Performer Notes

THOSE WERE THE DAYS is a four-disc set, the first half consisting of Cream's entire studio output and the last half featuring the band's concert performances. The package includes a 48-page booklet full of previously unpublished photos.
Cream: Jack Bruce (vocals, acoustic guitar, cello, harmonica, piano, organ, bass); Eric Clapton (vocals, guitar); Ginger Baker (vocals, drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: George Harrison (guitar); Felix Pappalardi (viola, organ, trumpet, tonette, Swiss hand bells, piano, mellotron, bass).
Producers: Robert Stigwood, Felix Pappalardi, Ahmet Ertegun.
Compilation producer: Bill Levenson
Engineers include: John Timperly, Tom Dowd, Adrian Barber.
Includes liner notes by John McDermott.
In the two years they were together, Cream's blend of blues, psychedelic rock and quirky lyricism forever altered the definition of rock music. After releasing four seminal albums, Cream broke up as quickly as they had come together, with all three members going on to solo careers of varying artistic and commercial success. THOSE WERE THE DAYS brings together Cream's musical output in a deluxe four-CD set that's neatly halved between studio and live material.
Meticulously compiled and remastered, DAYS includes every studio recording the band ever released, as well as previously unreleased demos, masters, rare and alternate takes. The live half of the box set is primarily culled from seminal performances at legendary venues like San Francisco's Winterland and Fillmore West.
The sound has been considerably cleaned up allowing the listener to hear every nuance of these extended flights of jazz-flavored blues-rock improvisation. The package surrounding Cream's timeless musical output sports a DISRAELI GEARS-style day-glo cover and a 48-page color book. The accompanying notes, complemented by dozens of previously unpublished photos, provide an intimate glimpse into the brief, but groundbreaking career of the original power trio.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (9/18/97, p.106) - "...[Cream] were capable of hard-driving discipline as well as discursive solos....Cream pump out taut psychedelia...crystalline pop...and crunching hard-rock hooks..."

Entertainment Weekly (9/26/97, p.79) - "The sheer intensity of the pioneering psychedelic-blues band, Cream...remains undeniable 30 years after their demise. Guitarist Eric Clapton never sounded quite as electric as when prodded by the hyperactive bass of Jack Bruce and the savage stomp of drummer Ginger Baker." - Rating: A

Musician (11/97, p.88) - "...Cream was really two bands...a studio band and a live band, with a heavy blues focus that evolved into a postmodern view of pop as their artistry grew and the technology of the recording studios rose to meet their challenge..."