The sixties were different. They were light, and dark, and nothing in
between. Today we live in the gray. In the onslaught of media, nothing sticks out,
nothing is in relief, we’re all hiding in our bunkers, trying to figure it
all out. But, in the sixties, we ventured out, we wanted to experience IT ALL!

In the sixties there was context. It wasn’t like today, where without a
major hype campaign nobody knows the story. We only had three TV networks.
"Rolling Stone" didn’t come on the scene until the end of the decade. There were
limited media outlets, and we paid attention. The big breakthrough was FM
underground radio, and you were lucky if you had an outlet in your community,
where you could hear Cream.

Cream was something you heard about from your friends. You went over to
somebody’s house and they played you "Sunshine Of Your Love". Pete Townshend eventually sang about one note, pure and easy, playing so free, but really it was one RIFF that people lined up behind. And that riff, the one that got it all started, was the one from "Sunshine Of Your Love".

Listen to "Sunshine Of Your Love" today, you’ll be STUNNED how little is on
the record. God, it sounds like there were NO overdubs, just a power trio
laying it down. Still, it wasn’t just the notes Clapton was playing, it was the
SOUND of those notes. There was a RICHNESS in this hard rock, a SWEETNESS! This wasn’t music for boys only, this was music for EVERYBODY with genitals. It had such a weird effect on you, hearing this sound, you felt it in different parts of your body, your brain, your lower abdomen and your groin. Right after the set-up, after the richness, there’s this bit of distortion in the guitar, you feel like you’re in it for the long haul, to climax, four minutes hence.

Hearing "Sunshine Of Your Love" you had to buy "Disraeli Gears". And that’s
when you discovered it, the essence, opening side two.

Today the label picks the track, and what’s left of radio takes instruction,
it’s all a CAMPAIGN, which you’re AWARE OF! But listening to FM back then was like listening to XM today. Your relationship is with the DEEJAY! Not his
voice, not his inane rap like on Sirius, but his CHOICES! That’s why we love
people, because of who they ARE! And when you heard "Tales Of Brave Ulysses" on the radio your life was made, the same way when Mike Marrone plays some obscure cut that only I thought I knew it makes my day.

One can argue quite strongly the first Cream album is the best. The sound
isn’t as good as "Disraeli Gears", but overall the songs are BETTER!

But after "Disraeli Gears", the songs got worse. Except for the unexpected
"Badge", NOTHING was the caliber of what came before. Still, there was a huge
hit on "Wheels Of Fire", a simple song, but one with a monster riff so
exquisite that we were touched once again. It was just the SOUND of Clapton’s
guitar, it sounded like he was WEEPING! But then Ginger hit the drum, and Jack sang richly. Yes, as great as Clapton was, Jack’s vocals were a key element of
the band.

The dude who made available the MP3s of the Royal Albert Hall show left three
out, the last three numbers of the concert. He hopped to, posted them on the
site, and I just downloaded them, and heard "White Room".

I don’t understand flying around the world to see a band. That’s not what
rock and roll is about. Rock and roll is about scraping up every dollar you’ve
got, eating the equivalent of dog food just so you can AFFORD to go to the
gig. The gig isn’t an afterthought, ONE thing you can acquire, experience, but
the ONLY thing!

While we were experiencing flower power in the U.S., the Brits were
experiencing rain. The music from across the pond was different from ours. It wasn’t sunny, it was dark. Made in the U.K., it was America’s dark underbelly. It
coexisted with Monkees hits. It was necessary, for balance.

Flying across the pond forty years later has NO darkness. Unless you saved
up every last dollar you had and slept on the street in order to go.

And, going was SO much different then. You went ALL THE TIME! Because the
tickets were CHEAP! Under five bucks. The concert experience wasn’t about
preferred parking and alcohol, it was about the MUSIC!

And that music can be heard in Cream’s rendition of "White Room" on May 5th.

Eric gets that unique guitar sound. But really, it’s Ginger’s drums. You
can hear the FEROCITY!

And then, on top of it all, in comes Jack.

Oh, he’s singing along, all those words you remember. And then you hear it…

I’ll wait in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves

I’m waiting for this place to return. Where business trumps art. Where
creativity is revered over music. Where the messiah returns.

Religious zealots think the messiah is going to come from heaven. Down to
save us.

But I don’t believe that. I don’t believe in a higher power. I believe in
people. Their ability to triumph, do the right thing, against incredible odds.

Here, just before the show is over, almost two hours into it, having
delivered upon expectations, Cream FINALLY throws off the limitations and just RIPS! THIS is music-making. When you’re no longer going by the rehearsal, when you’re just WINGING IT! When you stop concentrating on being together, do your own thing and it all FALLS INTO PLACE!

And a little over halfway through the number, Eric finally takes center
stage, he finally WAILS! Not in the way he has for the past thirty years, but the
way he did with John Mayall, as a SIDEMAN! In the tradition of great
bluesmen, he’s taking his LICKS! He’s just part of the club.

And all these years later, it’s still a championship team.