Jack Bruce - Silver Rails

Silver Rails [2014] is the first album Jack Bruce released under his own name since More Jack Than God [2003].   Not that he was slacking between the two releases.  Shortly after the release of More Jack Than God, he got very sick with liver cancer, had a liver transplant and nearly died.  After his body nearly rejected his new liver, he stabilized and was well enough to take part in a brief reunion with Cream in 2005.  He and Robin Trower put out Seven Moons in 2008.  In 2012 he teamed up with John Medeski, Cindy Blackman Santana, and Vernon Reid to form Spectrum Road, a tribute band to Tony Williams’ Lifetime.  They released their eponymous album in 2012.  When he wasn’t busy with those projects he was gigging with his Big Blues Band all over Europe.  

Jack Bruce’s recording career hasn’t been very prolific.  He decided to make this album because he realized he wasn’t getting any younger.  He wanted to have an album with diverse music like he was listening to, and I think in that regard he succeeded.  He used his first solo album Songs for a Tailor as his template.  The comparison between that album and this one is appropriate.  He went to Abbey Road, and with a little help from his friends, we have Silver Rails.  The most inspired choice of collaborators on this album is the aforementioned John Medeski.  His Hammond organ and occasional Mellotron pop up on half this album to great effect.  There are rockers, and there are piano ballads in equal number.  And there are horns, something you don’t hear very much on a Jack Bruce release.  

The songs:

Candlelight – [Phil Manzanera – guitar; John Medeski: Hammond organ] At first listen I thought this sounded more like Jack’s remake of West, Bruce and Laing’s Out Into the Fields.  But instead of the Afro-Cuban feel of Out Into the Fields, the addition of a beefy horn section puts this one in Calypso territory.  Phil Manzanera plays a scorching guitar solo that I didn’t know he had in him.  This is an excellent opener for Silver Rails.  

Reach for the Night – [John Medeski: Hammond organ; Malcolm Bruce: guitar] – One of the best piano ballads Jack Bruce has ever written.  I like to hear this one after Fields of Forever, not before.  

Fields of Forever – Imagine Doin’ That Scrapyard Thing [Cream – Goodbye] with a horn section and you have Fields of Forever.  This is a good thing.  This is as up-tempo as Jack Bruce gets on Silver Rails.  This is my favorite from this album.  

Hidden Cities – [Uli Jon Roth: guitar, Cindy Blackman Santana: drums, Aruba Red, Kyla Bruce: vocals] – I expected some guitar pyrotechnics from Uli Jon Roth but didn’t hear any.  I tried to like this one, I really did.  This is the album’s “skip” track.  

Don’t Look Now – [Tony Remy: guitar; Malcolm Bruce: guitar; John Medeski: Hammond organ, mellotron] Look!  Another piano ballad!  This is a good one.  

Rusty Lady – [Robin Trower – guitar; Malcolm Bruce: guitar] Jack Bruce didn’t like Maggie Thatcher, the Scot socialist that he was.  And here he sings his “good riddance” to the Iron Lady.  It’s a cousin to Politician [Cream – Wheels of Fire].  Robin Trower is excellent as always.  Pete Brown has a great line - "when she stepped from her oxhide car, it was Winston in drag without the cigar."  

Industrial Child – This one is another piano ballad, with a faint acoustic guitar played by Tony Remy.  The best adjective to describe this one is haunting.  Better than Don’t Look Now, but not as good as Reach for the Night.  A keeper.  

Drone – Stukas!  Distorted bass and drums only.  His bass hasn’t sounded this distorted since he recorded Apostrophe(‘) with Frank Zappa.  Although there are references to bumble bees, this is a commentary on today’s terror weapon from above, with samples of a terror weapon of yesteryear to drive the point home.  I like it!  

Keep It Down – [Bernie Marsden – guitar] This song was first done on 1974’s Out of the Storm, his first LP after West, Bruce & Laing imploded.  Steve Hunter [he of Alice Cooper fame] played on the original, which would not have been out of place in either Cream or WB&L.  It had that power trio vibe.  This update version has Bernie Marsden instead of Steve Hunter, and John Medeski on Hammond organ.  Jack Bruce was a heroin addict when he wrote this, and he has said this is his Needle and the Damage Done.  This version isn’t as hard-hitting as the one from 1974, but it’s still pretty good.  

No Surrender – [Bernie Marsden – guitar; Cindy Blackman Santana: drums] This song was first done on 1989’s A Question of Time.  Despite Bernie Marsden’s presence on guitar, there’s little difference between this and the original.  Though this is a good song, it’s not essential either.  

Jack Bruce had plans to follow-up Silver Rails.  He bought a house in Mallorca, put in a small studio so he could write songs, and planned to go back to Abbey Road.  But his liver failed him and he died on October 25^th, 2014, seven months after Silver Rails’ release.  This wasn’t meant to be a final album like The Wind was for Warren Zevon, but there it is.  Fortunately for us, it’s one of the better albums in Jack Bruce’s canon.

Tony's Picks 2012 - The Albums

I didn't buy very much "new" music in 2012.  Like last year, there wasn't very much that screamed at me and said "buy me."  When I did buy music in 2012, it was mostly to complete collections I had already started [Grateful Dead, old Rush, etc].  I find that the new music I buy is from old folks who I've been listening to for many years.  Some of the usual suspects have already been reviewed in these spaces

 

Soundgarden - King Animal  This is Soundgarden's first album of completely new material since 1996's Down on the Upside.  The good news:  King Animal is better than Down on the Upside.  The bad news:  it isn't as good as Superunknown, but then not many albums are.  The best songs are on the first half of the album.  Favorite songs:  A Thousand Days Before, By Crooked Steps, Non-State Actor.

Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears  After being apart for 11 years, Dwight Yoakam comes home to Warner Brothers and releases his first album since his 2007 tribute to Buck Owens [Dwight Sings Buck].  3 Pears has lots of LOUD guitars, standard weepers, and a song with goofy-assed lyrics about jellyfish, peanut butter kisses and giraffes.  Favorite songs:  Take Hold of My Hand, It's Never Alright, A Heart Like Mine, Long Way to Go.

Mumford & Sons - Babel  The wait between 2009's Sigh No More and Babel has been worth it. Who knew that I would like a group of English folk revivalists?  These guys are loud, fiery, ballsy, and full of energy.  One thing they are NOT is "boring" [Fleet Foxes, call your office...].

Spectrum Road - Spectrum Road  This is probably as close to jazz that I will get. One hesitates to use the term "supergroup," but this one is close.  Jack Bruce [Cream], Vernon Reid [Living Color], John Medeski [Medeski, Martin & Wood], and Cindy Blackman-Santana come together to pay tribute to end expand on the music of Tony Williams' Lifetime.  The bulk of the material presented here is from Lifetime's catalog, with a couple of originals and one Scottish traditional song thrown in for good measure.  These guys are no mere tribute band.

Ian Anderson - Thick as a Brick 2 Ian Anderson [Jethro Tull's guiding light] answers the musical question that nobody but a hardcore Tull fan would ask - whatever happened to Gerald Bostock?  For those who don't know, "Gerald Bostock" was a 8-year old boy who wrote an epic poem about the trials of growing up that became the lyrics to Jethro Tull's 1972 concept album Thick as a Brick.  Well, not really...Gerald Bostock was really Ian Anderson, and TAAB was a parody of concept albums then en vogue in the early 1970s.  Unlike the 1972 work, TAAB 2 wasn't recorded as a single, 40-minute song.  The arrangements are leaner, less cluttered, but still well-executed.  TAAB 2 shows five different things that could have happened to Gerald Bostock - he could have been a greedy banker, a soldier fighting in Afghanistan, a shopkeeper, a homeless man, or a preacher.

Mark Knopfler - Privateering  After over thirty years in the business, Mark Knopfler released his first double album of studio material.  If you like what you've heard from MK since he gave up Dire Straits, you get more of the same here.  Oddly enough, this album was not released in the US.  I had to get it as an import.

ZZ Top - La Futura It's been a long time since ZZ Top released anything new.  La Futura has been heralded as ZZ Top's return to their roots.  That's a true statement - the synthesizers of the Eliminator years are gone, as are the beat-box, dub experiments that ruined XXX.  La Futura isn't Tres Hombres, but it's the best thing they've done since Rhythmeen.

Bob Dylan – Tempest It wasn't "the best Dylan release since Blood on the Tracks," but Tempest does continue the musical winning streak Dylan started in 1997 with Time Out of Mind.  Favorite songs:  Pay In Blood, Early Roman Kings, Narrow Way.

http://tonysmusicroom.blogspot.com/2012/10/bob-dylan-tempest.html

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Psychedelic Pill He toured three times with Crosby, Stills & Nash [2000, 2002, 2006].  He made a sequel to an album he never released [Chrome Dreams II].  He made an album-long ode to cars [Fork in the Road].  He devoted an entire album to ranting against the Iraq War [Living With War].  Finally, he got around to making a great album [that I didn't think he had in him] with Crazy Horse, and it's about damn time.  Favorite songs:  Walk Like a Giant, Psychedelic Pill, Twisted Road, She's Always Dancing.

http://tonysmusicroom.blogspot.com/2012/11/neil-young-crazy-horse-psychedelic.html

Rush – Clockwork Angels A first in the history of Rush - a concept album.  IMHO, it is far and away the best thing they've done since 1981's Moving Pictures.  Some things do get better with age, like Rush.  Favorite songs:  Clockwork Angels, Seven Cities of Gold, The Wreckers, Headlong Flight.

http://tonysmusicroom.blogspot.com/2012/06/rush-clockwork-angels.html

Ry Cooder – Election Special  This is Ry Cooder's contribution in kind to Barack Obama's re-election campaign.  While I don't agree with the message, I do appreciate the art.

http://tonysmusicroom.blogspot.com/2012/08/ry-cooder-election-special.html

Things to look forward to in 2013 [assuming the Mayans are wrong]:

Black Sabbath - After 33 years, Black Sabbath are finally recording an album of new music with Ozzy Osbourne.   The original four members [Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward] announced on 11/11/11 that they would reform, make an album and tour the world.  Things haven't quite turned out that way.  Tony Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma at this time last year, so plans had to be put on hold for him to recover.  Bill Ward told the world he's having contractual problems with band management and hasn't gotten a contract he could sign.  In 2012, the rest of the band played three shows with Ozzy's drummer, and from what I've heard of the shows Bill Ward hasn't been missed.  Tony Iommi is recovering well and recording continues on the new Sabbath album.  As yet untitled, it'll probably be out in April 2013.

Alice In Chains - These guys took everybody by surprise and released Black Gives Way to Blue in 2009 to rave reviews [including mine].  I wondered why it's been taking awhile for a follow-up, and last week I found my answer.  Guitarist Jerry Cantrell had shoulder surgery and needed to recover.  They started recording in 2011 and just finished not too long ago.  I think it will be out before Spring 2013.

Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell - They have a new album, "Old Yellow Moon," due out on Feb 26th.

Cream: Royal Albert Hall: London May 2-3-5-6 2005

When this band formed in the mid-1960s, Eric Clapton envisioned Cream as a blues trio. As history has shown, things didn't quite turn out that way. Forty years later, Slowhand finally got his wish. There are blues numbers here in abundance from the likes of Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Albert King, and Skip James. Recorded 37 years after their final proper concert at this same venue in 1968, time may have ravaged their looks, but definitely not their playing. Cream acts like a band this time around rather than as a group of egotistical soloists going for the jugular night after night as they did "back in the day." The jams for which Cream are renowned are kept to a tolerable length. Most songs on this collection clock in around 5-6 minutes. Those that do go long (Stormy Monday, Spoonful, We're Going Wrong, Sunshine, Toad) do not suffer as a result.

As it was back in their heyday, each member is afforded his own showcase. For Jack Bruce, it's "Rollin' And Tumblin'." On this number Jack, accompanied by his harmonica (no bass), Eric playing the slide, and Ginger Baker on the drums, stuns and amazes the crowd with an energy that belies the fact that the man nearly died in 2003. Eric Clapton's showcase is the T-Bone Walker classic "Stormy Monday." This is a new song for Cream as it was never on an official Cream release until this collection came out. Slowhand demonstrates that when he wants to, he is a master of the blues guitar. The man was simply on fire the night they recorded this song. Ginger Baker's showcase was, of course, the drum solo "Toad." By and large, drum solos are usually excuses to head to the bathroom or the concession stand. Not so here. "Toad" is simply compelling. It's isn't boring - it's Ginger Baker demonstrating that yes, the drum IS a musical instrument. By the time the solo ends you don't realize it had gone on for over seven minutes. It's that good!

The big surprise of this whole collection is Ginger's song "Pressed Rat and Warthog" from "Wheels of Fire." On the DVD that visually documented this reunion, Ginger told the interviewer that he was "threatened with execution" by his family if he didn't play this song. At a little over three minutes, this is the only hint of psychedelia that Cream shows throughout the set. Slowhand plays it straight - not a wah-wah pedal to be heard, and frankly it isn't missed (much). Jack Bruce is in fine voice throughout. Of interest is the band's different take on White Room. Instead of Jack Bruce singing the entire song as he has done since he wrote it, Jack sings the first two verses, Eric takes the refrain of those two verses, then the two swap roles for the third verse and refrain. Eric's song "Badge" had never been played live by Cream as it was recorded at the end of their 1960s run, and here Jack Bruce proves once and for all to hear that if you took his bass lines away from the song, there would be no song.

There are lots of plusses on this collection. The jamming is kept to a tolerable length, hence more songs to enjoy. The volume is lower than in their heyday, so the musicians can hear each other, and the interplay between the musicians makes for some outstanding music. One need look no further for proof of this than Cream's take on "We're Going Wrong". Thirty-seven years ago this band was full volume pedal to the metal jamming. Today this band plays like adults - it swings! Credit that to Ginger Baker, who plays more like a jazzer these days (when he does play). There is one minus - no "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (they fixed this oversight when they played MSG in October 2005). Other than that, this collection is a worthy addition to Cream's legacy.