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With John Gardiner

The power of three – Cream

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

The rock music business was littered with great power trios back in the late 1960's. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Grand Funk and a host of others were out there during that period – and, man, were they good. I mean, how do you get any better than Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding.
But the best of the power trios, and perhaps the first, was Cream. I continue to hold this group and the three guys who were its members in high esteem these days and often revisit some Cream vinyl. I was raised on their music – they were at their peak when I was discovering the bass guitar and I idolized them.
Indeed, the first "real" band I ever played in was called Strange Brew in honour of the tune off the Disraeli Gears album. I mean, we nearly wore the grooves off that album. We learned the quintessential Cream tune, Sunshine of Your Love, but we also learned Strange Brew, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Swablr and Outside Woman Blues (which I'm still trying to get my band today to learn).
The thing that made Cream so very good – in my opinion– was the fact it was comprised of three evenly balanced and extremely outstanding musicians. Eric Clapton was already a star from his days in the Yardbirds and playing with John Mayall and Cyril Davies – he was great, not as great as he would become, but a great guitar player already.
Jack Bruce was my idol back in the old days. If there was a guy I wanted to play bass like, it was Jack Bruce in Cream. The guys in my band today are always kidding me about getting a little busy on the bass – playing lead bass. I learned that from two guys – Jack Bruce and Chris Squire of Yes. But it was Jack who got to me first. If you've ever listened to the bass work in the live versions of Spoonful and Crossroads off Wheels of Fire, you'll know what I mean by "lead bass".
And Ginger Baker was surely no slouch on the skins. He and Bruce were able to set up an amazing array of music behind Clapton, and, in fact, Baker played what I might refer to as "lead drums". Listen to Ginger Baker's Air Force if you really want to find out what this is all about.
Most power trios end up being a lead guitar show – that's the way it was with Jimi Hendrix's power trio and that's the way most of them went. The guitar player tended to overwhelm and be the "show". With Cream, it was a three-man show because as good as Clapton was, the other two could match him note for note or beat for beat.
Cream were also groundbreakers as far as I was concerned. The type of music they did back in the 1960's was referred to as "heavy". It wasn't metal in the sense of the word today, but it was driving, bottom-heavy, pulsating music that surely wasn't the Mammas and Pappas. Still, I think it set the tone for what became the heavier side of rock music.
Clapton, of course, went on to become a true superstar in the rock music business. He has released countless albums and done mainly solo work since the old days. It's true that he was in Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos, Bonnie & Delaney & Friends, but those bands were all decades ago and he's had his best success as a solo.
Jack Bruce has been mainly invisible since Cream. He must be out there banging around somewhere (if he's not dead – anybody got any information to pass along), but I often wonder what happened to him How you can be that good and just sort of disappear after a tour like Cream? Strange, but true.
Ginger Baker did the Air Force and then also sort of disappeared. Also, strange but true. Again, how can a guy with this much ability vanish from the public consciousness? It's a good example of how fleeting fame can really be.
It's hard for me to believe it's been 35 years since Cream were topping the charts. I still throw them on the turntable on a fairly frequent basis and find their music has lost none of its crisp, freshness. If your life seems a little flat these days, try a little Cream with your coffee. It's wonderful stuff.



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.