46. Fresh Cream - Cream.

 Now, my friends, we are getting into the stuff that I am excited about. I know the radio hits for Cream, but never really listened to their offerings. I understood that they were held in high regard, and were one of the original power trios, and that intrigues me. The group was a super-group, with Clapton as the guitarist, fresh off of his tenure with the Yardbirds, Ginger Baker on the drums, and a bass player and vocalist that Clapton had insisted upon, Jack Bruce. Baker and Bruce had a turbulent past, having played together in previous projects, where they apparently had not seen eye to eye. To the point where weapons were involved. This must have been an interesting project. Tension is important element to music. 

 The first song on this, their first album released, was "I Feel Free". From the first note, you can feel that there is something new going on, the psychedelic feel is right up at the forefront, the vocals are almost dreamy and the tambourine is hypnotic. Clapton is a guitarist that is counted among the greats, and I am getting a sense of why that is. He has a very tasty sound and approach. The next song, "N.S.U." has a nice lick at the beginning and then more psychedelic vocals, almost whispering and then a wail that must have presented itself to the kids of 1966 as a mantra. We are off to a good start.

 The next track is the one that sticks out in my head when I think of this album. "Sleepy Time Time" is an excellent psychedelic blues track. It features nice playing, but I just don't understand where the hell they are going with this one. It's like they jotted the lyrics down on a napkin at the pub at last call on a Saturday night, and decided it should be a blues number. It works, however, it is a nice offering of power blues. 

 "Dreaming" has interesting changes and a classical feel behind layered vocals. There are moments where it sounds like a Beatles tune, but the song also appropriately wanders around in various directions, like a dream. Hence the title. This one is followed by a Baker offering, "Sweet Wine". The pounding rhythm stands out from the beginning, and this one rocks a little bit harder.

 Following that up is a nod to our old pal, Willie Dixon. Originally recorded by Howlin Wolf, "Spoonful" is six minutes and thirty four seconds of blues, but this time with a distinct rock flavour. The drums are pounding and the guitar is quite busy. You can hear some effects happening in the background, and Bruce's voice sounds great. This track ebbs and flows, taking the listener on a ride, I'm assuming similar to heroin or whatever spoonful tickles your fancy.

 "Cat's Squirrel" is an instrumental, which if you didn't have to flip the record over, could be part of "Spoonful". It is basically harmonica backed by insanity behind the drum kit. "Four Until Late" returns to a more traditional blues format, in fact it is a Robert Johnson tune, which is very listenable. It seems a little tame after the last two tracks. "Rollin' And Tumblin'" is another blues standard that is redone with gusto. We are back to the lively playing behind the kit, and aggressive harmonica. I am familiar with the song, not because of this version, but a slowed down arrangement of the main theme recorded by Canadian band Big Sugar in their song  "Ride Like Hell". Excellent song by an excellent band, even if they borrowed some inspiration from a staple of the blues arsenal.

 Cream follows this up with another cover, "I'm So Glad" which was originally recorded by a bluesman I have never heard of before, Skip James. Perhaps he was on that Anthology of American Music album set that I shelved two years ago. I'm going to check this guy out, he sounds interesting. At the very least I am going to try the open D minor tuning on the guitar. Anyhow, I'm imagining the Cream version is sped up quite a bit from the original. The back up singers add depth and Clapton's playing reminds me of his famous tune "After Midnight". 

 The album closes up with "Toad" which is easily summed up as an interesting riff surrounded by a five minute drum solo. This one must have blown many minds in it's day. You can see the trend developing with the Who's Keith Moon and Ginger Baker, hard hitting busy drums pushing the envelope and influencing the next wave of hard rock drummers. I'm looking forward to more Cream albums, this one was them getting their feet wet, trying out an experiment to see if it worked. I'd say it did. They are blues players giving us some heavier arrangements, and pushing ahead down the path of psychedelia. Groovy.

 Rolling stone placed this at 101 on The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Buy it here.