In 1968, Cream performed its farewell concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. In 2005, they returned to that stage for a series of reunion concerts. The intervening years have done nothing to diminish the group's well earned status as one of the greatest in rock history.
Just Trying To Multitask
Okay, I'll admit it. Sometimes when I'm playing a CD or DVD that I'm reviewing, I'm doing other things at the same time. It's called multitasking. It's the 21st century way of life, okay?
So it was that I inserted the first DVD in the two-disc set into my computer's DVD-ROM, with the idea of watching the first few minutes, then continuing to listen while I worked on another project. But a funny thing happened. As the DVD was ending, I realized that I hadn't taken my eyes, or my attention, off of it since it began.
Fair enough, I thought. I'll just start working on this review while I listen to the second disc. You've probably figured out the rest. The second DVD has just ended, and there has been no multitasking.
So, what makes these DVDs so compelling? For starters, the production values. The visual style is a cross between music video and documentary, and compels you to watch. And then there's the sound. Today's audio technology does incredible things for this music.
Magnetic Attraction
The more I watched, the more I was struck by the significance of what I was seeing. Three guys who in two short years, 1966-68, produced seven albums, toured almost constantly, and became legendary for their music, playing together again after a hiatus -- except for a brief set when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 -- of almost 40 years.
Three guys, three instruments, much magic. I kept watching because it made me remember the magic, and I was blown away by the evidence right before my eyes that the magic was still there.
There is no hint of the sometimes bitter rivalry between bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, a rivalry so intense at one time that it led to actual fights onstage before Baker eventually fired Bruce when the two were playing with The Graham Bond Organization. There is no hint of Eric Clapton's "creative differences" with Baker and Bruce that led to his leaving the band.
And there is no hint that these guys haven't been playing together every day in the 37 years since the band dissolved. Individually and as a group, their musical skills have been sharpened and refined by time.
Show Stoppers
Ginger Baker is why kids daydream about how cool it would be to play drums. Then they discover the intense physical and musical demands that are required and opt for something easier, like bench pressing 500 pounds. About half-way through Baker's solo on Toad, I realized that my mouth was actually hanging open. Even though I had just seen it, while writing this I put that track on again. Again with the open mouth, this time accompanied by goosebumps and the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
Jack Bruce is a musician's musician. He is classically trained, and has the ability to play bass guitar, harmonica, guitar, and piano, and make it look easy. He wrote most the group's original material, and was its lead vocalist. If you can watch and listen to Rollin' and Tumblin' without vigorously moving some part of your body, you have no soul.
It was the loose, improvisational style favored by Bruce and Baker that eventually led Clapton to leave the group, but he can jam with the best of them. He does just that on Stormy Monday and has never sounded better.
For pure fun -- yours and, apparently, the band's -- enjoy the surrealistic Pressed Rat and Warthog.
It's A Must Have
The concerts are also available on a two-CD set. Buy it if you must, but without the visual reference, I can just about guarantee that your mouth will stay closed, and the hair on the back of your neck will remain seated.
