Run Laughing Through Your Fingers: Best Cream Song

Where are the specific pitch problems with "Saturday Afternoon?"

Man, Marty Balin's really getting punched in the face on this thread.

I really enjoy Balin and Slick (and even Mickey Thomas) tbh.

I wouldn't claim that Ginger Baker or Jack Bruce are great singers in any conventional sense--and truthfully, I'm not even sure who's singing on my favourite Cream songs most of the time. I would argue that the voice(s) that sing "Deserted Cities of the Heart," "White Room," "Those Were the Days," and many other songs perfectly capture the gloominess, strangeness, and sometimes sadness of those songs.

I have no memory of that greil marcus thing but sure i guess you're right he is at least as valuable re: politics as Scott Adams

Xp

I'm sure it's Clapton on 'Strange Brew', Bruce on 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' and Baker on 'Blue Condition' ...

Believe it or not clemenza i have no real personal opinion about you at all. But i do have issues w aesthetics that privelege white imitations of black styles (scare quotes around white and black there if you please) so qhenanyone throws around "white" and "soulful" i get suspicious.

Xp

When anyone

Stupid phone

"Deserted Cities of the Heart," "White Room," "Those Were the Days,"

Jack Bruce on all, I would think?

I simply don't know what you mean by "that privilege white imitations of black styles." a) I think Marty Balin's voice is beautiful on those songs. b) I don't think he's imitating anybody on "Today"--he's 100% himself. (I can't think of anybody else who sounds like Marty Balin on "Today." c) I threw in white because I'm being preemptively defensive about saying "Marty Balin had arguably the most soulful voice of the sixties"--I know such a statement would be greeted with ridicule, and I don't even believe that myself. I do believe he had one of the most soulful voices of the sixties, and I guess I should have just said that and been prepared to defend it, so that's my fault. But again, the jargon that you're throwing around has zero to do with my feelings about "Today."

I thought it might be Bruce, Tim, so he's the voice of Cream for me. (Except I also love "Doin' That Scrapyard Thing," and I think that might be Baker?)

Jack Bruce can certainly sing, technically he's very good (need Dan Perry) plus I like that he sings with a Scottish accent, though that I'm not sure how noticeable that is to most (non-Scottish) listeners.

I'm not a metal fan, so I don't know if Cream had any kind of a lasting influence, or any influence at all, in that area. But I do remember thinking this was a funny and pretty lively "Tales of Braves Ulysses" rip at the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKj5cJ9_KSg

There must be a Cream POX thread. I'd have to extend that to twelve for myself, all the songs I love (no order): "White Room," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Rollin' and Tumblin'," "Tales of Brave Ulysses," "I Feel Free," "Badge," "Anyone for Tennis," "Doin' That Scrapyard Thing," "Passing the Time," "Deserted Cities of the Heart," "Those Were the Days," "I'm So Glad." Which is more than a quarter of their entire output. I think the only other artist where I could say the same would be the Velvet Underground (who I somehow overlooked in the original post--move Cream down to sixth). Having a small body of work helps.

I wonder how much the Airplane and Cream record-buying audiences overlapped in 1966-67?

I don't hear pitch problems with Balin, a good folk singer whose not-so-secret weapon was pop crooning. I can imagine him killing "Yesterday" or "Light My Fire" but not Otis Redding numbers.

My guess would be considerable overlap, although--I related this story in ILX's stuttering thread--I tagged along once when a friend interviewed (stutterer) John Hammond Jr., and he insisted that the Airplane's audience was primarily the Monkees/Cowsills teenaged-girl audience (and he got very impatient with me when I jumped in and argued the point, which was a dumb thing to do seeing as he was there and I was only six at the time).

Yes--when I apply the term "soulful" to Balin, I mean strictly on the ballad side.

Okay, I see what you mean--not even a soulful ballad singer, more of a crooner. I'd disagree with that, although I'm not sure exactly where you draw a line between the two. If it moves me, I call it soulful.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Have to post the obvious before this disappears:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOWaHTlq-hI

Kael wrote that Goodfellas' soundtrack didn't connect to its characters' lives the way Mean Streets' soundtrack did. She's right--can't see Jimmy or Tommy settling back with Disraeli Gears and a pair of headphones--and also, I think, completely missing how perfectly matched something like "Sunshine of Your Love" is to De Niro's expression at 0:41. I don't think I'd given Cream much thought since high school when Goodfellas came out; their appearance came right out of left field and reminded me how strange and sinister they always sounded to me.

Cream's 1968 Farewell Concert film is the absolute nadir of rock concert docs (and obviously a reference point for Spinal Tap); It's torturous watching them jamming so turgidly and with minimal effort to play as a group, rather than as three soloists. Voted NSU.

Jefferson Airplane were great. "Somebody to Love" sounded fucking amazing on AM radio in 67 surrounded by weak crap like Every Mother's Son and Boyce and Hart. Come to think of it, so did "Sunshine of Your Love".

It might be my latin blood but "white room" is for me their grooviest piece (therefore their best).

If you came to vote for "I Feel Free," just make note of it in the thread and we'll see how many votes it gets.

VOTE. Funny that for a band so identified with instrumental virtuosity, my favourite moment on my favourite song is acapella.

Ρεμπετολογια: I like both "Come on Down to My Boat" and "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight"...which doesn't negate your point about how amazing and different "Somebody to Love" would have sounded on the radio in 1967.

Give me Boyce & Hart over Cream and Jefferson Airplane any day of the week.

Kael wrote that Goodfellas' soundtrack didn't connect to its characters' lives the way Mean Streets' soundtrack did. She's right--can't see Jimmy or Tommy settling back with Disraeli Gears and a pair of headphones--and also, I think, completely missing how perfectly matched something like "Sunshine of Your Love" is to De Niro's expression at 0:41.

I think Kael's missing the point. Soundtracks don't have to be so literal; when Karen says, "Who do you think you are, Frankie Valli or some kind of big shot?" was Kael disappointed that the soundtrack didn't play "Walk Like A Man" (or maybe play it when Henry beat up Karen's neighbor)?

Like "Sunshine" in this scene, the seemingly out-of-place "Atlantis" works because it works, not because it spells out something for us about the action or the characters (although as Scorsese later revealed, "though gods they were" did in fact relate to the characters, but not in the sense that Tommy and Henry would sit around grooving to Donovan).

Totally agree. I find pop music used imaginatively as counterpoint to be every bit as effective (and often more so) than when used literally.

Badge, all the way.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Huh Badge!? Had no idea it was that popular. Interesting choice.

Had I known noone would vote for Anyone for Tennis I'd voted for that instead. I loved when my dad played that one when I was like 6.

I said I'd note "I Feel Free" votes: two for sure, and the person who noticed its absence might have been a third. (And maybe there would have been a couple more if it had been on the list.)

Thought I'd be the only "Deserted Cities of the Heart" vote; excellent drone.

I had a feeling 'Badge' was gonna take this about 10 posts into the thread. It's a great song - classic.