Classical Composer Reacts to CREAM: White Room | The Daily Doug (Episode 593)
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- #cream #whiteroom
In this #throwbackthursday edition of #thedailydoug, I'm releasing my reaction to White Room by Cream that was recorded in December of 2022. I was prompted to release this reaction by the recent passing of lyricist Pete Brown. Thanks for watching!
Reference Video: • Cream - White Room
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I heard this song on the radio when it first came out. I was 7. I thought It was the greatest song I'd ever heard!! Magnificent. Cream was Eric Clapton's finest hour...
I was not much older. Yes the heaviest song I had heard at that time.
I was born in 69' so a bit before my time but I discovered it later and love the album. I would have to say though that Clapton 's finest would be Layla. Amazing song and album.
Cream, Derek and the Dominoes, and Blind Faith would be my favourite three periods of Clapton's career
I was 8 at the time when I first heard it. Yes, the hardest song I had ever heard on AM radio. Got an FM reciever the next year and never looked back 🔥🤘✌
Remarkably though, Clapton was not the best thing about Cream. The other two perform, at least at the same level.
Greatest wah pedal song ever, I will die on that hill.
The tone is amazing
Tales of Brave Ulysses gets my vote. Both masterful playing by Clapton.
With a couple tokes, this some was mesmerizing! One of the best ever!!!
czcams.com/video/L9HXClusp_E/video.html
When I heard Tales of Brave Ulysses the first time, it changed my life.
Me too on lsd 25
One of the greatest songs ever by one of the greatest bands ever. Jack Bruce had the voice of an angel and was a great bassist, Eric Clapton of course was one of the very best guitarists at that time, and Ginger Baker was an absolute beast on drums. Amazing band.
Jack could really wail! He could sing delicately, and he could really growl and belt it out too. And he played bass pretty good!
“he played bass pretty good” is the understatement of the century bro listen to creams live material, jack played some of the most innovative improvised bass lines and riffs of his era
@@jaimedrum I know.
Jack Bruce singing: "Song from an imaginary western" is brilliant
Another beautiful sound from Cream!
RIP Pete Brown, 19th May 2023. Fabulous song.
Thank you Doug, I just came across your site and this reaction, and have been in a band singing this song many times on and off in various local pub bands, even recently, despite the song's age. It still goes over well. In my early teens when I first heard the track when it came out, I thought it was a druggy dream/nightmare (like most of the 60s I was in at the time, ha ha), but as I got older and wiser, I realised it was just bloody good poetry, and a tale of a relationship ending, and the sadness that can bring. I am 71 today, and in a similar position (but making positive progress thanks to my music & art), but all this time did not know the lyricist, and it gave me a totally new view of it what you said about it, and about life and things that happen in all our lives. Anyway, have never felt like this ever with this song before, but what you said triggered quite a weeping moment in me, & of not feeling quite so alone, going through such a situation, as everyone does at times. Nothing like a bloody good weep, especially for men, who bottle everything up, much to their detriment. So thank you for this new incite of one of the best songs ever written in my view, and so relevant to my youth, and my time now. Thank you !! Cheers, Dennis (Australia).
Goodevening from the netherlands . Lets enjoy this epic trio Baker, Bruce and Clapton
Hey I also live in Netherlands 👍
Dutchies unite!
Jacks vocal heavenly, soulful , Petes Lyrics...poetry. Gingers Drumming, sublime,, Apparently Clapton was in this band too🤫
Don't forget Jack's killer bass grooves.
Right On! 😃
@@willowtatus6159Indeed. Fantastic musician was Jack
Yes, I've heard of him, he played an instrument called the "Electric Guitar", which became quite popular at the time, some feller called Hendrix came to work in this country on the proviso of meeting him (presumably he was impressed, and apparently was involved in the same hobby, which sadly got out of hand and he died. That Clapton bloke was recently spotted at the Albert Hall at a tribute to another one of these banjo players, er... Jeff Beck, I think he was called? Apparently Clapton had played there before with Bruce and Baker, but it's probably a rumour. If he'd been good enough for them they could have called their band "The Cream"
@@IanYoung-ko4ws . I get it bud I really do, It just gets to me when(not the case here I accept) 'people' refer to Cream as Eric Clapton's band. That was kinda the point I was trying to make. 👍
Was pleased to be introduced to Pete Brown some years ago. Did this tune in my school band 50 year reunion, playing bass, last December.
Jack Bruce is not just a fantastic singer and bassist, but as a musician overall. His first solo album is amazing. I would highly recommend that you listen to Theme for An Imaginary Western. Jack and Pete Brown wrote the lyrics, and Jack plays piano on it(pretty decent piano player and plays some guitar too).
I've a large collection of versions of Theme... the best known to American audiences would be by Leslie West & Mountain
Possibly my favourite song of all time. And Jeff Berlin’s, apparently (he did a whole piece online about why “Theme for an Imaginary Western” is the greatest song ever written)
I grew up in the 70's listening to mostly Top 40 radio. But around 1980, when I was 13, we dinner with a neighbor. They had great collection of vinyl, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Butterfly and Led Zeppelin. After spending a couples of hours listens to some of the tracks from those bands, it changed my musical direction from pop to psychedelic/hard rock. I bought all 4 Cream albums on cassette. I bought a dozen different Hendrix albums, original and live performances. I pick up early Zeppelin music too. Less than a year later I was also listening to AC/DC, Van Halen, and other hard rock bands not played on the Top 40 Atlanta stations back then. I picked up my first Black Sabbath cassette a few years later, moving into more Metal. By the end of the 80's I was listening to Thrash (Anthrax, Megadeth) and over Heavy Metal bands like early Celtic Frost... But I still love to go back to those songs which moved me into heavier music, like Cream, Hendrix and Zeppelin. 'White Room' is among my top favorites from Cream. 'Politician', 'Strange Brew', 'Badge', 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' and 'SWLABR'... And 'Toad', just to name a few more....
Can't go wrong with a bit of Cream with yer coffee. I know you've covered Queen a good few times, but I'd love to see what you have to say about 'You Take My Breath Away' from the '76 album 'A Day at the Races'. The live recording from Hyde Park is great, but the studio recording is absolutely phenomenal. The vocal arrangement is perfect. I mean just listen to how in tune he is with the harmonies. Genius. By god, does it warmly break your heart.
I’ve always loved this song for all these years! Thanks for reviewing it again.
My older brother brought this album home and I was enthralled when it was released.
the Jack Bruce/Pete Brown working relationship continued into Jack's solo career, which is worth hearing as well
the Cream song We're Going Wrong is one to hear just for how great a vocalist Jack was...
This song and this band are what led me down the rabbit hole from psychedelic rock to progressive rock and into the arms of Rush and yes. Definitely has a special place in my heart
Being trivial, the album cover shown is the Live album from the Wheels of Fire double set. White Room was on the gold coloured covered album which was recorded in the studio.
My friends and I wore this album out when we were freshmen in high school when it came out. Such a magic time.
oh, I went out and got a white stratocaster and a morley fuzz-wah pedal (still can't use either worth a shit, but still)
So, back in 1970 I was social secretary of a college in England and we had contracted Pete Brown- with his group Piblokto. I was, at 18, charged with taking them pre-show to a local pub. I couldn’t resist asking him about his collaborations with Cream asking him about the White Room lyrics . He told me that the verse lyrics were written out as phrases, cut up and randomly organised. From the horse’s mouth
Sometimes the mundanity of everyday life is the absolute deepest vibe. Every line starts out hard and then just drifts off somewhere.
Excellent.
Great Band.
Great Song.
Great Discussion.
BTW, the drums really sounded like that at their concerts.
Every time I just love listening to what a great rhythm section Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker are.
I was 15 years old when this song came out , and I liked it right from the start .
It has always been my favourite song by Cream , and it would reside in my favourite 30 songs of all time .
Thank you for the review !
I really like that the music supports the story being told. the song is about someone trying to ignore something he's uncomfortable with, and the guitar represents the thing he wants to ignore. The more the guitar intrudes, the less he's able to ignore it.: First there is no guitar, then the guitar only plays in between the vocals, then it plays over top of the vocals, then the vocals drop out completly
Bro, you MUST do In Memory of Elizabeth Reed from the Allman Brothers Live at Filmore East. Trust me, you want to hear this masterpiece.
Beautiful !!! Wheels of Fire is a Masterpiece !!!✌️
Jack is a totally underrated composer/singer/bassist. His first two solo albums are genius.
My brother was huge clapton fan. We went to see him and elton John at shea stadium in new York. Clapton opened with this and my brother lost his mind. He had thought since it was cream he couldn't play it. A great moment
Clapton had played it live for years before.
@@apollomemories7399 I am sure he did. I think my brother didn't want to get his hopes up and then be disappointed
No one seems to notice the brilliance of Bruce's bass ascending every couple of repetitions while the main riff is descending. Maybe that's too simple a thing, but it still makes the hair on my arms stand on end.
At 8:24 Doug mentions the drums sounding forward in the mix and suggests the guitar should be more prominent. Noooo it’s the syncopation and Ginger contrasting to the funky guitar that makes this such a gem! Thankfully the vocals sit back a bit.
One of rock's greatest vocals.
Ginger Baker’s drumming had more power due to the double bass drums he used as well as his fiery character - tensions between him and Bruce were well known. A very difficult man to get on with. When I was in my teens I saw a documentary on BBC tv about “Progressive Music” and there was a clip of Cream playing “We’re Going Wrong” so the next day I went out and bought Wheels Of Fire. I can recall exactly where I bought it in West London. Cream along with Hendrix and the original Fleetwood Mac with the virtuoso blues guitarist Peter Green were my favourites. I will look to see whether you have reviewed any Fleetwood Mac who were a huge group at that time.
Wow every band I play with we play Sunshine of your love and After midnight (slow version).
Jack Bruce is a very underrated artist. His early solo work is magnificent. You should do a reaction/analysis of some of it. Thanks!
Goodbye, Pete! Those were the days!
Ginger Baker told in an interview that he was inspired by Ravel's Bolero to make these transitions before the chorus.
Cream is recognized as being the first rock "supergroup."
In addition to drums, Ginger Baker actually does play tympani on this track, and Felix Pappalardi is added on viola.
Good review. I read Jack Bruce's bio recently. He won some singing awards growing up, in Scotland. Great singer
I remember an announcer introducing this as "The guitarist is eaten by a Wah Wah peddle". I was 20 something when this was popular, sigh.
Cream, first super group🍻
I always loved how rigidly this song was constructed. Every line in all the verses, is four syllables. (Excluding the chorus.)
Three of the best of the best player all gathered into one of the best groups ever. Interesting comments on the origin of the song lyrics. It fits in nicely with the story of the lyrics for White Bird by It's a Beautiful Day and Sittin' on the Dock by the Bay by Otis Redding.
Joker burning the city. I love the end of the song, the final note suspended in the air
When I got my first paycheck in high school, I bought a wahwah pedal so I could finally play this song in it's full glory. I played a lot of voodoo Chile (slight return) too. Guitar was my 3rd instrument, but the first one I couldn't put down.
Pete Brown had his own band for a while called Piblokto.
Incidentally, I once copied some of the lyrics of White Room (Silver horses ran down moonbeams. . .) onto a birthday card to my first girlfriend back in the day, in an attempt to appear romantic!
Good one!
Did it work?
@@essbee2316 Well I got a kiss!
Would be interesting to hear your analysis of Badge.
Love this song.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes,.How does a lyric like that come to be?
Escalator Over the Hill by Carla Bley has some of Jack Bruce's best vocal performances by far imo, great album
As good as Clapton was here in Cream, he was only scratch the surface of his talent in the years (and decades) to come - Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie, Derek and the Dominoes, and a stellar solo and collab career that continues to this day. Not generally known for covers, he really hits a peak with his joint effort on Hendrix's classic "All Along The Watchtower" with Lenny Kravitz: czcams.com/video/THyZUv_vvss/video.html or his noodling with golden-voiced Paul Carrack on his masterpiece "How Long": czcams.com/video/gahUbXoUhEc/video.html
Pete also co-wrote Sunshine of Your Love, SWALBR and I Feel Free for Cream. After the BluesBreaker album and the Cream albums was when "Clapton is God' mania hit it's peak. Apparently Jack and Ginger couldn't stomach each other. I read a story about them that said that Ginger would fire his sticks off the cymbals and hit Jack in the head with them. Jack would then drop his bass, launch himself over the drum kit and kick the shit of Ginger mid show. Don't know if that ever happened but it's a great story. Three supreme musicians at their best, what a band.
My Pop's bought The 45 for my Brother and I we were like 8, he was 49😮😅😊 and a Bebop jazz Cat. However he was eclectic and dug all good music.
Cream is best served Live!
Listen to that BASS!! unreal!!
@The_Doug_Helvering Kia Ora (Hello) from New Zealand.
What do you mean I won a gift?
Rewards,
Finn
Jack Bruce was definitely a great singer, check out his solo albums like “Songs For a Tailor” and “Harmony Row”, great albums.
And this short blues. Just him and harmonica. czcams.com/video/FcU582wWIOI/video.html
I watched Old Love! Adore it! I first heard WR when I when I maybe 6-7? My bros are 9&12 years older than me. What a phenomenal introduction to music as a little girl. I heard Days of Future Passed at SIX!!!! One of my bros gave me Tommy when I was 12. Who does that? I mean really. 🥰
I lot of digital versions of records from back in the day have drums too loud and guitars too low today. Other examples of this effect are Mick Ronson's famous solo on the end of Bowie's Moonage Daydream and Ronnie Wood's acoustic guitars on Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story. At the time of release on vinyl they didn't, the guitars absolutely jumped out at you. The thing about vinyl is that it rolls off the top and bottom ends like a low pass and high pass filter.
The original records were mixed for vinyl with this in mind, meaning they had to turn up the drums, bass and hats etc to make them heard against the mid range stuff often using the "Pultec EQ" trick to massively boost them (this EQ enabled you to both boost and attenuate a given frequency range at the same time creating a famous and very pleasing effect, especially on vinyl playback). These boosts are printed on the master tapes from which the original LPs were cut. WAV and MP3 digital files however do not "roll off" anything so if you just rip the original vinyl mix from the final master tape for your "digital remaster" the effect is to pump the top and bottom ends relative to the mids.
This is the cheapest and simplest way to do it, that's why it's done and why many modern CDs of old records sound crap. The one thing they do do is boost the lead vocals but this is relatively easy since the lead vocals are almost always straight down the middle of the stereo field whereas guitars etc are mostly not and it's hard to disentangle them and process individually without a full remix from the original studio 2" tapes. This is yet another reason for the imbalance in the guitars since normally (although not always back in the day) the kick, snare and bass were also "straight down the middle", therefore boosting the lead vocal has the unfortunate side effect of also cranking the bass, kick and snare (not always at frequencies you would ideally like as well) which further pushes the guitars back. Even modern mid-side EQs can't fix that.
There are some exceptions, for example Jimmy Page uses his original 2" studio tapes to remix Led Zep stuff for CD and MP3, and puts a lot of loving care into it as well, which is why Led Zep CDs sound pretty good even against an original first pressing vinyl LP. Bottom line is mixing for vinyl and CD is different 'cos different playback frequency responses but remixing old records is expensive: you have to go back to the original studio tapes, assuming you still have them of course, and remix them ground up to truly fix the problem for digital reproduction.
I think it's safe to say each album is mixed differently from the next and much of what you state in your paragraph three is not the case. Many albums recorded on from as little as 8 tracks up to 48 track equipment had multiple overdubs creating a wide 180 degree sound spectrum, with instruments in multiple positions within width, depth and height. Of course, a good quality phonostage and headphones will inform the listener of the full scope of any recording. Many digital versions have been compressed to death and lost so much original soundfield information because the digital technology was poor. It took until around 2000 to finally resolve this.
It is wrong to criticise the quality of CDs as manufactued sonce 2000, however, every criticism should be directed at free download sites that provide rubbish quality - quality being for want of a better word.
Jimmy Page has never been near an MP3 to remix. The 2014-15 Jimmy Page CD remasters sound phenomenal and not just "pretty good".
Just read this about Pete Brown "Brown then suffered the ignominy of being thrown out of his own band, the day before they were due to support the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park". That would really suck .
Yes, but you weren't on the drugs he was on. He'd hardly of known or cared.
It's amazing how much tympanies sound just like tympanies!
I love these videos. Doug, I hope you will do a bit more classical. A piece by Delius would be good.
Failing that, more early ELP would be great.
Now you need to hear, "Do What You Like" by Blind Faith.
Right from the begining Clapton made amazing use of that wa wa pedal.
Still waiting for some Alan Parsons. I Robot is an amazing album that would fit well with your channel.
I still play this song in my bands.
"I wait in this place,
Where the sun never shines,
Wait in this place,
Where the shadows run
.... from themselves"
Gingers drumming. Great song!
Good memories!
The 5/4 bits are like a bolero. And, those are not toms, they are kettle drums. You can hear the pitch change between parts.
When I was a kid in home town was East Kilbride, Scotland. Someone told me that one of the women who serve in our local baker's, Greggs, was Jack Bruce's mum; this was true. I had no idea who he was at the time. If only I had known.
What about?
Maybe one of Pete's best lyrics but that's just my opinion. Jack had such a long career and Cream was a short part of it. If anyone hasn't seen Tony Palmer's film about him "Rope Ladder to the Moon" should check it out for a fuller picture of the earlier part of his musical journey.
A queue in England means "line" essentially, thus he waits in the queue when the trains come back means he waits in the line.
Spoonful off that album the best jam there is
Doug, you should really give a listen to Jacoby Shaddix and Apocalyptica version of White Room, they really did it justice
I suggest reacting to "I'm so Glad" from the Goodbye album, unbelievable live version!
Don’t forget Felix Pappalardi played on this album
Ginger played timpani, not tom-toms, on the 5/4 sections of "White Room.." Listen carefully to the *definite change in pitch* in the 5/4 measures. Also, read the inside of the album's jacket, and you'll see that Ginger was credited for using timpani.
😮
My favourite Cream song.
Pete once described it as essentially an add for a rental apartment, with an extended guitar solo
"I've never paid attention to the lyrics here at all."
Same. I think most just focus on the wah-wah.
I think the mix is right, Doug. The "fight" between the drums and the guitar for supremacy is great.
I seem to recall Ginger Baker saying he got the 5/4 drum riff from Ravel's "Bolero". I can't remember if it was an inspirational response to "Beck's Bolero" coming out around the same time. Great song.
Beck's Bolero first appeared March 1967. White Room didn't see release until August 1968, 17 months later, which as things went back then was quite a long time in the 1960s.
Ginger Baker is often over looked. He later had a band called Masters of Reality. Their album Sunrise on the Sufferbus is great.
Nice Hair cut!
I remember when this came out. We all said " how many drums is he playing " ? Clapton excelled at psychedelic blues.
If you want to hear Jack Bruce absolutely destroy bass lines, check out Sweet Wine from their live album “Live Cream”
Keith Reid of Procol Harem Was A Member of The Band but Didn’t play an Instrument He Wrote all The Lyrics to their Original Songs Enjoy The Channel
Try a review of the whole wheels of fire album,been one of my favourites since 1969,still got my vinyl copy and cd and listen to it regularly, all the best from Bonnie Scotland
"SWLABR" is an acronym for, "She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow".
SWLABR…”She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow” in case you’re wondering (lyrics…”but the rainbow has a beard”)
and the preacher has a mustache…
doug, you need to hear some live Cream... I'm So Glad off Goodbye Cream is a belter.
Have you analyzed Takes of Brave Ulysses? My favorite Cream song. Little purple fishes, man.
🙏❤🌹Jack, Ginger, Pete🌹❤🙏
Thought it was an octopus who was playing drums ;).
6:09 - Yes, those actually *are* timpani / kettledrums and not just toms.
Demons & Wizards (a joint project by Blind Guardian's Hansi Kurch and Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer) has a _superb_ cover of White Room that I almost prefer to the original (and I've always been a big fan of the original). It's worth a listen, Doug!