Friday Feature -- Tales of Brave Ulysses

Yup, I'm a child of the sixties.  First time I heard this song was in an eighth grade English class when we were reading Greek mythology.  Our teacher (Mrs. Nygren--a bit of a hippie) played Cream's "Tale of Brave Ulysses" to stir our interest in classical literature.  I never did like Greek mythology, but I've loved Cream ever since--not their pop stuff, but the live jams when Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton just let it rip.  Jack Bruce died this week at age 71.  IMHO, best rock bassist ever.  Love the fur hat!  This is from a live appearance on the Smothers Brothers in September of 1968.

Comments

[pb]

Who would have thought Ginger Baker would outlive Jack Bruce?
And Dickie Smothers is now doing commercials for some geriatric product.
Wow does this make one feel old!

[Kim Riddlebarger]

When I first wrote the post, I mentioned that one look at Ginger Baker in 1968 would convince anyone that he wouldn't make 40. But deleted it. Last time I saw Baker interviewed, he looked pretty robust. Bruce looked awful--he had a recent liver transplant. In his biography, Clapton said the heavy and prolonged drinking--which came after they stopped doing drugs--did far more damage to their collective health than did the earlier drug use.

[reg]

Kim,
If you like Jack Bruce, here he is solo on the piano doing his Theme from an Imaginary Western/ I always wish they had stayed together long enough to have recorded this song, which Jack put on his first solo album right after the breakup of Cream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eszCRHkI9zA

[Kim Riddlebarger]

Reg:

I almost posted this clip, but wanted to show Bruce's skills as a bass-player. I saw JB only once live--playing with Leslie West and Corky Laing (West, Bruce, and Laing) in Anaheim in November of 1972. West broke a string, and JB played a long bass solo while West's guitar was getting fixed. It was unbelievable. They played Theme from an Imaginary Western, which was also a popular number for Mountain--West's previous band.

[Richard Zuelch]

Kim, do you think Bruce was a better bassist than Paul McCartney, who is generally regarded as the most underrated white bass player of the 1960s?

[Kim Riddlebarger]

Richard:

Like apples and oranges . . .

Clapton always claimed to be a blues player, and Bruce and Baker identified themselves as jazz musicians. I'd certainly give PM the edge as a song-writer and vocalist. JB was underrated as a vocalist and songwriter, but he plays that bass as though it were a lead guitar. All the rock bassists (even Entwhistle) said JB was the best. PM played bass, but you tend not to think of him as a bassist.

[matt]

I guess Stryper was after your time, Kim? A pastor who prefers Cream to say....Casting Crowns? I'm in.

[Pat Morgan]

That rainbow-colored guitar that Clapton is playing in the video eventually came into the possession of Todd Rundgren (!), who played it live in the 1970's. I saw it later in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

Can anyone explain how so much high-grade talent came out of England in the 1960's? The U.S. wasn't too far behind, either. Maybe analogous to the massive amounts of high-quality Puritan literature hundreds of years before? (ha ha). I've heard someone argue that those young lads of the 60's were the last generation to receive a quality education. They certainly were more articulate, if you ever listen to old interviews.