Cream (Official Thread)

[Sox]

Also a tip of the hat to Pete Brown, poet, lyricist and muso, who helped put words to the music of Cream. I read that he went from earning a few shilling reading poetry, £20 a week at best to £40,000 a year for songwriting and his input with the band ??? Not bad money in the sixties.

 

[METALPRIEST]

SOURCE LINK

He’s indisputably one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock and roll, but Ginger Baker didn’t always see himself behind a kit — in fact, as he revealed during a recent interview, he originally dreamed of being a professional cyclist.

“I was obsessed with the idea of being a cyclist when I was a kid, and I rode everywhere,” Baker told the Calgary Herald. Sadly for young Ginger — but to the lasting benefit of music lovers everywhere — it wasn’t to be.

“One day I had a smash-up and the bike was a write-off,” he explained. “I had to earn some money, and this mate of mine said, ‘Why don’t you play drums?’ It’s funny – they all knew I was a drummer, and I didn’t. I was always beating rhythms when I went to jazz gigs, which I did a lot. Anyway, I went along, they sat me down at the kit, and I just did it.”

Baker’s unorthodox entry into the drumming ranks continued when it came time to put together his own kit. Short on funds and forced to improvise, he remembers that “I bought a toy drum kit and sort of worked on it. I cut up my tent to put a front head on the bass drum, added a biscuit tin to one of the tom-toms, and took this kit with me to Leytonstone, and got the gig. I told them I’d been playing professionally for three years, and my normal kit was busted.”

The rest was history, with Baker going on to keep the beat for Blind Faith and Cream before moving on to a wildly eclectic career that’s included stints with a diverse array of artists, including Hawkwind and Fela Kuti — not to mention a recent documentary about his life, the well-received ‘Beware of Mr. Baker.’
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[CP/M User]

I think bands like Cream were essentially short-lived due to challenges the band members faced along with Drug Issues that were happening, even Clapton had to go through a period of recovery because he was killing himself through his lifestyle and was very fortunate to recover.

 

[LG]

^^Add to that most "supergroups" have so much talent(and egos to match) that they are like a large star, they go supernova in a massive explosion.

 

[CP/M User]

^^I was reading somewhere about how Popular the "Blind Faith" were and how Clapton (I think) pulled the plug on that group because of one bad live performance where the sound quality was poor I think which meant the end of Blind Faith?

 

[METALPRIEST]

45 Years Ago

 

[Metal Head Mike]

45 Years Ago

Great Album

 

[electric funeral]

Great album indeed. I happen to listen to White Room now. I think Crossroads is the best song of that album. Luckily I bought the vinyl years ago.

 

[METALPRIEST]

I just can't believe how OLD many of these albums are getting now

 

[Sunny]

45 Years Ago

20 years before I was born and I listen to it fairly regularly