I like the Bone Thugs In Harmony mention, what a great song as well. But man, this song was awesome. I could listen to Eric Clapton/Cream all day! Check out Old Love by Eric.
It's a shame we don't know where he is buried for sure. I have seen 5 markers with his name, I think the one may be close. I spent 5 years in the Delta trying to unlock the mystery that was him. He used 4-5 aliases very hard to track him.
I'm surprised Clapton's guitar didn't burst into flames during this ferocious number .... probably the best live rock/blues guitar playing I have ever heard .... I still get chills more than a half century after it was recorded ....
@@noahm15 Thanks for your reply, Noah. I agree. I have been a big fan of Roy's for many years, and I would say that his Austin City Limits performance of 1976 ranks right up there with the best live performances I have ever seen. It's a shame his life ended when it did and the way it did ..... Truly one of the Greats!
@@alonyacar715 As a matter of fact, I did, but it's been years since I last watched that concert. I'll have to check it out again. Thanks for reminding me!
Ginger Baker was in Washington DC about 1989-90, and was interviewed. He was asked about Clapton...Baker replied (paraphrase) “Eric could have been really good, but he wanted to be a star.” Hahahahaha!
Clapton's 2nd guitar solo is one of the greatest guitar moments ever captured on record. I still get shivers down my spine when he launches into that solo. It's ferocious. The bass and drums are incredible too.
4:55 YEAH, THAT'S FUCKIN' RIGHT, IT'S LIVE!!!! Clapton's second solo here is my favorite lead guitar work of all time, on anything, from anyone. I could hum every note from memory, but each time I listen to it, it hits just as hard as the first time I heard it. So, so good.
Completely agree. It's just astonishing how nobody ever gives a mediocre opinion of this song anywhere, anytime, much less a bad review. Everybody agrees that this is as good as it gets when the electric guitar is played by anybody who can't walk on water or change water into wine.
Don't know if Jamel has thought about this. That guy singing and jamming is the same one who also did Tears In Heaven. Clapton has aged like a fine wine.
One of the all time classic guitar solos from Eric Clapton! It just sings! But few people notice the incredible swinging, jazzy bass line from Jack Bruce underneath. The thing about Cream was they were always soloing together whenever they played live.
They were cookin' with gas this night! Bruce's melodic bass lines, Clapton's inspired solo and Baker keeping it rolling on out! Three guys living large!
THE greatest blues-rock song ever recorded. Powerful beyond measure, with the most coherent improv guitar solo ever taken. It has a beginning, middle, end, it tells a story, it has a perfect arc and it rocks so hard it loosens your fillings. Crossroads stands alone. Thanks for playing it!
actually it was written by cream, it's a combination of 2 Johnson songs , crossroad blues and travelling riverside blues , with modern contemporary beat and instruments , but either way the credit is still deserved to Johnson .
An incredible band. Bruce and Baker didn’t like each other to put it mildly, but they were one hell of a rhythm section. Clapton topped it off with the devil chords.
Have you ever heard that interview with evh when he does this solo note for note? It's on RU-vid. It sounds like either Barbara Walters or somebody is interviewing him and asked him to do it.
Hey Jamel! Those original Black bluesmen knew how to build their legends, long before they passed on. 😄 Robert Johnson was the original! He only got to record a few of his songs, but those songs influenced *everyone* who came after him. ☮ out. ✌🏽
Include Son House. Johnson gets well deserved credit but he taught Johnson who a several years younger a few things. Son lived to 86 passing away in 1988. Many recordings live and studio still exist of Son . As well as video tape of performances.
Jamel; this is one of the masterpieces of "power blues." No one did it better, and no one does it as well now. "The Band," "Cream;" my top 2 bands of all time. "Cream" was called the first "Super-Group," and so well deserved.
if you haven't checked out White Room, Sunshne Of Your Love, Strange Brew, Tales Of Brave Ulysses, SWLABR generally I prefer the songs Jack Bruce did the vocals on Theme For An Imaginary Western is a great tune off of Jack Bruce's first solo album, as is To Isengard
What's so great about this track, is go back and listen to it once, concentrating on the bass, once on the drums, and again on Eric and the lead guitar! Disraeli Gears was, and is, one of the best albums of all time!😀
This is the first solo vocal that Eric recorded. He was a self-described "work in progress." He later complained that his voice was "too high" on his masterpiece "Layla." His vocal skills improved by his constant touring (get better or get lost) and his ongoing vocal lessons with a coach in London. By the mid 70's, after his hiatus (drug funk) he emerged as a very good vocalist. By the late 80's and early 90's, his fully formed mature voice gave deep meaning in his remakes of the old "blues" standards that he honored so much.
If you like these guys, check out the reunion they didlive.....three 70 year old men rocking out like no one else is able. Sunshine of your Love is my personal favorite from the live reunion.....
I'm not a huge Cream fan but it was impressive show and definitely in my collection, loved watching a big part of musical history playing one last time together.
During this period Clapton was untouchable. Even one year later with Cream this song didn't even come close to this recording. Unbelievable phrasing, unbelievable tone, technique, soul, all of it.. And Bruce and Baker right there with him.
So many guitarists learned by playing along with Eric Clapton with Cream. This was one of the few songs with the group where he was the lead vocalist. I'm still hoping you will get to the album version of "Had To Cry Today" from Blind Faith , with Steve Winwood. There is a whole second half to the song with both Clapton and Winwood on lead guitars.
@@alankillian4962 Yes, a great concert, along with songs by J.Beck, Tull, and Yes. I love when he and people like Gary Moore throw in old Jeff Beck Group licks.
It was listening to this, in particular, riding with my brother in his 66 'stang, flying down the back roads (late 80s/early 90s) that I truly discovered the left hand path of blues and rock music.
Clapton‘s guitar solo is amazing here and yet he’s still upstaged by Jack Bruce. Some of the most inspired bass jamming I have ever heard or will ever hear.
Fun fact, this name derived from his time in the yardbirds when he would change broken strings in the middle of gigs and the audience would do a slow clap to fill
'Crossroads' is easily in my top 5 songs of all time! This version just tears it up!!! A person cannot help but play air-guitar to this song!! It's definitely a banger!!! Great reaction and thanks for playing it!!👍🍀
I wasn't born yet when Cream was active, but had all their albums on cassette tapes once I was a teenager. I did get to see Eric Clapton a few times in the '80s. He opened with "White Room." Robert Cray opened at that time & jammed with him at the end- another amazing blues guitarist! One Clapton tour I saw had Phil Collins on drums (yes, he played "In the Air Tonight"). I was supposed to be at the 1990 concert at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, but had pregnancy complications. That was the night Stevie Ray Vaughan died there in a helicopter crash after the show. Tears...
So glad you finally got to this one....and you picked the right version!! In my humble opinion, this is the greatest recorded live rock performance in history...and Eric Clapton's greatest recorded guitar solo.
I have heard this so many times since the late 1960s that it is practically in my DNA. So it is REALLY fun to watch someone experience it for the first time!
I just got throw my two cents' worth in here. I LOVED your reaction because it was exactly the same reaction that I had, only way back in 1968 when it was first released! You would have found me cranking up the volume on my Radio Shack amp, to my Koss headphones, spinning the LP on my Garrard turntable, and rocking out to it just like you did Jamal. Thanks for the smiles and glad you found this 54-year-old recording to be as much fun and fresh today as it was back then.
From the story where Robert Johnson "went down to the crossroads" and made a deal with the devil; came back with amazing talent. That's the story (myth) anyway. Cream does it great.
A total classic! Thanks for not interrupting. Nice job on the analysis. Cream was one of the few groups I ever heard live that sounded better on stage than they did on their albums. "Spoonful" is another song that's awesome, from the same live album by Cream. That whole album is amazing. Keep up the good work Jamel!
I was thirteen when my Mother bought me "Wheels of Fire" by Cream. She didn't know the band, but she loved the cover art. It was 1968. Because of this album and Jack Bruce, God rest his soul, I took up the electric bass. These guys were very blues centric. Also worth a listen are "Sitting on top of the world", "Politician", and "Born under a bad sign", all available here on RU-vid. Great job as always.
Need to check out Harry Nilsson. Without You, Everybody's Talking and Jump Into Fire. His album "The Point" is a treat as well. Perhaps too long to react to but definitely worth a listen. It's a story album about a boy and his dog and their adventures in a land where having a point is mandatory. Great stuff.
I was so fortunate to have two older brothers when I was eight or nine years old, we all shared a bedroom, back in the sixties and I got to hear this song and so much more music like Hendrix, The Doors, Janis Joplin and of course The Beatles and The Stones and much, much more. Other Cream songs you might like are White Room, Tales Of Brave Ulysses, Strange Brew, Spoonful, Born Under A Bad Sign to name just a few.
Just watched a video of yours for the first time brother...so glad I'm not the only one who reacted to hearing Clapton jam like that! You've got yourself a new subscriber! Keep on keeping on brother!
Glad to see you sticking with Cream! Both the instrumental sections of this live recording always amaze me. All three of them are riffing and no one is holding down the beat. In the hands of lesser musicians, even very good ones, that would fall apart into gibberish so quickly. They're just so good that it can work. There is plenty of live Cream to visit, and some of their longer live songs will be just as rewarding as some of the Dead or Yes longer tracks you have taken the time to experience. In the late 90s Jack Bruce and Gary Moore toured together and their live versions of 'Sitting of top of the World' are worth a listen.
Lynyrd Skynyrd does the best cover of this live.......would be a great reaction pick that nobody else has done. The cross roads originated from Robert Johnson .....the ORIGINAL bluesman!....And you left out the one even the Cross Road couldnt touch!!!!....THE VOODOO CHILD!
I enjoyed you sharing this reaction - especially when you start the deep dive down into the rabbit hole of the roots of this song. Seeing your expression when you recount the story of Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil and playing the blues - great stuff. Appreciation comes from understanding origins and history. Keep digging!
