Cream was the hot band from the swinging sixties and to remind us of that fact Image Entertainment brings out this nice two-disc set. It’s a documentary about the band as well as a CD of unreleased audio tracks.
Cream: Classic Artists is a must have for the Cream fan and includes an excellent documentary and fabulous extras.
Cream formed in 1966 when Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and some fellow called Eric Clapton got together. The few years they were together turned rocky and they decided to call it quits in November 1968. In the intervening years Eric Clapton’s star continued to skyrocket, Jack Bruce continued in the music industry, and Ginger Baker basically disappeared. In 2005, the trio decided to reunite for a concert at Albert Hall. The response was enormous and the concert sold out within two hours of tickets being offered.
The first disc in this set is a near two-hour documentary that chronicles the rise and fall of the band. It was made with the full cooperation of the band members and this makes it feel like the definitive history of the sixties power trio.
The documentary has interviews with Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, chairman/found of Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun, Tom McGuiness (Roosters/Manfred Mann), Paul Jones (Roosters/Manfred Mann), Ben Palmer (Roosters and also Cream’s road manager), journalist/author Chris Welch, Chris Squire (of Yes), promoter Harvey Goldsmith, songwriter Pete Brown (sometimes referred to as the fourth member of Cream), record producer Tom Dowd, the legendary B.B. King, David Fricke (Rolling Stone Magazine), and Jim Marshall (of Marshall Amplification).
The documentary is full of candid moments, vintage performances, and even footage from the big reunion concert at Albert Hall. Tellingly (maybe), the three members of Cream are not interviewed together. This led me to think that maybe there’s some bad blood still there. What’s funny is when two members are interviewed and basically say the same thing and then the third member basically says the opposite of what the other two said. This happens to all of them, but the one that has the most “opposite” to say is Ginger Baker. Frankly, by the time that the credits rolled I’ll have to admit that I really liked Ginger Baker. He seems like a straightforward, “I’m gonna tell it like I see it” guy.
It’s funny to hear some of the stuff that he has to say and that he really doesn’t care for “Wee” Jack. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve watched too many saccharine DVD docs lately where everybody slobbers all over one another about how wonderful that everybody is and it’s just a nice change of pace to see somebody say some (slightly) negative things. Whatever the case, the documentary is excellent and fans of the band will want to add it to their collections.
Classic Artists: Cream is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features are very nice indeed and total about 87 minutes.
The first disc includes extra interviews with Clapton, Bruce, Baker, B.B. King and Solomon Burke, Ben Palmer, Donal Gallagher, Tony Palmer, John Lodge, Chris Squire, Alan White, Harvey Goldsmith, Paul Jones, and David Fricke. There are also some performances, including a gig at the Revolution Club (17 minutes), “NSU” (2 minutes), “I Feel Free” (2 minutes), and “Strange Brew” (3 minutes).
Next is a gallery of images (Pre-Cream, Cream, and from the reunion show) and a memorabilia slideshow. Disc two is a 25-minute audio performance from a Swedish radio show. Finally, there’s a 20-page full color booklet.
Classic Artists: Cream is a must have for the Cream fan and includes an excellent documentary and fabulous extras. I hope that the “Classic Artists” above Cream means that this is an ongoing series of documentaries highlighting bands and artists. If this is the case then this wonderful disc is the beginning of what is to be an excellent series from Image.
Cream: Classic Artists is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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