Genre: rock
Rating: 1 stars *
Title: Cream Songbook
Company: GRT
Catalog: GRT
10000
Year: 1968
Country/State: US
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: minor seam split along top right upper edge
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5707
Price: $15.00
I guess this is a case of art meets the business of music and business wins ... The dollars and sense logic is completely lost on me, but for some reason the California-based GRT label decided they'd hire guitarist Stan Ayeroff , drummer Steve Baim, and singer/multi-instrumentalist Michael Lloyd (who'd all recorded an LP under the name Smoke), to record an album of Cream covers. I'm not sure what the company expected given you could readily pick up the entire Cream discography if you really wanted to hear one of these songs ... someone tell me what I'm missing here.
If you're to believe the liner notes, Robert Fitzpatrick (who was Cream's American manager), actually broached the concept of a covers album with Eric Clapton. Clapton supposedly gave his tacit approval, though it's hard to imagine he would have been thrilled by this particular concept. That said, 1968's "Cream Songbook" was actually a pretty apt description. Co-produced by Fitzpatrick and Mike Curb (never a good sign), the album featured a series of nine Michael Lloyd arranged instrumentals. All of the songs were set to kind of a mock classical style, complete with strings, horns, and heavy orchestration. Imagine Cream done for your parents, or grandparents and you'd be in the right aural neighborhood. The good news: 1.) almost all of these songs were short including their cover of Ginger Baker's 'Toad'; 2.) none of these was long; 3.) John Powers art work was kind of cool. Was anything here worth hearing? Your life wouldn't be worth less if you didn't hear this one. On the other hand it had kind of a goof factor and you couldn't help but smile hearing the harpsichord and fuzz guitar powered 'Sunshine of Your Life'. Gawd only knows why, but GRT also tapped the album for a single:
- 1968's 'Deserted Cities Of Your Heart' b/w 'Sunshine Of Your Love' (GRT catalog number 1)
"Cream
Songbook" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Deserted
Cities Of The Heart (instrumental) (Jack Bruce - Pete Brown) -
1:54
2.) White Room (instrumental)
(Jack Bruce - Pete Brown) - 1:53
3.) Toad (instrumental)
(Ginger Baker) - 2:39
4.) Those Were The Days
(instrumental) (Ginger Baker - Mike Taylor) - 2:32
5.) We're Going Wrong (instrumental) (Jack Bruce) - 2:33
(side
2)
1.) Sunshine Of Your Love
(instrumental) (Jack Bruce - Pete Brown - Eric Clapton) - 4:13
2.) Dance The Night Away
(instrumental) (Jack Bruce - Pete Brown) -2:33
3.) Sweet Wine (instrumental)
(Godfrey Baker - Ginger Baker) - 1:56
4.) Strange Brew
(instrumental) (Eric Clapton - Felix Pappalardi - Gail Collins)
- 2:54
Perhaps even more surprising was the fact GRT decided to finance a couple of follow-up albums:
- 1969's "Hendrix Songbook" (GRT catalog 10007)
- 1969's "Beatles Sngbook" (GRT catalog 10015)
13, signing a publishing deal with L.A. producer Kim Fowley, who later introduced him to entertainment mogul Mike Curb. Fowley hoped that Curb would use some of Lloyd's songs in the "teensploitation" films he was producing at the time. Instead, Curb gave Lloyd the opportunity to produce a handful of groups for his Tower imprint and its Sidewalk subsidiary, including one of Lloyd's own groups, the Laughing Wind. Lloyd was 15 when his first single produced by Fowley was issued in 1966 (a few years later this same group -- which featured Stan Ayeroff on guitar and Steve Baim on drums -- released several "songbook" albums, including the Cream Songbook, although they were credited to "the Rubber Band" at the time).
THE RUBBER B Band], presented in sealed picture sleeve).