All You Need is Love - The Story of Popular Music

y'know, gratuitous fish-eyes lensed/slow-mo footage overlaid with Wagner

Cream (huh?) doing "I'm So Glad," etc.

... which is also in "All My Loving", which I happened to stumble across on the Yesterday channel of all things at the weekend. Sort of forerunner of this, also by Tony Palmer, who must be one of the most incompetent filmmakeers of all time: footage of Cream, the Who, Hendrix, Floyd (doing "Set the Controls.."); interviews with McCartney, Eric Burdon, Zappa etc...

the level of significance attributed to Cream and its members' solo projects is utterly baffling to me.

He filmed their farewell concert too, his filmography is worth checking out! 200 Motels!

I hate Zappa, not sitting through 200 Motels

I thought hating Zappa was one of those opinions you had to keep to yourself on ILX, like hating The Doors.

iirc, he loved Roxy, but found Ferry to be insufferably boring in person.

i'm sure he was right

the level of significance attributed to Cream and its members' solo projects is utterly baffling to me

While they were around, and for a few years after their break-up, I'd agree--the level of importance (and mystique) that was attributed to them was out of proportion. But I'd say the opposite is true now; I think there are probably a lot of younger listeners who've never heard them beyond "White Room" and "Sunshine of Your Love," and don't know how great they sometimes were. I'd put up a bunch of their songs--"I'm So Glad," "Badge," "Doin' That Scrapyard Thing," "Passing the Time," "Tales of Brave Ulysses," "Anyone for Tennis"--against almost anything from the era. (Not a big Clapton fan, and I can't speak to Bruce's or Baker's solo work.)

I suppose they invented the "power trio" (though that was really the Who - yeah, I know there's four of them), which Hendrix took to another level of course. Also maybe the level of improvisation was unusual in what were still called pop groups at the time? Don't know what the Yardbirds with Jeff Beck were like at the time. Always remember a quote from Holger Czukay about how he likened his musical role in Can to Jack Bruce, how he could change the direction of the music with the bass, which I thought was an interesting

"an interesting" or "interesting", whateva

First real "supergroup" too?

The thing that runs through most of the songs I mentioned, and what I love most about them, is how pop/melodic they could be. I think the perception of them is blues/drum solos/show-offy virtuosity/etc. Sometimes, yes--but there was another side to them.

I think they were the first supergroup...either them or Dino, Desi & Billy.

I suppose they invented the "power trio" (though that was really the Who

... or Johnny Kidd & the Pirates or Link Wray (he didn't have a rhythm guitarist, did he?)

Sometimes, yes

http://store.acousticsounds.com/images/medium/AVLL_999192__49284__01152009122753-2510.jpg

A1  Crossroads 
Written-By – Robert Johnson  4:13   
A2  Spoonful 
Written-By – Willie Dixon  16:44   
B1  Traintime 
Written-By – Jack Bruce  6:52   
B2  Toad 
Written-By – Ginger Baker  15:53  

I own this. Can't actually bring myself to play it....

That's only the live half of that album. The studio half is better, with "White Room" and "Politician"

I'm lucky in that I came to them via Heavy Cream in high school--22 songs, and "Rollin' and Tumblin'" is the only one longer than five minutes (almost half are either under three or just barely over). Thirty-five years later, I still don't have Disraeli Gears or Wheels of Fire.

Watched the first episode of this at the weekend, the one that's kinda a taster menu for the rest of the series. It made the rest of the series look terrible. I was nauseated by Jerry Lee Lewis trying to be sexy, then horrified by the continual bad performances that the doc clearly thought were good or important or whatever. I'm glad I watched it tho, an a "geez, now I understand why punk happened" kinda way.

Have I been lied to by my first impressions? y'all seem to be finding things of worth in it.