Cream

Latest about Cream

Eric CLAPTON; performing live onstage in 1978
The breakup that nearly made Eric Clapton quit music

By Phil Weller Published

Slowhand didn’t like the sound of his guitar or how he played. Even the prospect of linking up with a Beatle couldn’t pull him out of his hole

Guitarists
LEFT: Eric Clapton with Cream at the L.A. Forum in Inglewood in 1968 on their last US tour. RIGHT: Leslie West of West, Bruce & Laing performs on stage in 1973 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He plays a Gibson Flying V guitar.
Leslie West on Eric Clapton, the album that inspired Mountain — and the bassist who refused to make the group a power trio

By Christopher Scapelliti Published

With Cream producer Felix Pappalardi and drummer Corky Laing onboard, West had everything he needed to make his dream group— until Pappalardi drew the line

Guitarists
CREAM 1967 Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce
“It was magic.” Jack Bruce on the day he met Eric Clapton and how the guitarist changed his way of listening and playing

By Tom Mulhern Published

Bruce recalled the very first jam between Cream's future members at the Windsor Jazz Festival

Guitarists
Supergroup Cream poses for a portrait in New York, New York, circa 1968. L-R: Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce.
Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker wanted to keep Cream a secret. A record project nearly blew their cover

By Phil Weller Published

Tasked with putting together an all-star band in 1966, Manfred Mann's singer coincidentally formed a dream team that included all three of Cream's members

Guitarists
LEFT: Ian Anderson onstage during his "Thick As A Brick" Tour at Royal Albert Hall on June 30, 2013 in London, England. RIGHT: Eric Clapton with Cream at The Forum in Inglewood in 1968
Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson says Eric Clapton and Cream are the birthplace of prog rock

By Phil Weller Published

He notes that Jethro Tull shed their folk and blues beginnings in favor of more experimental music after Clapton paved the way

Guitarists
A screengrab from an RCA Victor's Vault video showing George Harrison and Eric Clapton writing "Badge" while in a Los Angeles garden. Harrison is holding a 1913 Gibson Style O acoustic owned by both men
An acoustic guitar owned by George Harrison and Eric Clapton — with a Beatles and Cream connection — is being sold for $1 million

By Christopher Scapelliti Published

Dubbed Pattie, the guitar is named for Pattie Boyd, the former wife of both Harrison and Clapton

Guitars
Albert Lee 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom
When Albert Lee received a Les Paul Custom from Eric Clapton, he had no idea how much history it held

By Phil Weller Published

Clapton made the guitar famous, but it’s been played by a host of guitar icons and was featured on two of his vital classic rock albums

Guitarists
LEFT: Rory Gallager posed backstage in Manchester,England in 1973. RIGHT: British guitarist Eric Clapton performing on stage at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York on June 30, 1974.
Why Rory Gallagher rejected the chance to bring Cream back from the dead in 1968

By Phil Weller Published

Clapton’s power trio imploded almost as quickly as it had arrived, but the band’s management didn’t want the party to end

Guitarists
Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons explains the role Cream and Jimi Hendrix played in the creation of ZZ Top

By Phil Weller Published

The fuzz blues icon was pushing a psychedelic sound when the opportunity to tour with Hendrix shaped the future of the Texan trio

Guitarists
British blues-rock band Cream live in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 26th November 1968. From left to right, bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist and vocalist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker.
“We had different ideas." Jack Bruce on how Eric Clapton was the odd man out in Cream

By Phil Weller Published

Bruce said the band's label saw Cream as a quick cash grab and had no idea the group would be as influential as it was in England and abroad

Guitarists
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