Disraeli Gears

Disraeli Gears
Studio album by Cream
Released	November 1967 (1967-11)[1]
Recorded	May 1967 at Atlantic Studios, New York City, New York[1]
Genre	Psychedelic rock, blues rock, hard rock
Length	33:37[2]
Label	Reaction, Atco, Polydor
Producer	Felix Pappalardi[1]
Cream chronology
Fresh Cream (December 1966) Disraeli Gears (November 1967) Wheels of Fire (July 1968)
Singles from Disraeli Gears
"Strange Brew" Released: November 1967 (1967-11) "Sunshine of Your Love" Released: January 1968 (1968-01)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
BBC Music	(favorable)[3]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[4][5]
Sputnikmusic	[6]

Disraeli Gears is the second album by British supergroup, Cream. It was released in November 1967^[1] and went on to reach #5 on the UK Albums Chart.^[7] It was also their American breakthrough, becoming a massive seller there in 1968, reaching #4 on the American charts.^[8] The album features the two singles "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love".

The title of the album is a mondegreen based on an inside joke. Eric Clapton had been thinking of buying a racing bicycle and was discussing it with Ginger Baker, when a roadie named Mick Turner commented, "it's got them Disraeli Gears", meaning to say "derailleur gears," but instead alluding to 19th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. The band thought this was hilarious, and decided that it should be the title of their next album. Had it not been for Mick's turn of phrase, the album would simply have been titled "Cream."

The original 11-track album was remastered in 1998, and then subsequently released as a two-disc Deluxe Edition in 2004.

In 2003 the album was ranked number 112 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[9] VH1 also named it their 87th greatest album of all time in 2001.

Background

Original album

The album was recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York during May 1967, following the band's nine shows as part of Murray the K's "Music in the 5th Dimension" concert series. Cream's American label, ATCO, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Records.^[10][11]

The sessions were produced by future Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi - who co-wrote the tracks "Strange Brew" and "World of Pain" with wife Gail Collins - and were engineered by Tom Dowd - who would later work with Clapton on projects such as Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and 461 Ocean Boulevard. The owner of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, was also present during the sessions.^[12]

The original 11-track album was remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio at PolyGram Studios^[1] for a 1998 release, including bonus photographs accompanying the original album artwork.

Disraeli Gears Deluxe Edition

The "Disraeli Gears Deluxe Edition" includes the complete album in both mono and stereo, demos, alternate takes and tracks taken from the band's live sessions on BBC radio. Included an outtake of "Blue Condition" with Eric Clapton on lead vocals and demos of the songs "Weird of Hermiston" and "The Clearout" which were not released until Jack Bruce's first solo album "Songs for a Tailor".

Artwork

The psychedelic cover art was created by Australian artist Martin Sharp, who lived in the same building as Clapton at the time of the Chelsea artists colony The Pheasantry. Sharp would go on to create the artwork to Cream's next album Wheels of Fire and co-wrote the songs "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and the Savage Seven Theme "Anyone for Tennis" with Eric Clapton.

The back-cover photography was taken by Bob Whitaker who did the photography for several works by The Beatles including the controversial Yesterday and Today.

The cover art was also used for the compilation album Those Were the Days.

Song styles

"Disraeli Gears" features the group veering away, quite heavily, from their blues roots and indulging in more psychedelic sounds. The most blues-like tunes on the album are the remake of "Outside Woman Blues", the Bruce/Brown Composition "Take it Back" which had been inspired by the contemporary media images of American students burning their draft cards which featured harmonica work by Jack Bruce,^[13] and the opening track "Strange Brew" which was based on a 12-bar blues song called "Lawdy Mama" and featured an Albert King-style guitar solo.^[12]

Track listing

Original album

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Strange Brew"	Eric Clapton, Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins	Eric Clapton	2:46
2.	"Sunshine of Your Love"	Clapton, Jack Bruce, Pete Brown	Jack Bruce, Clapton	4:10
3.	"World of Pain"	Pappalardi, Collins	Clapton, Bruce	3:03
4.	"Dance the Night Away"	Bruce, Brown	Bruce, Clapton1	3:34
5.	"Blue Condition"	Ginger Baker	Ginger Baker	3:29

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Tales of Brave Ulysses"	Clapton, Martin Sharp	Bruce	2:46
2.	"SWLABR"	Bruce, Brown	Bruce	2:32
3.	"We're Going Wrong"	Bruce	Bruce	3:26
4.	"Outside Woman Blues"	Arthur Reynolds, arr. Clapton	Clapton	2:24
5.	"Take It Back"	Bruce, Brown	Bruce	3:05
6.	"Mother's Lament"	Traditional, arr. Clapton, Bruce, Baker	Baker, Bruce, Clapton2	1:47

1. ^ Sung as a two-part harmony.
2. ^ Sung as a three-part harmony.

Disraeli Gears - deluxe edition (2004)

Disc one (stereo) Original album Tracks 1-11 Out-takes "Lawdy Mama" - version 1 3 (Traditional, arr. Clapton) – 2:00 Recorded 3 April 1967 at Atlantic Studios Recorded by Ahmet Ertegun[12] "Blue Condition" - alternate version (Baker) - 3:13 Eric Clapton vocal, previously unreleased Demos 3 "We're Going Wrong" (Bruce) – 3:49 "Hey Now, Princess" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:31 "SWLABR" (Bruce, Brown) – 4:30 "Weird of Hermiston" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:12 "The Clearout" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:58 Recorded 15 March 1967 at Ryemuse Studios, London

Disc two (mono) Original album and out-takes Tracks 1-13 BBC recordings 4 "Strange Brew" (Clapton, Pappalardi, Collins) – 3:00 "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (Clapton, Sharp) – 2:55 "We're Going Wrong" (Bruce) – 3:25 Recorded 30 May 1967, broadcast 3 June on BBC Light Programme "Born Under a Bad Sign" (Booker T. Jones, William Bell) – 3:03 "Outside Woman Blues" (Reynolds) – 3:18 "Take It Back" (Bruce, Brown) – 2:17 Recorded 24 October 1967, broadcast 29 October on BBC Radio 1 "Politician" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:59 "SWLABR" (Bruce, Brown) – 2:32 "Steppin' Out" (James Bracken) – 3:37 Recorded 9 January 1968, broadcast 14 January on BBC Radio 1

1. ^ Tracks previously released on the Those Were the Days box set.
2. ^ Tracks previously released on the BBC Sessions compilation album.

Personnel

Cream

• Eric Clapton – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
• Jack Bruce – bass, piano, vocals, harmonica
• Ginger Baker – drums, percussion, vocals

Production

• Felix Pappalardi – producer
• Tom Dowd – recording engineer
• Bob Whitaker – cover photos
• Martin Sharp – art

Charts

Album

Chart (1967)	Peak position
UK (Top 40 Albums)[7]	5
Norway (Top 40 Albums)[14]	16

Chart (1968)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[8]	4
Canada (Top 50 Albums)[15]	10

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Greece (Top 50 Albums)[16]	29

Singles

Year	Single	Position
		Billboard Hot 100	UK Top 40[7]
June 1967	"Strange Brew"/"Tales of Brave Ulysses"	-	#17
October 1967	"Sunshine of Your Love"/"SWLABR"	#5	#25

Certification

Certified by the RIAA^[17]

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – U.S.A.	Gold	05/22/1968
RIAA – U.S.A.	Platinum	11/10/1993

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom	November 1967	Reaction Records	mono LP	593 003
			stereo LP	594 003
United States	November 1967	Atco Records	mono LP	33-232
			stereo LP	SD 33-232
Germany	November 1967	Polydor Records	stereo LP	184 105
Japan	May 1968	Polydor Records	stereo LP	MP-1390
United States	1977	RSO Records	LP	RS 1-3010
United States	1986	Polydor Records	CD	823 636-2

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} (1967) Album notes for Disraeli Gears by Cream, p. 2 [CD liner]. U.S.A.: Polydor Records (31453 1811-2).
2. ^ ^{a b} Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Disraeli Gears - Cream (Review)". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r4726/review. Retrieved November 7, 2010. 
3. ^ Chris Jones (17 April 2007). "Cream Disraeli Gears Review". BBC Music. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/hdcz. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
4. ^ "Cream: Disraeli Gears". Rolling Stone. 21 January 1972. ISSN 0035-791X. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/disraeli-gears-19720121/. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
5. ^ Rolling Stone (Vol 1. No. 4): 20. 20 January 1968. 
6. ^ Hep Kat (31 July 2006). "Cream Disraeli Gears". Sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/8492/Cream-Disraeli-Gears/. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} "UK Top 40 Hit Database". everyHit.com. http://www.everyhit.com/index.html.  Search "Cream" in Name of Artist
8. ^ ^{a b} "Cream - Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cream-p3983/charts-awards/billboard-albums. Retrieved November 7, 2010. 
9. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone Magazine. 18 November 2003. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time/2. Retrieved 19 March 2009. 
10. ^ "First US show for Cream and The Who that most fans don't know about." Songheads. 1 August 2009.
11. ^ "Eric Clapton Interview," HOEPLA Television Show, VPRO Television, The Netherlands, 28 July 1967.
12. ^ ^{a b c} Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton
13. ^ "Cream: Disraeli Gears", Classic Albums on VH1, 3 November 2006
14. ^ Steffen Hung. "Cream - Disraeli Gears". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Cream&titel=Disraeli+Gears&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
15. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5806&type=2&interval=20&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
16. ^ Steffen Hung. "Cream - Disraeli Gears". greekcharts.com. http://greekcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Cream&titel=Disraeli+Gears&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
17. ^ Type in "Cream" under "Artist".

• Cream, Disraeli Gears (1967)
• Cream, Disraeli Gears - Deluxe Edition (2004)

External links

• Disraeli Gears. Those Were the Days.
• Disraeli Gears. JackBruce.com.
• Disraeli Gears - Deluxe Edition JackBruce.com.
• Disraeli Gears - GB Signed Edition Gingerbaker.com.

Preceded by John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan

Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 30 March 1968 – 12 April 1968

Succeeded by A Man and a Woman (soundtrack) by Francis Lai