Fresh Cream

by

Cream

Edit

Fresh Cream was Cream's debut and the first of their three consecutive fantastic albums made while they were together. Although this is clearly their best blues statement with covers of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" and the oft-covered Muddy Waters classic "Rollin' And Tumblin'", the album also points to the excellent songwriting of Disraeli Gears and the extensive jamming featured on Wheels Of Fire.

While there's no instant classic like "White Room" or "Sunshine Of Your Love" present here, Jack Bruce's collection of originals here are among the best he'd pen for the band whether it was the blues of "Sleepy Time Time", the excellent pop of "I Feel Free" and "Dreaming" or the short jamming "N.S.U.", which would lead to the improvisation of their live shows exhibited on Wheels Of Fire and their live albums. Bruce's bass playing is also very innovative throughout the album and he plays a mean harmonica on "A Cat's Squirrel" and "Rollin' And Tumblin." Ginger Baker's drumming is very powerful and innovative throughout, particularly on his compositions "Toad" and the excellent "Sweet Wine." While Eric Clapton didn't write any tracks here, his playing is outstanding, particularly on "Spoonful" and the Skip James tune "I'm So Glad." The band's performances of the cover tunes are very powerful with Jack Bruce truly making "Spoonful" his own with his excellent vocal performance. Simply a stunning debut from one of the best bands from the '60s. Highly recommended.

People generally recognise Cream for mixing blues and jazz in long extended improvisational jams. Although there are elements of that on this record, this record also brings out another side of Cream that many people don't always recognise, and that is Cream as a group that was capable of producing well-crafted, positive, catchy pop songs. Simply put: Cream does pop, and does it well, as evidenced here. Jack Bruce emerges as a great pop songwriter, constructing beautiful melodies like "Dreaming", "I Feel Free", and "N.S.U." Even other people's material get a "pop" like treatment, such as "I'm So Glad". Now some of the lyrics do come over as simplistic--but hey, they're catchy, and they're as memorable as a 50's doo-wop song. You'll have trouble getting "I'm So Glad" or "I Feel Free" off the turntable of your mind after a few hours of having heard them, especially if you're in a particularly good mood. Unfortunately, Cream must have gotten turned on chemically after this album, and started writing some really dark and weird stuff like "White Room", "Tales of Brave Ulysses"(Greek mythology on an acid trip), and "SWALBR" (She walks with a bearded rainbow--okay?) But early on, you have a little bit of an innocent, fresh Cream with lyrics that are catchy and make a little bit of sense.

But what about those jams they're famous for? Ah, yes! Eric Clapton was at his best here, having just come out of his blues apprenticeship with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and sounding great in the days when he still favoured Gibson guitars--a guitar he should have never quit, and one in which he displayed his mastery of amplifier feedback the best, as there is some nice guitar feedback all over this record. For example, "Spoonful", done by a thousand different blues bands a thousand different ways--Clapton's howling feedback in the guitar solo probably beats them all with that Gibson tone. Another example is "Toad", Ginger Baker's drum solo song. Every band in those days had one. But Clapton, once again, adds a nice little shot of feedback with his guitar intro before Baker cuts loose on the drums. And then there are a couple of really nice, catchy instrumentals: "Cats Squirrel" and "Rollin' and Tumblin'"

Jack Bruce is most known for his bass playing, but I think his harmonica playing raked him right up there with Keith Relf of The Yardbirds when it came to "White Anglo-Saxon Harp Blowers" in the sixties. He also had what I consider a really classy, one-of-a-kind singing voice. He comes accross on this record like a raw Frank Sinatra--a booming baritone belting out the tunes with style. And did I mention his songwriting abilities? I know I sound like I really favor Jack Bruce here, but I think he was a really overlooked part of this band. He came accross to me very well on this album.

Simply put, if you want to hear Cream as they sounded in 1966 when they first started out--innocent, pre-ego trip, pre-drug trip, playing catchy, smart pop while showing what they're made of on occasional extended jams, this album is for you. This was truly "Fresh Cream".