discovered that they were in exactly the same place. The great irony was that Clapton , impressed with Bruce 's musicianship in both the Bluesbreakers and a short-lived group called Eric Clapton & the Powerhouse , insisted that the bassist come aboard as the third member of the trio. Baker agreed, somewhat reluctantly, acknowledging Bruce 's daunting musical ability and willing to overlook their past animosities. The proposed trio, christened Cream , was signed up by Reaction Records, a record label founded by Robert Stigwood , who had been the manager of the Graham Bond Organization , knew of Baker 's and Bruce 's virtuosity intimately, and was equally impressed by Clapton and as eager as any executive in England to get the three together and see what would happen.

What happened initially was "Wrapping Paper," a pop-style single released in late 1966 that didn't impress too many people -- although even there, one could hear a swing element to the group's sound, reminiscent of '40s jazz, that showed off one (albeit minor) component of what went into their sound. Baker was barely audible in the mix, though what one could hear of the drumming did have a signature of sorts, a loose, jazzy element that was unusual. Within the next year, the band would become a chart-topping act and then a cultural phenomenon, however, and at its core was Baker .

He and Bruce continued to argue without let-up while Clapton mediated and refereed, and on their records everyone got to shine, but Baker 's playing was special even in that context -- on "Rollin' & Tumblin'," a Muddy Waters blues standard that the trio took into the stratosphere from the first note, Baker 's playing sounded like it was on another planet, matching Clapton 's rapid-fire quoting of the main riff and Bruce 's frenzied singing and quietly overpowering the listener; his playing on "I'm So Glad," by contrast, had a lyrical, almost melodic quality, like a veiled orchestral accompaniment to the bass and guitar -- he kept a beat, but his drumming also played the kind of role that a harpsichord continuo played in Baroque music. And then there was "Toad," in its original studio version, an offshoot of several pieces dating back to the Graham Bond days that featured Baker in a solo; here, as on "Oh Baby" from the first Graham Bond album, Baker made his drum kit sing. In concert, the piece would become the basis for a ten-minute drum solo that was no less impressive.

The trio's live sound was, alas, limited somewhat by the technology of the day, especially when they become too popular to play small clubs (which was very early), but Baker set a new standard for playing on record, and at those shows, that every drummer with more than an ounce of ambition sought to emulate. A lot of critics in later years also felt that Baker also had a lot to answer for -- that the 15-minute live version of "Toad," 13 minutes of which was Baker solo, opened the way to gargantuan drum solos by the metal bands that came up after Cream , culminating with the infamous (and extremely funny) drum solo interlude in the movie This Is Spinal Tap . Baker can hardly be faulted, however, for the excesses of those who followed after him -- his studio work with Cream , and at least the live material that was authorized for release, never showed him playing lengthy solos for their own sake but rather depicted a drummer coaxing beautiful voices out of his instrument. The mere fact that he could do it for ten minutes or more at a stretch was impressive, to say the least.

Cream made (and still generates) a huge amount of money, but couldn't last long with the egos involved -- in just over two years, they were history. It turned Baker into a permanent superstar, however. Such was his influence that he was able to turn young admirers of his playing on to older drummers such as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich , whose careers dated to the '30s and '40s, respectively. For a time at the end of the '60s, teenagers who hadn't even been born when Krupa retired the last of his big bands were seeking out the drummer's work, all based on Baker 's professed admiration for him. What followed next for Baker was Blind Faith , one of the most celebrated still-born bands in history -- many millions of records sold, and millions of dollars earned, despite their having only about an eight-song repertory of their own. Initially planned as a linkup between Clapton and singer/guitarist/keyboard player Steve Winwood , Baker came along and cashed in Clapton 's promise to include him in his next project and the resulting business and publicity frenzy pushed the band too far, too quickly.

In seven months they were gone, but out of the ashes of Blind Faith rose the group eventually known as Ginger Baker's Air Force . Ironically, Air Force 's history was an exact reversal of that of Blind Faith -- initially put together for two live gigs in England, the group suddenly found its life extended to a tour and a second album; in contrast to Blind Faith , however, whose hype had merely reflected an expectant audience eager to see a band made up of two superstars ( Clapton and Baker ) and one star ( Winwood ), Air Force 's hype was the product of promoters desperately hoping that it would be another Blind Faith . The group, which included Baker 's mentor Phil Seaman and his old bandmate Graham Bond , was much too eclectic ever to have achieved the kind of popularity that Cream or Blind Faith had enjoyed, embracing jazz, traditional African music, blues, folk, and rock. The ten-piece band lasted less than a year before breaking up, leaving behind a genuinely fascinating and exciting live album and an interesting studio LP (both combined on the Ginger Baker double-CD set Do What You Like .

In 1971, Baker decided to indulge his longtime fascination with African music first-hand and moved to Nigeria, where he built the first modern recording studio in western Africa. Over the next three years, he worked with a huge range of acts, including Fela and Paul McCartney 's Wings , as well as recording the solo album Stratavarious -- he ultimately lost the studio and most of his money (and has claimed that McCartney stiffed him for the use of the studio in the recording of Band on the Run ). During 1974, Baker formed the Baker-Gurvitz Army Band with guitarist Adrian Gurvitz and bassist Paul Gurvitz , which made an initial splash in America before fading out commercially over the next three years. He finally re-emerged in 1986, with bassist/guitarist Bill Laswell on the album Horses & Trees . By that time, a new generation of star drummers had emerged, most notably Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Bill Bruford of Yes and King Crimson , but Baker 's reputation, thanks to the continued catalog sales of Cream 's work, continued to resonate with fans and casual listeners.

Over the next few years, Baker reappeared through various projects, including Ginger Baker's African Force and Middle Passage, that freely mixed African and Western musical influences. And in 1991, Baker surprised onlookers with the release of Unseen Rain , a free-form instrumental album done almost entirely on acoustic instruments. Finally, in 1994, he returned to Atlantic Records -- which had been the U.S. outlet for Cream 's recordings -- and to what he realized were his jazz roots with the triumphant Going Back Home , which featured the Ginger Baker Trio . Baker had hooked up with jazz trumpeter Ron Miles on Coward of the County , a hugely successful showcase for his jazz side which also included a tribute to the late Cyril Davies , the British blues enthusiast who co-founded Blues Incorporated in the early '60s. Baker , like his ex-bandmates, has seen fit since the '70s to keep the legacy of Cream at arm's length or further -- the trio's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame reportedly did little to change his feelings, and he is also said to be astonished at the emergence of Eric Clapton to mega-stardom during the '90s.

Despite some of the financial and other troubles that have dogged him since the '60s, he has been content to go his own way musically for the benefit of any who cares to hear. He issued two albums with his African Force band in 2001 (ITM) and 2006 ( Palanquin's Pole ). In 2009, a video and audio document of a live show entitled Ginger Baker Plus Special Friends Live at the Jazz Cafe London was released, followed by director Jay Bulger's documentary Beware of Mr. Baker in 2012: a film in which the subject was an active participant, both confirming and exploding the various myths surrounding his persona. Surpising everyone, Baker signed to Motema Records in 2014. His debut for the label, Why?, was co-produced by drummer Alec Dankworth and Abass Dodoo . His lineup included Pee Wee Ellis on saxophones, Dankworth on drums, and Dodoo on percussion. The album was recorded in January and released in May of 2014.

Question: Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and who else formed the pop group 'Cream'?
Answer: Eric Clapton