Clapton Chronicles: Cream

Nov 04

Doug1960s cream, eric clapton No Comments

It’s been a while so here are some new things real quick:

Forum – Check it out. Link’s right above you and you can discuss anything and everything you want there.
Reviews – Wilco, Muse, Owl City, The Used, and Arctic Monkeys are coming.
Best Of 2009 – It’s been updated.
Tools Section – Will be updated.
My Libido – Strong as ever.

Now, where we were? Favorite bands and artists? Well, we’ve covered Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Frusciante, The Beatles, The Who, The Clash, and Little Richard. Who else is there to cover? Well, maybe three to four more and sadly, the one we are going to cover today might take a while to cover.

Eric Clapton.

Really, I could get away with just that, but just writing about Clapton sends me through a gamut of musical emotions as I play back the hits he’s put out over the years so indulge me for five minutes. The Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Cream, Delaney & Friends, Blind Faith, Derek & The Dominoes, and his successful solo career; there’s a wealth of material here that is really untouched by 99% of musicians out there. As well as being overly abundant, it’s also amazingly varied. Blues, psychedelic, progressive, southern rock, country, reggae, pop, rockabilly; in most of these cases, Clapton was at the forefront for these emerging genres. For others, he was the first to get the word out in a big way for it such as reggae with Bob Marley & blues with Robert Johnson. Even his step-in roles for other bands jump out immensely. I mean, I listed Bluesbreakers and Delaney and those were really just minor stints with the band & look what it did for them: Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton, easily one of the best blues-rock albums out there. If we were to look for just one-off shots with bands, go no further than “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with The Beatles.

I’ve been following the pattern of my favorite artists here by talking about them, talking about my favorite album, and then giving my favorite song. While I’m going to do that with Clapton, I would be very lazy to just pick one song especially when he was really part of bands that were entities among themselves, not just driving forces for Clapton. Honestly, the material put out by The Yardbirds, Cream, Derek & The Dominoes, and his solo career are so vastly different that I doubt you could even play them together on some radio stations. So I’ll split Clapton up into three parts covering my favorite three moments of his career. Sadly, I’ll be overlooking some things like The Yardbirds and Blind Faith, but very quickly I’ll just throw some words down. The Yardbirds were the definitive blues band to me. Just for Five Live Yardbirds, they will always hold a spot in my heart. Check out that album or just listen to “Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl” (blistering Clapton solo). Jumping further, I just love Blind Faith. Only one album deep in material, but I can listen to it all day long. Influence and importance really not that much in hindsight, but Clapton working with Winwood did churn out a lot of good material & kept the Cream ball rolling a little for those missing it. I absolutely adore “Had To Cry Today” not only for Clapton’s complex, yet simple guitar work, but Winwood’s blistering vocals which always has me singing along like I’m auditioning for Traffic. Both great so check them out. With those out of the way, let’s talk about the band that really cemented Clapton’s name: Cream.

By the point in time of Cream, Clapton was recognized as one of the best, if not the best, guitarists in the world. Jimi Hendrix hadn’t hit big yet and Clapton was the one to hold the prized crown for guitarists so much so that someone famously spray-painted “Clapton Is God” on a subway wall. He had left The Yardbirds because of their recording the pop song “For Your Love” and, in his eyes, abandoning blues. He went to the Bluesbreakers, but felt Mayall was confining to a degree. Clapton needed a change and he got it when he met famed drummer Ginger Baker (one of my personal favorite drummers). Baker got the idea of a super-group (the first) of extremely talented & respected musicians and Clapton readily agreed as long as Jack Bruce came in too. Bruce, a talented bassist, & Baker were in the Graham Bond Organisation together and definitely didn’t get along to the least, but they still all came together to form a band. Of course, the Baker & Bruce feud (with Clapton mediating) would ultimately lead to the band’s undoing. It would even make The Beatles bickering minor as Baker would turn up his bass amp so loud as to deafen Baker who still has permanent damage in his ear. But for a short time, the world had its band with the “cream of the crop” in each instrument. Cream was born. Starting with blues rock first, they slowly, but surely changed to psychedelic music and put out music that would define the late 60s musically such as “Strange Brew.” Their blues roots were always there though like with the Robert Johnson cover of “Crossroads” which still marvels guitarists to the day.

It was their second album that really did push the boundaries of their blues-rock foundation. Disraeli Gears in 1967 was really their breakthrough album as it contained their most famous song, “Sunshine Of Your Love.” While still containing some blues marks on it, it was really the psychedelic push that defined it which started even as you looked at the album cover. When first getting into the band, this was the album I played on repeat constantly. Cryptic songs like “We’re Going Wrong,” fun British songs like “Mother’s Lament,” and one of their best songs in “Tales Of Brave Ulysses” (which of all the links here, click that one); the material on this album was defining for Cream in my eyes. Yes, it was great to get blues music on the last album and I do love their cover of Spoonful, but where they took blues music was amazing and definitely a precursor to where Led Zeppelin would go. Remember this: while John Bonham was celebrated for “Moby Dick,” Cream had released a similar song years earlier on their first album entitled “Toad” which definitely has better drumming to me. Yes, I know; second time I’ve trashed his playing on it. On point though, with eleven great songs, I never can bring myself to skip even if I’m late, Disraeli Gears has it all for this Cream fan here.

There is one song on this album that summed up everything I loved about Cream and that’s the one I’m going to give to you guys here though. While I love “I Feel Free,” “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “Tales Of Brave Ulysses,” “White Room,” & “NSU,” it really was this song that had everything for Cream in one song for me. “SWLABR“. You can’t even say it it’s that good! Clapton’s driving guitar riff with solo licks that seem to hover in the air above it like it’s guarding the song’s very well-being. Bruce’s catchy, yet ambiguously confusing (it stands for she was like a bearded rainbow) lyrics that come out of his mouth in such a roar that it’s almost leading the song to starts & stops. Baker’s little fills that fit in perfectly between each section & Clapton’s licks. I adore this song and it really is the song I look forward to as soon as the record is on. I hope you love it too so check it out below:

Song: SWLABR
Artist: Cream
Album: Disraeli Gears
Year: 1967

To download, right-click here and select “Save Target As.”

Or watch this: