Cream vocalist and bassist dies at 71

LONDON (AP) — Jack Bruce was part Mississippi Delta and part Carnaby Street. In his glorious heyday as bassist and lead vocalist of 1960s power trio Cream he helped create a sound that combined American blues and psychedelia to thrill audiences throughout the world.

Bruce, who died Saturday of liver disease at age 71, enjoyed a long, respected solo career after the band’s acrimonious breakup, but will be best remembered for his stint with Cream and for classics like “Sunshine of Your Love” and “I Feel Free.”

Much of the attention was focused on guitar wizard Eric Clapton, but Bruce wrote many of the band’s signature tunes and served as lead vocalist. He also provided the intense bass guitar that, with Ginger Baker’s explosive drums, underpinned Cream’s rhythmic, driving sound.

Bruce was an important member of the British blues movement.

Cream, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, played a mix of traditional blues songs, with long, often improvised instrumental breaks, and their own tunes.

Publicists LD Communications said Saturday Bruce died of liver disease at his home in Suffolk, England. He had received a liver transplant some years ago and continued to suffer a variety of health problems.

A statement released by his family said “the world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts.”

Bruce was born to musical parents in Glasgow, Scotland on 14 May 1943. His parents travelled extensively in Canada and the U.S., and the young Bruce attended 14 different schools. He finished his formal education at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition.

He left Scotland at the age of 16 and in 1962 joined his first important band, the influential Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc., in London. The band featured drummer Charlie Watts, who later joined the Rolling Stones.

Bruce was playing and touring with his Big Blues Band until recently. In 2012 he played in Cuba, and performed in London at the famed bar Ronnie Scott’s. His 14th solo album, “Silver Rails,” was released earlier this year.

He is survived by his wife, Margrit, four children and a granddaughter. Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.