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Cream - 1972 - Live Cream Volume II (2014 HDTracks) [[email protected]]
Artist: Cream
Title: Live Cream Volume II (2014 HDtracks)
Format: 6 × File, FLAC, Album, Reissue, Remastered, 24bit 192kHz (HDtracks)
Producer: Felix Pappalardi
Release Date: March 1972, (2014 HDtracks)
Recorded: 9 March - 4 October 1968 at The Winterland, San Francisco and The Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland
Label: Polydor Records (i)
Genre: Rock, British Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Classic Rock
Duration: 78:15
Cream:
Wikipedia:
Cream were a 1960s British rock power trio consisting of drummer Ginger Baker, guitarist/singer Eric Clapton and bassist/singer Jack Bruce. The group's third album, Wheels of Fire (1968), was the world's first platinum-selling double album. The band is widely regarded as the world's first successful supergroup. In their career, they sold more than 15 million copies of their albums worldwide. Their music included songs based on traditional blues such as "Crossroads" and "Spoonful", and modern blues such as "Born Under a Bad Sign", as well as more current material such as "Strange Brew", "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Toad".
The band's biggest hits were "I Feel Free" (UK number 11), "Sunshine of Your Love" (US number 5), "White Room" (US number 6), "Crossroads" (US number 28), and "Badge" (UK number 18).
The band made a significant impact on the popular music of the time, and, along with Jimi Hendrix and other notable guitarists and bands, popularised the use of the wah-wah pedal. They provided a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed and influenced the emergence of British bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They also had an impact on American southern rock groups the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The band's live performances influenced progressive rock acts such as Rush.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. They were included in both Rolling Stone and VH1's lists of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time," at number 67 and 61 respectively. They were also ranked number 16 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Live Cream Volume II:
Wikipedia:
Live Cream Volume II is the second live album by the British rock band Cream, released in March 1972 by Polydor Records (Atco Records in the US). This album contains six tracks recorded at various performances from 9 March to 4 October 1968.
AllMusic Review by Matthew Greenwald:
An oft-overlooked curio, Live Cream, Vol. 2 appeared at a very odd time, with very little warning, almost two years after its predecessor -- and at virtually the same time as the related (though not overlapping) History of Eric Clapton. And both showed up, not coincidentally, at a point when Clapton, unbeknownst to most of the public, was sidelined with a crippling heroin addiction -- this album helped keep him in the public eye, as a singer as well as a guitarist. On its face, Live Cream, Vol. 2 is a more ambitious album that its predecessor, offering more songs and including concert versions of two of the group's AM radio hits (as opposed to the album tracks that comprised the repertory on Live Cream, Vol. 1). And it is just about essential listening for anyone who wants to understand what Cream was about, which was live performance. Utilizing -- for the time -- state-of-the-art mobile recording equipment, it was a significant achievement at the time in capturing the genuine sound of a high-wattage power trio on-stage, playing away at full volume, and the overall sonic excellence here must surely be credited to engineers Tom Dowd and Bill Halverson. The feeling that you are in the front row is very much in evidence, and this is largely due to their ability to capture the band's live fury with clarity and intimacy, down to every nuance of Ginger Baker's playing. As for the performances, this record does capture the band at their peak, though perhaps not at the very best moments of that peak -- the group made their reputation as a live act with epic, lengthy jams that verged on jazz, but the repertory represented here (as opposed to that on Live Cream, Vol. 1) is more focused on their pop/rock efforts, such as "White Room," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Tales of Brave Ulysses," etc., which don't lend themselves as easily (or at all) to opening out in extended jams, in the manner of, say, "N.S.U." or "Sweet Wine," or the legendary "Spoonful"; additionally, numbers such as "Sunshine of Your Love" and, in particular, "White Room," require more vocal dexterity than Clapton and bassist/singer Jack Bruce could muster in this kind of concert setting -- their singing, especially on "White Room" comes close to breaking down ("Sunshine of Your Love" fares better), whereas their playing holds together, almost better than perfect at times. "Deserted Cities of the Heart" -- which opens the album -- comes off exceptionally well as a concert piece, the bass and guitar actually combining to overcome the absences of swooping cellos, acoustic guitars, and other accompanying instruments from the studio rendition. And there is one priceless example of Cream in a full-tilt jam, on the 13-plus-minute closing cut "Steppin' Out" -- the band's sheer energy overcomes what minor deficiencies there are in the overall sound quality. And coupled with the compact, four- to five-minute versions of "Deserted Cities of the Heart" and "Tales of Brave Ulysses," among others, the album is a vital, intense, and enjoyable listen that is ultimately rewarding.
Tracklist:
01. Deserted Cities Of The Heart - 41:34
02. White Room - 05:41
03. Politician - 05:09
04. Tales Of Brave Ulysses - 04:47
05. Sunshine Of Your Love - 07:25
06. Steppin' Out - 13:39
Notes:
Track 5 recorded 9 March 1968 at the Winterland, San Francisco.
Tracks 4 & 6 recorded 10 March 1968 at the Winterland, San Francisco.
Tracks 1, 2 & 3 recorded 4 October 1968 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland.
Personnel:
Cream:
Eric Clapton – vocals, guitar
Jack Bruce – vocals, bass, harmonica
Ginger Baker – drums
Production:
Felix Pappalardi – producer
Tom Dowd – recording engineer
Bill Halverson – recording engineer
Gene Paul – re-mix engineer
Kevin Brady – re-mix engineer
Jim Marshall – cover photography
Gene Trindl – backliner photography
Stanisław Zagórski – album design
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