Fresh Cream is
CreamCream were a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock...
's December 1966 debut
albumAn album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. The most common way is through commercial distribution, although smaller artists will often distribute directly to the public by selling their albums at live concerts or on their websites.-...
. It was the first LP release of producer
Robert StigwoodRobert Stigwood is an Australian-born impresario and entertainment entrepreneur. In the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the most successful figures in the entertainment world, through his management of music groups like Cream and The Bee Gees, theatrical productions like Hair and Jesus Christ...
's new "Independent"
Reaction RecordsReaction Records was an "independent" British record label run by music executive Robert Stigwood in 1966 and 1967. Although Reaction released only three albums, one EP and 18 singles in its brief existence, its roster included two of the most popular British bands of the time, The Who and Cream...
label. It reached number 6 in the UK in February 1967 and - eventually - number 39 in the US in August 1968. The British version omitted "
I Feel Free"I Feel Free" is a song first recorded by the British blues rock band Cream. The song was written by Pete Brown and Jack Bruce and was the first of their many collaborations. It was the first track on the US version of their debut album, Fresh Cream , and the band's second hit single, following the...
" (then their current single), while the US version contained it, though it dropped "
Spoonful"Spoonful" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. It is loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues", a song recorded in 1929 by Charley Patton...
". The CD re-issue of 2000 preserves both songs in the album's running order.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 101 on
Rolling StoneRolling 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. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all timeThe 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003.Related news articles: The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums...
.
- "I Feel Free
"I Feel Free" is a song first recorded by the British blues rock band Cream. The song was written by Pete Brown and Jack Bruce and was the first of their many collaborations. It was the first track on the US version of their debut album, Fresh Cream , and the band's second hit single, following the...
" (Jack Bruce and Peter Brown) - 2:53
- "N.S.U." (Bruce) – 2:43
- "Sleepy Time Time" (Bruce, Janet Godfrey
Janet Godfrey was the first wife and some-time writing partner of bassist Jack Bruce. Together, Godfrey and Bruce had two sons, Jonas Bruce, who grew up to play keyboards in his father's band and formed a band AfroCelts, and Malcolm Bruce, who grew up to play the guitar with his father and played...
) – 4:20
- "Dreaming" (Bruce) – 1:58
- "Sweet Wine" (Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith...
, Godfrey) – 3:17
- "Spoonful
"Spoonful" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. It is loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues", a song recorded in 1929 by Charley Patton...
" (Willie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was a well-known American blues bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer...
) – 6:30
Fresh Cream is
CreamCream were a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock...
's December 1966 debut
albumAn album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. The most common way is through commercial distribution, although smaller artists will often distribute directly to the public by selling their albums at live concerts or on their websites.-...
. It was the first LP release of producer
Robert StigwoodRobert Stigwood is an Australian-born impresario and entertainment entrepreneur. In the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the most successful figures in the entertainment world, through his management of music groups like Cream and The Bee Gees, theatrical productions like Hair and Jesus Christ...
's new "Independent"
Reaction RecordsReaction Records was an "independent" British record label run by music executive Robert Stigwood in 1966 and 1967. Although Reaction released only three albums, one EP and 18 singles in its brief existence, its roster included two of the most popular British bands of the time, The Who and Cream...
label. It reached number 6 in the UK in February 1967 and - eventually - number 39 in the US in August 1968. The British version omitted "
I Feel Free"I Feel Free" is a song first recorded by the British blues rock band Cream. The song was written by Pete Brown and Jack Bruce and was the first of their many collaborations. It was the first track on the US version of their debut album, Fresh Cream , and the band's second hit single, following the...
" (then their current single), while the US version contained it, though it dropped "
Spoonful"Spoonful" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. It is loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues", a song recorded in 1929 by Charley Patton...
". The CD re-issue of 2000 preserves both songs in the album's running order.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 101 on
Rolling StoneRolling 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. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all timeThe 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003.Related news articles: The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums...
.
Side 1
- "I Feel Free
"I Feel Free" is a song first recorded by the British blues rock band Cream. The song was written by Pete Brown and Jack Bruce and was the first of their many collaborations. It was the first track on the US version of their debut album, Fresh Cream , and the band's second hit single, following the...
" (Jack Bruce and Peter Brown) - 2:53
- "N.S.U." (Bruce) – 2:43
- "Sleepy Time Time" (Bruce, Janet Godfrey
Janet Godfrey was the first wife and some-time writing partner of bassist Jack Bruce. Together, Godfrey and Bruce had two sons, Jonas Bruce, who grew up to play keyboards in his father's band and formed a band AfroCelts, and Malcolm Bruce, who grew up to play the guitar with his father and played...
) – 4:20
- "Dreaming" (Bruce) – 1:58
- "Sweet Wine" (Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith...
, Godfrey) – 3:17
- "Spoonful
"Spoonful" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. It is loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues", a song recorded in 1929 by Charley Patton...
" (Willie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was a well-known American blues bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer...
) – 6:30
- The U.S. release omitted "Spoonful" and inserted "I Feel Free" at the beginning of Side 1
- *The track title N.S.U. is an abbreviation for "Non-Specific Urethritis
Non-gonococcal urethritis is an inflammation of the urethra which is not caused by gonorrheal infection.For treatment purposes, doctors usually classify infectious urethritis in two categories: gonococcocal urethritis, caused by gonorrhea; and non-gonococcal urethritis .-Bacterial:The most common...
". It was also a make of car in the Sixties, and Jack Bruce was something of car enthusiast.
Side 2
- "Cat's Squirrel" (Traditional, arr. S. Splurge
Cream were a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock...
) – 3:03
- "Four Until Late
From Four Till Late is a song recorded by blues artist Robert Johnson in 1937. It was covered by the band Cream on their album Fresh Cream in 1966....
" (Robert Johnson, arr. Eric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. 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 ever to be inducted three times...
) – 2:07
- "Rollin' and Tumblin'
"Rollin' and Tumblin" is a blues song that has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists. Considered as a traditional, it has been recorded with different lyrics and titles...
" (McKinley MorganfieldMcKinley Morganfield , better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered "the Father of Chicago blues". He is also the actual father of blues musicians Big Bill Morganfield and Larry "Mud Morganfield" Williams...
) – 4:42
- "I'm So Glad
"I'm So Glad" is a song originally recorded by Skip James in the early 1930s. The song is derived from a 1927 song by Art Sizemore and George A. Little entitled "So Tired"...
" (Skip JamesNehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was an American delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.-Early years:James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a converted bootlegger turned preacher...
) – 3:57
- "Toad
"Toad" is an instrumental by British rock band Cream and was released on their 1966 debut album, Fresh Cream. The "song", composed by drummer Ginger Baker, is a five minute drum solo , and is notable because it features one of the earliest recorded drum solos in rock history...
" (Baker) – 5:11
Swedish Edition
There was also a Sweden only 1966 12-track release, as UK but adding "The Coffee Song" and "Wrapping Paper". Both vinyl and cover were made in Germany and exported for the Swedish market only - the German original had the same 10 tracks as UK. The group hated "Coffee Song" and didn't want it issued at all, but a mono version was mixed and coupled with "Wrapping Paper" as a single. There were no plans at this stage to release it in stereo, so for the Swedish issue a crude stereo mix was used. This was made during the sessions in early August 1966 for instructive purpose - the whole track as basic mono is mixed far right and a solo guitar overdub far left. Never intended for release this mix was soon lost and for later stereo issues a new one was made.
The front cover and record no. (623 031) are the same as the German issue, but three different back covers exist. The first, listed the correct 12 tracks, the second listed 10 tracks, and a third where the 12 track listing has been "glued" over the 10 track listing.
Track listing on record.
- "N.S.U"
- "Sleepy Time Time"
- "Dreaming"
- "Sweet Wine"
- "Spoonful"
- "Wrapping Paper"
- "Cat's Squirrel"
- "Four Until Late"
- "The Coffee Song"
- "Rollin´and Tumblin´"
- "I´m So Glad"
- "Toad"
Personnel
- Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. 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 ever to be inducted three times...
- guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
, vocals
- Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician, composer and singer. He is best-known as an electric bass guitarist, harmonica player and pianist, and was most famous as a vocalist and the bass guitarist for the 1960s rock band Cream. He lives in Suffolk...
- vocals, bassThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
, harmonicaThe harmonica is a free reed wind instrument which is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes. The pressure caused by blowing or drawing air into the reed chambers causes a reed or multiple reeds to vibrate up and down creating sound...
- Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith...
- drumsA drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...
, percussionA 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