Recommendations of the Editorial team
I was in my third year of the School of Architecture at Regent Street Polytech, where I had also met Nick Mason and Rick Wright. There was always a concert at the end of each semester. And this time Cream were involved.
The curtain opened. The three started with “Crossroads”. I had never experienced anything like that in my entire life. I was blown away by the equipment they brought onto the stage. Ginger Baker’s double bass drum. Jack Bruce’s huge Marshall amps. And all the toys Eric Clapton brought with him. It was an incredible detonation, both visually and acoustically.
About two-thirds of the way through the set, one of them said, “We’d like to get a friend from America on stage.” It was Jimi Hendrix who performed in England for the first time that evening. He came and pulled out all the tricks that would later make him famous, played with his teeth and delivered the big show.
A little later we went on tour professionally with Pink Floyd – and were supposed to meet Cream several times at gigs. There were so many who were influenced by them. Jimmy Page must have looked at it and then decided, “Fuck, I’ll do that too.” In addition to the Beatles, it was Cream who gave the new bands the certainty that they could be popular without making mainstream pop.
Innovation was the first order of business, and while Cream were also a great blues band, they also dabbled in a variety of styles
I remember Ginger Baker was a crazy dog even back then. He hit his drums harder than anyone, except maybe Keith Moon. And Ginger played rhythms that only he could play. There’s no need to talk about Clapton – everyone knows how extraordinary he is. And Jack Bruce is probably the most musically gifted bass player I’ve ever seen.
I saw Cream in the context of the music coming out of the West Coast of America at the time – bands like the Doors and Love: Innovation was the first order of business, and while Cream were also a great blues band, they also tried a variety of styles. Some of this may sound a bit strange today, but songs like “Crossroads”, “Sunshine Of Your Love” and “White Room” still impress me. Their goal was to play material that defied classification. And God knows: they achieved their goal.
