Listen. That's Jack Bruce, composer of the music (not the lyrics), singing the lead vocals and playing bass guitar, piano, cello.
Jack Bruce died October 25, 2014, and:
One day before the one-year anniversary of Jack Bruce's death, a collection of the Cream bassist's friends, family and fellow band mates – including Cream drummer Ginger Baker, Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, Living Colour's Vernon Reid, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Bruce's daughter Aruba Red and many more – took part in the Sunshine of Your Love tribute concert to celebrate Bruce's legacy.Set list at the link. Does not include "Wrapping Paper."
I was playing "Wrapping Paper" this morning as part of a stream-of-consciousness-y conversation with Meade that began on the subject of the first post of the day, which was about Melissa Harris-Perry issuing a warning "to be super-careful when we use the language 'hard worker.'" I'm sure you can imagine the leaps of logic that brought us from that to "Wrapping Paper."
Wrapping paper in the gutter/Moving slowly as the wind on the sea/In your picture on a wall of a house of old times./Can you hear me/Wandering sadly?
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53 comments:
He died in 2014.
I watched the documentary on Ginger Baker. The guy is and was batshit crazy. He hated Jack Bruce and vice versa. Baker also sees himself as tight with Clapton. Clapton tried to distance himself from Baker, knowing he was crazy. So he may be projecting when he says Eric didn't like it.
I was a pretty big Cream fan, and I thought that maybe you had uncovered something new. Although I didn't recognize the title, I immediately recognized the song in the youtube video.
It's not their best work.
I have never cared for Cream.
Music always sounded like someone shaking a cardboard box full of silverware.
And I'd like Jimi Hendrix's music a lot more if he played with a drummer who actually cared about the beat, and not just fussing prissily about on the cymbals.
Ringo over Ginger, Charlie Watts over Mitch.
There.
I am Laslo.
Sounds like McCartney-Beatles. La di dada, La di dada, La di di di di di di di di di da.
Didn't know it was The Cream. Now trending on The Twitter and The Facebook and The Althouse.
@Laslo Spatula:
And Billy Cox over Noel Redding.
The Band of Gypsys live recordings from the Fillmore are the apex of Hendrix's recorded corpus of work.
I saw the Ginger Baker documentary...the guy does seem to be an insufferable, incorrigible, terminally irascible asshole, even to his loved ones. He hit the documentary filmmaker in the nose with his cane, (captured on camera). He's kind of a sad case, actually.
I've never been impressed with Baker's drumming. It has always seemed plodding to me. But then...I'm not a drummer. Can any drummers in the house explain Baker's "genius?"
Pink Floyd's "Bike" is far more worser.
I agree with Baker. Baker lies within the normal range for rock drummers personality wise.
"Pink Floyd's "Bike" is far more worser."
Holy shit. That's something they made up on the way to the studio. Awful.
Contrast with Leon Bridges.
AReasonableMan said...
I agree with Baker. Baker lies within the normal range for rock drummers personality wise.
OK, that was funny. And true.
Also, Baker is a great drummer. He was far more complex, really jazz-like, than most of what was going on back in the late sixties. His drum kit was copied by ... oh, maybe a million other drummers. Like so many other drummers, his solos were pretty boring (to me). Very few drummers can play a really interesting solo, Carl Palmer is one.
My dirty hippie-hating secret:
"The Yes Album" is one of my favorite records of all time.
Hippie lyrics? Yep.
Fussy drums? Yep.
But the lyrics went with great melodies and the drums actually carried the songs == a 'right way' of fussy.
"Perpetual Change", when the two different simultaneous time signatures join up, is mesmerizing.
Like I said: my dirty secret.
I am Laslo.
Prokofiev Dance of the Montagues and Capulets is as nice as I've heard it, by Evgeny Kissim, where it goes to three-quarter time about two minutes in. Most people make it all muddy.
"Very few drummers can play a really interesting solo, Carl Palmer is one."
The problem with drum solos is that they always go on too long.
A drum solo should be no more than a break, really--30 seconds, a minute tops! The drummer who can sustain interest past that point is a rare beast.
Robert Cook said...
He hit the documentary filmmaker in the nose with his cane, (captured on camera).
Tell me, honestly, who here hasn't felt the urge to hit a liberal arts graduate with a stick?
"...Baker is a great drummer. He was far more complex, really jazz-like...."
Yes, Baker has always regarded himself as a jazz drummer, not a (sniff!) rock drummer. I don't hear the complexity or the "like jazz"-ness in his drumming, but, as I admitted, I'm no drummer and perhaps don't have the ears to hear.
In an interview he gave not long before he died, Jack Bruce is very complimentary toward Baker, says nothing but good things about the man. Bruce comes across as charming, intelligent, thoughtful.
They can't all be white Room.
Oh, and "Wrapping Paper" is appalling, but it is the sort of twee pop that many British bands produced at the time. I think it comes from the British music hall tradition.
A far superior bit of twee Brit-pop is the Who's "Dogs."
What the difference between a Rock drummer and a 16" pizza?
A 16" pizza can feed a family of four.
The Cream advert for Falstaff Beer is also pretty bad.
As is the Stones' "Cosmic Christmas"
<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ZcoqkQy8w>Jack Bruce - The Cream Of Cream (Complete Instructional - 1998)</A>
Oops
Jack Bruce - The Cream Of Cream (Complete Instructional - 1998)
Laslo Spatula said...
My dirty hippie-hating secret:
"The Yes Album" is one of my favorite records of all time.
Hippie lyrics? Yep.
Fussy drums? Yep.
But the lyrics went with great melodies and the drums actually carried the songs == a 'right way' of fussy.
"Perpetual Change", when the two different simultaneous time signatures join up, is mesmerizing.
Like I said: my dirty secret.
I am Laslo.
That is a great great album. They still had Bill Bruford on drums back then, but he (also jazz oriented) wanted to play with a group where he would have more freedom; so he left before they toured on this and really became a major act.
I won't bother listening. I've heard Cream, and it's complete garbage.
THE YES ALBUM, FRAGILE,and CLOSE TO THE EDGE are all great albums. The very first concert I ever attended was Yes on their "Close to the Edge" Tour in the Fall of 1972. I had just turned 17. (Their opening act was The Eagles.)
(Just four years later, in the Fall of 1976, I flew to Atlanta from Florida to see The Ramones play at a club there on their first national tour. I attended two nights of their four night, two shows a night, engagement. At the time, only their first album had been released, and their second album would be released two or three months later.
"A drum solo should be no more than a break, really--30 seconds, a minute tops! The drummer who can sustain interest past that point is a rare beast"
--------------------
Agreed. But I could listen to Buddy Rich all day. Just fun hearing him, especially whee watching him also.
"Oh, and "Wrapping Paper" is... the sort of twee pop that many British bands produced at the time. I think it comes from the British music hall tradition."
I agree. It's like things Paul McCartney would do, like "Your Mother Should Know." I think it's a nice break from all the stressing and straining. I always enjoyed it in the context of my old "Best of Cream" cassette.
I must stand up for the Rolling Stones' "Cosmic Christmas" on Their Satanic Majesties. If you play that track from the LP (remember them?) at 45 RPM (remember that?) you hear that it's a theramin version of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Alas, can't do that with the CD. Besides, it was meant as a joke -- as opposed to "Wrapping Paper."
Arguably the 60s best drum solo was Ringo on "Carry That Weight", possibly because it wasn't even 30 seconds long.
Ringo on "Carry that Weight" is not actually a drum solo. Apparently Ringo refused to do one. The group played along with him, and then Martin/McCartney produced it as an isolated bit to fit in with the concept of the group's finale, together and individually (specifically, George, then Paul then John repeated three times as guitar solos played directly into the board, one take and after only a few minutes discussion on what was wanted as the end.) Its brilliant and likely my favorite Beatles playing. (h/t: Joe and the commenters @beatlesbible.com).
Otherwise, I agree with the length of Ringo's isolated playing does make it all the more appealing.
Forget, Cream. That the Beatles could go from detesting each other to producing genius such as this within just a few hours is all the more amazing.
Well, I think Cream was/is great. The archetypal power trio. Especially in collaboration with Felix Pappalardi. The live 20-minute drum solo for "Toad" is tedious but the short version is a rocker, and Ginger's drumming is a kick, very tight and wonderfully aggressive. "Tales of Brave Ulyssess" and "I Feel Free" are brilliant, and every time I hear "Badge," even now, I get chills--bring back the mellotron!
Gosh, a lot of opinions about Cream coming out. I first saw them on TV, even before I heard them on the radio. Ginger had his mouth open and his eyes going around in circles, and my brothers and I were rolling on the floor laughing.
What impressed me, was that a three person ensemble could do rock well. I don't think they had a keyboard, or at least I don't remember one.
So anyway, I thought the song was ant-Cream here, because it was obviously over-produced with lots of instruments.
Ginger probably was appalled at the Union Scale they were paying them to fill out the tracks.
I don't think they had a keyboard,
They had the mellotron!
So fondly recalled, a departed rock music museum piece ... done in by the Moog and the Moog's sucessors.
Robert Cook said...
Yes, Baker has always regarded himself as a jazz drummer, not a (sniff!) rock drummer. I don't hear the complexity or the "like jazz"-ness in his drumming, but, as I admitted, I'm no drummer and perhaps don't have the ears to hear.
You should watch "Beware Mr. Baker." Even if you think Baker is an insufferable asshole (and I think Eric Clapton would agree), you will appreciate his drumming watching that biopic.
Another early Yes fan here (I stopped with Tales of Topographic Oceans), but I really love the Dukes of Stratosphear:
https://youtu.be/9BrIGQ4Rbps
Although I must concede that (he is) Laslo is quite the expert on heterosexual buggery, I must disagree sharply with his current musical opinion, as I would say that the Jimi Hendrix experience was a great band, in part, because Mitch Mitchel was a great (jazz) drummer who was able to play at Jimi's high level of musicianship and even challenge him. They were close collaborators & colleagues in the studio on all JHE recordings. If you want to listen to a hot GTR trio with a drummer that cares (only) about the beat, then check out SRVaughn's Double Trouble. The rythm section of that band sounds pedestrian to me, especially when compared to JEH (and Cream for that matter).
"You should watch "Beware Mr. Baker." Even if you think Baker is an insufferable asshole (and I think Eric Clapton would agree), you will appreciate his drumming watching that biopic."
I did watch it. I still didn't see what is supposed to be so special about his drumming.
I almost saw YES at a club called Reflections in Cincinnati in 1971. The band was hours late, so some roadie came on stage and began throwing apples and oranges into the crowd, which of course some in the crowd (not me) began throwing back. So the roadie grabs a mic and shouts in the most bogus cockney accent you can imagine: "Will the styoopid bahstahds throwing fruit at the stage please stop, you might damage the equipment!" So I shouted out "Fuck you Limey!!"
Back on the streets moments later, just as YES takes the stage.
rightguy2 said...
If you want to listen to a hot GTR trio with a drummer that cares (only) about the beat, then check out SRVaughn's Double Trouble. The rythm section of that band sounds pedestrian to me, especially when compared to JEH (and Cream for that matter).
This is a very good point but SRV has another problem, his original material is not up to the standard of the other two bands, although he is arguably an equally good guitarist as Hendrix or Clapton.
I would rather kill myself than listen to ANY 20 minute drum solo.
Cream sucked. Really, really bad.
The Ramones were awesome.
This is a very good point but SRV has another problem, his original material is not up to the standard of the other two bands, although he is arguably an equally good guitarist as Hendrix or Clapton. ARM
I concur. SRV was a hot player, but not very original. (But if you are ever in Austin, TX, don't even whisper such a thought.)
rightguy2 said...
"...as I would say that the Jimi Hendrix experience was a great band, in part, because Mitch Mitchel was a great (jazz) drummer who was able to play at Jimi's high level of musicianship and even challenge him."
Mitch is what the Beatles had with Pete Best.
I don;t know what that actually means but it is a funny sentence.
Seriously. I don't get Mitch: he is smeary, dreary, shapeless, lop-sided.
I DO get: "Lop-sided" = Jazz. For Rock Bands.
As my "Yes" Love earlier may attest, I would have LOVED to see Hendrix play with Squire and Bruford.
Imagine "Starship Trooper" with Hendrix. That should last an hour-and-half and leave you wanting more.
Imagine Herman's Hermits doing "Manic Depression." Probably Better.
I am Laslo.
I did watch it. I still didn't see what is supposed to be so special about his drumming.
I played drums as a teen, and even had a couple paid gigs. I gave it up early though -- I'd probably be dead if I hadn't. As it happens, I'm ghost-writing a history of rhythm in rock and rock.
The early British rock drummer players were influenced by the same jazz and bebop drummers -- Ginger Baker was among those rock drummers, as was Mitch Mitchell, Charlie Watts, Mick Avory, etc. Keith Moon was sort of an outlier. Ringo Starr was a fluke.
I was never much of a Baker fan either. What I appreciate about him was that he never overplayed. Keith Moon is a great example of someone who overplayed practically every song recorded. Pete Townshend had the most devastating critique of Moon in I forget which documentary -- it may have been the making of "Who's Next." Back to underplaying -- Nick Mason was the master of this: his beats were so sparse that they almost count as "restrained metronomic ." I mean that as a compliment. John Bonham was another, though he was quite heavier-handed.
I tend to rate drummers by imitability: how easy was it for a teenager to pick up the drummers chops just listening to records? By this measure, the easiest drummers were Ringo and Watts. Harder were Bonham, Moon, and Baker. Mitch Mitchell was impossible.
Here is an example of Ginger Baker "underplaying": link
@Robert Cook: I suppose the most obvious point of novelty regarding Ginger Baker is that he was the first rock drummer to play double bass drum. People think it was Moon but it wasn't -- it was Baker. Double bass drum gave a rumbling lower end to the rhythm section.
Clapton also introduced some unique sounds (even prior to Hendrix). For example, he was the first to plug in and record a Gibson Les Paul into a Marshall amp link. Hendrix did the same for the Fender Strat almost contemporaneously.
This isn't his best, but Bruce was always secretly the best member of Cream. The best songs were all him, with one exception: their very best song, "Badge," but I'm betting that one was mostly George Harrison, who was the Jack Bruce of the Beatles.
"I was never much of a Baker fan either. What I appreciate about him was that he never overplayed. Keith Moon is a great example of someone who overplayed practically every song recorded. Pete Townshend had the most devastating critique of Moon in I forget which documentary...."
For many years I was a fanatic Who fan, (I flew to Atlanta twice to see them--in '73 and '75--as they wouldn't come to Florida...until '76, when I saw them in Jacksonville), and I probably have played LIVE AT LEEDS, in whole or part, more than any other record I own. The version of "Young Man Blues" on that record is sublime. I have heard quite a few other live recordings of them performing that song, but none surpass the "Leeds" version.)I heard Townshend complain about Moon's playing after his death--perhaps the same comment you refer to. Moon probably would not have fit in well with many other bands, but if you compare the Who with Moon and the Who with Kenny Jones, a perfectly capable, conventional drummer, you see that Moon was as essential to their overall sound and attack as Entwistle and Townshend, if not more so. With Jones, they seemed more constrained, less explosive. Moon may have overplayed, but he was perfect for the Who. It has been said--where and by whom I can't recall--that Moon actually playedthe lead instrumentalist in the Who.)
(By the way, I was just watching some videos yesterday on YouTube about Moon's drumming; a couple had some guy from Drumeo anaylysing and demonstrating some of Moon's playing, while another played the isolated drum track from their recording of "Won't Get Fooled Again."Surprisingly, the drumming was quite contained, and not all over busy.)
Here's a short video where a drummer discusses Moon's drumming.
@Robert Cook: Don't get me wrong about Keith Moon. I winced when I wrote that criticism regarding his overplaying -- but you asked me to bring out what Baker did best and I used Moon as a foil. It's still true though. A great track with Moon "overplaying" perfectly is "The Real Me." I wrote about it here. Love that song.
Agree about "Live At Leeds." I still recall the day I found my vinyl copy of that album in a used record store in Madison ca 1975 or so. It was completely intact with all the goodies still inside. And I was lucky to see The Who play in Madison in 1976. That led to a very strange encounter along the lines of James Joyce's "The Encounter." I wrote about that here.
@Robert Cook: We are on the same page regarding "Young Man Blues." Here is an old YouTube video of someone "overplaying" Moon on that song link. My favorite part starts around the 2 min 50 s mark where he's keeping a crash cymbal going with one hand, pedaling a rhythm with both feet, and using his free hand to tap around the drum kit in response to others' cues. That is indeed sublime. I wish there were extant video of that Live at Leeds show.
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