News

Cream’s “Disraeli Gears” To Receive “Deluxe” Treatment; Expanded To 2 CDs

9 Jul 04

[Press Release / Polydor – Universal Music] Cream’s seminal Disraeli Gears album from 1967 will receive the Deluxe Edition treatment on September 13th, adding a variety of bonus and live tracks. It had been scheduled for release a year ago, but put back while a search for unreleased live material for possible use on the set was made. Sadly, nothing came of it. The new expanded edition will not only feature the original 11-songs, which included “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “Tales Of Brave Ulysses” and “SWLABR”, but will also feature five demos, an unreleased alternate version of “Blue Condition,” and the outtake “Lawdy Mama.” A second disc features the album in a mono mix and incorporates a selection of tracks from last year’s BBC Sessions release. The five demos — “We’re Going Wrong,” “Hey Now Princess,” “SWLABR,” “Weird Of Hermiston,” and “The Clearout” — were all released on the 1997 Cream box set Those Were The Days. Disraeli Gears was a huge hit on both sides of the Atlantic and was the must-have album in the Summer Of Love. Cream, which was made up of Eric Clapton on guitar and vocals, Jack Bruce on bass and vocals, and Ginger Baker on drums, broke up in 1968 after two legendary farewell concerts at London?s Royal Albert Hall. They were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993 where they played a short 3 song set. Although there was talk of a reunion, nothing came of it. The tracklisting for Disraeli Gears: Deluxe Edition includes: DISC ONE — Disreali Gears (stereo version): “Strange Brew,” “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “World Of Pain,” “Dance The Night Away,” “Blue Condition,” “Tales Of Brave Ulysses,” “SWLABR,” “We’re Going Wrong,” “Outside Woman Blues,” “Take It Back,” and “Mother’s Lament,” with the bonus tracks: “Lawdy Mama” (outtake), “Blue Condition” (alternate version with Eric Clapton lead vocal), “We’re Going Wrong” (demo), “Hey Now Princess” (demo), “SWLABR” (demo), “Weird Of Hermiston” (demo), and “The Clearout” (demo). DISC TWO — Disreali Gears (mono version): same tracks as above, including “Lawdy Mama” and “Blue Condition,” with live BBC recordings of “Strange Brew,” “Tales Of Brave Ulysses,” “We’re Going Wrong,” “Born Under A Bad Sign,” “Outside Woman Blues,” “Take It Back,” “Politician,” “SWLABR,” and “Steppin’ Out” as bonus tracks. Source: Voodoo Music Newsletter PRESS RELEASE August 19, 2004 Cream’s Classic ’60s Album DISRAELI GEARS Presented in Both Stereo and Mono Versions on Two-CD DELUXE EDITION Released on September 28 19 August 2004 — One of the landmark albums in rock history, Cream’s 1967 classic DISRAELI GEARS, has been set to receive DELUXE EDITION treatment featuring a digitally remastered two-CD package that debuts a previously unreleased track. The CDs are packaged with a 24-page booklet with photographs and an essay about Cream’s extraordinary history. DISRAELI GEARS – DELUXE EDITION (Polydor/UMe), released September 28, 2004, boasts a stereo Disc One and mono Disc Two. The second album in the short but spectacular career of the pioneering power trio (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker), DISRAELI GEARS helped lay the groundwork for the coming hard rock and heavy metal of the ’70s. An inspired collision of blues, jazz, folk and psychedelia recorded in just six days, the Gold #4-charting album spawned a Gold #5 hit in “Sunshine Of Your Love” and other classic rock standards “Strange Brew,” “Tales Of Brave Ulysses” and “Swlabr.” Disc One presents the album in stereo with two outtakes — “Lawdy Mama” and a previously un-issued version of “Blue Condition” with Clapton as lead singer — plus demos of “We’re Going Wrong,” “Swlabr” and three songs that didn’t make the LP though they would later appear elsewhere: “Weird Of Hermiston,” “The Clearout” and “Hey Now Princess.” Disc Two presents the album and the two above-mentioned outtakes in mono as well as nine performances recorded for BBC Radio between May 1967 and January 1968. Along with takes on six DISRAELI GEARS tracks, the cuts include the Clapton-led blues instrumental “Steppin’ Out” and two songs that would turn up the next year on the chart-topping studio/live double album WHEELS OF FIRE, “Politician” and a cover of Albert King’s “Born Under A Bad Sign.” After their GOODBYE album in early 1969, Cream was no more. Its members would move on, with Clapton launching Blind Faith and Derek & the Dominos before going solo in a superstar career that continues today.