Cream - Disraeli Gears (Reaction 1967) 24-bit/96kHz Vinyl Rip

Cream teamed up with producer Felix Pappalardi for their second album, Disraeli Gears, a move that helped push the power trio toward psychedelia and also helped give the album a thematic coherence missing from the debut. This, of course, means that Cream get further away from the pure blues improvisatory troupe they were intended to be, but it does get them to be who they truly are: a massive, innovative power trio. The blues still courses throughout Disraeli Gears – the swirling kaleidoscopic "Strange Brew" is built upon a riff lifted from Albert King – but it's filtered into saturated colours, as it is on "Sunshine of Your Love," or it's slowed down and blurred out, as it is on the ominous murk of "Tales of Brave Ulysses." It's a pure psychedelic move that's spurred along by Jack Bruce's flourishing collaboration with Pete Brown. Together, this pair steers the album away from recycled blues-rock and toward its eccentric British core, for with the fuzzy freakout "Swlabr," the music hall flourishes of "Dance the Night Away," the swinging "Take It Back," and of course, the schoolboy singalong "Mother's Lament," this is a very British record. Even so, this crossed the ocean and also became a major hit in America, because regardless of how whimsical certain segments are, Cream are still a heavy rock trio and Disraeli Gears is a quintessential heavy rock album of the '60s. Yes, its psychedelic trappings tie it forever to 1967, but the imagination of the arrangements, the strength of the compositions, and especially the force of the musicianship make this album transcend its time as well. Stephen Thomas Erlewine AMG

The title of the album is a mondegreen based on an inside joke. Eric Clapton had been thinking of buying a racing bicycle and was discussing it with Ginger Baker, when a roadie named Mick Turner commented, "it's got them Disraeli Gears", meaning to say "derailleur gears," but instead alluding to 19th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. The band thought this was hilarious, and decided that it should be the title of their next album. Had it not been for Mick's turn of phrase, the album would simply have been entitled "Cream." Wikipedia

Track listing:

A1. Strange Brew
A2. Sunshine of Your Love
A3. World of Pain
A4. Dance The Night Away
A5. Blue Condition

B1. Tales of Brave Ulysses
B2. Swlarb
B3. We’re Going Wrong
B4. Outside Woman Blues
B5. Take It Back
B6. Mother’s Lament

Eric Clapton – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
Jack Bruce – bass, piano, vocals, harmonica
Ginger Baker – drums, percussion, vocals
Felix Pappalardi – producer
Tom Dowd – recording engineer
Bob Whitaker – cover photos
Martin Sharp – art
Recorded at Atlantic Studios, New York, May 1967