Run Laughing Through Your Fingers: Best Cream Song

I did a 100-favorite list once

would peruse

Yeah, what I love about 'Passing The Time' is the beautiful vocal melody and shifting time signatures in the verses and how they contrast with the noisier choruses.

Either "Badge," "I Feel Free" or one of the more psychedelic ones off Disraeli Gears ("Brave Ulysses," "Sunshine," "Dance The Night Away")

(xpost)

2006 version;2011 version. Cream's on both lists.

(Did earlier versions in the late '80s and early '90s, but they only exist in defunct fanzines and in the ether--don't think Cream was on either one of those.)

I don't know about a third of the songs on the list--will have to give "Dance the Night Away" a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=869v2Z8FLYE

Badge also

But a lot of their blues stuff - Politician, Sitting on Top, Bad Sign - still sounds so good too. Such a thick, creamy sound.

The Airplane comparison up top is apt for me, because my dad had Surrealistic Pillow and Disraeli Gears but both were sort of outliers in his record collection -- he was mostly a Dylan/Beatles/Stones guy, with much more of a folk-rock than psych-blues bent. But he liked Cream. He gave me Wheels of Fire for Christmas one year, and I wore it out pretty well. I agree they were more fun when they were weird, voted Brave Ulysses.

On a side note, I lucked into a free ticket to one of their reunion shows at MSG a while back, and they were really good. I'd seen Clapton a few times before, but he really played his ass off at that show -- like these were guys he still needed to prove something to.

Was "I Feel Free" left off the poll unintentionally?

Dammit, second poll in a row I've screwed up. I kept reminding myself to include "Wrapping Paper," their first single, but forgot that "I Feel Free" was a non-album track too. Key song, too, one of my favourites.

If you came to vote for "I Feel Free," just make note of it in the thread and we'll see how many votes it gets.

"Deserted Cities of the Heart"

pretty similar to Ulysses but better

The Cream song that wasn't really a big hit but to me resonates with me now is "We're Going Wrong". Jack Bruce's singing on it is sublime and they show some grace in how they ride that progression up and down. It was the one tune in the Cream reunion set that I thought really took off and you could see how much they had grew as musicians since the original run.

(xpost)

2006 version;2011 version. Cream's on both lists.

(Did earlier versions in the late '80s and early '90s, but they only exist in defunct fanzines and in the ether--don't think Cream was on either one of those.)

― clemenza

wow that 2011 list looks like some seriously good stuff. i'll have to take some time and delve.

I don't know that I'd vote for it, but I really do love Clapton's tone on "Strange Brew." I wish he'd kept that SG lead tone for more of his career instead of switching to the Strat.

voted "Strange Brew". there's something about the production/arrangement on that song.

lol I made my English Lit. class listen to "Tales of Brave Ulysses" in middle school. teacher wasn't impressed at all ("This has nothing to do with the story of Ulysses").

I kept reminding myself to include "Wrapping Paper," their first single

god i LOVE "Wrapping Paper". the singing on these songs is so nice and rare, you don't often hear this kind of crooning in rock, esp the psychedelic kind.

XP When I was a senior in high school, we got brand new English Lit. textbooks. To provide the illusion of 'hipness', a number of song lyrics were included w/questions about themes etc. "ToBU" was one of them (the only other one I remember was "Not A Pretty Girl" by Ani DiFranco).

this band kind of sucks. the scope of their popularity at their peak has always seemed weird to me. their recorded output is several steps below the other giants of the era imo. shit I wouldn't even rate them above the Small Faces

What's that supposed to mean, the Small Faces were great!

The Airplane comparison up top is apt for me

And me, I don't like them much either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB2f6-U72Zk

found this silly video of Cream promoting a non-album track on Smothers Brothers. lol they all look like they wish they were somewhere else

the Small Faces *were* great! Better than Cream! Not as good as the Kinks/Beatles/Stones/Floyd/Who but close. I'd say they're second tier along w the Hollies, Zombies. Cream is like third tier. Airplane are bottom of the barrel, however.

"Pay You Back with Interest" is great, but most of the time the Hollies are slightly less exciting than shuffleboard. Ranking them with, much less ahead of, Cream and the Jefferson Airplane is really bizarre to me.

Had never heard "Anyone for Tennis" until a couple of years ago (via that clip)--absolutely love it.

nah - King Midas in Reverse, Bus Stop, Carrie Anne, You Need Love, Dear Eloise - so many great singles. And they could sing. Nobody in Cream can sing for shit. Nobody in Airplane can sing for shit either for that matter, the sound of Grace Jones' voice drives me up the wall, so terrible.

xp

Marty Balin had arguably the most soulful white voice of the sixties. You've clearly thought this through very carefully, though, so I cede the floor to you.

we can argue about Marty Balin instead if you want, altho I kinda don't care who the "most soulful white voice of the sixties" was wtf kind of criteria is that

I don't have a problem with Cream at all, but I'd take the collected work of Small Faces over the collected work of Cream in a heartbeat.

I went through a Cream phase when I was 12 (only had an '80s best-of) and again about 20 years later (the morning after being disgusted with the blandness of all the bands at a hardcore show, I went out and bought all the Cream records). The long jams are obviously hit-or-miss; the shorter ones work exponentially better ("I'm So Glad" on Goodbye, in particular), but none of them approach Hendrix- or Who-like intensity (the Who's long jams of that time were decidedly more daring, though poorly recorded).

There's some great moments though: I always loved the garageyness of "Cat's Squirrel," "Doing That Scrapyard Thing" is charming and groovy, and "Toad" minus the awful solo is super heavy.

Voted "Badge," and yeah, I vastly prefer the Small Faces, too. And the Ginger Baker doc is entertaining, but jeez, what an overrated grump.

ha yeah Baker is a charming asshole but his recorded output is not that impressive imo. I do like that record he did w Fela.

Nobody in Airplane can sing for shit either for that matter, the sound of Grace Jones' voice drives me up the wall, so terrible

Would *love* to hear Grace Jones sing "White Rabbit" and other Airplane cuts

haha yes me too lol

looooooool

'Slave to the Rabbit'

heh

Fwiw, I remember enjoying the Ginger Baker's Air Force stuff that I heard. Not essential stuff, but still worth a listen.

Yeah, the one Air Force record I heard was ok. I think if he'd been able to keep a band together, he could've done some interesting things.

And the Ginger Baker doc is entertaining, but jeez, what an overrated grump.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, February 15, 2017 6:48 PM (forty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

My favourite part is when he starts talking about Mick Jagger... "I said 'Jack, who is this little cunt?'" or something like that.

Fair comment though.

I liked Baker's trio album with Bill Frisell and Charlie Haden, but I should give it another listen in case I'm looking back on it too fondly.

Went with Brave Ulysses--I regret nothing

wtf kind of criteria is that

It's not really confusing. It means he was white, and he was essentially a folk singer, and he was unusually soulful as such. Think Christgau made the same observation. But I'm not sure whether Christgau ranks above or below "noted political social scientist greil marcus" on your contempt scale.

the combo of "soulful", "white" and "sixties" implied that there was some qualitative racial signifiers/aesthetics involved (ie "white guy that was best at impersonating a black guy") but ok. leaving aside the fact of Balin's ethnicity, I wouldn't put him anywhere near a list of top 60s male singers, regardless of genre, but then my tastes run more to the guys that could really harmonize (Bee Gees, Beatles, Beach Boys) on the one hand, and R&B shouters (Otis, Righteous Bros, Sam Cooke of course) on the other

Balin and Slick were horrible screechers. I think of the Airplane as a good instrumental band that constantly had a couple of idiots rushing the stage and "helping."

Jefferson Creamplane

Kantner was worse than both (xp)

Screaming Trees 1987 on KXLU:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ__x3f3leA

What gets me is, Baker is always complaining about how he didn't make much money out of Cream and resenting Bruce for forming the Bruce/Brown songwriting partnership, but the reality is that Baker has quite a fair amount of songwriting credits for Cream... he just didn't happen to write the hits (although he still thinks he should have got a credit for the 5/4 bolero on 'White Room' ... and thinking about it, aren't 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' and 'White Room' almost the same song!?)

Pete Brown certainly lucked out.

the combo of "soulful", "white" and "sixties" implied that there was some qualitative racial signifiers/aesthetics involved (ie "white guy that was best at impersonating a black guy") but ok.

Believe me, you're reading far too much into the comment. I think Marty Balin has a incredibly beautiful voice on "Come Up the Years," "Today," "Saturday Afternoon," songs like that. Try to imagine that statement without the qualifier: "Marty Balin had arguably the most soulful voice of the sixties"--I'm thinking that might have been greeted with a mountain of ridicule. I brought in Christgau because your "wtf" made me bristle, like I'd just said something beyond the pale or something.

I'm sure it's Clapton on 'Strange Brew', Bruce on 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' and Baker on 'Blue Condition' ...

Believe it or not clemenza i have no real personal opinion about you at all. But i do have issues w aesthetics that privelege white imitations of black styles (scare quotes around white and black there if you please) so qhenanyone throws around "white" and "soulful" i get suspicious.

Xp

When anyone

Stupid phone

"Deserted Cities of the Heart," "White Room," "Those Were the Days,"

Jack Bruce on all, I would think?

I simply don't know what you mean by "that privilege white imitations of black styles." a) I think Marty Balin's voice is beautiful on those songs. b) I don't think he's imitating anybody on "Today"--he's 100% himself. (I can't think of anybody else who sounds like Marty Balin on "Today." c) I threw in white because I'm being preemptively defensive about saying "Marty Balin had arguably the most soulful voice of the sixties"--I know such a statement would be greeted with ridicule, and I don't even believe that myself. I do believe he had one of the most soulful voices of the sixties, and I guess I should have just said that and been prepared to defend it, so that's my fault. But again, the jargon that you're throwing around has zero to do with my feelings about "Today."

I thought it might be Bruce, Tim, so he's the voice of Cream for me. (Except I also love "Doin' That Scrapyard Thing," and I think that might be Baker?)

Jack Bruce can certainly sing, technically he's very good (need Dan Perry) plus I like that he sings with a Scottish accent, though that I'm not sure how noticeable that is to most (non-Scottish) listeners.

I'm not a metal fan, so I don't know if Cream had any kind of a lasting influence, or any influence at all, in that area. But I do remember thinking this was a funny and pretty lively "Tales of Braves Ulysses" rip at the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKj5cJ9_KSg

There must be a Cream POX thread. I'd have to extend that to twelve for myself, all the songs I love (no order): "White Room," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Rollin' and Tumblin'," "Tales of Brave Ulysses," "I Feel Free," "Badge," "Anyone for Tennis," "Doin' That Scrapyard Thing," "Passing the Time," "Deserted Cities of the Heart," "Those Were the Days," "I'm So Glad." Which is more than a quarter of their entire output. I think the only other artist where I could say the same would be the Velvet Underground (who I somehow overlooked in the original post--move Cream down to sixth). Having a small body of work helps.

I wonder how much the Airplane and Cream record-buying audiences overlapped in 1966-67?

I don't hear pitch problems with Balin, a good folk singer whose not-so-secret weapon was pop crooning. I can imagine him killing "Yesterday" or "Light My Fire" but not Otis Redding numbers.

My guess would be considerable overlap, although--I related this story in ILX's stuttering thread--I tagged along once when a friend interviewed (stutterer) John Hammond Jr., and he insisted that the Airplane's audience was primarily the Monkees/Cowsills teenaged-girl audience (and he got very impatient with me when I jumped in and argued the point, which was a dumb thing to do seeing as he was there and I was only six at the time).

Yes--when I apply the term "soulful" to Balin, I mean strictly on the ballad side.

Okay, I see what you mean--not even a soulful ballad singer, more of a crooner. I'd disagree with that, although I'm not sure exactly where you draw a line between the two. If it moves me, I call it soulful.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Have to post the obvious before this disappears:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOWaHTlq-hI

Kael wrote that Goodfellas' soundtrack didn't connect to its characters' lives the way Mean Streets' soundtrack did. She's right--can't see Jimmy or Tommy settling back with Disraeli Gears and a pair of headphones--and also, I think, completely missing how perfectly matched something like "Sunshine of Your Love" is to De Niro's expression at 0:41. I don't think I'd given Cream much thought since high school when Goodfellas came out; their appearance came right out of left field and reminded me how strange and sinister they always sounded to me.

Cream's 1968 Farewell Concert film is the absolute nadir of rock concert docs (and obviously a reference point for Spinal Tap); It's torturous watching them jamming so turgidly and with minimal effort to play as a group, rather than as three soloists. Voted NSU.

Jefferson Airplane were great. "Somebody to Love" sounded fucking amazing on AM radio in 67 surrounded by weak crap like Every Mother's Son and Boyce and Hart. Come to think of it, so did "Sunshine of Your Love".

It might be my latin blood but "white room" is for me their grooviest piece (therefore their best).

If you came to vote for "I Feel Free," just make note of it in the thread and we'll see how many votes it gets.

VOTE. Funny that for a band so identified with instrumental virtuosity, my favourite moment on my favourite song is acapella.

Ρεμπετολογια: I like both "Come on Down to My Boat" and "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight"...which doesn't negate your point about how amazing and different "Somebody to Love" would have sounded on the radio in 1967.

Give me Boyce & Hart over Cream and Jefferson Airplane any day of the week.

Kael wrote that Goodfellas' soundtrack didn't connect to its characters' lives the way Mean Streets' soundtrack did. She's right--can't see Jimmy or Tommy settling back with Disraeli Gears and a pair of headphones--and also, I think, completely missing how perfectly matched something like "Sunshine of Your Love" is to De Niro's expression at 0:41.

I think Kael's missing the point. Soundtracks don't have to be so literal; when Karen says, "Who do you think you are, Frankie Valli or some kind of big shot?" was Kael disappointed that the soundtrack didn't play "Walk Like A Man" (or maybe play it when Henry beat up Karen's neighbor)?

Like "Sunshine" in this scene, the seemingly out-of-place "Atlantis" works because it works, not because it spells out something for us about the action or the characters (although as Scorsese later revealed, "though gods they were" did in fact relate to the characters, but not in the sense that Tommy and Henry would sit around grooving to Donovan).

Totally agree. I find pop music used imaginatively as counterpoint to be every bit as effective (and often more so) than when used literally.

Badge, all the way.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Huh Badge!? Had no idea it was that popular. Interesting choice.

Had I known noone would vote for Anyone for Tennis I'd voted for that instead. I loved when my dad played that one when I was like 6.

I said I'd note "I Feel Free" votes: two for sure, and the person who noticed its absence might have been a third. (And maybe there would have been a couple more if it had been on the list.)

Thought I'd be the only "Deserted Cities of the Heart" vote; excellent drone.

I had a feeling 'Badge' was gonna take this about 10 posts into the thread. It's a great song - classic.