These were three great musicians who really paved the way for many other bands. The inprovising was awesome. Crossroads on Wheels of Fire is the greatest rock live recording of all time. I am thrilled they regrouped and showed an entire new generation what all the fuss was about.
So true. They were such pioneers inventing progressive rock and improvising. Had they gotten along better and not broken up, they would've overshadowed Led Zeppelin. There would be endless debate about who was greater Page or Clapton, Jones or Bruce. I think Baker was far greater than Jon Bonham. Baker and Clapton thought so too. But the debates would've been endless and we music fans would've benefited by more great music from Cream.
I mean, they rehearsed the day before after 25 years apart and this is what they deliver? Crossroads could use a little polish but holy hell this was incredible. What a band.
3 virtuosos, possibly each the best there has ever been in their own right/own instruments! In a Band that without doubt is THE GREATEST Rock and Blues Band / GREATEST TRIO the WORLD HAS EVER SEEN! (&probably WILL EVER SEE!) Makes me Proud to be English & British! My Dad saw them play almost weekly at the "Marquee Club" in London and my mum occasionally, along with Hendrix before and just after he broke/shot to fame on occasion back in the mid to late 60s! CANNOT imagine what that must have been like to have them playing your nearest Top-Class Music venue every week! (And many other greats at that time!) Such a tragedy about first Jack Bruce taken far too early, and then Ginger Baker! Also recently found out Clapton has had emphasaema for the last few years!! Which is NOT good! Plus a neurological disease that will eventually take his ability to play guitar away from him!(if the emphasaema doesn't get him first!) These performances ESPECIALLY the Cream Reunion concerts of 2005, we were/ARE TRULY BLESSED WITH! Along with THEIR PURE GENIUS!! Lets TREASURE CLAPTON and his playing While we ALL STILL CAN!! GOD BLESS ALL THREE GENIUSES! 🥁 🪕🎤🎸 LOVE & RESPECT FROM LONDON ENGLAND! ❤️🏴🙏
God they are killing it. Better than the last performance at Albert Hall, where Jack clearly didn't want to be in cream anymore. They sound the best out of all the bands that got inducted that night. One of my all time favorite groups.so
Only the Brits seem to know to thank the African Americans for their blues influences which started rock n roll in the first place. Long live African music which has made almost every modern popular genre of music across the world... My people are just gifted af.
I see some negative comments here...Look people,you are welcome to your own opinions,of course;but to those of us who grew up digging this music,this is just fantastic! Thanks for posting...
Jack Bruce, such a great voice and great bass player. Ginger Baker, one of the best drummers of all time, insane what he does. And Eric Clapton, no comments.
I'm am indeed thankful that TV/film/and sound recording technology was around to have a record of this great band and music, as well as for other great band and musicians - Beatles, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Rush, the list is endless. Now people will be able to not only hear but watch the real people perform their music a thousand years from now. A shame the technology wasn't around when Mozart and Beethoven were alive. And all of the teenagers today need to listen to/watch these musical giants while they are still alive. The musicians of today sit on the shoulders of giants. So many of these greats are well into the 70's and dying. Ginger Baker just died in Oct 2019. Only Eric is left. BB King died in 2019.
It is a crying shame that some really good bands from the 70s have so little footage available. Most bands from back then got a little footage from Saturday night special maybe in concert or don ksrhners rock concert or it's as if they didnt exist. Some bands played on AOR stations that didnt have a top forty type hit have almost nothing out there. Luckily some of them reformed when playing shows started paying a little money and we got them later in age playing a few tunes. Shows like the 1978 Texas Jam in Dallas that had Head East, Atlanta Rhythm section, Eddie Money, Van Halen as an opening act, Heart,Ted Nugent, Aerosmith and a couple I'm forgetting in my old age plus 80,000 of my closest friends but not one damn video camera in the place. They has the same rock show there until well into the 80s a nd I have never seen any video.
and I'm so glad !! "it seems to me that rock n roll should never be respectable.. robbie robertson pointed out that minor miracles take place in here. Ive been reunited with two people i love very dearly. yesterday we played together for the first time in 25 years!"LONG LIVE CREAM!
This is beautiful, moving, powerful, in the moment, they are almost shy working themselves up and almost afraid to let it out in the beginning....nobody can top them as individual musicians and as a unit they are that WALL that Eric talked about....a miracle, a force of nature. It has to be them three, not anyone else not missing anyone.
Everyone has at least one or two absolutely pivotal moments in life that instantly open them up and provide an awakening or revelation that alters them in every way going forward! For me that moment happened at age 13 when a rough-edged fellow Boy Scout invited me over and dropped the needle on Cream's first record. As the roaring power chords of Toad entered my brain I was forever altered and changed for the better -- and my love affair with quality music continues to this very day!
CREAM Just Heavenly ... Wish Eric had a different weapon Of choice. 59 Les Paul or 61 SG ... These guys were seamless ... Talk about Chemistry... Unreal ...
i love watching the albert hall goodbye cream shows on vhs,dvd whatever because my kids and my grand kids can see me rockin along in the audience, great memories.
One of the best dvds is Cream at Royal Albert Hall. They did 3 nights there and took the best of the three and made the dvd. They are definitely much more rehearsed and polished than this event and in DTS 5.1 sound, it is better than ever. Clapton is the only one who looks healthy. All the drugs and partying took it's toll on these guys. Still sound good for their age.
@Deagledrumzz And don't forget how heavily they influenced him... He only agreed to tour England on the promise that he'd meet the members of Cream. He went to a show of theirs and jammed with the band using Jack Bruce's bass amp.
McCartney can play anything under the sun, Ringo brought drumming into the modern era, Lennon wrote wonderfully in depth and emotional songs, and Harrison was one of the best guitarists ever. If anything they were equally as talented, and equally as egotistic, and their awesome levels were equivalent to each others'. They
Despite the thumbs down you are getting you are absolutely correct. Ringo was hired because he was an excellent working drummer although speculation has it that Best's good looks were drawing attention away from the band. This is public record. Look it up.
Ringo was in the TOP Liverpool Band , Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, when The Beatles asked him to replace Pete Best. Pete was rattatat , rather undynamic drummer . Ringo Starr was already a star in Liverpool , he was a well seasoned drummer previous to his joining The Beatles. He didn't need mcCartney or anyone else to teach him. Paul did play drums on a few later career Beatles tracks. He did make suggestions to Ringo & the other Beatles on what to play as they all did with each other.
well, keep in mind that how we hear it on RU-vid doesnt necessarly reflect on how it sounded at the actual gig. Also, they have all matured as musicians. They would never play the songs like they used to.
@TheHockeyCentral I'd still love to see them do it again,these guys make magic happen.They're a force unlike any other,and Clapton is at his best with Cream.Ginger Baker makes sure of that. CREAM needs to roll it again.
Billy Cobham...drummer for Mahavishnu Orchestra....first solo album "Spectrum" 1973-ish. Second solo album "Crosswinds"...I saw him perform at U of Oregon 1975-ish. Severe technical problems messed up the concert. Billy Cobham is a GREAT drummer and musician.
Jack has calmed down, doesn't over-sing and go ballistic. I miss Ginger flipping out like Animal on the Muppet show. Eric has always been sublime, now he makes that baby moan and cry.
lol agree, hahaha back int he 60s these guys were the best of the best on there instruments. I mean besides jimi eric was the top, same with jack and ginger! ALl people wanted to see was them soloing they didn't even care about singing or anything like that!
I totally agree. I've watched a lot of old footage and that is mostly what I have seen is (Gibson's) . Jack's SG Bass and Eric's ES335, SG, or Firebird and LP's. His Strat pale's in comparison to those aformentioned guitars. LONG LIVE THE CREAM.
I don't believe it's the sound quality as much as it is keeping the beat and the groove. It's a hard thing to describe, but you know when it's there and when it's not. Thanks for the reply.
@boogster,you're right about Yes and Crimson,ELP,but Mahavisnu was a 70's band,still a good observation.ELP has reformed from time to time as well as Yes,The original Crimson lineup was fantastic,later lineups although interesting lacked the intensity of the Giles,Fripp,Lake collaboration.I know 1 thing when Clapton,Bruce and Baker get together,a lot of magic happens.The power of Cream is incredible,and those guys seem to reach a higher level when they play together.
"Good comment" -I, saw This Band on "The Wheels of Fire Tour/68' =anyone here thats commented ,would know a volume of thoughts, if they Experienced these Guys then...SO i WILL REFRAIN FROM TELLING the truth of just how powerfully talented This BAND WAS Then .
3 guys. Old guys. Guys that should be a shell of what they once were, after years of abuse and aging. Guys you would give a free pass to out of respect for former greatness. 3 guys that can not only still play, but sound as good as they did in remembered recordings made 35 years before.
good performance ...3 awesome musicians! but Jack mustve been pissed off ...his bass wasnt NEARLY as loud as Eric's geeetaaarr ...in the CREAM dayz he was just as strong if not stronger than Eric on stage.That old EB3 bass was LOUD & Jack ripped the hell out of it!! Eric was being "Eric the solo star" here...(that Crossroads arrangement is all Eric- I Dont like) he wasnt being "Eric, part of CREAM"... N.O.W. i know why there was no re-union after this!
Actually, the post on what Ginger said was for a different post. I watched a documentary on PBS and it was Eric's grandmother who made this statement. I meant nothing negative toward Clapton as he is one of my favorite guitarists and I liked his style much more when he was playing the ES335 Gibson.
Truthfully, Clapton kinda bores me as a solo artist but you put him with those two cats and something so much more electric and powerful and deep comes out. He just goes to another level that he can’t seem to get to with his hired bands cause he’s with true equals who push into new places. He’s even said that much in other interviews. Too bad they couldn’t stay together but they gifted us with some iconic music!
They werent a rock band - they were a jazz (jazz and blues is actually the same) band but were labeled a psycadelic(sp?) rock band for popularity reasons.
@tmwnat actually the guitar only really sounds wierd because of the more raw sound of the fretless bass, and I don't think that clapton had the whole make-my-fender-sound-like-a-gibson thing down yet. But the stuff for their full reunions is really good.
I admire Cream as one of the greatest band ever, great performers, but The Beatles had no comparation, they're untouchables, and everybody knows it, it's a fact!!
@Deagledrumzz if you dig a little deeper their are other bands from that era with original members alive. yes, king crimson, ELP, mahavishnu orchestra, the original line up of soft machine (although the drummer is paralyzed so that wont happen), roxy music, etc. there are still bands out there. i think cream played their reunions and its done.
