Cream

Greetings to all of you music aficionados and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts I will review the brief, but very influential, career of the first rock supergroup:  Cream!

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Rock On!

Transcript

Thank you for that introduction!  Greetings to all of you music aficionados and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts I will review the brief, but very influential, career of the first rock supergroup:  Cream!

In 1966, Eric Clapton, talented blues guitarist then with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers met Ginger Baker, then the drummer with the Graham Bond Organisation.  Both were feeling confined by their current bands, and each was impressed with the other's playing abilities.  Baker asked Clapton to join his new unnamed group.  Clapton immediately agreed, on the condition that Baker hire Jack Bruce as the group's bassist.  Clapton liked Bruce's vocals and technical prowess, and he wanted to work with him on an ongoing basis.  Ginger Baker already had a musical history with Jack Bruce, as they had been together in Graham Bond's band.  However, Baker and Bruce had often had a contentious relationship, notorious for their quarrelling and on-stage fights.  

Baker and Bruce tried to put aside their differences for the new trio.  The band briefly considered calling themselves "Sweet 'n' Sour Rock 'n' Roll", but settled instead on the somewhat pretentious name of "The Cream" and soon they were known simply as "Cream".  After all, with their previous success in established bands, they were already considered the "cream of the crop" amongst blues and jazz musicians in the exploding British music scene.

It was during their early organization that Cream decided that Bruce would serve as the group's lead vocalist.  While Clapton was shy about singing, he occasionally harmonized with Bruce and, in time, took lead vocals on several Cream tracks.  The band made its unofficial debut at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, England on July 29th, 1966.  Cream's official debut came two nights later at the Sixth Annual Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival.  Being new and with few original songs to its credit, they performed blues covers and received a warm reception from the large Festival crowd.  In October 1966 the band also got a chance to jam with Jimi Hendrix in London.  Hendrix was a fan of Clapton's music, and had wanted a chance to play with him onstage.  

The band's debut album, Fresh Cream, was released in the UK on December 9th, 1966.  It was the first LP on the Reaction Records label, owned by producer Robert Stigwood.  It was released in both mono and stereo versions, at the same time as the release of the Cream single "I Feel Free".  The album peaked at #6 on the UK Albums Chart.  The album was released in a slightly different form in January 1967 by Atco Records in the US, also in mono and stereo versions.  The LP reached #39 in the US.  The album tracks were evenly split between self-penned originals and blues covers, featuring "Spoonful" and "I'm So Glad".  "I Feel Free" was included on only the American edition of the LP.  The track "Toad" contained one of the earliest examples of a drum solo in rock music.  The band visited the US in March 1967 to play nine New York City dates as part of Murray the K's "Music in the 5th Dimension" concert series.  

The trio returned to New York City in May for a 3 1/2 day recording session in Atlantic Studios.  Those sessions were produced by future Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi and were engineered by Tom Dowd.  The resultant album, Disraeli Gears, wouldn't be released until six months later.  The LP's release had been delayed in order to repackage it with a new psychedelic cover, designed by artist Martin Sharp.  Before the release of the album, in August 1967, the band played their first headlining dates in the US at two locations:  The Fillmore in San Francisco and later at The Pinnacle in Los Angeles. The concerts were very successful and very influential on both the band itself and the flourishing hippie scene surrounding them.  Upon discovering a growing listening audience, the band began to stretch out on stage.  They incorporated more lengthy jams, with some songs reaching twenty minutes. 

Cream's second LP, Disraeli Gears, was finally released on November 2nd, 1967.  It sold well and in 1968 the LP reached #4 on the US album chart, #5 on the UK Albums chart, and #1 in Sweden and in Finland.  The album was also #1 for two weeks on the Australian album chart and was listed as the #1 album of 1968 by Cash Box in the United States year-end album chart.  The original 11-track album was re-mastered in 1998, and then subsequently released as a two-disc Deluxe Edition in 2004.  In 1999, Disraeli Gears was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  In 2003 the album was ranked #112 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and then was re-ranked at #114 in a 2012 revised list, and at #170 in a 2020 revised list.  VH1 named Disraeli Gears the 87th-greatest album of all time in 2001.  Ginger Baker recalled how the album's title was based on a malapropism which alluded to 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.  Baker said [and I quote] "You know how the title came about – Disraeli Gears – yeah? We had this Austin Westminster, and Mick Turner was one of the roadies who'd been with me a long time, and he was driving along and Eric was talking about getting a racing bicycle. Mick, driving, went 'Oh yeah – Disraeli gears!' meaning derailleur gears ... We all just fell over ... We said that's got to be the album title." [end quote].

Atco Records released an edited single version of "Sunshine of Your Love" (backed with "SWLABR") in December 1967.  The song quickly became the group's best-known song and would be imitated by countless garage bands.  "Sunshine of Your Love" would be Cream's first and highest charting American single, reaching #5 in 1968.  The RIAA certified the single gold on September 26th, 1968, signifying sales in excess of 1 million copies.  In the US, it became one of the best selling singles for the year 1968 and one of the best-selling at the time for the Atlantic group of labels.  In the UK the single reached #25.  Cream performed "Sunshine of Your Love" regularly in concerts and several live recordings have been issued.  Jimi Hendrix performed faster instrumental versions of the song, which he often dedicated to Cream.  Several rock journals have placed the song on their greatest song lists, such as Rolling Stone, Q magazine, and VH1.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it on its list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".  Jack Bruce and Pete Brown had come up with the song idea late one night based upon a simple riff that Bruce played on his double bass.  Brown looked out the window and saw the sun was about to rise, hence the lyrics "It's getting near dawn, when lights close their tired eyes".

"Strange Brew" (backed with "Tales of Brave Ulysses") was released as a single in June 1967 in the UK and US before being added to the Disraeli GearsLP.  The song features Eric Clapton singing falsetto on lead vocals rather than the usual lead by Jack Bruce.  The single peaked at #17 on the UK Singles Chart, but did not chart in the US.

Then in June 1968 came the band's third US album release, Wheels of Fire.  It was a two-disc vinyl LP,  with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom and the Fillmore.  Ginger Baker co-wrote three songs for the album with pianist Mike Taylor.  Jack Bruce co-wrote four songs with poet Pete Brown.  Eric Clapton contributed to the album by choosing two blues songs to cover.  The album became #1 in the US, Canada, and Australia, and became the world's first platinum-selling double album.  Wheels of Fire was released later in the UK on August 9th, where it reached #3.  

A shorter US single edit of the song "White Room" was released in September 1968 for AM radio stations, although album-oriented FM radio stations in the US played the full album version.  The subsequent UK single release of "White Room" in January 1969 used the full-length album version of the track.  In 1969 the single reached #6 in the US and #28 in the UK.  Rolling Stone ranked "White Room" at #376 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".  Also noteworthy from the Wheels of Fire album is that Eric Clapton's second solo from the live performance of "Crossroads" has made it to the top 20 in multiple "greatest guitar solo" lists.

The Wheels of Fire album's studio disc was recorded in several short sessions from July 1967 to June 1968.  The studio recordings showcased the band moving away from the blues and more towards a semi-progressive rock style with unusual time signatures and various orchestral instruments.  However, the band did record Howlin' Wolf's "Sitting on Top of the World" and Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign".  According to a BBC interview with Clapton, their record company, Atco Records, was also handling Albert King.  Atco asked the band to cover "Born Under a Bad Sign", which became a popular track off the record.  In May 2012, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Wheels of Fire at #205 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. 

Jack Bruce said [and I quote] "Travel can kill a group.  It becomes boring, tiring and very depressing" [end quote].  Cream decided that they would break up during a May 1968 tour of the US.  The band members had grown tired of their exhaustive touring schedule and increasingly loud jamming.  Bruce and Baker's combustible relationship proved even worse as a result of the strain put upon the band by non-stop touring.  This forced Clapton to play the perpetual role of peacekeeper.  Furthermore, Clapton had read a scathing review by Jon Landau in Rolling Stone, where Landau had called Eric Clapton a "master of the blues cliché".  Clapton wanted to end Cream and pursue a different musical direction, and all three band members wanted to go their separate ways.

In July 1968, the band officially announced that they would break up after a farewell tour.  Cream's farewell tour consisted of 22 shows at 19 venues in the US in October and early November, and two final concerts in London's Royal Albert Hall on November 25th and 26th.  Those two concerts were filmed and shown in theaters, then in 1977 released as a home video, Farewell Concert.  

Cream was persuaded to do one final album, appropriately titled Goodbye.  The album was recorded in late 1968 and released in early 1969, after the band had broken up.  It comprised six songs:  three live recordings dating from an October 19th, 1968 concert at The Forum in Los Angeles, California and three new studio recordings.  The album was very popular in the album charts, reaching #1 in the UK and #2 in the US.

One of the studio recordings was the song "Badge", which was actually written by both Eric Clapton and Beatle George Harrison.  Harrison played rhythm guitar on the recording and was credited as "L'Angelo Misterioso".  Issued as a single in March 1969, "Badge" peaked at #18 in the UK Singles Chart and #60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.  "Badge" was originally an untitled track.  During the production transfer for the album Goodbye, the original music sheet was used to produce the liner notes and track listing.  The only discernible word on the page was "bridge" (indicating the song's bridge section).  Due to Harrison's handwriting, however, Clapton misread it as "badge"—and the song was thus titled soon thereafter.  George Harrison said [and I quote] "I helped Eric write "Badge" you know.  Each of them had to come up with a song for that Goodbye Cream album and Eric didn't have his written.  We were working across from each other and I was writing the lyrics down and we came to the middle part so I wrote 'Bridge.'  Eric read it upside down and cracked up laughing – 'What's BADGE?' he said.  After that, Ringo walked in drunk and gave us that line about the swans living in the park." [end quote].

After Cream broke up, all three band members stayed quite busy.  Both Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker formed the band Blind Faith with Steve Winwood and Ric Grech, but that band only lasted less than a year.  Clapton went on to perform very different, less improvisational material with Delaney & Bonnie, Derek and the Dominos, and in his own long and varied solo career.  Jack Bruce also began a varied and a successful solo career, and he often collaborated with many with musicians and in many genres.  In 1972 Bruce formed a blues rock power trio, West, Bruce & Laing.  Ginger Baker formed a jazz-fusion ensemble, Ginger Baker's Air Force.  Bruce and Baker worked together again in the mid-1990's as two-thirds of the power trio BBM with Irish blues rock guitarist Gary Moore.  So, all three former Cream members continued to pursue solo projects, explore new musical ideas and partnerships, play concerts, and record music for over four decades after ending Cream.

In 1993, Cream was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The induction ceremony was the first time that all three band members had performed together since the Goodbye tour.  Then, at Eric Clapton's request, Cream reunited for a series of four shows in May 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  Tickets for all four shows sold out in under an hour.  The performances were recorded for a live CD and DVD. 

In February 2006, Cream received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their contribution to, and influence upon, modern music.  They were ranked #67 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and were ranked #61 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".  They were also ranked #16 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".  Throughout their brief career, Cream sold more than 15 million records worldwide.

Although Cream was only together for two and a half years, their impact on rock and roll was immense.  Cream's music spanned rock music styles such as blues rock, psychedelia, and hard rock.  They were famous for the improvisations they played in their concerts.  Eric Clapton would grow into guitar super stardom status during his time with the band.  

Cream was the first top group to truly exploit the power trio format.  Not only did they lay the foundation for much of the blues rock and hard rock of the 1960's and 1970's, but they greatly influenced later artists and genres like heavy metal.  On a personal note, I never grow tired of listening to Cream, and they rank near the top of my list of my favorite rock bands.  

Thank you for listening to the Rock and Roll Flashback podcast, where in this episode I reviewed the brief musical career of the great British rock trio called Cream!  I'm Jumpin' John McDermott, and until next time…Rock On!