Considered the first supergroup in the history of Rock and Roll music, Cream was formed in 1966 by Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, being active for only two years. Only four albums were released by them but it was enough to make them one of the most influential bands of all time, inspiring countless other groups worldwide, including Rush. The vocalist, keyboardist and bassist of the Canadian band was lucky enough to have seen the British group playing live in Canada in the late 60s and was life changing moment for him.
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Over the decades he always praised the group and even revealed which are some of his favorite songs by them.
The 3 Cream songs that Geddy Lee said are some of his favorites
“White Room”
In an interview with Sirius XM Classic Vinyl Influences show in 2013 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), Geddy Lee talked about his musical experiences and some of his favorite songs. One of them was “White Room”, by Cream.
“Cream sort of changed my life. They blew my mind and I remember they were coming to Toronto, I couldn’t get any of my friends interested to go see them, they were playing at Massey Hall and I went down and bought a ticket and I went by myself.”
“I just had to see them, they were such an important band to me. Jack Bruce’s bass playing was just out of this world. Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, I mean they were the ultimate trio. The most influential band in my entire career in many ways.”
“The day I bought the ticket I was walking through a department store, because it was chilly out. All the televisions in the TV department had shots of Robert Kennedy. It was the day that Robert Kennedy was shot. So it’s another thing that I sadly never forget, but Cream were a really incredible band to me. It was incredible to see them live back in the day,” Geddy Lee said.
“White Room” was released by Cream as a single in 1968, also being featured on their album “Wheels of Fire”. At the time the track peaked at number 6 on the United States Billboard Chart.
“Spoonful”
Another Cream track that Geddy Lee said that he likes is “Spoonful”, which is a song originally written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in 1960. The track was covered by Cream in 1966, being featured on their album “Fresh Cream”.
In an interview with Guitar World back in 2014, Lee talked about the track. “‘Crossroads’ was the song you had to learn to play if you were in a band. Clapton just flies through that song. But for me, ‘Spoonful’ was more about Jack Bruce’s great voice and adventurous playing. Bruce, like all the bass players I’ve mentioned, wasn’t content to be a bottom-end, stayin’-the-background bassist.”
“He’s playing a Gibson bass obviously too loud, to where it’s distorting the speakers. But it gave him this aggressive sound and a kind of spidery tone. I love everything about it,” Geddy Lee said.
“Crossroads”
“Cross Road Blues”, also known as “Crossroads” is another famous Blues song that was successfully covered by Cream. The track was originally written and recorded by the legendary American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Cream released their version on the 1968 album “Wheels Of Fire” and it was a song which was constantly featured on their live shows.
Back in 2019, Geddy Lee chose for Amazon Music 22 songs that inspired his bass playing consciously or subconsciously. “Crossroads” was one of the tracks he listed.
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