Tag: Fresh Cream

Cream – N.S.U.

Looking through my index…I can’t believe I’ve never posted this one by Cream before. I’m rectifying that mistake today! The song was born from a riff they played in their first rehearsal.

You probably will ask yourself…what did NSU stand for? That would be courtesy of Eric Clapton. He had a venereal disease at the time that was called Non-Specific Urethritis. They thought it would be fun to name the song with the initials.

How this band must have sounded to ears when they first got played. Compared to what was going on it must have sounded like aliens. I would also include Jimi Hendrix with this wash of hard rock psychedelic music.

Cream was formed in 1966 and consisted of Eric Clapton (guitar, vocals), Jack Bruce (bass, vocals), and Ginger Baker (drums). They were one of the first supergroups, with members already having successful careers. Eric had played with The Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers,  John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Powerhouse, and more. Jack Bruce played with Manfred Mann,  Blues Incorporated, and helped form The  Graham Bond Organisation. Ginger Baker played with Blues Incorporated, Johnny Burch Octet, and The  Graham Bond Organisation before Cream.

The song was on their debut album Fresh Cream released in 1966. The album peaked at #39 on the Billboard Album Charts and #6 in the UK. I can’t find a reliable source but one source has it peaking at #39 in Canada.

This song was written by bassist Jack Bruce.

N.S.U.

Driving in my car, smoking my cigar,
The only time I’m happy’s when I play my guitar.

Singing in my yacht, what a lot I got,
Happiness is something that just cannot be bought.

I’ve been in and I’m out, I’ve been up and down,
I don’t want to go until I’ve been all around.

What’s it all about, anyone in doubt,
I don’t want to go until I’ve found it all out.

…

Cream – Spoonful

I always thought this band was the ultimate power trio…and I mean no offense to ZZ Top. Seeing Cream was like watching a baseball team that has all-star players in each position.

When I first started to listen to Cream, what stood out was not Clapton’s guitar or Baker’s drumming…no it was Jack Bruce’s bass. There are three bass players I listened to while starting to play music. John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, and Paul McCartney.  Those three covered the chaotic, the sliding, and the melodic. Jack Bruce had all of these traits.

Chester Burnett…better known as Howlin’ Wolf was from White Station, Mississippi. He influenced so many including Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. This was his signature song although he didn’t write it…the one and only Willie Dixon did. Howlin’ Wolf released this song in 1960.

Fresh cream.jpg

Cream released this single in 1967 and it was off the UK album Fresh Cream in 1966. That album peaked at #6 in the UK and #39 on the Billboard Album Charts. I searched the Canadian RPM archives but this album did not show up.

There have been many rumors about what the song is about. Some say the song is about heroin and cooking it up. Some say it’s about… let’s just say sex. Willie Dixon said no on both. Here is Dixon’s take on it.  “The idea of ‘Spoonful’ was that it doesn’t take a large quantity of anything to be good if you have a little money when you need it, you’re right there in the right spot, that’ll buy you a whole lot. If a doctor give you less than a spoonful of some kind of medicine that can kill you, he can give you less than a spoonful of another that will make you well”. Asked about heroin, he replied, “People who think ‘Spoonful’ was about heroin are mostly people with heroin ideas”.

Cream influenced so many bands. They mixed blues, jazz, and hard rock into new kind of music in 1966. They may have created Heavy Metal/Hard Rock or it evolved from what they were doing. Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, and countless more. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker are all probably in the top 5 in rock with each of their instruments.

Its 1968 double album Wheels of Fire features a 16-minute-plus live version of “Spoonful” recorded at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom.

Spoonful

Could fill spoons full of diamonds,Could fill spoons full of gold.Just a little spoon of your precious loveWill satisfy my soul.

Men lies about it.Some of them cries about it.Some of them dies about it.Everything’s a-fightin’ about the spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.

Could fill spoons full of coffee,Could fill spoons full of tea.Just a little spoon of your precious love;Is that enough for me?

Men lies about it.Some of them cries about it.Some of them dies about it.Everything’s a-fightin’ about the spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.

Could fill spoons full of water,Save them from the desert sands.But a little spoon of your forty-fiveSaved you from another man.

Men lies about it.Some of them cries about it.Some of them dies about it.Everything’s a-fightin’ about the spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.