CREAM - DISRAELI GEARS DECADES LATER

A few weekends ago I watched a DVD on the making of the 1967 Cream album "Disraeli Gears". This disc is part of an outstanding series called "Great Albums". We are taken through the process of making songs and compiling an album, right down to the illustration of the cover. Weren't those covers awesome?

Since I know enough about that group to fill a sticky-note the information imparted in the vid was almost all news to me. While I have been more than familiar with some of the songs for years, I would not have been able to show off and say: "Great album."

One thing I did not know, or rather, I probably did but had forgotten over time, is that guitarist Eric Clapton was a member of Cream. He is one of the vid's interview subjects and the legendary musician is very articulate and informative about his experiences with the group and how he worked on the guitar parts for songs on "Disraeli Gears".

The other two members, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, I was not familiar with by name, but through the fine efforts of the filmmakers, I understood them, their major contributions, and what they experienced: The social and political climate at the time; the state of pop/rock in general; and the characters.

Graphic artist Martin Sharp talks about his approach to the cover and its subsequent rendering. Being a bit of an artist myself, I appreciate the work and thought that goes into album covers, especially the ones that end up being as identifiable, perhaps, as the music itself. Often the artwork takes on a life all its own.


To the punchline: I listened to the complete album and enjoyed it very much as it was done in a period of music -- and a "sound" -- that I have a soft spot for. One thing that amused me was the fact that, starting in June of 1968, lyrics such as "I've been waiting so long, To be where I'm going" and "I found out today we're going wrong, We're going wrong" must have ended up being scratched into many a high school yearbook.