This band absolutely stuns me, every time they're together... that rarest of creatures, the Rock Band that is greater than the sum of its parts. Clapton never plays better than when he plays with Bruce and Baker... and I'm gratified to see how many of the comments that precede mine focus on them as well. Incidentally, just so it doesn't go unremarked or unnoticed: They'd broken up 25 years earlier, and had gotten back together for the first time since then, for this awards ceremony. Especially poignant: Note the dedication to Albert King... This was originally an Albert King song, and the Second King had passed away the month previously to this performance.
Here his voice is a bit shaky unfortunately- maybe that's why Clapton sings on some tunes- for my money some of the best voices in rock were Jack Bruce, Stevie Winwood, Eric Burdon, Marty Balin.
Look at Clapton. Look at how he sounds even with a fender when he plays with Baker and Bruce. Cream literally got the best out of Clapton. It was the best trio ever.
this will never happen again cream shut the mouth up and enjoy this is there moment not yours they earn this respect rip peace Bruce carry on eric and ginger
This is wonderful. It really brings back some of that old magic. The one thing that no video, no recording has ever been able to capture is the sheer power, the massiveness of the sound that Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker laid down. I saw them play a couple of years before this event, and it was really striking.It was Jack Bruces's band, and for the first half hour, a different drummer played on Baker's kit. He was a really good drummer, and the band sounded great. Then Ginger came out and played--the same kit, the same engineer, the same everything--and the whole thing was transformed. It sounded like someone had dropped a steam engine from an airplane--just the most explosive, powerful sound I've ever heard. And it wasn't a matter of volume--they weren't that loud--it was just the weight, the scale of the sound. Very hard to capture in words, and in video or audio, too. And that was without Eric. There will never be another band like this.
Eric's been paying tribute to Albert all his life - not to rip as some people say but to draw everyone who will listen back to the well. Now, its a way of keeping him alive in are hearts
I played on the same stage as cream in 1968 as the warm up band. They sound so much better now with modern equipment, not to mention lack of some serious drugs.
I love the song, the event and performance. As a bass player counting bars, this was a good lesson on how a mistake is calmly taken care of, with the great chemistry of a great band who are keenly aware of each other. On the first solo, Eric barely catches the 1 on the V chord albeit a tiny bit late. No problem. Sometimes Ginger will do a big roll to tell Eric to hit the V on the next bar at 1. And Jack does an octave fill after the Bb to G from the 12th fret of D as a nice cue. Jack has done this on his solo version of Bad Sign at The Bottom Line Club in NYC (bootleg audio that I have). But on this 2nd guitar solo section after the mid verse vocal by Jack, Eric completely plays over the V which is D and keeps riffing in G then realizes it has gone by! Both Ginger and Jack note the slip and keep vamping while Eric continues soloing waiting for a cue from Eric. They soon get it as Eric looking abit annoyed wags his head in their direction. On the next 1 they are entering the bar 8 setup fill, with a solid unison 1 on bar 9, the V chord D as if it was all planned and probably no one even noticed Eric’s error. It’s obvious if you are counting measures and -really obvious from Eric’s expression as he, disappointed in himself on this prestigious event- grimaces facially and cues Jack to walk up to the D for V chord change. Ginger does a nice setup roll to bar 8 and the camera is right on him 2:27 - 2nd guitar solo section starts -bar one @ beat 1. 2:48 supposed to be the one on bar 9 for the V chord, after Jack’s bar 8 bass fill but Eric misses it or doesn’t hear Jack’s bass and keeps soloing in G realizing it’s too late. On Bar 17 (3:09) into Eric’s solo, the 2nd time they hit the V in unison nicely after the (3:04) head cue of Eric on bar 15 -the bass and drum fill on bar 16 follow and it’s all resolved on the D at (3:09) on the V chord. This is why I love Cream. The unexpected sometimes happens but they listen intently and resolve -never a train wreck. There may be a “how do we get out of this now?” moment, but only very briefly.
+bamboosa Me too. There is something to be said for being old!! I live in San Francisco and I saw EVERYONE in the 60's and 70's. Loved the English bands the most!! RIP Jack!
Steve Dakota The Matrix and Winterland! Remember Siegel Schwall? Corky Siegel and Jim Schwall. Corky was playing his harp and was so damn awesome one of my lens' popped out of my glasses. Those were the days. Saw everyone!! Mike Bloomfield, Butterfield, Canned Heat, Albert King, Freddy King all the English blues guys! Man!
great vids. those were the days....the last vestiges of the blues... they said that the blues were born in 1890's. this event would mark the exact 100 year mark...a good run, don't you think?
Amazing Jack could play at all, he wernt thru some serious medical issues in the 90's, thank God he made it through and is still here, playing the shit out the bass and still has that wailing vocal style, albeit not as strong as it was in early Cream days.
Good things they didn't get inducted earlier. This was the first year they had inductees perform on their own instead of amidst the sea of a big all-star house band.
I've noticed Clapton's tone sucked during this time period, he was using those Soldano amps. Should have thrown a tubescreamer in there at least would have had a SRV type tone...
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The thing that irritates me about people when they watch Clapton is their tendency to say “he was better in Cream”, when I think they mean they liked his tone better. Clapton’s playing in Cream could often be repetitive and lacking in depth compared to Bruce and Baker. By Jack and Ginger’s own admission, he was a far superior player when they played in later life than when they played then.
I ncredible synergy; the whole much greater than the sum of the parts. On his own, I would consider Clapton to be nothing more than a good guitarist - with the exception of w/John Mayer on Crossroads.
Plenty of players with great tone out of a strat, Jimi, SRV, Buddy Whittington, Bonamassa (when he plays a strat), etc. I agree, Claptons tone sucks, he needs to crank the tube amp like Buddy Guy does.
