Disraeli Gears

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Disraeli Gears

Disraeli Gears is the second album by British

United Kingdom

Blues-rock

Blues-rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy Improvisation#Musical_improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jam session with rock and roll styles....
group Cream

Cream (band)

Cream were a 1960s United Kingdom blues-rock Musical ensemble consisting of bassist/lead vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker....
. It was released in November 1967 and went on to reach #5 on the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
album chart. It was also their American breakthrough, becoming a massive seller there in 1968, reaching #4 on American charts. The album features the two singles "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love

Sunshine of Your Love

"Sunshine of Your Love" is a song by the British Supergroup Cream , released on the Disraeli Gears album. It was Cream's best-selling song and Atlantic Records' best-selling to date as well....
". By this time, the group was veering quite heavily away from their blues roots to indulge in more psychedelic

Psychedelic music

Psychedelic music is a term that refers to a broad set of popular music styles, genres and scenes, that may include psychedelic rock, psych folk, psychedelic pop, psychedelic soul, Psybient, psychedelic trance, and others....
sounds.

The title of the album was taken from an inside joke.

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Encyclopedia

Disraeli Gears is the second album by British

United Kingdom

Blues-rock

Blues-rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy Improvisation#Musical_improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jam session with rock and roll styles....
group Cream

Cream (band)

United Kingdom

Sunshine of Your Love

Psychedelic music

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton Order of the British Empire is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. He is "probably most famous for his mastery of the Stratocaster guitar." Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream , and as a solo performer, being the only person to...
had been thinking of buying a racing bicycle and was discussing it with Ginger Baker

Ginger Baker

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an England drummer, best known for his work with Cream . He is also known for his numerous associations with New World music and the use of Music of Africa influences and other diverse collaborations such as his work with the Rock music Hawkwind....
, when a roadie named Mick Turner commented, "its got them Disraeli Gears", meaning to say "derailleur gears

Derailleur gears

Derailleur gears are a variable-ratio transmission system commonly used on bicycles, consisting of a bicycle chain, multiple sprockets and a mechanism to move the chain from one sprocket to another....
", but instead alluding to 19th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. The band thought this was hilarious, and decided that it should be the title of their next album. Had it not been for Mick, the album would simply have been entitled Cream.

Clapton, Baker, and Jack Bruce

Jack Bruce

John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scotland musician, musical composer and singer. He is best-known as an electric bass guitarist, harmonica player and piano, and was most famous as a vocalist and the bass guitarist for the 1960s rock band Cream ....
all contributed songs with the help of lyricist Pete Brown

Pete Brown

Pete Brown is an England performance poet, lyricist and musical producer, best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce. He worked also with The Battered Ornaments, and formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!....
and producer Felix Pappalardi

Felix Pappalardi

Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American record producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist....
. The track "Blue Condition" was unusual in that Baker, although not well known for his singing, took the lead vocal. The album was recorded in New York

New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
by their American label, the Atco

Atco Records

Atco Records is an United States record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment....
division of Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an United States record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm & blues, rock and roll, and jazz. Long one of the most important American independent labels, Atlantic now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group, which consolidated Atlantic Records and the Elektra Entertainment Group into one...
during the band's stay in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.

The psychedelic cover art was created by Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
n artist Martin Sharp

Martin Sharp

Martin Sharp is an Australian artist, underground cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker. Sharp has made tremendous contributions to Australian and international culture since the early 60s, and is hailed as Australia's foremost pop artist....
, who lived in the same building as Clapton at the time of the Chelsea

Chelsea

Chelsea may refer to:...
artists colony The Pheasantry. At their first meeting in a London club, Clapton mentioned that he had some music that needed lyrics, so Sharp wrote out a poem he had composed on a napkin and gave it to Clapton, who recorded it as "Tales of Brave Ulysses

Tales of Brave Ulysses

"Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song performed by the 1960's group Cream . The music was written by Eric Clapton and the lyrics by artist Martin Sharp....
".

When interviewed on the episode of the VH1

VH1

VH1 is an United States cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in television, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slighter older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music....
show, Classic Albums
Classic Albums

Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of pop and rock music....
, which featured Disraeli Gears, Bruce stated that when writing the song "Take it Back", he had been inspired by the contemporary media images of American students burning their draft cards

United States v. O'Brien

United States v. O'Brien, Case citation , was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that ruled that a criminal prohibition against burning a draft card did not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution's guarantee of free speech....
and wrote the song in that spirit of rejecting militarism

Militarism

File:CaptainJ.R.Jellicoe.jpgMilitarism is the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
.

In 2004, the album was released as a 2-disc Deluxe edition including the complete album in both mono

Monaural

Monaural sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or, in the case of headphones or multiple loudspeakers, they are fed from a common Signalling path, and in the case of multiple microphones, mixed into a single signal path at some stage....
and stereo

STEREO

STEREO is a Sun observation mission which was launched on 26 October 2006 at 00:52 GMT. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to pull respectively further ahead of and fall gradually behind the earth....
, demos, alternate takes and tracks taken from the band's live sessions on BBC radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the BBC which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company, Ltd....
. In 2003 the album was ranked number 112 on Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J....
magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. VH1

VH1

Track listing

Side 1

"Strange Brew" (Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton Order of the British Empire is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. He is "probably most famous for his mastery of the Stratocaster guitar." Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream , and as a solo performer, being the only person to...
, Felix Pappalardi
Felix Pappalardi

Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American record producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist....
, Gail Collins Pappalardi
Gail Collins Pappalardi

Gail Collins Pappalardi is a songwriter and an artist. She was wife of the late Felix Pappalardi. She contributed lyrics to many Mountain songs and co-wrote Cream 's "World of Pain" with Pappalardi and "Strange Brew" with Pappalardi and Eric Clapton....
) – 2:46
"Sunshine of Your Love
Sunshine of Your Love

"Sunshine of Your Love" is a song by the British Supergroup Cream , released on the Disraeli Gears album. It was Cream's best-selling song and Atlantic Records' best-selling to date as well....
" (Clapton, Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce

John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scotland musician, musical composer and singer. He is best-known as an electric bass guitarist, harmonica player and piano, and was most famous as a vocalist and the bass guitarist for the 1960s rock band Cream ....
, Pete Brown
Pete Brown

Pete Brown is an England performance poet, lyricist and musical producer, best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce. He worked also with The Battered Ornaments, and formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!....
) – 4:10
"World of Pain" (Pappalardi, Collins) – 3:03
"Dance the Night Away" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:34
"Blue Condition" (Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an England drummer, best known for his work with Cream . He is also known for his numerous associations with New World music and the use of Music of Africa influences and other diverse collaborations such as his work with the Rock music Hawkwind....
) – 3:29

Side 2

"Tales of Brave Ulysses
Tales of Brave Ulysses

"Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song performed by the 1960's group Cream . The music was written by Eric Clapton and the lyrics by artist Martin Sharp....
" (Clapton, Martin Sharp
Martin Sharp

Martin Sharp is an Australian artist, underground cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker. Sharp has made tremendous contributions to Australian and international culture since the early 60s, and is hailed as Australia's foremost pop artist....
) – 2:46
"SWLABR" (Bruce, Brown) – 2:32
"We're Going Wrong" (Bruce) – 3:26
"Outside Woman Blues" (Blind Joe Reynolds
Blind Joe Reynolds

"Blind Joe" Reynolds was a singer-songwriter thought to have been born in Tallulah, Louisiana in 1904, although his death certificate states his birthplace as Arkansas in 1900....
, arr.
Arrangement

In music, an arrangement is either a rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material or a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch, such as a lead sheet....
Clapton) – 2:24
"Take It Back" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:05
"Mother's Lament" (Traditional, arr. Clapton, Bruce, Baker) – 1:47

Disraeli Gears - Deluxe Edition (2004)

Disc one (stereo)

Original album

Tracks 1-11

Out-takes

"Lawdy Mama" - version 1 (Traditional, arr. Clapton) – 2:00

Recorded 3 April 1967 at Atlantic Studios
Atlantic Studios

Atlantic Studios is the recording studio of Atlantic Records. It is located in New York City. The American record label first recorded in these studios in November 1947....

"Blue Condition" - alternate version (Baker) - 3:13

Eric Clapton vocal, previously unreleased Demos

"We're Going Wrong" (Bruce) – 3:49
"Hey Now, Princess" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:31
"SWLABR" (Bruce, Brown) – 4:30
"Weird of Hermiston" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:12
"The Clearout" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:58

Recorded 15 March 1967 at Ryemuse Studios, London

Disc two (mono)

Original album and out-takes

Tracks 1-13

BBC recordings

"Strange Brew" (Clapton, Pappalardi, Collins) – 3:00
"Tales of Brave Ulysses" (Clapton, Sharp) – 2:55
"We're Going Wrong" (Bruce) – 3:25

Recorded 30 May 1967, broadcast 3 June on BBC Light Programme
BBC Light Programme

The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the longwave frequency used before 1939 by the BBC National Programme....

"Born Under a Bad Sign" (Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known for frontman the band , Booker T. and the MGs....
, William Bell
William Bell (singer)

William Bell is an United States soul music singer and songwriter. He was one of the architects of the Stax Records-Volt Records sound, and is probably best known for his 1961 debut single , "You Don't Miss Your Water"....
) – 3:03
"Outside Woman Blues" (Reynolds) – 3:18
"Take It Back" (Bruce, Brown) – 2:17

Recorded 24 October 1967, broadcast 29 October on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a United Kingdom international radio station operated by the BBC, specialising in current popular music throughout the day, with a slight bias to Rock music & Independent music music....

"Politician" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:59
"SWLABR" (Bruce, Brown) – 2:32
"Steppin' Out" (James Bracken
James Bracken

James C. Bracken was an African American songwriter and the co-founder and co-owner of Vee-Jay Records with his wife Vivian Carter and her brother, Calvin Carter....
) – 3:37

Recorded 9 January 1968, broadcast 14 January on BBC Radio 1

Tracks previously released on the Those Were the Days box set.
Tracks previously released on the BBC Sessions compilation album.

Personnel

Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton Order of the British Empire is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. He is "probably most famous for his mastery of the Stratocaster guitar." Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream , and as a solo performer, being the only person to...
- guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
, vocals
Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce

John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scotland musician, musical composer and singer. He is best-known as an electric bass guitarist, harmonica player and piano, and was most famous as a vocalist and the bass guitarist for the 1960s rock band Cream ....
- bass
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
, harmonica
Harmonica

The harmonica is a free reed aerophone wind instrument which is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes....
, lead vocals
Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an England drummer, best known for his work with Cream . He is also known for his numerous associations with New World music and the use of Music of Africa influences and other diverse collaborations such as his work with the Rock music Hawkwind....
- drums
Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....
, percussion
Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration....
, vocals

External links

. Those Were the Days.
. JackBruce.com.
JackBruce.com.