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Jack Bruce calls Led Zep "lame", Jimmy Page "crap"
Cream bassist in amazing rant
Michael Leonard, Wed 5 Nov 2008, 11:10 am UTC
The UK’s Classic Rock awards are normally a relatively genteel affair for old rockers happy to be recognised in the autumns of their careers.
No-one obviously spread the message of bonhomie to Cream bassist Jack Bruce. In an astonishing outburst, he called Led Zeppelin’s reunion “lame” and Jimmy Page a “crap” guitarist.
Bruce was attending the awards show to accept the Classic Album award for Cream’s Disraeli Gears, released in 1967, but it was his after-show interview which has made the headlines.
Bruce was speaking to Classic Rock’s writer Dave Ling.
Dave Ling: It’s good news
that there might be more from Cream?
Jack 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.”
Ling: That’s a bold
opinion.
Bruce: “What? You’re gonna compare Eric Clapton with that fucking Jimmy Page?
Would you really compare that?”
Ling: 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.”
At the earlier awards ceremony, other winners included:
Band Of The Year – Foo
Fighters
Living Legend – Ozzy Osbourne
Showman Of The Year – Paul Stanley from Kiss
Event Of The Year – Led Zeppelin at London’s O2 (December ’07)
Get more from Classic Rock.
User comments (6)
-
Jack...Zep? A crap band? Are we talking about Led Zeppelin? The band who gave us 'Rock And Roll', 'Black Dog', 'Whole Lotta Love', 'Kashmir', 'Houses Of The Holy', 'The Immigrant Song', 'Down By The Seaside', 'Over The Hills And Far Away', 'When The Leve Breaks', 'The Lemon Song', 'Nobody's Fault But Mine', 'Hots On For Nowhere', Achilles Last Stand', 'Bron-Yr-Aur'...pant - pant - pant....and 'Stairway To Heaven'? Jack I hate it you worked so hard, but your gig with Cream (The Blues) doesn't compare with the kaliedescope of Led Zeppelin (The Universe).
-
John Paul Jones is a better musician than you Bruce. You just play guitar on a bass.
Do you think to be a great musician is just a matter of hands technique?
So, you're wrong! The most regarded and difficult thing is the creativity part. Anyone can be a great technician, is just a question of time. -
jack bruce has got a cheek!, page has more creativity in his little finger than clapton ever had.
zeppelin are, in my opinion, the best live rock band the world has ever seen, whereas cream don't even come close.
pity that a great bassist like bruce has become a bitter, twisted and jealous old man. -
I was at the reunion gig and it was very, very good. A lot less tame than the Cream reunion.
-
Cream was a much tamer band at the reunion than the one that played the Filmore in 67/68.
Zeppelin was a much tamer band at its reunion than the one that hit the scene as Cream bowed out.
Cream had the sense to get out while the going was good (or before they killed each other).
Zeppelin should probably have done the same, but Zep's mediocre is still pretty good by most standards (Physical Graffiti/Presence/etc) -
The original Led Zeppelin was awesome, I don't agree on that. (He probably was a bit drunk when he said that anyway.), but what I do agree on is that the Reunion gig was crap. It simply didn't work.
I absolutely love Led Zeppelin, but I feel they should give it a rest now. A reunion tour would only break the band's stellar musical reputation.
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