''Live Cream'' (also called ''Live Cream, Volume 1'') is a live compilation album by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, released in 1970. This album comprises four live tracks recorded in 1968 and one studio track "Lawdy Mama" from 1967. The instrumental track for "Lawdy Mama" is the same as heard on "

Strange Brew ''Strange Brew'' (also known as ''The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew'') is a 1983 Canadian comedy film starring the popular '' SCTV'' characters Bob and Doug McKenzie, portrayed by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who also served ...

" with a different vocal and guitar solo by Eric Clapton. ''Live Cream'' hit No. 15 on the ''Billboard'' 200, No. 4 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, and No. 10 on the Finnish Album Charts.

Critical reception

In a 1970 review, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine called ''Live Cream'' "an excellent album" and "well-recorded, controlled, and tense; the timing of the band can capture the listener with an excitement that has nothing to do with nostalgia". Paul Kresh of ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' is an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review''. ...

'' called it "a strangely uneven set of performances" highlighted by the "studio-made" "Lawdy Mama", which he called "three minutes of truly exciting music." He described the album as "disappointing jazz/rock" with excellent recording and stereo quality, particularly "superb" remixing by Adrian Barber, and felt that the longer tracks "suffer from interludes of aimlessness", but are generally "very good". In a retrospective review,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Bruce Eder gave ''Live Cream'' four out of five stars and said that it "could well be their most consistently brilliant album for sheer musicianship", despite only featuring songs from Cream's "least ambitious and most rudimentary album" ''

Fresh Cream ''Fresh Cream'' is the debut studio album by the British rock band Cream. The album was released in the UK on 9 December 1966, as the first LP on the Reaction Records label, owned by producer Robert Stigwood. The UK album was released in both ...

'' (1966). Eder found the group's interplay throughout the jams "fascinating" and asserted that "performances like this single-handedly raised the stakes of musicianship in rock." However, Robert Christgau said, despite side one's "unmistakable and attractive" intensity, he prefers "Clapton's graceful picking on ''Fresh Cream''s 'Sleepy Time Time' over the flat-out distortions here". J. D. Considine, writing in ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004), gave it two out of five stars and wrote that both ''Live Cream'' and its second volume are "muddled leftovers released solely to cash in on the band's enduring popularity." "Ultimate Classic Rock" rated the album in the "Top 100 Live Albums", and said the album found "cool new wrinkles in the old material".

Track listing

CD version track listing

# "N.S.U." (Bruce) – 10:12 # "Sleepy Time Time" (Bruce, Godfrey) – 6:50 # "Sweet Wine" (Baker, Godfrey) – 15:15 # "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (Newbern) – 6:42 # "Lawdy Mama" (Traditional) – 2:46

Personnel

''Per liner notes'' *

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...

– bass, harmonica, vocals * Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals *

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and African rhythms and pi ...

– drums, vocals *

Felix Pappalardi Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at ...

– producer, except on "Lawdy Mama" * Ahmet Ertegun – producer on "Lawdy Mama" *

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream (band), Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions ...

– producer on "Lawdy Mama" * Adrian Barber – recording engineer, re-mix engineer *

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

– recording engineer *Bill Halverson – recording engineer * Stephen Paley – photography

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Cream (band) live albums 1970 live albums Atco Records live albums Polydor Records live albums Albums produced by Ahmet Ertegun Albums produced by Felix Pappalardi Albums produced by Robert Stigwood