had to play a gig once with a borrowed Dan Armstrong Special, my shoulder damn near went numb...
Posted on 05/03/2005 7:34:34 AM PDT by Valin
The first live show for 36 years by Eric Clapton's blues/rock "power trio" may have attracted the attentions of the media, but it has had difficulty snaring anyone under 40; young people are conspicuous by their absence from the bars and foyers of the Royal Albert Hall. The atmosphere is less like a rock concert than a corporate hospitality tent at Wimbledon. Paunchy men in sports jackets clink ice in gin and tonics, and mumsy ladies fan themselves with pricey souvenir programmes. Presumably some of them were here the last time Cream played the Royal Albert Hall, squinting at the band's November 1968 farewell concert through a fug of aromatic smoke. Tonight, however, the air is thick with something else, not as pungent, but no less heady: nostalgia for a lost era, when a 15-minute drum solo called Toad could have your average audience roaring their approval, rather than clambering over each other to reach the exits.
You can see why anyone who wasn't there at the time might approach Cream's surprise reformation with trepidation. History frequently gives the impression Cream were formed for the specific purpose of giving the Jimi Hendrix Experience something to upstage. Hendrix, rather unsportingly, fetched up in London two weeks after their first gig, and immediately set about making them look a bit stodgy. He has continued to do so after his death; one of the few benefits attached to choking on your own vomit at 27 being that it prevents you from reaching middle age, donning an Armani suit and crooning deadly soft rock ballads about how your wife looks wonderful tonight. In addition, as Clapton notes between songs, Cream "didn't go on for very long - the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune cut us off in our prime" - but their 2 year career was responsible for generating a lot of concepts that leave you wondering whether listening to rock music is such an edifying way to spend your time.
Their star-heavy line up of Clapton, drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce gave birth to the notion of the supergroup, in which already-famous rock musicians struggle to squeeze their collective egos into a confined space, usually with artistically disastrous results. Their massive-grossing US tours gave rise to the concept of stadium rock as we know it today. And their deathless penchant for extended soloing gave rise to improvisatory jazz-rock, perhaps the most noisome genre in musical history. After the band's split, Clapton dismissed its "maestro bullshit", but tonight, he seems worryingly reconciled to it. "We're going to play for as long as we can," he announces happily, a remark greeted with deafening cheers, rather than the deeply apprehensive gulp it warrants. A computer generated approximation of a psychedelic slideshow bathes the back of the stage, but what is startling about Cream's oeuvre is how decidedly un-cosmic it sounds in the cold light of 2005. Spoonful and Sleepy Time Time offer a curiously straightforward take on the blues: the solos may be lengthy, and accompanied by much pursing of the lips, frowning etc, but they're oddly prosaic and polished. You get a brief glimpse of what the fuss was about during Rollin' and Tumblin', when Bruce abandons his bass guitar in favour of a harmonica, and Clapton and Baker churn out a frantic, clattering riff. Baker turns out to be the evening's surprise star. A noticeable resemblance to Wilfred Bramble in Steptoe and Son bodes ill, but his drumming is fantastic, adding a snapping, raw edge. In fact, it is Cream's theoretically less substantial material that stands up best four decades on. Full of snaking melodic turns and false endings, Badge is simply a fantastic pop song. Deserted Cities of the Heart strikes an admirable balance between lush vocal harmonies and hulking, muscular power, and even the whimsical psych-pop oddity Pressed Rat and Warthog has the sort of character you are hard-pressed to find in less arcane areas of Cream's catalogue.
Whether their reformation is enough to firm up Cream's shaky place in the pantheon of rock legends is a moot point. But as the crowd rises mid-song to cheer another Clapton solo, and coloured lights bounce off balding pates in the stalls, you suspect that contemporary reappraisal is the last thing their fans are interested in.
I am amazed at what we are able to cover with this combo just by changing pick-up settings or clicking into overdrive. While we don't have the variations that your band is using, I do play acoustic (Sigma DM2 w/Fishman humbucker pick-up) on several songs just to get the the right feel.
Sounds great. I lost track of music in the early nineties, which is about the time that I got married ;-)
Still, there isn't much new stuff that I like. The only new stuff that I like (which is probably already a few years old) is from the more mellow female vocalists, like Paula Cole, Enya and Dido. My knowledge of hard rock ends pretty much with Led Zeppelin. The new stuff sounds like a pale imitation.
I don't listen to any "new music". My personal favorites are Dylan,{I have over 700 live CDS}Van Morrison and NRBQ, a "cult" favorite that most people have never heard of.
read later
Kinks were geniuses - underappreciated but consciously or subconsciously the band wanted it that way so I guess it's ok.
had to play a gig once with a borrowed Dan Armstrong Special, my shoulder damn near went numb...
how is baker still alive :)
you got that right. he is the kieth richards of drummers.
rode hard and put away wet.
i guess that 60's embalming thing worked well.
isn't that a 335 hes a twangin on ?
it is amazing the influence the parents music has on thier young ones.
i have 2 daughters. when the oldest was 10 the cable guy came to install (about 19 y. o. ) and SRV version of voo doo chile was on the "turntable" the cable guy said to my 10 y. o. oh jimi hendrix, she said well actually this is SRV doing a hendrix song. freaked the young man out.
no matter how much we played great stuff in our house my girls were still young girls and we could not keep them from thier new kids on the block era. AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
i love my SRV model strat. a true work horse guitar.
but my 1969 es335 is the sweetest guitar i have ever played.
my guild starfire is killer for stuff like buffalo springfield and even gets a great sound for the amboy dukes journey to the center of the mind. not quite the sustain nuges byrdland gets but volume and strong bending gets close.
wow great link, thanks.
i looked up harrisons guitar history also. lots of great info.
really love the sound he got on beatles for sale (beatles 65) with his gretsch tennessean (sp) particularly on the twangy buddy holly and carl perkins covers.
one of my top bundy episodes.
sonics' strycnine was killer.
whalers had some good stuff also, from that neck of the woods.
You have freepmail.
Have you heard Deep Purple's rendition of that classic?
This is true. I know many, many people that did not take part in the moronic behavior exhibited during the 60's and I thank Jesus everyday that two of them were my parents.
They remember the 60's perfectly well, and I'm sure they are very happy that they weren't "there" as you say.
Talk about your firm grasp of the obvious! :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.