Cream Bassist Jack Bruce Insults Led Zeppelin
Band Photo: Led Zeppelin (?)
The Classic Rock Awards last night played host to a number of honours bestowed upon legendary bands and Cream was no exception. The legendary blues rockers picked up the award for Classic Album with "Disraeli Gears" but bassist Jack Bruce had a few choice words for Led Zeppelin. An excerpt from a quick-fire interview reads as follows:
Classic Rock: The Million Dollar Question, Are Cream going to do anything again?
Bruce: Oh yeah, I’m sure we will. But we’ll have Todd Rundgren [who’s just walked by] in the band by then.
Classic Rock: It’s good news that there might be more from Cream.
Bruce: Well, the trouble is that I’m doing so many amazing things on my own. Cream is just a band from many, many years ago, and we did do something [referring to the reunion shows in 2005]… Everybody talks about Led Zeppelin, and they played one fucking gig – one fucking lame gig – while Cream did weeks of gigs; proper gigs, not just a lame gig like Zeppelin did, with all the [vocal] keys lowered and everything. We played everything in the original keys. [Becoming animated]: Fuck off, Zeppelin, you’re crap. You’ve always been crap and you’ll never be anything else. The worst thing is that people believe the crap that they’re sold. Cream is 10 times the band that Led Zeppelin is.
Classic Rock: That’s a bold opinion.
Bruce: What? You’re gonna compare Eric Clapton with that fucking Jimmy Page? Would you really compare that?
Classic Rock: To be fair, they’re different kinds of player, aren’t they?
Bruce: No! Eric’s good and Jimmy’s crap. And with that I rest my case.
Read the full article at Classic Rock Magazine.
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31 Comments on "Cream Bassist Insults Led Zeppelin"
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4. writes:
He does have a point though. I was just discussing this with a friend of mine and we agreed that Cream didn't get nearly as much hype for the reunion tour they did and they also put a huge amount of work into that as opposed to just one show. Both bands are great musicians but I'm not a fan of either.
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6. writes:
I still cant believe the guy would say such things.... yeah he is a respected bassist, and Cream put together some decent music..... but c'mon Jack.... be real...
"Cream is 10 times the band that Led Zeppelin is."
LOL... thats truly a case of someone talking out of their a$$...!!
I detect a tad bit of jealousy... well perhaps a little more than a tad bit...!!
On a side note..... Im wondering if this will light a fire under Plants a$$ to join the others and get out on tour..??
7. writes:
Jack must have been drunk, it's hard to believe he made such horrific comments. In the Cream Classic artists dvd he said Led Zeppelin continued what Cream started and that they deserved all the praise they were given. I feel sorry for him, he must be jealous, because he's never got the recognition he deserves. He's an honest, true artist who has never compromised his music, but these comments aren't fair, much less coming from Mr Bruce
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10. writes:
I cannot believe this! That was completely uncalled for...I love both of these bands, but Jack just made himself sound downright childish: "Led Zeppelin is crap, Cream is better, blah blah blah." No man, your attitude is crap. Cream is good classic rock, as is Led Zeppelin, but Led Zeppelin have made their historic mark as being one of the most legendary bands of ALL time; and they DESERVE to be called great. Their music expresses it, and the live footage of them on stage shows it! As for who deserves the title of being a 'better' guitar player, (between anyone) everyone has their own style...
" I may not believe in myself, but I believe in what I am doing" -Jimmy Page \m/
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12. writes:
first off, charest, you need to come on here more often, I enjoy your comments, FVCKING SLAYER!!!!!!!!! says it all for me lol
Secondly. I had nothing against Cream before, I thought they made good music, but now...FVCK THIS BASTARD! Led Zep is rock god as far as I'm concerned. I've played LZ songs on the guitar before, and I've looked at Cream tablature. NO comparison. LZ has so much musical experimentation and innovation it's not even funny. Cream was just good. Led Zep is amazing.
I am deeply offended.
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17. writes:
well, when it comes down to WHOS a better guitarist, f*** it, im going with clapton hands down, but i always dug zepplin a bit more than i did cream, but thats just my personal taste...
how very unclassy of him to do an interview like that... i subscribe to the idea that bands should just write and play music - not use the media to create stupid problems between certain bands and people...
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19. writes:
Oh JB!... You've gone senile old chap. If by "better" you consider Ginger Baker taking a slam of heroin while performing his solo on stage and never missing a beat, then you are right. Cream is better at intraveous drug use then Led Zepplin ever was. What a tosser.
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22. writes:
i mean really, did cream only have like 1 good song & the only talent in that band was clapton & what the hell has he done lately??....this bass player is just p***ed that there is no person wanting to listen to curdled cream any more...go cry over your dentures old man, no one cares about you or cream....old a$$ jimmy can still run rings around you & clapton
Member
26. writes:
I respect Zep.......but if anyone has a chance to listen to bootleg Cream from 67/68 they started what zep continued. Go track down Detriot Grande Ball room 67 or Oakland 67. After you listen to it then tell me Cream sucks. There are the greatest 3 piece band of all time and all thre (CLAPTON,BAKER, BRUCE) were the best at the instrument at the time. On the Detriot disk you'll here were Zep got some of their influance from and also Black Sabbath. Also Clapton hand down the better guitarist. Page was a great studio musician but Clapton...mind blowing!
Peace
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27. writes:
Born under a bad sign is correct-I knew someone who saw Cream live at the Fillmore West during this phase of their career;he rated it up there with Jimi Hendrix&All those psychedelic San Francisco&L.A.bands;NO ONE Else could keep up with Eric onstage,although he came away with the impression they hated each other&it boiled down to who could out-play each other on stage(Those maniacal rock star egos!)Jack Bruce is one of the Best Bass Players in R&R-along with John Entwhistle(R.I.P.),Chris Squire,Jack Casady,Sting,Stanley Clarke,and the greatest Bass player who ever lived-Jaco Pastorius(may he also R.I.P.)Jack B. has long had a reputation for being cross;His comments are typical of an alcoholic Scotsman.
28. writes:
Regardless of Bruce's possible less-than-favorable condition during this interview, he pretty much insulted a legendary group of musicians. The irony is that many people, including myself, could argue that Cream is just another one of the many pioneering bands of the time period. When I personally think about the foundations of hard rock and metal as we know it, I think of a number of bands, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Skynyrd, Steppenwolf, Mountain, etc. They all contributed to the same thing, though in varying degrees. I think Bruce's comments were pretty stupid anyway - I guess in his mind he thinks that the hype made over a reunion tour denotes the performing band as more influential in some way. Maybe I'm just f***in nuts though.
29. writes:
I have the bootlegs that Born under a bad sign mentions. They are mind blowing!!!! Also, Attilathehen mentions Mountain, very underated! Jack Bruce also played with them for a short period. But no one should forget about Baker...that guy beat the sh** out of his double kit. TOAD!!!!is brilliant (drumming wise). That said I would advise anyone who can track down the bootlegs that are mentioned above do it.!!!!...Any metal fan should...NSU on the Detriot bootleg is primitive metal and amazing. Cream would have been much bigger if they had played Monterey pop festival with Hendrix..but there manager thought they should do other gigs.
Cream fan
31. writes:
Oh come on.
Have you seen Jimmy Page live? He can make his f***ing guitar talk.
Robert Plant is God.
John Pual Jones is just amazing.
John Bonham is amazing. Their sound is amazing.
Cream is just...a band. I respect Cream for making good music, and I definetly respect Clapton and his solo work, but just...WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LED ZEPPELIN HERE!
Led Zeppelin oozes talent from all their band members. In my case the only real talent in Cream is Clapton.
Long live LedZep.
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1. V writes:
what a pr*ck. I beg to differ. Eric's a good guitar player but has NOTHING on jimmy. Zeppelin is 10X the band Cream is. Zeppelin is legendary, and so important to music for helping to create something new. Who is Cream again? Exactly, some f*ckin washed up band that is only still remembered for the good guitar player they did have. Not great, but good guitar player. The rest, shi*t. F*ck you Jack Bruce.