“We got lost quickly”: The only Cream album Eric Clapton actually liked
As the 1960s British Invasion rolled along at a dizzying pace, many of the movement’s leading forces jumped from cutting their teeth on American blues or rock ‘n roll to psychedelic jams in a few short years. Eric Clapton was no exception. Tiring of The Yardbirds’ increasing pop direction, Clapton joined the blues purists John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in 1965 before jumping ship once again in restless pursuit of his next niche.
Inspired by Buddy Guy’s three-piece set up at the time, Clapton convinced former Graham Bond Organisation members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to form a similar trio bridging their shared love of the blues with the counterculture’s lysergic assault on the charts.
Already dubbed “God” on an Islington wall by a mystery graffiti dauber, Clapton was considered a guitar maestro before the newly formed Cream’s debut album was even dropped. Famed for their lengthy jams, stretching some of their songs to 20 minutes, Cream unwittingly laid the groundwork for progressive rock and proved a hit for the burgeoning hippy crowd enamoured with their acid-tinged hard rock, yet Clapton has always been non-plussed about the brief but celebrated supergroup.
“There were only a few things that I really was proud of – then and now,” Clapton confessed to Classic Rock in 2016 when assessing Cream’s legacy. “Most of those were on the farewell album. I don’t know. I think we got lost quite quickly with Cream. It was all just smoke and mirrors. We were just trying to keep the thing rolling. We didn’t really have a leader. I think that was part of the problem. The leadership would change in the blink of an eye”.
By late 1968, Cream had run its course. The lack of cohesion allowed Baker’s and Bruce’s old animosities to get the better of them, and ensuing tensions forced the band to call it quits following Wheels of Fire. Pushed by manager Robert Stigwood, Cream embarked on a ‘farewell’ tour where three live songs played at Los Angeles’ The Forum were cobbled together on their final Goodbye LP.
While existing somewhat as a lacklustre end to the Cream story, the studio cuts save their parting album from standing as a complete flop—Baker’s ‘What a Bringdown’ bristling with dramatic groove and Clapton’s ‘Badge’ a skulking classic helped by Beatle and old mate George Harrison on rhythm guitar under the alias L’Angelo Misterioso.
It was a last gasp for Cream, but drops of greatness were rung out despite Goodbye‘s fatigued fug that robs the album of focus. Rumour has it that the record was only put together due to a ruse that label boss Ahmet Ertegun had lied to the band.
“He said, ‘Like man you have to do a final album for me’,” Phil Spector let slip to Rolling Stone at the time. “They said, ‘Why man, we hate each other,’ or somethin’ like that. Ahmet said, ‘Oh no man, you have to do one more album for me. Jerry Wexler has cancer, and he’s dyin’ and he wants to hear one more album from you.’ So they go in, make the album and he says, ‘Like man, Jerry Wexler isn’t dyin’, he’s much better, he’s improved'”.
