It goes without saying that John McLaughlin is an outright legend. A jazz-fusion hero on steroids, the electric guitarist has worked with everyone from Miles Davis and Carlos Santana to Tony Williams and Al Di Meola.
But when asked which of his many moments onstage and on record he’s most proud of, McLaughlin hesitates.
“It’s such a hard question,” McLaughlin tells Guitar Player. “I really have no idea. You’d have to give me at least a day to think about it. I have so many memories that are engraved in my mind.”
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One of his earliest comes from his days in the Graham Bond Organization, which he helped found in 1963 with organist Graham Bond and a combustible rhythm section: bass guitarist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. Within a few years, the pair would go on to form Cream with guitarist Eric Clapton.
McLaughlin had a front-row seat to Bruce and Baker’s infamous clashes.
“They were unbelievable together, but they just got under each other’s noses all the time.”
— John McLaughlin
“They were unbelievable together, but they just got under each other’s noses all the time,” McLaughlin says, laughing at the memory. “It was unbelievable. I mean, the second I heard them play together with Graham Bond, I thought, ‘That’s it. I’m in.’ And those two, man — onstage they were kicking my butt. They were wonderful, and just what I needed.
“But every now and then, during the bass solo, which was done with an upright bass, Ginger would get impatient and start making commentary.
“He would say, ‘Come on, get a move on!’ And then there would be other times, onstage and off, where Ginger would say to Jack, ‘Your time is all fucking wrong!’
“And Jack would say, ‘You don’t fucking tell me my time is wrong!’
“And I remember one night, Ginger got so bored with Jack’s bass solo that he started throwing drumsticks at him.”
McLaughlin says he wasn’t present when Bruce finally got his revenge on Baker, but by all accounts the moment was explosive.
“Ginger was throwing the sticks at Jack too hard, and Jack turned around, took his upright bass and smashed it down on Ginger’s drums.
“I know when Eric Clapton was with them in Cream, he didn’t like it. I know Eric suffered, and I did, too.”
Despite his efforts, McLaughlin found it impossible to make the two men get along.
“I’d say, ‘Shit. Relax. Just play music and be happy.’ But they couldn’t stop.”
And yet, somehow, Bruce and Baker managed to turn their animosity into musical gold.
“When they worked together, they were dynamite,” McLaughlin says. “Ginger had a groove, and Jack just jumped on it, you know? I loved the beat they’d put down, and I know Eric did, too. They were amazing together.
“And their fighting was absolutely, without a doubt, part of their chemistry. I mean, emotions run high — and listen: music needs emotion. It needs strong emotions, and one of the things about them was that they had some strong emotions.”
