Jack Bruce’s favourite Cream song
When looking at the rock scene of the 1960s and the development of the psychedelic subgenre, you cannot avoid Cream for very long. The line-up of the psychedelic trio now sounds like something of a supergroup, made up of incredibly talented musicians Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. However, nowadays, the discourse around Cream seems to centre almost exclusively on Eric Clapton, which is not entirely fair to the other two.
Regardless of your opinions of the incredibly problematic figure that is Eric Clapton, his proficiency on guitar cannot be denied. Nevertheless, his position within Cream is often overrated. After all, all of the classic Cream tracks that you know and love were not written by Clapton but by Bruce and the poet Pete Brown. Bruce is undoubtedly the most underrated aspect of Cream, consistently proving himself to be an utterly incredible musician and songwriter.
Throughout the fairly short-lived tenure of Cream, Jack Bruce co-wrote an impressive plethora of classic songs, including the likes of ‘Sunshine of Your Love’. Many of these tracks were written alongside Bruce’s friend and collaborator, Pete Brown, though Bruce’s solo work and later projects suggest he was more than capable of penning unforgettable tracks in his own right.
In a 1997 interview, uncovered after Bruce’s death in 2014, the bassist revealed that he would often draw upon inspiration from other prominent figures in late 1960s rock music. For instance, the songwriter was inspired by The Beatles for one of their early hits, “‘I Feel Free’, our second single. I was fascinated by The Beatles’ use of two-and-a-half, three-minutes time to make really amazing statements,” he shared, “I was very influenced and keen to do something similar. I don’t think I quite managed.”
Cream were responsible for a frankly ridiculous amount of genre-defining material during their short time together. Seemingly, though, one track in particular stands out for Bruce. Revealing his all-time favourite Cream track, the bassist affirmed, “Probably ‘White Room’” Before revealing that he once again drew upon his contemporaries for the song, “The inspiration for the music came from meeting Jimi Hendrix and his approach to playing. In fact, he came to the recording session of that in New York and said to me, ‘I wish I could write something like that.’ I said, ‘But it comes from you!’”
Continuing to detail the process behind ‘White Room’, Bruce said, “It’s a synthesis of things and not a completely original chord sequence. It’s the way we placed certain things in time that makes it original.”
The songwriter also claimed that, originally, his record label were apprehensive to put the track out, “I had problems with the record company because of the introduction being 5/4 and those suspended second inversion chords. They didn’t think it would make it.”
Although the original incarnation of Cream only lasted for two years before heading their separate ways, the trio did reform in 1993 for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group did tour again, at the request of Eric Clapton, in 2005 for a series of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. Now, with Clapton the only living member of the group, it seems as though those 2005 shows were the last the world would ever see of the psychedelic rockers.
