Jack Bruce: Bass Line Masterpiece

Jack Bruce’s bass line masterpiece, to me at least, comes from a 1968 performance of Robert Johnson’s Crossroads.

I freaking love it now, but the first time I heard the song, I was wholly unimpressed. My first exposure to that song was at a musty, crusty blues jam session, and the version that got played wasn’t all that great.

In fact, I was so turned off by this particular performance of the song that I mentally filed it away in a very unfavorable category:

‘Dad-rock’… 

At least, it was an unfavorable category to me at the time. Lol

It wasn’t until years later when I heard the 1968 Wheels of Fire recording of Crossroads that I realized just how wrong I was about it.

The colossal, slightly overdriven sound of the Jack Bruce bass line, the way his lines danced around the guitar and vocals, the relentless drive and insane energy of the drums…

This was a far cry from the ‘dad-rock’ version of Crossroads I had heard years before – and I LOVED it. So much that I ended up going down a Cream/Jack Bruce rabbit hole for a good couple of months, and it all started with me learning the Jack Bruce bass line from this version of Crossroads.

It’s also why today, I’ve got something super cool for you. I want to take you through the entire bass line masterpiece from this recording, show you why it’s just so cool and show you how you can use the ideas and concepts in your own playing.

In today’s bass legend deep-dive, you’ll learn:

• The 5 things you can do to sound more like Jack Bruce yourself (two of them are things you can do instantly)
• How Jack Bruce’s mastery of harmony and chords actually ‘lifts’ the song in certain places 
• Why this recording could have been a total mess and the simple, but masterful thing Jack Bruce does to hold the song together
• That Jack Bruce’s approach wasn’t really ‘rock-and-roll’ at all (and that he and Ginger Baker kept it a secret from Eric Clapton) 

Check out the lesson here:

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If you want the full 7-page note-for-note transcription of this bass line (tabs AND notation included) and want it for free, just fill out the form above and I’ll send it straight to you.

You’ll also get the pitch-corrected slower practice tracks so it’s as easy as possible to build up to the performance tempo.

As always with these things, a lot of the time, the real magic isn’t just in learning a specific Jack Bruce lick. The real magic happens when you peel back the layers, figure out what’s going on beneath the surface and try to dig out the concepts and ideas that great bass players use. 

If you learn a specific lick, you may be able to use it when you play that song – or maybe even songs in the same key or with a similar groove. But learn the ideas and concepts and you can use them any time you pick up your bass regardless of key, groove or style of music.

I do my best to peel back the layers in lessons like today’s so I can give you something useful from this Jack Bruce bass line for your own playing.

Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!

Cheers,