Cream’s Jack Bruce Rips Led Zeppelin

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I’m not sure what the deal is with this one. I’m not sure anyone knows what the deal is with this one. Perhaps Jack Bruce does not even know what the deal is with this one!

Lead singer and bassist for legendary rock veterans Cream, Jack Bruce, may be feeling a little jealous about all the attention that Led Zeppelin is getting these days. Bruce had a chat with Classic Rock Magazine following the recent Classic Rock Awards ceremony, and said some rather surprising things about his fellow rock legends.

While discussing the possibility of Cream getting back together, Bruce lashed out at Led Zeppelin. “Everybody talks about Led Zeppelin, and they played one f–ing gig – one f–ing 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 thejack-bruce original keys. [Becoming animated]: F— 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.”

After an outburst like that, one has to wonder if the man was tipping the bottle a bit before the awards ceremony. Despite whether you think Cream is a better band than Led Zeppelin, there really isn’t a good reason for Bruce to lash out with a vitriolic diatribe like that. I do not recall any comments coming from the Led Zeppelin camp regarding Cream or Jack Bruce that would have led up to this.

Bruce continues on and refers to Jimmy Page’s playing ability as “crap.”

I’m not surprised to hear Bruce’s response when he is asked if he attends a lot of award ceremonies. ”No. I don’t go to anything. I’m not allowed out. I’m not even allowed in,” he replies. I can’t imagine why that would be!

In a later radio interview with Detroit radio station WCSX, Bruce appears to back away from his harsh comments to some degree, suggesting that his comments were tongue-in-cheek, although he also says his original comments were true.

He does admit that there are some feelings of jealousy on his part regarding all the attention being lavished on Led Zeppelin these days. He then goes on to say some other unkind things about Led Zeppelin, although not quite as harsh as his original verbal assault. Perhaps his sense of humor is as off-beat as he suggests during the radio interview, and it all really was meant as a joke. Only he knows for sure.

One thing is for sure. This certainly has created quite a buzz in the classic rock world. Will we hear a response from Led Zeppelin? Will Bruce ultimately apologize and admit his comments were over the top? I guess we’ll just wait and see.

You can read the original interview with Jack Bruce at Classic Rock Magazine and hear his later interview with WCSX at this location.

7 Comments

  1. Chris November 7, 2008 at 7:22 pm

    Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, Jack. Leave the petty comments to someone else and focus on patching your differences with Clapton and Baker.

  2. Barbara (aka Layla) November 8, 2008 at 12:56 am

    Yeah, what Chris said!!!

    Barbara (aka Layla)s last blog post..I AM SO SORRY

  3. lorie November 12, 2008 at 11:39 am

    i for one, am tired of the led zep hype. it is nice to hear some of their obscure songs, but leave the overplayed one’s alone. let’s move on. they are not above all the rest. they are equal to all the best.

  4. Reggie1971 November 14, 2008 at 10:36 pm

    Cream were the pioneers? Excuse me, but weren’t a great many of Cream’s songs covers of pieces written by American bluesmen? I love both Clapton and Page’s music, although I happen to prefer Jimmy’s. Zeppelin was far more diverse in it’s material than Cream, and it’s songs are more enduring. Jealousy, pure jealousy. A total lack of class too. Also, if Bruce fancies himself as a bassist superior to John Paul Jones (ha ha ha), then he may want to lighten up a bit on the sauce.

    Paul McCartney has said that he loves Zeppelin’s music and is a good example of a great musician respecting other great musicians.

  5. R Cardona August 11, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    Jack may have been a tad bit undiplomatic, but at the end of the day, he’s right. Of the guitar greats who came out of the Yard Birds I always thought that Page was grossly overrated. And Jack himself was a virtuoso on the bass. He’s the reason I play bass today.

  6. Gon May 20, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    To be fair, Led Zeppelin is overrated…
    Cream were actual pionerrs, they took blues songs but made them rock, Clapton may be the first guitarist that didn’t play blues ‘properly’ while soloing.
    The only good member of LZ was Bonham, excellent drummer.

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