Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler is easily among heavy metal’s most beloved bassists, so it’s only right that he praises the people who inspired him. Specifically, Butler recently credited late Cream frontman/bassist Jack Bruce with being “the one player that totally showed [him] what you could do with a bass.”
What Did Geezer Butler Say About Jack Bruce?
Butler was a guest the second episode of Fender’s new “Lowdown on the Low End” video series (uploaded on June 11). Seeing as how the series “features some of the most iconic, recorded and exciting Precision Bass players alive sitting down . . . to talk all things P Bass,” it’s probably no shock that he was joined by Foo Fighters’ Nate Mendel. Together, they talked about all sorts of things, including when Butler first drew influence from Bruce.
The moment happened early in their conversation, when Mendel reminisced about being “really into the Police” when he first got into bass playing. “Sting was playing a P Bass, so that became, like, the guiding light for me. I gotta do what he’s doing,” he said before asking Butler: “How’d that work for you?”
Butler didn’t hesitate to answer:
“The one player that totally showed me what you could do with a bass was Jack Bruce when I went to see Cream,” he began, adding:
Everybody was going, “You’ve got to see this incredible guitarist. His name’s Eric Clapton,” and back then, [they] used to play little clubs around Birmingham [England]. I stood right at the front of the stage [and] Jack came out with his Fender, and it was like, “What the hell?!” [laughs]. I couldn’t believe that people could do that with a bass, and that was it. I went, “That’s what I want to do. I want to play bass.”
This wasn’t the first time Butler acknowledged how much Bruce shaped his life, either.
Back in 2023, for instance, Butler spoke with Full Metal Jackie about his favorite Black Sabbath albums and the bassists that inspire him. In addition to showing love for Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr, Butler touted Bruce as his biggest inspiration:
I saw Cream three times in the late ’60s and the first two times I was standing in front of Eric Clapton cause everybody was saying, “Oh, you gotta see this guitarist guy. He’s incredible.” So, I went to see Cream and I stood in front of Eric Clapton and he was absolutely brilliant. Then, on the third occasion, I thought, “I’m just standing in front of the singer,” which is Jack Bruce and I couldn’t believe what he was doing on bass and I thought, “Oh my God, that’s incredible.” He’s playing rhythm and lead guitar at the same time on bass while he’s singing. So, he was immediately like my ultimate hero bass player those days.
A bit later, Mendel asked Butler why he chose the P Bass, and Butler explained that he began as a rhythm guitarist and “used to think [he was] John Lennon” (and that finding a bassist wasn’t a priority when Black Sabbath were being formed). However, when asked if he’d join, Tony Iommi said (in Butler’s word): “Yeah, I’ll give it a go . . . but I’m not playing with a rhythm guitarist.”
“So, I said, ‘Well, I’ll switch to bass, then,’” Butler laughed. “Of course, I didn’t have a bass. I only had a Fender Telecaster. I swapped me Fender Telecaster for a Precision Bass. I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got a Fender, so the next thing I’m gonna get is another Fender.’”
You can watch the full second episode of Fender’s “Lowdown on the Low End” series below.
Geezer Butler Discusses Jack Bruce + More on “Lowdown on the Low End” (June 11, 2026)
READ MORE: 5 ‘70s Protest Songs That Were Controversial at the Time
Other Geezer Butler + Black Sabbath News
Last month, Loudwire included Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” (from 1970’s Paranoid) in our list of five ‘70s protest songs that were controversial at the time. In particular, we wrote:
Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” is one of the most popular and well-known protest songs of the modern day; even though most people don’t realize that they’re not just listening to a bad ass heavy metal song, but instead are listening to Sabbath’s criticism of the Vietnam War.
The title of the track was originally intended to be “Walpurgis” which is a reference for Walpurgis Night; a festival often associated with witchcraft and dark rituals. It’susually referred to as the Satanic Christmas. Early versions of the lyrics also heavily leaned into occultist imagery; with efforts to metaphorically portray war-makers as the true embodiments of evil. Out of fear of being “too” Satanic leaning, the title was changed to “War Pigs” and lyrics soon evolved into verses that were nothing short of politically charged.
In a 2015 interview with ‘Guitar World,’ Geezer Butler described some of the background behind the song: “We wrote ‘War Pigs’ because many American bands were frightened to mention anything about the war. So, we thought we’d tell it like it is.”
Other Jack Bruce + Cream News
Cream’s third studio LP (and, as UCR previously noted, their “only U.S. chart-topping” one) – 1968’s Wheels of Fire – just got an expansive Super Deluxe reissue courtesy of Polydor and Universal Music Recordings.
The record is home to some of the trio’s most popular tunes, including “White Room,” and per the official website, the 5CD package “features a 2026 remaster and a previously unreleased phase-corrected version of the entire album.” It also includes “stereo and mono reference reels” alongside “Live At The Fillmore Auditorium& Winterland Ballroom” and over a dozen “remastered rarities.”
The 5CD version also includes “a hardcover book with sleeve notes by Jim Farber,” whereas the 3LP 180-gram vinyl version includes “the new phase-corrected mix of the original album, the mono reference version of the album, and 11 tracks from disc five of the CD set.”
You can read all the details – and grab your copy – here.
Did you already know about Butler’s love for Bruce? Can you hear Bruce’s influence in Butler’s playing? Let us know!
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Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll
