Cream formed in 1966 as a “power trio” project featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce. The three landed on the name “Cream” because they were considered the “cream of the crop” amongst blues and jazz musicians in the exploding British music scene. While the project was short-lived, Cream proved to be one of the most influential rock bands in history. Primarily active for all of two years, with minor reunions in 1993 and 2005, the eccentric sound of Cream is defined through a blues rock/hard rock hybrid that combines the psychedelic themes of the late ’60s with Clapton’s unique guitar playing, the bass-thumping notes and vocal extremities of Jack Bruce, and the jazz-infused percussive snaps of Ginger Baker. They came out with songs like “Strange Brew,” “Crossroads,” and “Badge” in their first year together, and went on to continue their fame with tunes like “Sunshine of Your Love,” “I Feel Free,” and “White Room.”
On November 26th 1968–48 years ago today–Cream played their farewell show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The final show–and the previous night’s performance–were recorded and broadcast by BBC in 1969. Selections from the gigs were later included on Goodbye, the band’s final release, along with previously unreleased studio material. You can watch video of the final show below courtesy of YouTube user Roger The Engineer:
Cream were apparently unhappy with those final shows, and even die hard fans admit it wasn’t the band at the peak of their powers. “It wasn’t a good gig; Cream was better than that,” Baker said in the documentary Cream: Classic Artists. “We knew it was all over. We knew we were just finishing it off.”
The “disappointing” goodbye, while perhaps not the band’s high water mark, represents an interesting time in their trajectory. Cream would go on to play together a few more times, with critically and commercially successful reunions in 1993 and 2005. You can watch “White Room>Crossroads>Badge” from the 2005 “redemption” show below courtesy of YouTube user AZLiveVideo: