Heavy Cream
Heavy Cream is a compilation album of material recorded by the British rock band Cream from 1966 to 1969.
Heavy Cream | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 9 October 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1966–69 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 83:08 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Producer | Felix Pappalardi/Robert Stigwood | |||
Cream chronology | ||||
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Although available in other territories as well, the album was largely released to address the North American market, in order for Polydor Records to leverage Cream's back catalogue; prior to 1972, Polydor had licensed Cream's recordings to Atco/Atlantic Records for North American distribution. Now out of print, Heavy Cream was available as a double album during the years 1972–76, and was briefly reissued by Polydor's affiliated label RSO Records in 1983.
This double album was also issued simultaneously with 3 other double albums of solo material by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker all titled: "... At His Best"
With 22 tracks, Heavy Cream is one of the more comprehensive collections of Cream's work, containing over two-thirds of the band's studio recordings.
Writing for Newsday in 1972, Robert Christgau regarded the album as the best of the Cream compilations up to that point.[1]
The album reached No. 135 on the Billboard 200.[2]
Track listing
Side one
- 1. "Strange Brew" (Eric Clapton, Gail Collins Pappalardi, Felix Pappalardi) – 2:45
- From Cream's second album Disraeli Gears (1967), produced by Felix Pappalardi.
- Released as a single
- 2. "White Room" (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown) – 4:37
- From Cream's third album Wheels of Fire (1968), produced by Felix Pappalardi.
- Released as a single
- 3. "Badge" (Clapton, George Harrison) – 2:45
- From Cream's fourth album Goodbye (1969), produced by Felix Pappalardi.
- Released as a single
- 4. "Spoonful" (Willie Dixon) – 6:31
- From Cream's first album Fresh Cream (1966), produced by Robert Stigwood.
- 5. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (Hambone Willie Newbern) – 4:41
- From Fresh Cream.
Side two
- 1. "I Feel Free" (Bruce, Brown) – 2:54
- From Fresh Cream.
- Released as a single
- 2. "Born Under a Bad Sign" (Booker T. Jones, William Bell) – 3:08
- 3. "Passing the Time" (Ginger Baker, Mike Taylor) – 4:31
- 4. "As You Said" (Bruce, Brown) – 4:19
- 5. "Deserted Cities of the Heart" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:36
- Tracks 2-5 from Wheels of Fire.
Side three
- 1. "Cat's Squirrel" (Dr. Isaiah Ross, arr. Clapton, Bruce, Baker) – 3:05
- From Fresh Cream.
- B-side of "Wrapping Paper"
- 2. "Crossroads" (Robert Johnson, arr. Clapton) – 4:13
- From Wheels of Fire.
- Released as a single
- 3. "Sitting on Top of the World" (Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon; arr. Chester Burnett) – 4:56
- From Wheels of Fire.
- 4. "SWLABR" (Bruce, Brown) – 2:31
- From Disraeli Gears.
- B-side of "Sunshine of Your Love"
- 5. "What a Bringdown" (Baker) – 3:54
- From Goodbye.
- B-side of "Badge"
- 6. "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (Clapton, Martin Sharp) – 2:45
- From Disraeli Gears.
- B-side of "Strange Brew"
Side four
- 1. "Take It Back" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:04
- From Disraeli Gears.
- 2. "Politician" (Bruce, Brown) – 4:11
- From Wheels of Fire.
- 3. "I'm So Glad" (Skip James) – 3:55
- From Fresh Cream.
- 4. "Sunshine of Your Love" (Bruce, Brown, Clapton) – 4:08
- From Disraeli Gears.
- Released as a single
- 5. "Those Were the Days" (Baker, Taylor) – 2:52
- From Wheels of Fire.
- 6. "Doing That Scrapyard Thing" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:14
- From Goodbye.
Personnel
Cream
- Jack Bruce – Bass guitar on all tracks except "What a Bringdown", keyboards, vocals; acoustic guitar on "As You Said"; harmonica on "Spoonful", "Rollin' & Tumblin'", and "Take It Back"
- Eric Clapton – Lead guitar, rhythm guitar on all tracks except "Badge", vocals
- Ginger Baker – Drums, percussion, vocals
Additional Personnel
- Felix Pappalardi – Viola on "White Room" and "Deserted Cities of the Heart"; organ pedals on "Passing the Time"; keyboards on "Badge"; bass guitar on "What a Bringdown"
- George Harrison – Rhythm guitar on "Badge"
Citation
- Christgau, Robert (18 December 1972). "Best-ofs: Oldies but Not Always Goodies". Newsday. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- "Cream > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved 28 September 2011.