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Live Cream, Vol. 1

Cream - Live Cream, Vol. 1 Audio CD

A fair review of the Cream "Live Cream, Vol. 1" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Cream reviews here, or go back to the Cream tabs.

Band: Cream
Title: Live Cream, Vol. 1
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: N.S.U. 2: Sleepy Time Time 3: Sweet Wine 4: Rollin' and Tumblin' 5: Lawdy Mama

It's Cream, it's live, and it's good quality. What more could you ask for?

Clapton, Bruce, and Baker all going wild for a concise album's worth of material. Wow. Starting with the wild 10-minute N. S. U. jam, and ending with a studio take of Lawdy Mama, which is just Strange Brew with different lyrics, this album is worth every penny.

What was so amazing about Cream, is how they could all go in completely different directions in a song, and it doesn't sound discordant. They'd increase songs by 5, 7, 10, minutes, and most of it would be improvised. Being able to know how to morph the song into something completely different, then bringing it back to where it should be is something most musicians cannot do, or at least not as well as groups such as Cream and Hendrix.

This is probably the best live Cream album I've heard, and it has my favorite version of Rollin' and Tumblin' done by anyone. Highly recommended for anyone who likes electric blues, live music, or wants to be in a jam band.

kickin' it live
However, Cream Live: Volume 1 does a respectable job showing you the bands many creative talents on the stage. Cream was always known as a superb live act, but collecting all their best live jams on one disc is hard to do. Beginning with a 10-minute jam "N. S. U. " the band doesn't let up at *all* to allow the listener to catch their breath. The first few minutes of the song features a really good vocal melody, and then the rest of the 8 minute track consists of a very fast-paced and exciting guitar jam. Really, the drumming and everything else takes a back seat to the incredible power of the guitar work. Amazing stuff.

The next track called "Sleepy Time Time" is a shorter bluesy number that mostly focuses on the vocal work, but eventually reminding us that Cream used to be a powerful beast live with some really nice guitar playing in the middle that unfortunately only lasts two or three minutes. "Sweet Wine" is incredible. What might seem like a tiring guitar jam at first actually becomes a really exciting and melodic display of guitar playing with repeated listens, showing the listener that Cream used to be a near-heavy metal band in the late 60's. I've always wanted to trick some younger people into thinking Cream was actually a brand new band that came out only yesterday when playing for them one of Cream's more lengthier and heavier numbers such as this one, and seeing if the kids go along with it!

"Rollin' and Tumblin" is all about showing off some SMOKIN' hot harmonica work. Very melodic, too. "Lawdy Mama" is just a three minute little track dominated with a bluesy vocal melody that doesn't really display any memorable guitar playing, in my opinion. It's nothing I'd compare with Cream's best work in the studio either. It's just a "there" song. A nice way to end a very solid album.

Overall, a 5 star album easily. While the sound quality isn't the best, the quality of the guitar playing and the songwriting from the band members makes up for that by *far*. .

Cream playing at their best which means playing live and improvisin'
Their first album came out in 1966 and by the time their fourth album "Goodbye" came out in 1969 they had already disbanded. Cream was basically a power trio that went super nova, which is pretty easy to do when you have Eric Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass, and Ginger Baker on drums. But one thing they proved with those four albums was that they were better on stage than they were in the studio, which explains why half the tracks on the last two albums were recorded live. Their last album was also their most successful, making it to #2 on the Billboard album chart, which explains why the next year their label came out with this album.

Four of the five tracks on "Live Cream, Volume 1" appeared on their debut album, "Fresh Cream. " The fifth, is the traditional blues piece "Lawdy Mama," given the Clapton treatment. It also stands out as being the only track on the album that does not represent the band's jazz-oriented approach to rock music, which simply means that they were into high-energy improvisation and extended solos. Add to this list that the song was only 2:46 while "N. S. U. " clocks in at 10:15 and "Sweet Wine" at 15:16 (without Baker, who co-wrote it, ever going off on an extended drum solo), and "Lawdy Mama" ends up being like a postscript to the rest of the album, where the emphasis is on their improvisational playing of what are basically blues tracks reved up to the rock level. To top everything off, it sure sounds a lot like "Strange Brew. "

Cream and Led Zeppelin were both into doing tunes by the old blues masters, which we see here with Muddy Waters' "Rollin' and Tumblin,'" which is only a couple of minutes longer than the original. That is why the two monster tracks are the best on the album, because there are points where you do not even remember what song these guys were playing to begin with. The other thing of note with this album is being able to hear the band egg each other on during these tracks, which provides something a bit different and really captures what it was like at a Cream concert. What more would you want from a live album? Two years later "Live Cream, Volume 2" would come out, which includes "White Room," "Tales of Brave Ulysses," and a nice long version of "Sunshine of Your Love. ".

the best nearly
the loudSHIMMERONG RIFFAGE /WATTS OF THIS MACHINE-BEAST PRODIGY ENSEMBLE GROWL. therEs some ORGULOUSlike STRUT YOUR PLOD; like grroves hidden within . . . ME THINK. RECORDED UP CLOSE VERY INTIMATE POSSIBLY ONE OF THE BEST RECORDINGS EVER, ALMOST AS GOOD AS WATT BY TEN YEARS AFTER.

The cream of the crop.
It is also very possibly the best rock album ever. This is undoubtedly Cream's best with Volume II a close second. Live rock albums are usually noisy and a bit off key with a lot of screaming fans but this is the exception. Incredible riffs and improvisation with unparalled power and technical mastery, far more satisfying than any of their fine studio albums. Thirty years of enjoying this album and it still gives me goosebumps. Very intense and highly recommended.

You can see a complete list of all Cream discography, or go back to the Cream tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.