Cream Los Angeles Forum (10.19.1968)

Ginger Baker - drums, vocals
Jack Bruce - bass, vocals
Eric Clapton - guitar, vocals

This recording was made at the Los Angeles Forum in 1968, at the conclusion of the band’s final U.S. tour. Within five weeks, Cream had played their farewell show at the Royal Albert Hall; Jack Bruce would embark on a solo career; and Clapton, along with drummer Ginger Baker, would eventually form the monumental but ill-fated super group Blind Faith.

But for a time, in 1968, it was a long climb up the hill of rock ’n’ roll and Cream sat firmly at the top of the heap. The band knew they were breaking up, but the musicianship exhibited here remains fresh and exciting rather than sounding tired and bored. The band plays with an almost palpable fervor and earnestness, as if liberated by the anticipation and awareness of no longer being Cream, playing with a reckless but calculated abandon on these two tracks. This is a partial set recording, commencing with a slow version of the Howlin' Wolf blues standard "Sitting On Top Of The World," followed by a nine-minute version of "I’m So Glad."

If nothing else, this Cream show is required listening for guitarists. Along with Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, no one could touch Clapton back then - and, even today, no one can.