Jack Bruce remains the greatest bass player in the entire history of rock ‘n' roll. He became a legend because of his association with Cream, still one of the most extraordinary bands ever to grace the stage.
But his own story is even more extraordinary. Born amid the slums of Glasgow known as the Gorbals, his musical talent was quickly recognised and he attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music where he played the cello and keyboards. Then he discovered jazz...and rock ‘n' roll. Although Cream did not immediately bring the financial rewards some people imagine, after the group broke up in 1968 he was able to buy a large island off the Scottish coast. Some rags to riches story!!
With Cream he also discovered he was a considerable composer - many of the group's famous hits were written by him - so it was no surprise when in 1970 he released a jazz-orientated LP of his own compositions called Songs for a Tailor.
This 55-minute film, made at the same time, takes Jack from the Gorbals, via Cream, to his island called Sanda, playing the cello, the sitar and thundering away on the organ of the Albert Hall in London, while featuring many of the tracks from his LP. With his strong socialist principles (his father had been a member of the Communist party) Jack Bruce himself provides the striking commentary. "What kind of a society do we want?" it begins....
Originally shown on the BBC in 1971, this critically acclaimed film has been restored to something approaching its former glory and reminds us yet again what a great musician Jack Bruce is.
Made as a sequel of sorts to his landmark 60s TV documentaries All My Loving and Cream Farewell Concert, the raison d'etre behind Tony Palmer's Rope Ladder To The Moon was to introduce Jack Bruce the solo artist to the wider public after Cream's whirlwind two and a bit year
career. Filmed in 1969 and originally broadcast on the BBC's Omnibus slot in February 1970 Rope Ladder To The Moon offers a revealing portrait of Bruce the man and the musician who at the time was working on his debut album Songs For A Tailor.
Rather than following the standard interview format the film is narrated by Bruce himself and follows him as he visits selected landmarks in his native city of Glasgow including his childhood home of the Gorbals, the Barrowland market, taking in an Old Firm game, getting away from it all on his recently purchased island off the west coast of Scotland and, among other things, playing Vidor on the Albert Hall organ. In between times Bruce offers his take on everything from the grim reality of living conditions in the slums of Glasgow to the impact of the highland clearances. Interspersed with all this is performance footage of Bruce putting his then current band featuring Dick Heckstall-Smith, Chris Spedding and Jon Hiseman through their paces on material from Songs From A Tailor.
Interestingly, in the accompanying interview Tony Palmer reveals that he originally intended to make three films following the post Cream career path of messrs Bruce, Baker and Clapton however, the Jack Bruce documentary was the only one which made it onto celluloid.
Grahame Bent
