Cream led me out of top 40 AM pop rock in the 60s into a whole new realm I never knew existed. To this day one of my more significant influences. And yes, I'm a picker and was profoundly impacted by Cream.
Copped a whole lot of Claptons' licks back in the day, and this remains in my style today (such as it is) - 40+ yrs or so later. Learned many solos of his note by note from the LPs, as did many of my contemporaries.
Never got to see them at their zenith back in the day. But did catch Blind Faith on their only US tour back in '68. First time I saw EC, and due to the material Blind Faith were playing plus Claptons' drug and alcohol problems......well let's just say he didn't shine! Just sort of faded back into the mix as it became obvious to me that Steve Winwood was the top billing artist on that group. However Ginger Baker did play a way great extended drum solo on "Do What You Like", so it wasn't all a downer.
Fast forward to 2005. Learned of the Cream reunion concert series to be performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Determined I absolutely had to see them at least once before I take the dirt nap, so made plans to secure tickets through a friend in the UK.
And so it came to pass that I saw the original Cream on opening night on Monday, May 2, 2005. I asked my UK mate to get me the best seats he could (he apparently was on line for several hrs to do this -- above and beyond the call of duty IMO) and he secured 3 seats (for me and 2 of my other UK mates) in the "mid-priced" range of 75 UK pounds (there were 3 prices - 50 pounds, 75, and 150 IIRC. And for some reason my computer OS will not allow me to type in the UK pounds symbol, among others).
Even all that only allowed us seats virtually in the nosebleed section, just below the top section of standing room only! Yet I had my trusty binoculars, and even though the figures on the stage were tiny I could zoom in on ECs' solos and such.
The mix up there was less than ideal though. The highs came through acceptably, but anything in the lower range was muddled. So the vocals and ECs' solos were fine, but Jacks' bass lines were pretty much lost.
I posted a pretty comprehensive review on a music site I hang out at, and if there's any interest I can c&p it here.
I also highly recommend the DVD of the reunion concert. It contains the entire song list, filmed from the 4 concerts. And the mix in this is fine quality. It's also interesting to view this concert against the "Farewell" concert in '68, also performed at the Royal Albert Hall. Some of the same tunes, but performed by much younger men in their prime!
All to say, that while I don't necessarily subscribe to the claim that "Claption is God", he clearly has his imprint stamped on my own style.
Whew, too much typing......
:bounce:
