‘We’re not Cream!’ – How Gary Moore, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made an album (BBM: Around The Next Dream 1994)

From loudersound.com

In 1993 Gary Moore, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce joined forces to form BBM. When they got to the studio, it started to get really interesting…

When Gary Moore joined Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in the ‘ersatz Cream’ BBM in 1993, it was a dream come true for the guitarist – but one that was over almost as soon as it began.

We tell the full story of the short-lived and bumpy ride of Baker-Bruce-Moore in Classic Rock 243, and we’ve reproduced an excerpt below, in which the trio enter the studio to record their debut album…

It all started calmly enough. The new band went into the large residential studio at Hook End, Berkshire. And as a present for Ginger, Gary’s team managed to track down Ginger’s old Ludwig double-bass-drum Cream drum kit on sale in a drum shop in North London. “Ginger walked in,” said Gary, “and he was just freaked when he saw it. But he didn’t end up using it because it didn’t sound as good as his modern kit.”

Gary did have concerns, though, when Ginger first arrived at the studio, as producer Ian Taylor explains: “Ginger had been paid a lot of money for the session, flown in from America Business Class and so on, and he turned up with hands full of cuts and calluses. Turned out that Ginger had been building fences for his horses and his hands looked like a stockman’s.”

He also had a whopping great bump on his head. Apparently he had been doing a spot of roof repairs on a windy day. He tried to grab his hat as it blew off, forgetting that he was holding a hammer at the time.

After they ran through some Cream songs to warm up, “we started putting down tracks and it was very easy,” Gary said. “There was no problem at all. It was really fun and I got a great insight into the chemistry between Jack and Ginger. It wasn’t what I thought at all; they weren’t at each other’s throats. I think Jack really looks up to Ginger, and Ginger knows it, so he’ll never tell him he’s any good. They’re like two brothers, just winding each other up.

“One day I said to Jack: ‘Can you ask Ginger to play the hi-hat pattern like he did on Born Under A Bad Sign?’ ‘No way. I’m not fuckin’ asking him. You ask him.’ So I just pressed the button in the control room and asked him to play that pattern and he said: ‘Yeh, sure, man. No problem.’ And Jack looked at me speechless. They were just like an old married couple. It’s just the way they were.”

Ian Taylor agrees that, for the most part, and given the egos, it was remarkably plain sailing.

“We did have one problem over timing with Ginger. For some reason we were using a click track on Where In The World, and Ginger just couldn’t or wouldn’t get on with it. It can be a problem for the older drummers. I remember the contacts sheets back from Virgin, it was such a strong image.”

It was also the most amazing juxtaposition: rock’s Grade-A curmudgeon in a long black coat, smoking a fag, presented as a heavenly celestial being – one of rock’s classic album covers.

The album, Around The Next Dream, was released on May 17, 1994 at the start of the tour. The whole vibe about a possible Cream reunion, and the fact that half the songs clearly had their Cream antecedence, gave the critics ample ammunition for comments along the lines of: ‘They couldn’t get Eric, so they got Gary instead’, which was a world away from the truth.

Gary recalled that one interviewer actually asked him: “Have you always wanted to be Eric Clapton? And now you can be?”

“And I thought: ‘No, fuck off.’ And then Ginger chimed in with ‘Gary plays like Gary. Eric plays like Eric.’”

Jack also found the ‘ersatz Cream’ jibes very irksome: “We deliberately wanted to nod towards Cream. It was around the time when Oasis were copying The Beatles, so I thought: ‘Why shouldn’t I do a copy of me?’ So it was very deliberate, and I thought it worked very well.”

Some reviewers did buck the trend: Q magazine concluded that the album was “satisfyingly well rounded… which proves that BBM are not Cream re-formed with one notable omission, but a credible band in their own right.”

Even the ever-astringent Charles Shaar Murray, writing in Rolling Stone, felt that improved recording techniques gave this band a sound that was “bigger, cleaner, rounder and more defined than the often fuzzy, scuzzy, overcompressed Cream”, and thought Gary had out-Gibsoned and out-Marshalled his illustrious predecessor.

Despite all the carping, the album sold well in Europe and got to No.9 in the UK chart.

BBM (Ginger Baker/Jack Bruce/Gary Moore) Around The Next Dream (1994)

From sputnikmusic.com

Two thirds of Cream combine with guitar legend Gary Moore to create an enjoyable if unspectacular blues rock album.
There’s two ways of looking at this project, each of which will leave you with varying levels of expectation. Some will look at this band as a “supergroup” containing three blues rock legends and will undoubtedly be expecting something special. On the other hand many will look upon this as Cream without Clapton, which, in all honesty, isn’t a particularly exciting prospect until you consider the talents of his – dare I say – replacement.

BBM:
Jack Bruce – Bass, Vocals, Cello
Ginger Baker – Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Gary Moore – Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards

While Gary Moore hasn’t been around as long as his band mates here, he does have an equally extensive back catalogue, one that has earned him respect among the blues and hard rock community. Few will need an introduction to former Cream members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker who have both managed to keep themselves busy since the demise of Cream, both releasing a series of solo albums along with various collaborations.

Considering the legendary status of the musicians involved, Around the Next Dream was a relatively low profile release. However upon it’s release, in May 1994, it received mostly positive reviews and peaked at number 9 in the UK Album Chart. The opening track, Waiting in the Wings and following track, City of Gold see all three band members in great form and it is immediately evident that Moore is happy to stick to his own unique guitar style rather than trying to adapt and imitate Clapton’s trademark sound that featured so prominently in the Cream sound of the late 60’s. Jack Bruce is no stranger to working with Moore as he made a brief appearance on Moore’s solo album, Corridors of Power, singing on the track End of the World, he also handle’s vocal duties on a large portion of the tracks here.

Where in the World was released as a single and is one of the most memorable songs on the album, featuring vocals from both Moore and Bruce, the song reached number 57 in the UK Singles Chart. Most of the songs are credited to Moore with contributions from both Bruce and Baker, although the latter only contributed to the writing for two songs, namely Glory Days and the lengthy Why Does Love (Have to Go Wrong). The bluesy High Cost of Loving is one of the album’s many highlights, featuring some breathtaking guitar playing from Moore and a strong vocal performance from Jack Bruce, who’s voice sounds in great form throughout. Another album high point is the cover of Albert King’s I Wonder Why (Are You Mean To Me), which precedes the slow melancholic album closer, Wrong Side of Town. There is a strong blues flavour running throughout the album, with several of the songs sounding more like Gary Moore solo tracks than band efforts, particularly Can’t Fool the Blues and the aforementioned Albert King cover, both of which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on either of Moore’s two previous albums. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as Gary Moore was on a career high following the release of the highly acclaimed Still Got the Blues and After Hours albums and his presence helps keep this album from sounding like an attempt from Bruce and Baker at regaining past glories. Despite this, Cream comparisons will inevitably be drawn, particularly in relation to the album’s opening track, Waiting in the Wings, which strongly resembles White Room from Cream’s Wheels of Fire album. But whatever the occasion, when two members of Cream work together, Cream comparisons are unavoidable and fortunately the material on offer here is consistently strong enough for this not to be a problem.

The band toured the UK briefly as well as appearing at a few rock festivals but sadly the band was shortlived and they ended up disbanding later that year. While nothing on this album is likely to reach the heights of Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love or even Moore’s own Still Got the Blues, overall it is an excellent album and one that is an essential purchase for any blues rock fan and also a testament to the skills of a truly remarkable guitarist who will be sadly missed.