Cream | Artist
Cream was a British power trio formed 1966 in London by drummer Ginger Baker, guitarist/singer Eric Clapton and lead singer/bassist Jack Bruce. They were regarded as the world's first "supergroup" with Clapton coming from the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Bruce from Graham Bond Organisation and Manfred Mann, and Baker from The Graham Bond Organisation and Alexis Korner before that. The band went into the studio immediately and released their debut Fresh Cream in late '66, which went to number 6 in the UK charts. The hit single "I Feel Free" was included on the US release but not on the UK album. They went to New York in '67 and recorded their next album the superb Disraeli Gears which was produced by Felix Pappalardi, future bassist for heavy rock trio Mountain. Disraeli Gears is regarded as one of the greatest psych/blues/rock albums of the late sixties and was enhanced by the involvement of Pete Brown on the lyrics and the iconic psychedelic cover designed by artist Martin Sharp. Their third album Wheels of Fire came out the following year with one disc of new studio work and another disc of live material. Wheels of Fire is also a superb album which contains the worldwide hit "White Room", however it's spoiled somewhat by the 15 minute drum solo "Toad". Cream released two more albums; Goodbye and Live Cream then split in November '68. Thirty Seven years later they released the one-off comeback performances Royal Albert Hall: London May 2-3-5-6 2005. Outstanding albums include Fresh Cream (1966), Disraeli Gears (1967), Wheels of Fire (1968) and Live Cream (1970). The band displayed their psychedelic credentials by commissioning pop-artist Martin Sharp to create iconic psychedelic artwork for two of their studio albums. After Cream split up in 1968, Eric Clapton formed the shortlived supergroup Blind Faith, with Traffic's Steve Winwood, then formed another all-star outfit Derek & the Dominoes, after which he continued with a successful solo career. Jack Bruce released several excellent solo albums and played with various combo's including West Bruce & Laing. Ginger Baker collaborated with a variety of jazz and world music musicians, and formed his own outfit Ginger Baker's Airforce. The band was named "Cream", as Clapton, Bruce, and Baker were considered the "cream of the crop" amongst blues and jazz musicians on the British music scene.
Artist Website: wikipedia/Cream_(band)
Featured Albums: Cream
Related Artists: Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker's Airforce
