Fresh Cream

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Fresh Cream
Fresh cream.jpg
Studio album by Cream
Released 9 December 1966 (1966)[1]
Recorded July - October 1966 at Rayrik Studios & Ryemuse Studios in London, England
Genre Blues rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock
Length 38:10 (UK)
34:30 (U.S.)
41:00 (CD combo)
Label Reaction (UK), Atco (U.S.)
Producer Robert Stigwood[1]
Cream chronology
Fresh Cream
(1966)
Disraeli Gears
(1967)Disraeli Gears1967
Eric Clapton chronology
Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
(1966)
Fresh Cream
(1966)
Disraeli Gears
(1967)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars [2]
BBC Music (favourable) [3]
Robert Christgau A–[4]

Fresh Cream is the debut studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was the first LP release of producer Robert Stigwood's new "Independent" Reaction Records label, released in the United Kingdom as both a mono and stereo version on 9 December 1966, the same time as the single release of "I Feel Free".[1] The album was released a month later, in January 1967, in the United States by Atco Records in both mono and stereo versions.[5] For many years, only the UK and U.S. stereo mixes were available in CD. The UK mono album was reissued on CD for the first time in late 2013, as part of a deluxe SHM-CD and SHM-SACD sets (both editions also contain the UK stereo counterpart) sold only in Japan.[6]

The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK album chart and No. 39 on the U.S. album chart.[7]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 101 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[8]

Track listing

Original UK release

All lead vocals by Jack Bruce except as indicated.

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "N.S.U."   Jack Bruce 2:43
2. "Sleepy Time Time"   Bruce, Janet Godfrey 4:20
3. "Dreaming"   Bruce 1:58
4. "Sweet Wine"   Ginger Baker, Godfrey 3:17
5. "Spoonful"   Willie Dixon 6:30
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Cat's Squirrel" (Instrumental) Traditional, arr. by Baker, Bruce, Eric Clapton 3:03
2. "Four Until Late" (Lead vocals: Eric Clapton) Robert Johnson, arr. Clapton 2:07
3. "Rollin' and Tumblin'"   McKinley Morganfield 4:42
4. "I'm So Glad"   Skip James 3:57
5. "Toad" (Instrumental) Baker 5:11

Original U.S. version

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "I Feel Free"   Bruce, Pete Brown 2:52
2. "N.S.U."   Bruce 2:44
3. "Sleepy Time Time"   Bruce, Godfrey 4:20
4. "Dreaming"   Bruce 2:00
5. "Sweet Wine"   Baker, Godfrey 3:18
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Cat's Squirrel" (Instrumental) Traditional, arr. by Baker, Bruce, Clapton 3:03
2. "Four Until Late" (Lead vocals: Clapton) Johnson, arr. Clapton 2:07
3. "Rollin' and Tumblin'"   Morganfield 4:42
4. "I'm So Glad"   James 3:57
5. "Toad" (Instrumental) Baker 5:11

Later U.S. release

A later release in the U.S. on RSO/Polydor uses the same track listing as the original UK edition given above, with the addition of the song "I Feel Free" as track 1.

Swedish edition

An edition released only in Sweden in 1966 was a 11-track release like that in the UK which also added two tracks: "Wrapping Paper", written by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown, and "The Coffee Song", written by Tony Colton and Ray Smith. Both vinyl and cover were made in Germany and exported for the Swedish market only - the German original had the same 10 tracks as UK. The group didn't want "Coffee Song" to be issued at all, but a mono version was mixed and coupled with "Wrapping Paper" as a single. There were no plans at this stage to release it in stereo, so for the Swedish issue a crude stereo mix was used. This was made during the sessions in early August 1966 for instructive purpose - the whole track as basic mono is mixed far right and a solo guitar overdub far left. Never intended for release this mix was soon lost and for later stereo issues a new one was made.

The front cover and record no. (623 031) are the same as the German issue, but three different back covers exist. The first listed the correct 12 tracks, the second listed 10 tracks, and a third where the 12 track listing has been "glued" over the 10 track listing.

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "N.S.U."   Bruce 2:43
2. "Sleepy Time Time"   Bruce, Godfrey 4:20
3. "Dreaming"   Bruce 1:58
4. "Sweet Wine"   Baker, Godfrey 3:17
5. "Spoonful"   Willie Dixon 6:30
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Wrapping Paper"   Bruce, Brown 2:24
2. "Cat's Squirrel" (Instrumental) Traditional, arr. by Baker, Bruce, Clapton 3:03
3. "Four Until Late" (Lead vocals: Clapton) Johnson, arr. Clapton 2:07
4. "The Coffee Song"   Ray Smith, Tony Colton 2:45
5. "Rollin' and Tumblin'"   Morganfield 4:42
6. "I'm So Glad"   James 3:57
7. "Toad" (Instrumental) Baker 5:11

Personnel

Cream

Production

  • Robert Stigwood - Producer
  • John Timperly - Engineer[9]

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[10] Gold 35,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Gold 100,000
United States (RIAA)[12] Gold 500,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

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  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Cream: Fresh Cream > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
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External links