Jack Bruce

In my opinion, one album that has desperately wanted the Remaster treatment is ‘Songs For A Tailor’. Even though it was a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic on release in 1972, I found the original to be muddy and, worst, Bruces bass wasn’t clean. This release definitely addresses that and seems to give the album a height and space the original lacked. The only thing wrong is that it isn’t on vinyl!

So, now that the album has been cleaned up, is the music as good as I remembered it? Absolutely.
Bruce’s decision to stray as far away from Cream as he could puts him right into the jazz & folk scene that he was happiest in. Contributors to the album included Dick Heckstall-Smith, Chris Spedding, Jon Hiseman, John Marshall and a certain Mr George Harrison.
The jazz and poetic influences are there in track after track with standout tracks such as ‘Rope Ladder To The Moon’ with its strings and folk-style guitars, vocals phrased in highly individual manner, ‘Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out Of Tune’ loaded with horns and his fluid, almost lead, bass in close sync with them. Or ‘Tickets To Waterfalls’ sounding very like his days with Graham Bond.
The whole album is possessed of shimmering gems.

The Clamshell includes a new stereo mix taken from the original 8 Track Master tapes and a 5.1 mix by Stephen W Tayler plus the 1970 documentary ‘Rope Ladder To The Moon’.

This was Bruce’s first solo album and led the way to a magnificent career in Jazz, Rock, Blues. Always striving for the next musical treat and rarely disappointing over a 40+ year career.