Cream
Created | Updated Jun 21, 2003
Cream was a band in the late 60s ('66-'69) that, musically, broke new ground and also records for sales of their music. It's members... Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, all came from the same sort of music background. Eric was a blues man, while Ginger and Jack were from the jazz circuit.
It all started when Ginger Baker got fed up with Graeme Bond and quit his band, 'The Graeme Bond Organisation'. He decided it was time to start his own band. The first person that came to mind was Clapton. At the time Eric was with John Mayall's 'Bluesbreakers', so Ginger travelled up to Oxford where they were playing. They found each other in the changing room, Eric asked Ginger to sit in. He did, and turned the gig around.
Ginger said:
'I'm getting a band together. Wanna join?'
Eric said:
'yea!'
History was made.
Then there was the matter of a bass player. Eric said:
'what about Jack?'
meaning Jack Bruce. Ginger wasn't too sure, as he and Jack had fallen out whilst they were at 'The Graeme Bond Organisation'. But, in the end, it was decided. They had a band.
That was in 1966. Their first 'gig', ( if you like ), was at Ginger's house at the Welsh Hart, outside an artificial lake where the kids would play. So they were playing and, as they were, they looked up and saw all these little children dancing! A good boost for their confidence from the start!
They released eight albums during, and after, their time together.
- Fresh Cream (Dec 1966)
- Disraeli Gears (Nov 1967)
- Wheels Of Fire (Aug 1968)
- Goodbye (Mar 1969)
- Live Cream (Jun 1970)
- Live Cream vol.2 (Jun 1972)
- The Very Best Of Cream (1995)
- Those Where The Days (1997)
Disraeli Gears got it's name from when the band was playing a word game with anagrams and the like. Their roadie, who was into bikes and that, did some stuff with a bikey word and ended with with Disraeli Gears.
Their big album was Wheels Of Fire. The world's first ever platinum selling album. Cream's records sold more copies in 24 months than the vinyl had sold in 24 years. 35 million copies. Some people say that Cream was the world's first supergroup. Come on, what about The Beatles? Cream where the second supergroup.
So that was that. They become very rich and very famous until, in 1969... whilst on tour, Clapton said:
I'm just fed up with this'
and Jack said:
me too'
and they decided to split. They released the Goodbye album, did a Farewell concert and that was that. Clapton thought that the band was becoming too much of a prison.
