A punk epiphany: the concert that changed Sting’s life
By the time Sting began his musical career, the golden age of the musical virtuoso had begun to fall by the wayside. There had already been enough guitar heroes, and The Police were amid the new wave movement, picking up where punk had left off by making some straight and to-the-point whenever their songs came on the radio. Sting still loved the classics, and he is forever indebted to seeing Cream in the late 1960s.
Throughout their history, there was a good chance that any Cream show was liable to descend into chaos. They could play their asses off, but their ability to take their frustrations out on each other was just as prevalent onstage, which generally involved Ginger Baker hurling abuse towards Jack Bruce.
On this night, everyone seemed to be on good behaviour, though, with every member of the power trio giving it their all. While their style was primarily associated with blues and psychedelia, their way of embracing jazz in a lot of their arrangements meant that no show was ever going to be the same, especially with Bruce flying up and down the fretboard and Clapton trying to keep up.
Cream also had a special guest opening the shows for them for a few shows…a little guitarist from America named Jimi Hendrix. Although Hendrix was still on the rise, Clapton was scared shitless half the time they shared the stage, including one show where he abruptly left the stage because of how well Hendrix was killing it.
Seeing both artists on the same bill was bound to leave anyone with their mouths on the floor, with Sting telling Guitar World, “One of the first bands I ever saw was Cream. I also saw the Jimi Hendrix Experience when I was 14, but then I saw Cream, and they kind of turned my head around. It was a very formative experience to see those two bands.”
Outside of seeing both acts in their prime, one of the biggest lessons Sting learned was the power of a trio. Since only three people were working on any song, everyone had to hold up their end perfectly still so nothing would collapse, and when Sting later formed The Police, he seemed to follow everything down to the letter.
Adopting a rambunctious energy whenever he took to the stage, Sting had the envious job of being both the rhythm foundation on bass and having to sing at the highest registers most people are capable of. Although The Police were still indebted to punk, Sting’s solo career seemed to take every lesson from Cream and apply it.
Now, with no one to tell him how his music should sound, many of the greatest songs Sting made involve going back to jazz music, with Clapton even working with him on ‘It’s Probably Me’ years later. Sting’s brand of punk rock may have been dropped for jazzy exercises in his solo years, but when looking at what Cream could do with jazz and blues textures, there was still a whole musical vocabulary for him to explore.
