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A half century after it was first released, Fresh Cream, the debut album by super-trio Cream, will get a four-disc expansion in January.
One of the first supergroups of the rock era, Cream paired Yardbirds and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers guitarist Eric Clapton with singer/bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, former and current members of the Graham Bond Organisation. (The volatile Baker, in fact, was part of why Bruce left Bond's group; the duo fought onstage frequently and Baker once held Bruce at knifepoint. By contrast, Clapton and Bruce, both part of the one-off Powerhouse with Steve Winwood and Paul Jones, were eager to work together again.)
Ultimately, all three put aside any differences, and as "the cream of the crop" of the British rock/blues scene, quickly built a reputation (and a band name). Fresh Cream featured originals like "N.S.U.," "Dreaming," and "Sweet Wine" plus American blues standards like Robert Johnson's "Four Until Late" (sung by Clapton), Muddy Waters' "Rollin' and Tumblin'," Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" and Skip James' "I'm So Glad." Non-LP single "I Feel Free," added to U.S. pressings of the album, would become the group's biggest hit single in their native U.K., while Fresh Cream itself would become the first of five consecutive Top 10 albums there. (The album also became certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and was named No. 101 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.)
The super deluxe Fresh Cream offers three CDs and one Blu-ray Audio with a treasure trove of extras. In addition to mono and stereo mixes of the original U.K. album, the set includes a myriad of mono single and EP material (including two ultra-rare French mono EPs), seven brand-new stereo remixes of album tracks and ten unreleased outtakes, and four complete and unedited BBC session appearances in 1966 and 1967. The Blu-ray Audio features 24/96 KHz high-resolution mixes of the U.S. album running order in stereo and mono, plus U.K. album track "Spoonful" and non-LP tracks "Wrapping Paper" and "The Coffee Song," also in stereo and mono.
This new edition is packed in a gatefold slipcase with a 64-page hardcover book featuring liner notes written by David Fricke. (The outer slipcover features the U.K. design of the album front, while the inner package features the slightly altered U.S. cover.)
Look for this box January 7--and for vinyl fans, a 6LP deluxe set featuring the same contents of the three CDs will be available April 7. Amazon U.S. links will be shared as soon as they're available.
Fresh Cream: Super Deluxe Edition (Polydor/UMC, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Disc 1: Mono
- S.U.
- Sleepy Time Time
- Dreaming
- Sweet Wine
- Spoonful
- Cat's Squirrel
- Four Until Late
- Rollin' and Tumblin'
- I'm So Glad
- Toad
- The Coffee Song (Session Recording)
- Wrapping Paper
- Cat's Squirrel (Mono Single Version)
- I Feel Free
- S.U. (Mono Single Version)
- Spoonful (Part I)
- Spoonful (Part II)
- Wrapping Paper (Alternate Mix)
- Sweet Wine (Alternate Mix)
- I'm So Glad
- Cat's Squirrel (Alternate Master)
- I Feel Free (Alternate Mix)
- Rollin' and Tumblin' (Alternate Master)
- S.U.
- Four Until Late
Disc 1, Tracks 1-10 released as Fresh Cream (Reaction 593001, 1966)
Disc 1, Track 11 first released in a different mix on Swedish pressing of Fresh Cream (Polydor 623 031, 1966)
Disc 1, Tracks 12-13 from Reaction single 591007, 1966
Disc 1, Tracks 14-15 from Reaction single 591011, 1966
Disc 1, Tracks 16-17 from ATCO single 45-6522 (U.S.), 1967
Disc 1, Tracks 18-21 from Wrapping Paper EP - Polydor 27 791 (France), 1966
Disc 1, Tracks 22-25 from I Feel Free EP - Polydor 27 798 (France), 1966
Disc 2: Stereo
- S.U.
- Sleepy Time Time
- Dreaming
- Sweet Wine
- Spoonful
- Cat's Squirrel
- Four Until Late
- Rollin' and Tumblin'
- I'm So Glad
- Toad
- I Feel Free (Session Recording)
- Wrapping Paper (Session Recording)
- The Coffee Song (Session Recording)
- I'm So Glad (New Stereo Mix) *
- S.U. (New Stereo Mix) *
- Wrapping Paper (New Stereo Mix) *
- The Coffee Song (New Stereo Mix) *
- Rollin' and Tumblin' (First Version - New Stereo Mix) *
- Spoonful (First Version - New Stereo Mix) *
- Toad (New Stereo Mix) *
Disc 2, Tracks 1-10 released as Fresh Cream (Reaction 594001, 1966)
Disc 2, Track 11 released on U.S. edition of Fresh Cream (ATCO SD 33-206, 1967)
Disc 2, Tracks 12-13 first released in stereo in different mixes on Swedish pressing of Fresh Cream (Polydor 623 031, 1966)
Disc 3: Early versions, outtakes, alternate mixes and BBC sessions
- The Coffee Song (Early Version) *
- You Make Me Feel (Session Outtake)
- Beauty Queen (Session Outtake) *
- Wrapping Paper (Early Version) *
- Cat's Squirrel (Early Version) *
- I Feel Free (Early Version) *
- I Feel Free (Mono Mix with No Lead Vocal) *
- I Feel Free (Alternate Mono Mix) *
- Sweet Wine (Early Version) *
- Rollin' and Tumblin' (Early Version) *
- Toad (Early Version) *
- Sweet Wine (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 11/8/1966)
- Eric Clapton Interview (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 11/8/1966)
- Wrapping Paper (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 11/8/1966)
- Rollin' and Tumblin' (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 11/8/1966)
- Sleepy Time Time (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 11/8/1966) *
- Steppin' Out (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 11/8/1966)
- Crossroads (Guitar Club Session, BBC Studio 2, Aeolian Hall, London - 11/28/1966)
- Steppin' Out (Guitar Club Session, BBC Studio 2, Aeolian Hall, London - 11/28/1966) *
- Cat's Squirrel (R&B Club Session, BBC Maida Vale Studio 4, London - 12/9/1966)
- Traintime (R&B Club Session, BBC Maida Vale Studio 4, London - 12/9/1966)
- I'm So Glad (R&B Club Session, BBC Maida Vale Studio 4, London - 12/9/1966)
- Lawdy Mama (R&B Club Session, BBC Maida Vale Studio 4, London - 12/9/1966)
- Eric Clapton Interview (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 1/10/1967)
- I Feel Free (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 1/10/1967)
- S.U. (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 1/10/1967)
- Four Until Late (Saturday Club Session, Playhouse Theatre, London - 1/10/1967)
Disc 3, Track 2 from Those Were the Days box set (Polydor 314 539 000-2, 1997)
Disc 3, Tracks 12-15, 17-18 and 20-27 released on BBC Sessions (Polydor/Chronicles B0000069-02, 2003)
Disc 4: Blu-ray Audio
Includes mono and stereo mixes of original U.S. album (which dropped "Spoonful" for "I Feel Free" as Track 1) plus bonus tracks "Spoonful," "Wrapping Paper" and "The Coffee Song" in 24/96 KHz high-resolution audio
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Wow bop bop bop po bop, I Feel free., indeed
I wonder if this means Wilson will remix Cream's entire catalog. (At only four albums, it wouldn't be a huge commitment.) "Fresh Cream" isn't a bad album but I prefer their less bluesy material (such as the studio tracks on "Goodbye") where there is certainly a blues element present, but leavened by other influences. "Wrapping Paper" isn't exactly representative of Cream's early sound, so it's a little perplexing that they chose that as their lead-off single. (I'm sure it was a deliberately contrarian gesture on their part.)
A remix of their 2nd and 3rd albums (Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire) is not possible due to the multi's being recorded at Atlantic Studios US and subsequently being lost in the infamous 1976 Atlantic warehouse fire.
It might be possible to remix some tracks from Goodbye (some tracks were recorded at I.B.C. in the UK), but not all. And who knows what happened with those multi's if the whole album was mixed at Atlantic US. They might've gotten stored at the same fated warehouse.
Let me offer a slight correction. The studio tracks from "Wheels of Fire" can't be remixed due to the loss of the multitracks in the Atlantic Records vault fire. The live concert multitracks from the 1968 U.S.A. tour still exist, in the hands of a recording engineer who has long had an unreasonable asking price. Universal Music won't pay big money for those tapes, because Universal posesses stereo rough mixes of almost all of those recordings.(though for one of the concerts, Universal only has mixes of 3 songs)
There is also more unheard (since original broadcast) BBC radio recordings, but they are held by the estate of Alexis Korner, who also have a steep asking price.
And, apparently a private collector holds dedicated mono mixes (and possibly some alternate versions) of "Wheels of Fire" studio material, but whether Universal Music will be granted access to them is not known. I recall hearing (on bootleg) an alternate mix of "White Room" with a fuzztone guitar solo (instead of the familiar Wah-Wah solo). The acetate was in fairly poor condition, but maybe Universal Music will find a tape for that version.
According to the liner notes, the two French EPs are sourced from vinyl. Several of the BBC tracks have some fidelity issues, which is not surprising given the Beeb's haphazard archival practices at the time. I would not be surprised if several of the rougher-sounding tracks were recorded off-air rather than taken from surviving studio tapes or transcription discs.