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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Cat’s Squirrel” by Cream

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Cat’s Squirrel” by Cream

“All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right…all right, all right, all right, all right.”

That pretty much sums up the lyrical content of this scorcher from Cream’s 1966 debut album, Fresh Cream. And for my money, the band’s studio recordings are far more preferable than their live workouts featuring endless jamming extended to maddening proportions.

While some were spray painting the buildings of England with proclamations that Eric Clapton was God, the real star of the show was bassist Jack Bruce. Not only was Bruce the songwriter behind some of the group’s biggest hits, but it was his voice that defined the group’s sound. And one would be hard-pressed not to mention Ginger Baker here as well for his undeniable contributions on drums.

And as for Clapton, he’s been literally coasting on the stellar guitar work he laid down with this group and solo since the late ’70s. Enjoy your retirement and thanks for the memories.

Today in Rock History – February 9

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1964, The Beatles made their US live debut on CBS-TV’s The Ed Sullivan Show. They performed five songs including their current number one “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” watched by an estimated 73 million people. The show had received over 50,000 applications for the 728 seats in the TV studio.

1965, The Who play The Marquee Club in London.

1967, Cat Stevens played at Assembly Hall in Worthing, West Sussex, England.

1967, Canadian conductor Percy Faith died aged 67. He scored the 1953 hit “Song from the Moulin Rouge” and 1960 number one “Theme From A Summer Place,” nine weeks at the top of the charts, which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1961.

1967, the film for the latest Beatles single “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”was shown on BBC-TV’s Top Of The Pops. It was the first Beatles single not to make number one in the UK since 1963, held off the top by Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Release Me.”

1968, Hal Cone former manager of The Monkees, and Head of Jones Records was found guilty of theft, forgery, receiving stolen property and conspiracy.

1968, Paul Revere & the Raiders performed at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1970, Jack Bruce, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Renaissance played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1972, Genesis performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

Wings, circa 1972

1972, Paul McCartney’s Wings played the first night of a UK College tour in Nottingham. The group arrived unannounced, asking social secretaries if they would like them to perform that evening. The band’s intended first stop on the tour, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, refused to allow them to play so they drove on to Nottingham. Admission was 40p, British pub rock band Brinsley Schwarz was the opening act for the tour.

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at Roscoe Maples Pavillion at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

1974, The Love Unlimited Orchestra went to number one on the singles chart with”Love’s Theme.”

1974, The Who take Quadrophenia to Europe beginning at the Paris Pavilion supported by Speedy Keene and his band. By now Quadrophenia has been cut down to “The Real Me,” “The Punk And The Godfather,” “I’m One,” “5:15,” “Sea And Sand,” “Drowned,” “Bell Boy,” “Dr. Jimmy,” and “Love Reign O’er Me.”

1974, Yes appeared at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida.

1976, David Bowie performed at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

1977, Black Sabbath played at the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult headlined at the  Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, Massachusetts.

1981, American singer Bill Haley was found dead, fully clothed, on his bed at his home in Harlington, Texas from a heart attack, Haley had sold over 60 million records during his career. Scored the 1955 number one single “Rock Around The Clock,” and became known as the first rock ‘n’ roll star. Haley was blinded in his left eye as a child due to a botched operation and later adopted his distinctive spit-curl hairstyle to distract attention from his blind eye.

1981, Phil Collins releases his solo debut, Face Value.

1982, George Harrison presented UNICEF with a check for $9.0 (£5.65) million, ten years after the fundraising concert for Bangladesh.

1990, Nirvana set out on a short west coast tour opening for Dinosaur Jr. at the Pine Street Theater, Portland, Oregon.

1997, Brian Connolly, singer with the 1970’s glam rock group Sweet died of kidney and liver failure aged 51. Connolly replaced Ian Gillan (later of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath) in Wainwright’s Gentlemen who became Sweetshop and then shortened to Sweet.

2009, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant took home five prizes for his collaboration with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss at this year’s Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles. The duo won album of the year for Raising Sand and record of the year for “Please Read The Letter.” Coldplay won song of the year for “Viva La Vida.”

Born on this day: Barry Mann, singer, songwriter (1939); Carole King (1942); Joe Ely (1947) and Dennis Thomas, Kool & the Gang (1951)

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Song Of The Day – “SWLABR” by Cream

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creamWhile some were spray painting the buildings of England with proclamations that Eric Clapton was God, the real star of Cream was bassist Jack Bruce. Not only was Bruce the songwriter behind some of the group’s biggest hits, but it was his voice that defined the group’s sound. Ginger Baker, of course, laid down the backbeat that drove the machine to greatness, and as for Clapton, he’s been literally coasting on the stellar guitar work he laid down with this group for over 40 years ago.

They were, indeed, one of the early “supergroups” with very high pedigree. Clapton had played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds and had backed blues greats like Sonny Boy Williamson and Champion Jack Dupree. Baker played with Jazz artist Acker Bilk (of “Stranger On The Shore” fame), Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated and the Graham Bond Organisation. Bruce had played with Baker in Korner’s Blues Incorporated and The Graham Bond Organisation, with Clapton in The Bluesbreakers and Powerhouse (that also included singer Paul Jones and Steve Winwood), and briefly with Manfred Mann. And for once, this supergroup was much better than the sum of its parts, especially since Bruce and Baker didn’t get along at all.

That said, Cream never made a solid studio album, and even so, the band’s studio recordings are far more preferable than their live workouts that featured endless jamming extended to maddening proportions. Even though albums like Disraeli Gears, Fresh Cream and the half studio-half live Wheels Of Fire are considered classics today, they really are patchy affairs, each featuring a clutch of classic singles surrounded by throwaways.

So if you’re looking for just the cream that rose to the top, the 1995 CD compilation The Very Best Of Cream is the one to have. It’s all here…71 minutes of the heaviest of heavy Cream including the requisite hits “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “Tales Of Brave Ulysses,” “Strange Brew,” “I’m So Glad,” “Spoonful,” “White Room,” “Born Under A Bad Sign,” “Badge,” “Crossroads” and “I Feel Free.”

But the collection doesn’t stop with the hits that everyone wants. Also included are single-only rarities, B-sides and album tracks that have gained classic status over the years, like the album cuts “N.S.U.” and “Sweet Wine” (from Fresh Cream), “SWLABR” and “We’re Going Wrong” (from Disraeli Gears), “Politician,” “Sitting On Top Of The World,”  “Those Were The Days” and “Deserted Cities Of The Heart” (from Wheels Of Fire) and the rare singles “Wrapping Paper” and “Anyone For Tennis” (which was recorded for the film The Savage Seven).  In my estimation, the only essential Cream track that’s missing from this collection is “Cat’s Squirrel.”

Oh, and for those that don’t already know, “SWLABR” was also the B-side to the “Sunshine Of Your Love” single, and the title stands for “She walks like a bearded rainbow.” Don’t ask, it was 1967 after all…

Today in Rock History – November 5

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1965, The Who released the single “My Generation” in the US. While the UK release would reach the second spot, the song barely rippled in the US peaking at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1965, The Doors appeared at the Pioneer Club Boat Ride, Los Angeles, California.

1966, The Monkees were at the top of the Billboard singles chart with “Last Train To Clarksville,” the group’s first number one. It was later revealed that due to filming commitments on their TV series, none of the group had played on this or most of the group’s early recordings.

1967, Pink Floyd played two shows, afternoon and evening at The Cheetah Club, in Venice, California. Smokestack Lightning and The Candymen were support.

1967, Bee Gee Robin Gibb was a passenger on a train which crashed in South East London in England killing 49 people and injuring 78. Robin was treated for shock after the accident.

1968, Herman”s Hermits singer Peter Noone married Mirellie Strasser in London.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed two shows,  7 pm and  9:30 pm at Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Missouri.  The group’s stage equipment was sent to San Francisco from their show in Ontario, Canada the night before, in preparation for their dates at Winterland. On this night in Kansas City, they played with rented P.A.’s and amps from Mission Music.

1970, More £1 ($1.60)  Backtrack LP’s are by The Who released in the U.K. Backtrack 8 is a reissue of A Quick One (mono), Backtrack 9 is The Who Sell Out and Backtrack 14: The Ox is a collection of Who songs all written by John Entwistle.

1970, Led Zeppelin III was released in the UK on Atlantic records. The album peaked at No.1 on both the UK and US charts. It has now been certified 6 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US sales in excess of 6 million copies.

1970, The Grateful Dead played the first of four days at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.

1971, Elvis Presley kicked off a 15-date North American tour at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Minneapolis. Announcer Al Dvorin uttered the well known phrase, “Elvis has left the building” at the end of the show. He was asked to make the announcement in an effort to quiet the fans who continued to call for an encore.

1971, Pink Floyd appear at Assembly Hall, Hunter College, New York.

1971, Yes performed at the Whiskey A Go-Go, Los Angeles.

1972, Roxy Music appear at Top Rank, Birmingham, England.

1973, Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance played their first gig in a circus tent on Clapham Common, London.

1973, King Crimson performed at Rhine Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany.

1973, The wear on The Who caused by the complicated Quadrophenia material explodes into violence on stage. At the performance at the Odeon Theatre in Newcastle, Pete loses it during “5:15” when the tapes come in too slow. He attacks road manager Bobby Pridden, drags him over the soundboard, starts ripping up the tapes, before announcing to the audience that he will never play live again and stalking offstage. The curtain drops only to go back up ten minutes later as The Who with Pete come back onstage and perform a set of oldies.

1974, Black Sabbath perform at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia.

1975, Rush played at The Rafters, Battle Creek, Michigan.

1977, The manager of the Virgin record store in Nottingham, England was arrested for displaying a large poster advertising the new Sex Pistols album, Never Mind The Bollock’s, Here’s The Sex Pistols. London stores banned the album after police warned they could be fined under the 1898 indecent advertising act.

1978, Eric Clapton appears at Pabellon Deportivo Del Real Madrid, Madrid.

1979, Mick Jagger’s divorce from Bianca was finalized. The couple had married in St Tropez in 1971.

1979, Blue Oyster Cult played the first of four sold out nights at London”s Hammersmith Odeon.

1982, England’s Channel 4 TV’s The Tube had its first showing. Presented by Paula Yates and Jools Holland, the show featured The Jam and an interview with Mick Jagger. The first live act on the show was local band Toy Dolls. The show ran until 1987 and was named after the plexiglass tunnel which led down into Studio Five at Tyne Tees TV, the place where all the stars from the 80’s subsequently appeared.

1983, Billy Joel was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Uptown Girl,” which remained at the top of the chars for five weeks. The song was initially written about his relationship with his then-girlfriend Elle Macpherson, but it ended up also becoming about his soon-to-be wife Christie Brinkley, both women being among the most well-known supermodels of the 1980’s.

1986, Bobby Nunn of The Coasters died of heart failure in Los Angeles. He had the 1958 US number one single “Yakety Yak,” as well as the 1959 US number two and UK number six single “Charlie Brown.”

1988, “The Locomotion,” became the first song to reach the US Top five in three different versions, when Kylie Minogue’s reached number three on the US chart.  It was composed by songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and is notable for appearing in the American Top 5 three times, each  in a different decade. The first appearance was for Little Eva in 1962, followed by Grand Funk Railroad in 1974.

1994, Sheryl Crow scored her first UK Top ten single when “All I Wanna Do” entered the charts at number four. The US singer songwriter went on to become the first US female to score six UK hits off her debut album Tuesday Night Music Club.

1995, Producer Butch Vig’s new band Garbage made their US live debut when they played at The 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Vig produced Nirvana’s album Nevermind.

2000, U2 went to No.1 on the UK album chart with All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the Irish group’s 8th UK top album. Creed were at number one on the US singles chart with “With Arms Wide Open.”

2003, Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers was found dead in hotel room in Michigan, 30 minutes before he was due on stage, aged 63. The autopsy report from the Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner gave the opinion that Hatfield suffered a sudden, unexpected death due to acute cocaine toxicity. The Righteous Brothers had the 1965 UK and US number one single “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin,” and the 1990 UK number one single “Unchained Melody,” first released in 1965.

2005, Guitarist Link Wray died aged 76. Wray was credited with inventing “fuzz” guitar after punching a hole in a speaker giving him a distorted guitar sound. Famous for his 1958 US number 16 single “Rumble” which was banned on several radio stations, on the grounds that it glorified juvenile delinquency. A rare feat for a song with no lyrics.

2014, The funeral for Jack Bruce was held in London, attended by Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and noted musicians Phil Manzanera, Gary Brooker, Vernon Reid and Nitin Sawhney among others. Dozens assembled at the Golders Green Crematorium paying a last tribute singing “Morning Has Broken,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “Theme for an Imaginary Western.” The Scottish-born bass player and singer had died in October as a result of liver disease.

Born on November 6: Ike Turner (1931); Art Garfunkel (1941); Gram Parsons (1946); Peter Noone (1947); Peter Hammill, singer, guitar, keyboards, Van Der Graff Generator (1948); Bryan Adams (1959) and Jonny Greenwood, guitar, keyboards, Radiohead (1971); and Ryan Adams, singer, songwriter (1974)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Cat’s Squirrel” by Cream

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“All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right…all right, all right, all right, all right.” – That pretty much sums up the lyrical content of this scorcher from Cream’s 1966 debut album, “Fresh Cream.” And for my money, the band’s studio recordings are far more preferable than their live workouts featuring endless jamming extended to maddening proportions. While some were spray painting the buildings of England with proclamations that Eric Clapton was God, the real star of the show was bassist Jack Bruce. Not only was Bruce the songwriter behind some of the group’s biggest hits, but it was his voice that defined the group’s sound. And as for Clapton, he’s been literally coasting on the stellar guitar work he laid down with this group for over 40 years.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Theme From An Imaginary Western” by Mountain

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Every so often, you hear a song that you haven’t heard in a long time, and it blows you away as if you were hearing it for the very first time. I had this experience last night at our weekly “Vinyl Night” gathering at the Firkin bar Libertyville, IL where one of the gang brought the 1970 debut album by Mountain called “Climbing!.” Now, I’ve had this album since I was a kid and I’ve heard it countless times, so many times in fact that it’s been years since I’ve even considered playing it again. But last night, the song revealed the perfection at its core: impassioned vocals, terrific power ballad melody and superb guitar work by “The Great Fatsby” himself, Leslie West. As a result, I am listening to and enjoying the albums “Climbing!” and “Nantucket Sleighride” today, as I write this entry. Mountain was known as the “American Cream” because they were so heavily inspired by the British power trio, and their bassist, Felix Pappalardi, was the producer for the Cream albums “Disraeli Gears,” “Wheels Of Fire” and “Goodbye Cream.” The Cream connection goes even deeper on this track, since it was co-penned by Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce. Mountain formed in 1969 in Long Island, NY, and after four concerts, they found themselves on the bill at the Woodstock festival where they made a big impression. When this album came out, the band consisted of Leslie West on guitar, Felix Pappalardi on bass, Steve Knight on organ and Corky Laing on drums. After several albums, Pappalardi left the band due to hearing problems, although he would rejoin the band on several of their many reunions. Pappalardi died in 1983 after suffering a gunshot wound accidently inflicted upon him by his wife. Gail Pappalardi was charged with criminally negligent homicide and served 16 months of a four year jail sentence. The last version of Mountain featured West and Laing and recorded and toured in 2008.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Tales Of Brave Ulysses” by Cream

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Cream were rising to the top and riding high with their Wheels Of Fire album when they took to the stage of The Smothers Brothers’ TV show in July of 1968 with this song from their previous album, “Disraeli Gears.” With proclamations of “Clapton is God” spray-painted all over the walls of England, Cream began to feel the pressures of having THE deity in their group. The song was inspired by Judy Collins’ recording of the Leonard Cohen song, “Suzanne,” and features Clapton’s first use of a wah-wah pedal on a record. In fact, it’s been said that it was THE first use of a wah-wah pedal on any rock record.