CREAM - Disraeli Gears 1967

Although this album came out in 1967 it took me a few more years to buy it and ... as they say .. 'get in to it.'

There was a lot to like, but some of it wasn't easy. 

All 3 members of the group - Jack Bruce on bass, Eric Clapton on guitar and drummer Ginger Baker, were from blues backgrounds, meeting and playing with each other in various combinations in the Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers etc.

Getting together in 1966 they were classed as, and probably coined the term .. 'Supergroup'.

In '67 I appreciated blues music on a 'popular' level .. Chuck Berry, the covers that the Rolling Stones did, the crossovers coming into play on mainstream stuff by the Yardbirds, the Animals - and psychedelia was blending with groups like Traffic.

Even so, 'Disraeli Gears' took me a while. Some of that time was spent trying to figure out how to pronounce Side 2 Track 2 - 'SWLABR'. Best guess and popular interpretation - 'Slobber'. !!

There's a nice anecdote about how the album title came about according to Ginger Baker.

"We had this Austin Westminster, and Mick Turner was one of the roadies who'd been with me a long time, and he was driving along and Eric [Clapton] was talking about getting a racing bicycle. Mick, driving, went 'Oh yeah – Disraeli gears!' meaning derailleur gears...We all just fell over...We said that's got to be the album title."

The years between hearing the album and buying it let my ear develop a bit more and I got past the well-known tracks like 'Strange Brew' and 'Sunshine of Your Love' and enjoyed the album in total - even forgiving the last track 'Mother's Lament' as just a bit of fun in some otherwise .. here's a 60s word .. 'heavy' content.

Eric Clapton is the only one left from the days of Cream.

Jack Bruce died of liver disease on 25 October 2014 aged 71.

Ginger Baker died on 6 October 2019 age 80.

Sunshine of Your Love - YouTube