That of the Cream was a real blitz. From 1966 to 1968 Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker released four albums, disbanded and consigned themselves to history. Their first album, "Fresh Cream", was released on December 9, 1966.
For his next project, Cream, Clapton recruited Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, who had credentials similar to those of the band’s guitarist. They had all cut their teeth respectively as session musicians and were capable of playing anything that was put in front of them.
"I thought the John Mayall album was better than the Cream stuff. To be honest, I thought we were really weak, on record.
There were just a few things that I was really proud of now as then. Most of that. they were on the last album ["Goodbye" from 1969].
The downside to three fierce-minded individuals of this nature coming together was the arguments that ensued before the eventual collapse of their relationship. By the end, Bruce and Baker’s animosity towards each other had spiralled out of control, leaving Clapton in an awkward position stuck in the middle between two bitter enemies.
“Musically, we were flying high, but once we stopped touring in America, it was the beginning of the end for Cream,” he writes. “Because once we started working in such an intense way, it became impossible to keep the music afloat, and we began to drown.”
“We ran out of ideas and creative impulse. The last year we were like zombies. Just going through the motions. And that was very, very painful. We actually traveled in separate limousines and everything, so we didn’t have to speak to each other. We didn’t even have to see one another at all until we got onstage.”
The band didn't have much time to play together before releasing their record debut and the British guitarist - the only member of the group still alive - believes the band would need more time in the studio to perfect the harmony.
I don't know. I think we got lost pretty fast with Cream. It was all smoke. We were just trying to make it work. We didn't really have a leader. I think that. that was part of the problem.
Leadership changed in the blink of an eye. One minute it was me, the next minute it was Jack, the next minute it was Ginger. There was no consistency. Before we even went far we had become a supergroup. It was that thing of trying to catch up with your own myth. "
“It was something I couldn’t find a way out of. I don’t know, I was powerless. And when you’re exhausted from touring and dealing with the situation, you really haven’t got the mental energy to summon up the courage to say ‘Listen, I’m splitting.'”
"The guitar is a medicine: Eric explains- , I pick up my guitar and remove myself from the situation. I will inevitably play something bland, an exercise. But it will keep me from being engaged in the conflict. . . I became acquainted with it pretty quick, because I would go to it immediately."
"Lately I had eczema from head to foot. The palms of my hand were coming off, and I had just started making this record with [producer] Glyn Johns. It was a catastrophe. I had to wear mittens with Band-Aids around the hands and played a lot of slide as a result."
My hands are good. It hasn't gone completely, but I put ointment on. It's just getting old now. I'm as good now as I've been in the last two years. If i had to stop playng due the illness i would be alright. I would accept it. Because playing is difficult anyway. I have to get on the bottom of the ladder every time I play guitar, just to tune it. Then I have to go through the whole threshold of getting calluses [on the fingers] back, coordination.
