Looking back, Eric Clapton didn’t necessarily need Cream to succeed. He had already established himself as one of the most sought-after rock guitarists of all time. And putting him alongside equally powerful musicians such as Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce only confirmed what the rock world had already known. There was still room for growth in a power trio. But Clapton knew that once the band left the road, they would disband.
However, the band was not exactly the best of friends when they first started. Baker and Bruce had already gotten into a few scuffles while working for The Graham Bond Organisation. So they weren’t exactly going to be hanging out backstage for a smoke break with each other.
When they removed their boxing gloves, no one had heard anything like what the band was doing. There were blues bands all over England, to be sure. But the psychedelic sounds of songs like ‘Strange Brew‘ and ‘Sunshine of Your Love‘ completely altered how people perceived volume in clubs.
The band, which included a young American guitarist named Jimi Hendrix, represented what the psychedelic movement would look like. Eric Clapton wasn’t simply looking for an excuse to play as loudly as possible. He wanted to be in a band that could support more than just a trio. And by the end of their American tour for Disraeli Gears, they might as well have called it quits.
In his autobiography, Clapton cited this tour as the reason for the band’s demise. He stated, “Musically, we were flying high. But once we stopped touring in America, it was the beginning of the end for Cream.” Because once we started working so hard, it was impossible to keep the music afloat, and we started drowning.”
You wouldn’t know it from their next album, Wheels of Fire, for a band that appeared to be on the verge of breaking up. Compared to Clapton’s comments, the band was in top form from the moment they entered the studio. They put together songs that went beyond rock and roll altogether on ‘Pressed Rat and Warthog’ while also getting a boost from George Harrison on the single ‘Badge’.
This is also right before the band hits their stride with their cover of ‘Crossroads‘, which may be one of the best blues covers ever. The band recorded everything they needed for their final album, Goodbye. It appeared that Clapton would get his wish in the coming years. He was gradually growing larger depending on which band he was in.
If you look at how he changed in such a short period, both Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominoes featured more people being added to the mix. They finally provided Clapton with the number of musicians he needed to support the music he heard in his head. The power trio may have been just one aspect of his abilities. But Clapton wanted to build the equivalent of a rock and roll orchestra when he got onstage.
