"Toad" is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

by British rock 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 ...

and was released on their 1966 debut album, '' Fresh Cream''. Composed by drummer

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 pio ...

, the piece is a five-minute drum solo (with a brief guitar and bass introduction and ending). Although drum solos are common in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, "Toad" is one of the earliest recorded by a rock group.

Background

"Toad" grew out of "Camels and Elephants", a composition Baker had recorded with the Graham Bond Organisation in 1965. When he formed

, "Toad" was first recorded for their debut album, '' Fresh Cream'' (1966). Baker plays a sequence of drum patterns that are built up, varied, and then dropped, giving way to a new pattern. On the piece, Baker often produced complementary rhythms on the

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist ...

, ride cymbal, double-

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. T ...

s and tom-toms simultaneously.

Other recordings

An extended sixteen-minute live version (of which 13 minutes is drum solo) appears on Cream's 1968 album '' Wheels of Fire''. A slightly longer version of this recording, with some additional guitar and bass edited into the introduction from another performance, appears on Cream's four-disc compilation album ''

Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

'' (1997). "Toad" also featured in Cream's reunion concert in May 2005 at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, and appears on the '' Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005'' album. "Toad" was performed by

Ginger Baker's Air Force Ginger Baker's Air Force was a jazz-rock fusion supergroup led by drummer Ginger Baker. History The band formed in late 1969 upon the disbandment of Blind Faith. The original lineup consisted of Ginger Baker on drums, Steve Winwood on org ...

, and a 13-minute version with drum solos by Baker,

Remi Kabaka Remi Kabaka (born 27 March 1945) is an Afro-rock avant-garde drummer. He worked with John Martyn, Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and comp ...

and

Phil Seamen Philip William Seamen (28 August 1926 – 13 October 1972) was an English jazz drummer. With a background in big band music, Seamen played and recorded in a wide range of musical contexts with virtually every key figure of 1950s and 1960s Bri ...

appears on their 1970 live album, ''

'', recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1970. "Toad" later evolved into "Toady", which featured on '' Ginger Baker's Air Force 2'' (1970).

Reception and influence

The Cream website, ''Those Were the Days'', described "Toad" as "a coherent drums solo that remains unequalled in Rock Music. It influenced many contemporaries and innumerable budding drummers.". "Toad" has been "widely imitated", and "paved the way for a decade of heavy-metal drum solos". '' Spin'' magazine gave it the "dubious distinction of introducing the drum solo to the rock LP", and ''The Drummer: 100 Years of Rhythmic Power and Invention'' called Baker's drumming on "Toad" "a milestone in drum soloing". In a review of Cream, ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine said that "Toad" "features sustained, imaginative drumming that would knock out a Carnegie jazz audience". In a review of '' Wheels of Fire'' in ''

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 co ...

'', Jann S. Wenner described Cream's live performance of "Toad" as "pretty good", and "much better" than the studio version on ''Fresh Cream''. Wenner remarked that Baker's "tendency to be sloppy is not evident, and he gets moving quickly and sustains the tension well".

References

{{Authority control Cream (band) songs 1966 songs 1960s instrumentals Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood