The Very Best of Cream 

• 1995 
• CD 3145237522 
• Clapton, Eric 

  + 1

  Cream
• CD - 1CD 

847015

Vinyl records and CDs

The Very Best of Cream

Clapton, Eric, Cream

3145237522

1995

Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio (PolyGram Studios). There've been numerous one-disc Cream retrospectives over the years, but this is probably the best. Of course, Cream's official recorded output was only four albums during the group's brief two-year run, with very little chaff amongst the wheat, so one might be excused for wondering if you'd be better off with those still-in-print albums, or with THOSE WERE THE DAYS, the four-CD box set that collects more or less every note Cream ever recorded. In any case, at 20 songs, this is the most comprehensive one-CD Cream best-of extant and conceptually it's certainly the most interesting. Despite the fact the group was mostly esteemed as (and occasionally dismissed as) a live, blues-based extended-jams outfit that sometimes didn't know when to quit, most of the songs here are tuneful, concise studio tracks with Beatle-esque touches in the arrangements; it's hard to imagine how anybody could dismiss gems like "Anyone for Tennis" or "Badge" as excessive. Unavailable in the U.S.! Import pressing of this collection from the British trio, the most comprehensive single-disc Cream compilation on the market. Despite the fact the group was mostly esteemed as a live, Blues-based extended-jams outfit that sometimes didn't know when to quit, most of the songs here are tuneful, concise studio tracks with Beatle-esque touches in the arrangements; it's hard to imagine how anybody could dismiss gems like 'White Room', 'Strange Brew' or 'Badge' as excessive. 20 tracks. Polydor. Recorded in 1967-1968. Includes liner notes by Hugh Fielder. Compilation producers: Chris Griffin, Bill Levenson, George McManus. Engineers include: Tow Dowd, Damon Lyon-Shaw, John Timperley. Personnel: Eric Clapton (vocals, guitar); Jack Bruce (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano, organ, bass guitar); Ginger Baker (vocals, drums, percussion).

Baker, Peter Edward, Bell, William, Brown, Pete, Bruce, Jack, Burnett, Chester, Chatmon, Lonnie, Clapton, Eric, Collins, Gail, Dixon, Willie, Godfrey, Robert, Harrison, George, James, Skip, Johnson, Robert, Jones, Booker T., Pappalardi, Felix, Sharp, Martin, Taylor, Mike, Vinson, Walter