In November of 1993, Jack Bruce gave himself and his friends a belated birthday present for his 50th. Celebrating onstage for two nights in Cologne, Germany, Bruce and musical associates — including Ginger Baker, guitarist Clem Clempson and saxman Dick Heckstall-Smith — ran through a huge chunk of Bruce’s back catalog, filling up a two-DVD set. And, though it’s great to witness some of his more introspective, jazzier stuff, it’s his blues offerings that really turn the heat on. “First Time I Had the Blues” gets the blood pressure bubbling, Bruce slithering around underneath Heckstall-Smith’s low down skronk, Thompson cloning Clapton’s guitar skipping along on top with Baker’s door slamming twock covering the back end.
Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign” had been out for less than a year when Cream covered it on the studio side of ’68’s Wheels Of Fire. On the version included here, Baker is replaced by Simon Phillips, but with Bruce’s impassioned delivery and a little help from Bernie Worrell on keys, the song’s just as incendiary.
Bruce moves to piano and adds a horn section for “Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out of Tune,” from his first solo album in ’69, Songs For A Tailor.
But the big attraction here is the Cream cuts, some administered in double doses. You get “Sitting on Top of the World” and “Politician” and “White Room” served up twice, the first “Sitting” a bluesy take with Clempson on guitar, the second version a sweaty, soul-soaked rendition with former Thin Lizzie guitarist Gary Moore, who also does the honors on the second take on “Politician,” the second time around a gritty, heavy metal treatment as opposed to the lighter approach on the first take with Clempson.
“White Room” is the appropriate closer- you wouldn’t want to try to follow the second version. With Worrell on keys and Moore chewing up great chunks of the melody with his bow-wow box, guitar howling like a rabid dog, it makes the first take with Clempson seem like a karaoke outing.
The package is available from MVD in three versions: a Special Edition box set with 3 DVDs (two show discs plus an hour long Bruce documentary) and a Bonus CD, a DVD Edition Box set with two DVDs, and an Extended Edition with two DVDs and a CD in CD-Digi format.
It’s a great tribute to Bruce and a brilliant, comprehensive retrospective of his eclectic tastes. It’s a perfect Christmas present that’ll keep on giving all year long.
Grant Britt