Cream
...iny town clubs, and even birthday parties (Welch, 17). Unfortunately for Eric Clapton, this was a slightly different brand of music than his fans were used to, so many of them labeled him a traitor, or a sell out. Expecting the same pure blues and scorching guitar solos that had won them over, they were perturbed to find that Cream was largely jazz influenced, due to the artistic blends of Baker and Bruce, both of which were introduced to music through jazz. Many expected fans were lost due to this, but instead, replacing them, a new generation of fans was found, who, like Ginger Baker, were simply entrapped by the methodically flowing guitar riffs that has always been an obvious component in Clapton’s playing. He simply relied less on the long, drawn out guitar solos as he had before. This was Clapton’s only true struggle in Cream: he always felt, in the back of his mind, as if he was betraying his blues roots for commercialism. It was, in fact, this very reason that he had left the Bluesbreaker’s. In Clapton’s opinion, they had begun to attempt to please people instead of simply playing straight blues. However, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker didn’t have it so easy. While Eric’s main problems were centered on musical loyalty, for Baker and Bruce, it was simply a matter of time before their old disputes were ignited once again. The last year of Cream’s existence, the two were constantly at each other’s throats, arguing and fighting about anything that had two sides (Welch, 14). Baker’s drug and alcohol addictions became easy material for Bruce to exploit, but it all came back around as Baker prodded at Bruce’s tendency to hook up with random females around the world. What would start as simple jokes between friends would eventually be a key force in the bands demise. However, even through all of this, Cream managed to produce three of the greatest albums the world has ever seen. From “Fresh Cream” to “Disraeli Gears”, Cream’s development, musically and individually is obvious. Despite being so separate and distant, on stage, and any time music was involved, the three masters meshed magnificently. On stage, there was no one closer to them than each other, and they were so close that they could even predict each other’s next move. Eric Clapton’s original vision for Cream was only slightly different from its true form. He always pictured it as Buddy Guy with an incredible rhythm section. Buddy Guy’s influence is seen through the mellow, but powerful riffs that Eric would come up with on the spot during improvisational playing (Pattingale, 2). Before Cream, there were essentially two ways to fill the bridge in a song: either a long guitar solo, or the chorus music with different words. Cream introduced a new concept. For the first time, the bridge was filled with both, an incredible solo, and a verse or two. Very rarely did bands attempt to mix the two. It was thought that there would be too much going on, making it difficult for the listener to follow the song. For the next few decades, this innovation is readily noticed in the music of such bands as Pearl Jam, Metallica, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and even contemporary pop rock bands such as Jimmy Eat World and Brand New. Aside from firmly establishing the importance, and limitations of a guitar solo in a song, notable contributions have been made in the worlds of drumming and bass playing. Ginger Baker was one of the most inventive drummers of the day, and was the first drummer to effectively use the double bass drum setup in his kit (Welch, 22). By the end of Cream’s touring career, Ginger had accumulated far more cymbals and drums in his basic set than any other musician of the day even thought of using. Baker was known for being a ferociously loud drummer, and in concert, his drums weren’t even amplified. To a world of restricted drummers who thought that their only purpose in a band was to hold a basic rhythm, and to refrain from attempting to be anything important, he demonstrated that it was not only possible, but essential to stand out. He popularized the drum solo, and broke away from the restrictions of keeping to a simple beat in the background. He was the original show-drummer, putting on spectacular performances, and working himself to the edge of exhaustion every show (Welch, 34). And in the world of bass players, Jack Bruce was the first one to be able to convince people that it was okay ...