Jack
Bruce passed away on October 25, 2014.
Bruce was one of the great rock 'n roll artists of all time. He was the bassist and remarkable vocalist of
the egotistically- (but accurately) named band, Cream. Cream also included two of the other greatest
rock 'n roll artists of all time, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker.
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| Fresh Cream |
Bruce's obituary indicated that Cream sold 35
million records in only two years, from
1966 to 1968, at which time they
disbanded (a familiar occurrence for great bands in the 60s’ of course. Did
someone say, “the Beatles”?) No longer
able to get along (in Bruce’s own words, Cream was not really a band, just
three individuals playing together), nevertheless, the trio’s two years together lit up the rock
'n roll firmament like no other band.
(Bruce’s obituary in the Washington Post also indicated that Cream was awarded the world’s first ever platinum
disc for their double album “Wheels of Fire.”
I was
blessed to see Jack Bruce in 2002 at Wolf Trap in Northern Virginia perform
with the "A Walk Down Abbey Road" tour. Our group included my young sons who were
already hooked on the Beatles (parental influence notwithstanding). The show featured Bruce, Christopher Cross,
Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, and Alan Parsons of his eponymously-named Project
paying tribute to the Beatles and
performing their own songs. See the set list here. It was a remarkable
evening. Jack Bruce played Sunshine Of
Your Love and White Room and I was thrilled to hear those two classics by the
original artist sung in great voice. Quite
simply, it was a quasi-religious experience.
Bruce's
passing reminded me of one of his greatest songs and the one of the most
memorable songs in rock 'n roll history,
Theme For An Imaginary Western. (I have
wanted to create a parody of the lyrics of this song for some time, but such
would be seriously inappropriate now, and maybe always was.) The music
is beautiful, the lyrics are powerful and haunting.
And so
are the videos. While Bruce wrote the
music and not the lyrics, the song maybe an allegory for the journey he has
entered now. Watch the video here and revel in the greatness of this artist and
the song. Bruce dedicates the song to
Felix Pappalardi, a member of the classic group Mountain and the producer for Cream. Bruce wrote the song in 1967. (Listen to the original Bruce recording here from Songs for a Tailor, Bruce’s solo album recorded in 1969.) Never
recorded by Cream, Bruce’s friend Pappalardi performed it with Mountain at Woodstock,
and included it in Mountain’s 1970 album “Climbing”, and the rest as they say
is rock 'n roll history. Watch here (skip to 1:05) here as Leslie West plays the song and dedicates
this version to Pappalardi as well.
The
wagons have left the city to bear Jack Bruce to Rock 'N Roll Heaven and now he
can once again embrace Felix Pappalardi and perhaps play the song they both
loved together one more time and eternally.
To paraphrase Leslie West, wherever you are, Jack, God bless you on your journey. We will always think, Oh the music when they played.
Theme
For An Imaginary Western
Music
by Jack Bruce
Lyrics
by Peter Brown
When
the wagons leave the city
For the forest and further on
Painted wagons of the morning
Dusty roads where they have gone
Sometimes travelin’ through the darkness
Met the summer comin' home
Fallen faces by the wayside
Look as if they might have known
All the sun was in their eyes
And the desert that’s dry
In the country town
Where the laughter sounds
Oh the dancing and the singing
Oh the music when they played
Oh the fire that they started
All the girls with no regret
Sometimes they found it
Sometimes they kept it
Often lost it on the way
Fought each other to possess it
Sometimes die in sight of day
Oh the sun was in their eye
And the desert that’s dry
In the country town
Where the laughter sounds
AMDGTM
©
2012-14 R.E. Kelly
