Formed in swinging London during 1966, Cream are often called the first true “supergroup” since each member already had a significant presence in other major bands.
Guitarist Eric Clapton made his name in the Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, bassist Jack Bruce played with the Graham Bond Organisation and Manfred Mann, while drummer Ginger Baker was also from the Graham Bond Organisation.
The idea of a team up was sparked by Baker who approached Clapton with the concept of building a power-trio with serious musicianship and improvisation skills, blending blues, jazz, and psychedelic rock.
Clapton had seen Baker and Bruce play together and insisted the bassist join them too, even though Baker reportedly wasn’t thrilled as they already had a volatile relationship.
Clapton later recalled that at their very first rehearsal, Bruce and Baker argued almost immediately over an interview Bruce had given without Baker’s knowledge.
Their debut, Fresh Cream (1966), relied heavily on blues covers but showed off their chemistry. Disraeli Gears, a year later, was their commercial breakthrough, adding a dose of psychedelia to the blues-rock mix, it spawned the mega hit, Sunshine of Your Love.
Clapton labelled the band’s rapid ascent and musical direction as a “glorious mistake.” He said that while it turned into a “wonderful thing,” it evolved into something entirely different from what he initially intended.
Instead of the song-oriented, traditional blues format he wanted, the band became known for extended, half-hour instrumental solos. Clapton later admitted that the trio fell into “a lot of self-indulgence” and drifted away from what they originally set out to do.
1968’s Wheels of Fire became symbolic of Cream’s extended live improvisations and jams, especially on tracks like Crossroads.
Cream were a huge success, but tension between Bruce and Baker – who had clashed even back in their Graham Bond days – was simmering. Each felt the other was trying to outshine him musically, and the rivalry got physical – there are widely repeated stories of instrument sabotage, onstage fights, and Baker eventually pulling a knife on Bruce and firing him from the band.
Clapton has said he walked directly into the long-standing animosity between Bruce and Baker. The tension was so extreme that Cream traveled in separate limousines and barely spoke to each other offstage.
A mix of ego, financial resentment (Baker felt shortchanged on songwriting credits despite Cream being his idea), and sheer exhaustion from touring wore the band down and Cream announced their split in 1968. Clapton has said the trio’s main problem was that they simply stopped listening to one another, which made the tension worse.
Their farewell album, Goodbye (1969), was released after they’d already broken up.
Cream’s run lasted barely two years, but they’d left their mark, shaping the template for the power trio and influencing everyone from Led Zeppelin to countless hard rock acts that followed.
Post-Cream Clapton was busy with projects like Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos as well as helping out The Beatles.
Decades later Cream reunited for a series of comeback concerts in London and New York in 2005 and were hoping to hit the road again in late 2013 or 2014.
However, Jack Bruce has revealed the tour plans were scrapped following a spat between Clapton and Baker.
He told Rolling Stone, “I think last year or this year, everybody had agreed about doing it. But then I think Ginger upset Eric… He said something or did something, so it’s not happening. It’s always been like that.
“The first time it (a reunion) was mooted was when we were all ‘indicted’ to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And that was in ’93. And what happened in 2005. That’s the way it goes. It’s fine. I think we said what we had to say at the time. And it was nice to have that little comeback. For me, that was just about right.”
When discussing the possibility of another full-scale Cream reunion , Clapton flatly declined. He stated: “I was pretty convinced that we had gone as far as we could without someone getting killed. At this time in my life I don’t want blood on my hands!”
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