Quite a pedigree (from Wiki):
After leaving school, he toured Italy, playing double bass with the Murray Campbell Big Band.[4] In 1962, Bruce became a member of the London-based band Blues Incorporated,[5] led by Alexis Korner, in which he played the upright bass. The band also included organist Graham Bond, saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Ginger Baker. In 1963, the group broke up and Bruce went on to form the Graham Bond Quartet with Bond, Baker, and guitarist John McLaughlin.[3] They played an eclectic range of music genres, including bebop, blues and rhythm and blues. As a result of session work at this time, Bruce switched from the upright bass to the electric bass guitar. The move to electric bass happened as McLaughlin was dropped from the band; he was replaced by Heckstall-Smith on saxophone and the band pursued a more concise R&B sound and changed its name to the Graham Bond Organisation. They released two studio albums and several singles, but were not commercially successful.
In 1964, Jack Bruce married Janet Godfrey who had been the secretary of the Graham Bond Organisation fan club, and had collaborated with Bruce on two songs written for the group.[4]
During the time Bruce and Baker played with the Graham Bond Organisation, they were known for their hostility towards each other. There were numerous stories of the two sabotaging each other's equipment and fighting on stage. Relations grew so bad between the two that Bruce left the group in August 1965.[6]
After leaving Bruce recorded a solo single, "I'm Gettin Tired", for Polydor Records.[3] He joined John Mayall and his John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers group, which featured guitarist Eric Clapton. Although his stay was brief; the Universal Deluxe double album Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton contains all the known tracks featuring Bruce.
After the Bluesbreakers, Bruce tasted his first commercial success as a member of Manfred Mann in 1966, including "Pretty Flamingo" which reached number one in the UK singles chart (one of two number one records of his career - the other being an uncredited bass part on The Scaffold's 'Lily the Pink')[3] as well as the freewheeling and ground-breaking jazz-rock of Instrumental Asylum. When interviewed on the edition of the VH1 show Classic Albums which featured Disraeli Gears, Mayall stated that Bruce had been lured away by the lucrative commercial success of Manfred Mann while Mann himself recalled that Bruce attended recording sessions without having rehearsed but played songs straight through without error, opining that perhaps the chord changes seemed obvious to Bruce.[7]
Whilst with Manfred Mann, Bruce again collaborated with Eric Clapton as a member of Powerhouse, which also featured the Spencer Davis Group vocalist Steve Winwood credited as Steve Anglo. The 3 tracks were featured on the Elektra sampler album What's Shakin'. Two of the songs, "Crossroads" and "Steppin' Out", were to become staples in the live set of his next band. (= Cream)
