Cream - Outside Woman Blues

This is a live performance by British supergroup Cream performing a live version of the song "Outside Woman Blues". The performance is from their 2005 reunion concert at The Royal Albert Hall. It's a great performance and it shows just what this trio was capable of and still were capable of back in 2005.
The song was originally recorded by Blind Joe Reynolds in 1929. It has since been covered by a large number of artists, but most notably Cream. Cream's version was released in 1967 on their "Disreali Gears" album. There were only two covers on this album, and the rest of the songs were originals. Also the lyrics are credited to Blind Joe Reynolds, but with arrangement by Clapton. This is also very clear, if you take a listen to the original (click here for a performance of the original).
The song has been performed by a lot of artists and Clapton has also played the song live as a solo artist. Like this acoustic clip embeded below which is a very good version. It really marks Clapton's self-accompanied style and abilities and his vocal ability as well.

The song has also been performed by: Jimi Hendrix, Back Door Slam, Doyle Bramhall II, Van Halen and Johnny Winter.
I love both of Cream's versions of this song. They're both great performances who share displaying Clapton's guitar abilities and his vocal ability as well.

Enjoy ; )

Cream - Spoonful

This is a live version by the British blues rock/psychedelic band Cream performing a version of the classic Willie Dixon song "Spoonful".
"Spoonful" is a blues standard composed by Willie Dixon. It was first recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960. It was loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues" by Charley Patton from 1929.
The first version of this song recorded by Cream was recorded for their 1966 debut album "Fresh Cream". It was only released on the UK version of this album and the American crowd got it through a released LP single.
The song was very often part of Cream's live set and since the 1966 recording it developed from blues rock to a starting point for extensive improvised soloing inspired by the San Francisco music scene of the 1960's. One version of the song from Cream's "Wheels of Fire" album is about seventeen minutes long. This version is about 8 minutes long, so there's soloing, but not as much as on a lot of their other recordings.
This is a great blues song, and I really love the original idea of doing acid rock and psychedelia on a classic blues standard, gotta digg that!

Enjoy ; )

Cream - Sitting on Top of the World (Robert Cray)

This is a live version of the song "Sitting on Top of the World" live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2005. It was their reunion concert.
The song has a long history of covers and various performers. It was originally written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon. It has been covered by an area of well known blues artists such as: Robert Cray, Big Bill Broonzy, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Jack White and B.B. King.
The version Cream covered was the one recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1957. The Cream version was released in 1968. I think that these bluesy interpenetrations of this classic song are both great. I also really like it the way Robert Cray plays it. It's a little more laid back and a little slower, and of course his playing adds to the experience. (Cray version embeded below).

I think it's a really good performance, and I really think that Cream did an amazing job on this. Clapton's playing is superb, Ginger's drumming is fitting and not too over the top and Jack Bruce sings the song beautifully and plays the harmonica on it as well. A great performance, no two great performances!

Enjoy ; )

Eric Clapton - Badge

This is a performance video from 2001, it's off the "One More Car One More Rider" CD that was enhanced and also contained a video performance on each disc (it was a two disc album).
The song is from Cream's album "Goodbye". The song is composed by Eric Clapton and George Harrison, and Ringo Starr allegedly also helped, but Harrison and Clapton are the only ones who are credited.
The song's title was a bit of an enigma for some time, some people thought it was a rearrangement on the letters used to describe a standard guitar tuning (EADGBE), but that doesn't fit entirely. It is actually a result of Ringo's bad handwriting, Ringo wrote the title "Bridge" on a piece of paper, and Clapton read it upside down, and read it as "Badge", and that became the title.
The chanting of the line "Where is my badge?" was added much later, so it isn't on the much shorter album version.
Harrison's guitar influence can be heard in the interlude, it resembles Harrison's playing on the Beatles song "Here Comes The Sun", but without the capo and at a lower pitch.

A great song and performance, enjoy ; )

John Mayer & Eric Clapton - Crossroads

Here's a performance by Eric Clapton and John Mayer. They play the classic Johnson tune "Crossroads". The song was originally made under the title "Cross Road Blues" as a one-person acoustic blues tune by the ahead of his time talented Robert Johnson. The band Cream, of which Clapton was a member, covered the song on their "Wheels of Fire" album in an electrified version coming off the 60's blues vibe in London.
It is a blues classic, and Clapton's version has been covered by numerous artists, including Rush, Elmore James, John Mayer to name a few.

Enjoy ; )

If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day - Eric Clapton live

This clip is taken from Clapton's 2004 performance at the Crossroads guitar festival. It's a great version of this Robert Johnson classic, and showcases what Clapton does best, and have been doing since the early 60's: Electrifying the classic blues tunes and spreading the blues to a wider audience. Clapton also once said that it takes more than one person to duplicate what Johnson was doing in the 20's and 30's, and with this full orchestra he definetely does justice to the original.

Enjoy ; )