The Cream Album by Album Thread (Part 2)

i always thought the blind faith album was better than and cream album

 

Any truth to the rumor that Jack Bruce plays bass on some tracks on the Blind Faith album? I've seen it claimed in various places online, with Jimmy Miller supposedly the source of the rumor. But I haven't been able to find a primary source (ie, an actual interview with Miller where he says this). What say you all?

 

i just finished jacks book a few weeks ago and no mention in that at all

 

I've never heard that one before. Jack was a very distinctive player and he had a hard time not sounding like Jack. Based on that premise, nothing on Blind Faith sounds to me like Jack, so I'd say it's a false rumor.

 

Coming up soon?

 

While we're between 1969 & 1970, I'd like to bring everybody's attention to this:

Mountain's 'Climbing!'


It contains, as I'm sure most/all of us know, a rendition of Jack Bruce's "Theme From An Imaginary Western".

While we (probably) all wish that Cream had recorded it, I think Mountain most certainly do the song justice. I'm interested in hearing some other opinions on this version. What do you think of it, fellow Cream fans?

Leslie West - Guitar
Felix Pappalardi - (Fuzz) Bass & Vocals
Steve Knight - Keyboards
Corky Laing - Drums

 

I like their version of the song.

 

@John Buchanan

I looked inside the SHM - Platinum cd box to check the contents. The booklet does contain the lyrics. Are you sure that the shm disc your listening to is the 2013 platinum mastering?

 

Pretty soon. These two up next.

 

It is a great version.

 

I sure would love to hear Eric's solo on Presence Of The Lord isolated.

 

Just thinking of some noteworthy EC highlights

White Album- While My Guitar Gently Weeps- 1968
Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus-1968
Plastic Ono Band- 1969
Delaney and Bonnie- 1969 /70

 

Aretha Franklin: "Good To Me As I Am To You" - Lady Soul LP 1968

 

^ good sounding track, never heard that before. Eric Clapton session man--there must be a lot of cuts out there to discover.

 

It looks like I'll be grabbing the MoFi as well. It's typical for SHF. Ask a question about what sounds the best and get 2 completely different points of view. Everyone's ears are different.

 

ERIC CLAPTON'S GUEST RECORDING SESSIONS FOR OTHER MUSICIANS

http://www.whereseric.com/the-vault...tons-guest-recording-sessions-other-musicians

 

Hi Reb, I updated the sound part of the review (but not the physical appearance) quickly to include the Platinum SHM-CD. My mistake.

 

Recorded in late 1967, Eric was supposedly too shy to do this live in the studio with Aretha. Instead, he overdubbed his guitar afterwards when she wasn't around. Not sure if that is the truth though. I've also read that Ahmet Ertegun heard an early mix of the already recorded song and thought Eric would add a nice touch to it---which he does.

 

Agree. The album was a considerable letdown for me after Cream's oeuvre. I'll also mention that I never cared much for the Bob Seidemann album cover. It's not that I'm a prude about such things -- actually, I'm quite the opposite -- but I just don't find anything particularly artistic about it. Sure, it was a statement at the time, but that's about it.

Anyway, as to the music. I happened to be in NYC for a few days back in July, 1969, and I was excited to see that Blind Faith would be making their U.S. debut at Madison Square Garden while I was there. I was a huge fan of both Clapton and Baker, and liked Winwood's work as well. As a burgeoning young guitar player, Clapton had been my main influence up to that point, so I was eager to see him again (I had attended Cream's L.A. Forum show the previous year). However, also performing on that same night over at the Fillmore East was John Mayall with a new, mostly acoustic ensemble. I was torn a bit about which show to attend, but ultimately chose Blind Faith.

In retrospect, that was a questionable choice. For a variety of reasons, I found the Blind Faith concert quite disappointing, starting with a set by Delaney and Bonnie, which I found extremely tedious and lackluster. As to Blind Faith, well, it wasn't live Cream, and that disappointed a 15-year-old kid with expectations of long, dynamic solos by Clapton. I was also not very pleased that the stage was set in the middle of the arena and rotated, which only allowed us a frontal view of the band for less than half of the show. Meanwhile, across town, John Mayall's show was recorded and later released as The Turning Point, which was a favorite album of mine for quite some time after that, and for many years, I kicked myself for having missed that performance live.

Anyway, I don't mean to bring anyone down with this reminiscence. It was a long time ago, and I just didn't find Blind Faith's performance that night to be anything particularly memorable.

 

No, it's good to get first-hand opinions, even if they are not as positive as others. Being there at the time does add a perspective that many late-comers don't take into account. However, your opinion is not alone: I think that the members of Blind Faith have admitted that the tour was a downer for them too, leading to their quick demise shortly thereafter.

 

Free opened some of the shows on the tour and quite a few people have stated they were better than Blind Faith.

 

More so than any of the members of Cream, Steve Winwood is the musician I always wonder what continued post-Blind Faith collaboration would have been like for EC given the direction their music went in the 70s/80s. Just seems like peanut butter and chocolate. A perfect match!

 

Mountain's cover is cool, but I prefer another version recorded around that time by Colosseum, the band co-led by saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith, who had been collaborating with Jack since their early days in Blues Incorporated and Graham Bond Organization.