Cream was a 1960s British rock band comprising guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. They were celebrated as the first great power trio and supergroup of rock. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, pop and psychedelic rock. Cream combined Clapton’s blues guitar playing with the powerful voice and intense basslines of Jack Bruce and the jazz-influenced drumming of Ginger Baker. They have sold over 35 million albums worldwide. Wheels of Fire was the world’s first platinum-selling album.
Cream’s music included songs based on traditional blues such as “Crossroads” and “Spoonful”, and modern blues such as “Born Under a Bad Sign”, as well as more eccentric songs such as “Strange Brew”, “Tales of Brave Ulysses” and “Toad”. Cream’s biggest hits were “I Feel Free”, “Sunshine of Your Love”, “White Room”, “Crossroads”, and “Badge”.
Cream, together with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, made a significant impact upon the popular music of the time, providing a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed the emergence of bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and The Jeff Beck Group in the late 1960s. The band’s live performances influenced progressive rock acts, jam bands such as The Allman Brothers Band, Rush, Grateful Dead and Phish, and even heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath. Although Cream’s studio work has stood the test of time, their true influence lies in their live sets. Cream took the idea of jamming to a new level, incorporating their individual virtuosity into long 20-minute jams.
Sunshine of Your Love
It’s gettin’ near dawn,
When lights close their tired eyes.
I’ll soon be with you my love,
To give you my dawn surprise.
I’ll be with you darling soon,
I’ll be with you when the stars start falling.I’ve been waiting so long
To be where I’m going
In the sunshine of your love.I’m with you my love,
The light’s shinin’ through on you.
Yes, I’m with you my love,
It’s the morning and just we two.
I’ll stay with you darling now,
I’ll stay with you till my seeds are all dried up.I’ve been waiting so long
To be where I’m going
In the sunshine of your love.
White Room
After bassist Jack Bruce wrote the guitar pieces, Cream’s lyricist, poet Pete Brown, grouped colorful four-syllable phrases, loosely organized around images of waiting in an English railway station influenced by the drugs he was taking. The combination is often considered one of the shining moments in British psychedelia. “White Room” is further noted for its unusual time signature of 5/4 in the introduction and bridge, with triplets played on toms by Ginger Baker, his thunderous bass drum part also lacing the verses. Finally, “White Room” is notable for showcasing guitarist Eric Clapton’s best known use of the wah-wah pedal (possibly aside from “Tales of Brave Ulysses”) in the bridge and extended solo.
In the white room with black curtains near the station.
Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings.
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes.
Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment.I’ll wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning.I’ll wait in the queue when the trains come back;
Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves.At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd.
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes.
She’s just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings.I’ll sleep in this place with the lonely crowd;
Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves.
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