Sat Oct 25 2014

I lost a lot of my musical influences early, mostly through their inability to take care of themselves. Sad. Stupid. Now I am at an age where the ones who avoided that fate are growing old and passing away as part of the natural order of things. That’s a different kind of sad. We actually got to keep Jack for a few extra years, thanks to a borrowed liver. He was only 10 years older than me, but it feels like I’ve lost one of my Grandparents in Music.

I brought home "Fresh Cream" shortly after it was released in late 1966. I bought it largely because "that guy from The Yardbirds" played guitar on it. It was a perplexing album. Side One was kind of hippy/psychedelic and Side Two was what I would later understand as covers of blues standards. I have mentioned before in this journal how instrumental this album was in pointing me toward the music I love most in the world. Figuring out “Fresh Cream” was an effort. Right from that first chord of I Feel Free, it had a sound that was unlike anything I had heard. Loving it took some work for me. I couldn't ignore the prodigious talent of the entire band, and Clapton's guitar sound was nothing short of revolutionary. Then some months later someone in our little group of wannabe musicians got hold of a UK pressing of the album, and at the end of side one was something that didn't appear on the US version. We dropped the needle on it. We all experience a handful of moments where the rest of our lives can be described as before and after that experience. This was one of them: Spoonful. Not the long-winded jam-fest Spoonful of “Wheels of Fire” – not knocking it, as it has virtues of its own, and is a veritable master class in the art of collective improvisation – but the studio version, which is one of the most powerful recordings I have encountered to this day, for almost the opposite reason. The passion that is bubbling just under the surface, with these three still-young players riding the wave. Absolutely remarkable.

Cream did a lot of great stuff in its short lifetime, but if this recording of Spoonful had been all they had ever produced, we would remain in their debt. At the time, being a guitar player, it was all about Clapton’s sound and Clapton’s impeccable phrasing. And I wasn’t wrong. But over time I came to realize that there were three things that made this recording so magnificent, and allowed Clapton to shine in this way. 1) Jack Bruce, 2) Jack Bruce, and 3) Jack Bruce. That harmonica that sets up the incredible dynamic contrasts of the recording. That voice… oh that voice. And that unsurpassed musical and understated bass playing.

Wow.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And now from the "Well, I Didn't See That Coming" Department: I was checking my calendar to look at my schedule for the weekend, and found this notation at the top of tomorrow’s date:

Cream at Madison Garden – October 26 2005

This was, as it turned out, the last time they ever played together. I cashed in some miles and flew to New York just to see this show. The attached note includes the setlist, which was:

1. I’m So Glad
2. Spoonful
3. Outside Woman Blues
4. Pressed Rat and Wart Hog
5. Sleepy Time Time
6. Tales of Brave Ulysses
7. NSU
8. Badge
9. Politician
10. Sweet Wine
11. Rollin’ and Tumblin’
12. Stormy Monday
13. Deserted Cities of the Heart
14. Born Under a Bad Sign
15. We’re Going Wrong
16. Crossroads
17. Sitting on Top of the World
18. White Room
19. Toad

Encore:

• Sunshine of Your Love