Thanks - not a bad track, opener on the latest cd ...... and I just feel the need to play it now so I am

It's the closer on the freebie

proves they are adaptable

Brian Keene - GHOUL

Composing Jack Bruce......I couldn't put the book down once I got into it. If you are a JB fan, this book is a must have. Fills in a lot of musical details from London in the early 60's to Jack's recent gigs with Robin Trower. A nice section on his early life too. Lots of stories about life on the road and it does a pretty thorough job of giving nice background info on almost all of Jack's collaborations with other musicians, rock, jazz, and otherwise. The guy has performed in an amazing variety of musical styles over the years and each album get's it's due.
The end of the book is a thorough discography and complete gig list! I never knew he played so many times in Boston!

An interesting note concerning Jack's book is that when Mountain toured England, Felix Pappalardi was about to leave the band. Their first choice for his replacement was Overand Watts and Paul Rogers.

Any idea what year that was, Rick?

A Northern Soul autobiography of Jimmy Nail

Around february of 1972. I'll quote the book..."They had heard both Free and MTH had broken up so they went to Island studios hoping to recruit Paul Rogers and Overand Watts."
Instead they called up Jack Bruce for a jam and the rest, as they say, is history.

yep - Jack Bruce became a jam addict (sometimes going onto the hard stuff - marmalade)

G

Just finishing Bowie, Bolan And The Brooklyn Boy the Tony Visconti autobiography. A good read. Think I'll move on to the Al Kooper autobiography Backstage Passes And Backstabbing Bastards next.

Just read Ginger Baker's autobiography - Hellraiser. Certainly intersting.

2 main thoughts.

1. Gingers' obsessive dislike of JAck Bruce - throughout the book this comes through. Not in here, but I read a Ginger quote previously that despite not liking him as a person, he still considers Jack the best bass player going - hence the reason he kept playing with him.

2. Ginger's drug dependancies throughout his life. How would he have ended up if he had steared clear. This is about the only thing bigger than his love of of drumming and hate of Jack.

G

Does he go into much detail of exactly why he hates JB ? Or is it just a constant rant. I know he claims Jack screwed him out of royalties for certain Cream songs.
Oh, and how much detail did he go into about the various bands he was inviolved with post Cream?

First of all it is a continuous rant, but not only due to the royalties (this came up just the once and he blames Pete Brown more than Jack). The way Jack would turn his bass amp to max loudness was another very sore point (and conversely also when Jack told Ginger to play quieter), resulting in Ginger going partially deaf. But he claims that JAck has a Mr Hyde character inside of him and can be very obnoxious in all manner of ways.

Other bands post Cream - he describes Blind Faith and the details of Air Force (particularly how the first incarnation (incl Stevie Winwood and Rick Grech) was the best but could not record due to contractual matters. Also his playing with his African buddies - and The Jack Bruce Band ! (JAck pointed out how Ginger would be his drummer.)

Also there is plenty about bands before Cream - his Jazz beginnings and of course Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and Graham Bond Organisation etc.

Ginger also explains how he developed a love for polo - and how he has continually been ripped off here also.

I still feel though that his drugs use (which really dominates the book and therefore his life) could well be the reason that he found himself facing a lot of difficulties. He could play the drums. When he started taking certain drugs he thought he could play them better. I reckon that he only thought he was playing better - he could have even gone on to even better playing without?

G

There was an interview with Ginger in a recent drum mag where he states he's still on some kind of "drug inhaler". I thought it was methadone, but I don't know enough about methadone. Any druggies out there that can help me out here?