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July 19, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 1076

Cream, Disraeli Gears (1967)
Cream disWeird – but this was my favourite album for a long time, or one of, before I’d even heard it. How does that work? Fucked if I know – but here goes, I’ll try take you back to how that played out…You see, I loved Cream (still do, some days at least). Don’t feel a huge need to listen to them all that often these days but hearing Cream was life-changing for me, the revelation – and other clichés too. But all I knew for the longest time was the half-dozen songs on The Cream of Eric Clapton – one of the most important records in my early childhood. Then there was The Best of Cream; I had to hear the band in its own context, separate from the Eric Clapton celebrations. For the longest time I didn’t know the small handful of Cream records – live and studio. I just knew the Cream of Clapton and Best of Cream comps. That was all I needed. But I liked the sound of Disraeli Gears (the title); it intrigued me enough to have to know what I meant, who and how – etc. And then I saw the songs on it – so many I knew from the compilations. It had to be their best album. I didn’t buy a copy of the album for a while but still talked about it as if it was a favourite record, felt like I knew it. I remember being in a high school history class and thinking it not only relevant but important to name-drop this Cream album when the name Benjamin Disraeli was mentioned. Well, I mean it is relevant – kinda. But one thing that is relevant – I fucking love that song Outside Woman Blues; it feels like an inverse riff, a strange turnaround inside the riff. And you don’t get that on the Cream compilations. So it was necessary to get hold of this album one day. And I did. And it is my favourite. Still.


Sample Track: Strange Brew

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown

Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown and tagged with 1967, Benjamin Disraeli, Cream, Disraeli Gears, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, LP, Outside Woman Blues, Strange Brew, Vinyl. RSS 2.0 feed.
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