Cream

Cream was the most successful of the blues revival bands, forcing British rock that at the time still fed on pop tunes, to an abrupt reversal of direction. The Who had already given it a try, and the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds had already reformed the blues in a revolutionary way, while Bob Dylan had experimented with long topical songs on Blonde On Blonde. But it was Cream that made the new genre happen. Cream was the band that altered the format of the rock song: long free jams recorded live instead of three minutes of verse, bridge, and chorus recorded in the studio. They sold fifteen million albums in three years, a record that made the Beatles seem like losers.

The members of this power trio, formed in the autumn 1966, were all veterans of the blues revival. Guitarist Eric Clapton was the same prodigy who revealed himself with the Yardbirds, and who had contributed to the legendary recording of Bluesbreakers with John Mayall. Drummer Peter "Ginger" Baker, skilled at many forms of percussion, had already played, in 1960, with the Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and in 1962 with Alexis Korner and the Graham Bond Organisation. Scottish bassist Jack Bruce had traveled some of the same roads as Baker, before joining Manfred Mann. Bruce and Clapton had met each other in the Powerhouse, a short-lived lineup put together by John Mayall, that also included Steve Winwood at the keyboard. With Cream these three virtuosos simply brought to fruition the experience that they developed in the London clubs, bringing to the rock concert stage long, electric, high volume improvisations.

Cream debuted with two singles: Wrapping Paper, that belongs to the early psychedelic era, and I Feel Free, the first taste of Clapton's solos. Fresh Cream (Atco, 1966) was an historic event: Clapton's high volume distortions, Baker's acrobatic style, and Bruce's melodic atmosphere raised ordinary and rather poor material (mostly covers, except for Toad by Baker and NSU by Bruce) to the highest levels. The compositions of Jack Bruce take over on Disraeli Gears (1967), an album decidedly more pop and less bluesy, produced by Felix Pappalardi. Strange Brew is a typical example of how the group could transform blues into rock for intellectuals who were tired of Beatles pop tunes. Tales Of Brave Ulysses, Clapton's tour de force, features the introduction of the wah-wah pedal. Sunshine Of Your Love, a long collective delirium based on one of Bruce's catchy and obsessive riffs, remains their masterpiece.

Their fame came with their concerts, which in America instituted a social shock as important as the love-ins of the hippies. Clapton, fast and incisive, Bruce, pulsating and powerful, and Baker, loud and overflowing, created a new standard for popular music.

Wheels Of Fire (Polydor, 1968) is a schizophrenic album that contains two LPs: one live blues record and one studio pop record. Here Pappalardi earns the title of the fourth Cream, arranging, composing and playing various instruments. In an attempt perhaps to imitate colleague and rival George Martin, who had just wrapped up Sgt. Pepper, Pappalardi inflated overdubs, electronic effects and classical instrumentation, such as harpsichord, bells and violins. The meticulous patience of the producer actually works only in Pressed Rat And Warthog, a model psychedelic song. To counterbalance the studio production, the live recording bursts with energy, thanks to anarchical jams and audacious solos by Clapton and Baker. White Room's epic cadence and Politician's stentorian riff glorify the machismo of the supergroup par excellence of the time. Although Clapton and Baker were more acclaimed by the crowds, Jack Bruce was the true craftsman of their sound, branding it with his undaunted singing and stunning bass abstractions. He was also responsible for most of the songs, often composed in collaboration with the poet Pete Brown, another figure who operated behind the scenes but was essential to their success. Their electrified blues had the merit of refusing all embellishments (see their version of Crossroads), but also the defect of being too self-indulgent (see their version of Howling Wolf's Spoonful and Toad's 17-minute solo).

When Goodbye was released (1969), the trio didn't have anything else to say. The three musicians had already launched separated careers. Bruce had entrusted his songs to progressive keyboards while Baker used his songs to showcase his megalomania. Badge, co-written by Clapton and George Harrison, is a catchy pop tune of scarce impact.

Their instant ascent ended abruptly on November 26, 1968, with an historic farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall .

Quite overrated at the time, the band was yet another factory of consumerism sustained by childish exaggeration. Their mile-long solos were nothing more than an advertising gimmick. However there is no denying that hard rock was born out of Bruce's slashing heavy metal bass and from the foppish contortions of Eric "Slow Hand" Clapton.

Live II (Polydor, 1972) is the album that contains their best jams. The first volume contains more conventional blues-rock.

It is curious how Bruce ended up playing jazz and Clapton playing soul. After a brief stint in another supergroup, Steve Winwood's Blind Faith, for which he wrote the solemn hymn Presence Of The Lord, Clapton, a veteran at 25 by way of the Roosters, Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers, and Cream, relocated to the USA and became part of Leon Russell's entourage. He played with Delaney & Bonnie, brought J.J.Cale's After Midnight to the charts (on Eric Clapton, Atco, 1970), and formed Derek & Dominoes for whom he wrote Bell Bottom Blues and Layla on the double album Layla (Atco, 1970), that also employs the talents of another guitar legend, Duane Allman. Plagued by heroin dependency, Clapton dropped from the scene for some years, but returned triumphant with 461 Ocean Boulevard (Atco, 1974), that includes his version of Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff. His laid-back style, copied from J.J. Cale, spiced with gospel, soul and reggae, sold millions of progressively more banal albums: There' s One In Every Crowd (Atco, 1975), No Reason To Cry (RSO, 1976), with Dylan and the Band, Slowhand (RSO, 1977), that includes the famous version of Cocaine, Backless (RSO, 1978), with Lay Down Sally (one of his few compositions) and Tell Me That You Love Me, Another Ticket (RSO, 1981), with I Can' t Stand It, Money And Cigarettes (Warner, 1983), Behind The Sun (Warner, 1985), with electronic arrangements and the ferocious rhythm and blues of Tangled In Love, and August (1987), with Tearing Us Apart, a duet sung with Tina Turner. Then he had to return to the clinic, this time for alcoholism. His life also was marked by a series of passings, including that of his four years old son, who fell from a window of a New York skyscraper. Tears In Heaven (1993), inspired by that misfortune, brought him back to the top, and the successive album, From The Cradle (Reprise, 1994), a collection of blues covers, became the best selling blues album of all time. Subject of the tabloids more than of the history of rock, Clapton has widely demonstrated that he was Cream's showman. Crossroads (Polydor, 1988) is a very good anthology. After the mediocre parlor soul of Journeyman (Polydor, 1989), exemplified by Bad Love, Clapton dropped from the scene again. He came back again with Pilgrim (Reprise, 1998), an album of orchestral rhythm and blues that contains his deepest and most intimate reflections on the meaning of life, Pilgrim and Inside Of Me.

In the 70s, after he moved to Nigeria, Ginger Baker recorded an enormous number of albums to prove his dexterity at percussion, and his sincere passion for world music. The more he recorded, the less his dexterity seemed real. Then he stopped playing for a few years, plagued by heroin. To start a new life he moved to Italy, where he managed an olive grove. The only significant work of the 80s, back on stage, in the States, is a collaboration with a jazz-rock ensemble of great class that allowed him to record the best albums of his career: Horses And Trees (Celluloid, 1986), the album that represents better than any other his pan-ethnic ambitions, with Nana Vasconcelos, L Shankar, Nicky Skopelitis, and Bill Laswell; Middle Passage (Axiom, 1990), with Bill Laswell, Jonas Hellborg and Jah Wobble at the bass, Nicky Skopelitis at the guitar, Jonas Hellborg, Bernie Worrell at the organ and four Africans percussionists; and Unseen Rain (Day Eight, 1992), at the time the jazziest album of his career. In 1990 he was hired by the rock band Masters Of Reality. In 1994 he joined Bruce and another English veteran, Gary Moore, to record Around The Next Dream (Virgin, 1994). Also in the same year he formed an exceptional trio of his own with the bassist Charlie Haden and the guitarist Bill Frisell, immortalized on Going Back Home (Atlantic, 1994) and on Falling Off The Roof (Atlantic, 1996). Coward Of The Country (Atlantic, 1999) even employs an octet, with music composed by Ron Miles.

Immediately after the dissolution of Cream, Jack Bruce began to collaborate with jazz musicians. His Songs For For A Tailor (Atco, 1969) is an original attempt at creating a folk-rock song with the austerity of classical music and the atmosphere of jazz: Weird Of Hermiston is linked to Cream's first surrealistic singles, while Theme For An Imaginary Western remains his masterpiece. Rope Ladder To The Moon and Never Tell Your Mother are demonstrations of his uncanny ability to fuse jazz, rock, soul and blues. Things We Like (Atco, 1970) is a jam session with sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith of the Colosseum, jazz guitarist John McLaughlin and others. For a couple of years he played in the Tony Williams Group, and in 1972 in the Carla Bley Orchestra. Harmony Row (Atco, 1971) is a reprise of his plan to reinvent the rock song: Victoria Sage is another spectral ballad, while You Turned The Tables On Me is a piece of progressive rock. His most ambitious album was, alas, also his last relevant one. Bruce also tried to recreate the magic of Cream with another super-trio, West Bruce & Laing, but soon returned to his sophisticated songs with the albums Out Of The Storm (RSO, 1974) and How' s Tricks (RSO, 1977). I've Always Wanted To Do This (Epic, 1980) is a session with the jazz drummer Billy Cobham and a guitar player. Truce (Chrysalis, 1982), credited to BLT, a collaboration between Bruce and guitarist Robin Trower, still betrays hard-rock temptations. Willpower (Chrysalis, 1989) is a great anthology. After a detox period, Bruce recorded two of his best albums: A Question Of Time (Epic, 1989), that includes Hey Now Princess and Obsession (terrific guitar solo by Allan Holdsworth), and Somethinelse (CMP, 1993) with Pete Brown, Eric Clapton, Dick Heckstall-Smith and others. Willpower is one of his absolute best performances. Cities Of The Heart (CMP, 1994) is a live recording of his fiftieth birthday celebration. Shadows In The Air (Sanctuary, 2001) is actually an album by Kip Hanrahan on which Bruce sings pieces of latin-jazz.

Pete Brown formed the Battered Ornaments first and then the Piblokto, whose Things May Come and Things May Go But The Art School Dance Goes On Forever (Harvest, 1970) is a bizarre experiment of folk, in Golden Country Kingdom and Country Morning, blues, world-music and psychedelia, in Fire Song. The arrangements of Walk For Charity Run For Money, Then I Must Go and Can I Keep are particularly demented.

Jack Bruce released the uninspired More Jack Than God (Sanctuary, 2003). Eric Clapton delivered an equally uninspired tribute to Robert Johnson, Me and Mr Johnson (Warner, 2004). Much better were the two albums of (mostly) original material, Reptile (2001) and Back Home (2005), but Clapton (2010) was again a collection of creative covers.

Jack Bruce died in october 2014 at the age of 71. Ginger Baker died in october 2019 at the age of 80.