Disraeli Gears | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 November 1967 | |||
Recorded | 11–15 May 1967 | |||
Studio | Atlantic, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 33:02 | |||
Label | Reaction | |||
Producer | Felix Pappalardi | |||
Cream chronology | ||||
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Singles from Disraeli Gears | ||||
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Disraeli Gears is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was produced by Felix Pappalardi and released on Reaction Records. The album features the singles "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love".
The original 11-track album was remastered in 1998, and then subsequently released as a two-disc Deluxe Edition in 2004.
Early demo sessions for the album were held on March 15, 1967 at London's Ryemuse Studios which yielded rough renditions of "SWLABR", "Blue Condition" and "We're Going Wrong" as well as three other Bruce/Brown compositions: "Hey Now Princess", "The Weird Of Hermiston" and "The Clearout", the latter two of which would be re-recorded for Bruce's 1969 solo effort Songs for a Tailor . [1] On April 3, following the band's nine shows as part of Murray the K's "Music in the 5th Dimension" concert series which comprised their first tour of America, Cream checked into Atlantic Studios in New York City with label owner Ahmet Ertegun to record a cover of "Lawdy Mama". Cream's American label, ATCO, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Records. [2] [3] Encouraged by the results, Ertegun booked more time at the studio for a return visit to the US the following month.
The bulk of the album was recorded at Atlantic between 11 and 15 May 1967. [4] The sessions were produced by Ertegun protege and future Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi and engineered by Tom Dowd, who would later work with Clapton on projects such as Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and 461 Ocean Boulevard . According to Dowd, the recording sessions took only three-and-a-half days, as the band's visas expired on the very last day of recording. [5] Pappalardi soon proved his worth to the group when he took the tape of "Lawdy Mama" recorded in April and added new lyrics he co-wrote with his wife Gail Collins, transforming the song into "Strange Brew", the first track completed at the sessions (the Pappalardi songwriting team would also contribute "World of Pain"). [1]
The sessions were swift and efficient, with the band recording no more than one or two takes of a backing track and then adding minimal overdubs, despite an Ampex 8-track recorder now available to them; Dowd reportedly had to guide the group on the use of the new equipment. [1] The recording atmosphere was also somewhat relaxed, with visitors often encouraged to drop by including Linda Eastman, Al Kooper, Janis Joplin and local groupie Jenny Dean (who provided many of the party sounds on "Take It Back"). [1] Some friction ensued when Ertegun, who had expected the band to play blues, balked at what he called the "psychedelic hogwash" of tracks like "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Tales of Brave Ulysses". Eventually he backed down after Booker T. Jones and Otis Redding both expressed their adoration of "Sunshine of Your Love". [6] Believing the band to be led by Clapton, and that the star of a band should sing, he was also reticent at the idea of Jack or Ginger taking any vocal leads but again relented after resistance from the group. The sessions reportedly concluded just hours before their visas expired and the band was due to fly back to the UK.
Disraeli Gears features the group veering away, quite heavily, from their blues roots and indulging in more psychedelic sounds, in particular on tracks such as "Tales of Brave Ulysses", "SWLABR", "World of Pain" and "Dance the Night Away". "Tales of Brave Ulysses" had been inspired by a trip to Ibiza that artist Martin Sharp had recently taken, where the sirens were alleged to have sung to Ulysses. "Dance the Night Away" was penned by Pete Brown as a tribute to the freedom dancing gave him after he quit drugs, while the words to "We're Going Wrong" had been written by Bruce after a fight he'd had with his wife. [7] The most blues-like tunes on the album are Clapton's arrangement of "Outside Woman Blues", the Bruce-Brown composition "Take It Back" which had been inspired by the contemporary media images of American students burning their draft cards and featured harmonica work by Jack Bruce, [8] plus the opening track "Strange Brew", which was based on the 12-bar blues "Lawdy Mama" and featured a guitar solo copied from Albert King's solo on "Oh Pretty Woman". [9]
Unlike the previous Fresh Cream, which was vocally dominated by Bruce, the vocals on Disraeli Gears were a more democratic affair. Clapton sings lead on "Strange Brew" and "Outside Woman Blues", plus co-lead on "World of Pain", "Dance the Night Away" and "Sunshine of Your Love". Baker, meanwhile, performs lead vocals on his composition "Blue Condition" which the others encouraged him to write (an outtake features Clapton on vocal). [10] All three band members sing together on "Mother's Lament".
In contrast to much of the band's other work, Disraeli Gears comprises mainly short, self-contained songs, with none of the improvisation and jamming for which the band was known onstage. In a track-by-track interview about the record for Record Mirror , Clapton revealed that "World of Pain" was one of his favorite tracks, written about the back tree in the garden of composer Pappalardi, and that "Dance the Night Away", with its 12-string guitars (the only time the instrument was used on a Cream recording), was Bruce's tribute to The Byrds, a band the group admired and were friends with. [10] He also divulged that the full title of "SWLABR" is "She Walks Like A Bearded Rainbow" (which lyricist Brown admitted was about a man who defaces a painting of his woman by adding facial hair) [7] and was originally planned for release as a single, and that Eric himself chose Blind Joe Reynolds' "Outside Woman Blues" for the album so that one of his old blues idols would be able to collect royalties. With regards to "Mother's Lament", he stated that "at the end of every session we have a laugh by sitting around the piano doing a mock-English pub thing. We had a laugh with this one but it wasn't meant to be anything. We were then told it had been recorded and they wanted to put it on the album." [10]
The cover art was created by Australian artist Martin Sharp who lived in the same building as Clapton, The Pheasantry in Chelsea. Sharp would go on to create the artwork to Cream's next album Wheels of Fire and co-wrote the songs "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and The Savage Seven movie theme "Anyone for Tennis" with Clapton. The photography was by Bob Whitaker, known for his work for the Beatles, including the controversial Yesterday and Today "butcher" cover. Most of the photographs were taken in July 1967, with shoots in London's Hyde Park as well as in the Scottish Highlands. Some of the images were shot on Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the British isles. The photos show a clean-shaven Clapton with a bouffant, permed hairstyle. By the time of the album's release in November, however, he was letting his hair grow out straight and had grown a moustache.
The front cover consists of a psychedelic collage with the title centred and band name below, surrounded by a floral arrangement. Martin Sharp was attempting to capture the sound of the music in the cover, which he describes as a "warm fluorescent sound": [11]
I got hold of a publicity shot and cut it up, along with cutouts from various books, laid the pieces out and stuck them together as a collage on a 12-inch square. I did some drawing outlines, and then painted all over it with fluorescent inks and paints of the time. I really wanted to capture that warm, electric sound of their music in the colours and expression of the cover. On my way to England, I'd gone (to Cambodia). And in one of the towns I visited, there were these amazing sculptures with faces on each side, and huge trees growing out on top... Over the years, these great trees had taken root and grown. I suppose I thought that was a bit like the band: where you could see three faces, and the music coming out of their heads. [12]
The cover art was later used for the compilation Those Were the Days .
Drummer Ginger Baker recalled how the album's title was based on a malapropism which alluded to 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli:
You know how the title came about – Disraeli Gears – yeah? We had this Austin Westminster, and Mick Turner was one of the roadies who'd been with me a long time, and he was driving along and Eric [Clapton] was talking about getting a racing bicycle. Mick, driving, went 'Oh yeah – Disraeli gears!' meaning derailleur gears ... We all just fell over ... We said that's got to be the album title. [13]
The album was released on 2 November 1967 by Reaction Records [14] and was a big commercial success, reaching No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, [15] No. 4 in the US and No. 1 on the Swedish and Finnish charts. The album was also No. 1 for two weeks on the Australian album chart and was listed as the No. 1 album of 1968 by Cash Box in its year-end album chart.
The original 11-track album was remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio at PolyGram Studios [14] for a 1998 release, including bonus photographs accompanying the original album artwork.
The Disraeli Gears Deluxe Edition includes the complete album in both mono and stereo, demos, alternative takes and tracks taken from the band's live sessions on BBC Radio. Included is an outtake of "Blue Condition" with Eric Clapton on lead vocals, and demos of the songs "Weird of Hermiston" and "The Clearout" which were not released until Jack Bruce's first solo album Songs for a Tailor .
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [16] |
BBC Music | (positive) [17] |
Chicago Tribune | [18] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [19] |
Great Rock Discography | 9/10 [20] |
MusicHound | [21] |
Music Story | [22] |
Sputnikmusic | [23] |
The album was highly praised on release. Melody Maker gushed that it was "a quality-heavy, propelling package of incredible Cream superpower. Clapton's guitar menacing almost like a machine gun, sometimes eerily and overpoweringly persuasive as it reaches serpent-like deep into the Cream's varied and hypnotic musical journeys." [24] Disc & Music Echo raved it "shows the completely individual way the group is developing from their early blues days", pointing out that all the songs are "more or less perfect and it's merely a matter of personal bias which you think is best." [25] In the United States, Rolling Stone gave a largely positive review, noting it displayed a more original direction than the debut album with "miles of listening pleasure" in tracks like "Strange Brew", "Sunshine Of Your Love", "SWLABR" and "Take It Back" but also critiquing that the album "does not totally hang together" where "in some tracks the material is too pale to support the heavy instrumental work which makes Cream such an overwhelming trio". [26]
Retrospectively, writing for the BBC, Chris Jones described the album as "a perfect encapsulation of the point where the blues got psychedelic and in turn got heavy". [17] Classic Rock's Louder notes "it captured epic studio performances by Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker at the peak of their powers as a group" and "became a touchstone recording of the '60s counterculture." [27] Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic describes the album as "a quintessential heavy rock album of the '60s" [16] while Dave Swanson of Ultimate Classic Rock likewise believes the album to be their masterpiece. [28]
In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [29]
It was voted number 182 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). [30] In 2003 the album was ranked number 112 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, [31] then was re-ranked at number 114 in a 2012 revised list, [32] and at number 170 in a 2020 revised list. [33] VH1 named it 87th-greatest album of all time in 2001. [34]
In 2008, the album won a Classic Rock Roll of Honours Award for Classic Album. [35]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Strange Brew" | Eric Clapton | 2:46 | |
2. | "Sunshine of Your Love" |
| Bruce and Clapton | 4:10 |
3. | "World of Pain" |
| Clapton and Bruce | 3:02 |
4. | "Dance the Night Away" |
| Bruce and Clapton | 3:34 |
5. | "Blue Condition" | Ginger Baker | Ginger Baker | 3:29 |
Total length: | 17:01 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Tales of Brave Ulysses" |
| Bruce | 2:46 |
2. | "SWLABR" |
| Bruce | 2:31 |
3. | "We're Going Wrong" | Bruce | Bruce | 3:27 |
4. | "Outside Woman Blues" | Blind Joe Reynolds, arr. Clapton | Clapton | 2:25 |
5. | "Take It Back" |
| Bruce | 3:05 |
6. | "Mother's Lament" | Traditional, [nb 1] arr. Bruce, Clapton, Baker | Baker, Clapton, and Bruce | 1:47 |
Total length: | 16:01 |
Disc one (stereo)
| Disc two (mono)
|
A. Side One, B. Side Two
Cream
Production
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [52] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [53] 1998 release | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [54] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | November 1967 | Reaction Records | mono LP | 593 003 |
stereo LP | 594 003 | |||
United States | November 1967 | Atco Records | mono LP | 33-232 |
stereo LP | SD 33-232 | |||
Germany | November 1967 | Polydor Records | stereo LP | 184 105 |
Japan | May 1968 | Polydor Records | stereo LP | MP-1390 |
United States | 1977 | RSO Records | LP | RS 1–3010 |
United States | 1986 | Polydor Records | CD | 823 636-2 |
United States | 2004 | Polydor Records/Chronciles | Deluxe Edition CD | B0003331-02 |
United Kingdom | 2004 | Polydor Records | Deluxe Edition CD | 0602498193129 |
Japan | 2013 | USM Japan | SACD | UIGY 15002 |
Cream were a British rock supergroup formed in London in 1966. The group consisted of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker. Bruce was the primary songwriter and vocalist, although Clapton and Baker contributed to songs. Formed by members of previously successful bands, they are widely considered the first supergroup. Cream were highly regarded for the instrumental proficiency of each of their members.
John Symon Asher Bruce was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of rock band Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a solo career and also played with several bands.
Felix Albert Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a classic rock radio staple.
Fresh Cream is the debut studio album by the British rock band Cream, consisting of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker.
Wheels of Fire is the third studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in the US on 14 June 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It was released in the UK in the same format on August 9.
Goodbye is the fourth and final studio album by Cream, with three tracks recorded live, and three recorded in the studio. The album was released after Cream disbanded in November 1968.
"Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British rock band Cream. With elements of hard rock and psychedelia, it is one of Cream's best known and most popular songs. Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive bass riff he developed after attending a Jimi Hendrix concert. Guitarist Eric Clapton and lyricist Pete Brown later contributed to the song and drummer Ginger Baker plays a distinctive tom-tom drum rhythm.
"White Room" is a song by British rock band Cream, composed by bassist Jack Bruce with lyrics by poet Pete Brown. They recorded it for the studio half of the 1968 double album Wheels of Fire. In September, a shorter US single edit was released for AM radio stations, although album-oriented FM radio stations played the full album version. The subsequent UK single release in January 1969 used the full-length album version of the track.
Live Cream is a live compilation album by the British rock band Cream, released in 1970. This album comprises four live tracks recorded in 1968 and one studio track "Lawdy Mama" from 1967. The instrumental track for "Lawdy Mama" is the same as heard on "Strange Brew" with a different vocal and guitar solo by Eric Clapton.
Live Cream Volume II is the second live album by the British rock band Cream, released in March 1972 by Polydor Records. This album contains six tracks recorded at various performances from 9 March to 4 October 1968.
Strange Brew: The Very Best of Cream is a 1983 compilation album by the British rock band Cream.
Those Were the Days is a retrospective compilation of music recorded by the British rock band Cream, released on 23 September 1997. It comprises four compact discs and includes almost every studio track released during the band's active lifetime, with the exception of the original "Passing The Time" from Wheels of Fire, and all but three tracks from the live material recorded in 1968 and released on Wheels of Fire, Goodbye, and the two Live Cream volumes of 1970 and 1972. The title is taken from the song written by Ginger Baker and Mike Taylor, released on Wheels of Fire in 1968.
Gold is a two-disc compilation album by the British rock band Cream, released in 2005 to help celebrate the band's reunion at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a part of the larger Gold series.
"Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song recorded in 1967 by British group Cream. It was released as the B-side to the "Strange Brew" single in May 1967. In November, the song was included on Cream's second album, Disraeli Gears. The song features one of the earliest uses of a wah-wah pedal, which guitarist Eric Clapton plays throughout the song. Cream's song "White Room" copies the chord progression to a large extent.
"SWLABR" is a song recorded by the British rock band Cream in 1967. It first appeared on the album Disraeli Gears (1967). Later, the song was the B-side to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" single.
"We're Going Wrong" is a song by British supergroup Cream from the album Disraeli Gears. The song was written by bassist Jack Bruce and was the only song on Gears that Jack wrote without lyricist Pete Brown.
The Cream of Clapton is an Eric Clapton compilation album released in 1995. Additionally, the European and U.S.-versions have a different track listings. The European version had already been released as The Best of Eric Clapton in 1991, though without the track "I Can't Stand It".
Songs for a Tailor is the 1969 debut solo album by the Scottish musician, composer and singer Jack Bruce, who was already famous at the time of its release for his work with the supergroup Cream. Originally released on the Polydor label in Europe and on Atco Records in the U.S., Songs for a Tailor was the second solo album that Bruce recorded, though he did not release the first, Things We Like, for another year.
Strange Brew: The Very Best of Cream is a 1983 compilation album by the British rock band Cream.
"Strange Brew" is a song by the British rock band Cream. First released as a single in May 1967 in the UK and July 1967 in the US, it was later added to their second studio album Disraeli Gears. The song features Eric Clapton on lead vocals rather than the usual lead by Jack Bruce. The single peaked at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart in July of that same year. In the UK, it was the last Cream single to be released by Reaction Records.