Cream - Wheels Of Fire ? RARE 1968 Original Press 205th Best Album of All Time ?
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Wheels of Fire Studio album / Live album by Cream Released August 1968 Recorded Various[show] Genre
- Psychedelic rock
- blues rock
- hard rock
- acid rock
- Polydor
- Atco
(1967) Wheels of Fire
(1968) Goodbye
(1969) Singles from Wheels of Fire
- "White Room"
Released: November 1968 - "Crossroads (Live)""
Released: January 1969
Wheels of Fire is the third album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It reached #3 in the United Kingdom and #1 in the United States, becoming the first platinum-selling double album. In May 2012 it was ranked number 205 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
It was also released as two single long-players, Wheels of Fire (In the Studio) and Wheels of Fire (Live at the Fillmore), released together with similar cover art. In the UK the studio album art was black print on aluminium foil while the live album art was a negative image of the studio cover. In Japan the studio album art was black on gold foil while the live album art was black on aluminium foil. In Australia both covers were laminated copies of the Japanese releases (the double album was never released in Australia).
Recording
Cream's third album was planned to be a double album on which Atco Records' producer Felix Pappalardi and the group would include several live performances. The group and Pappalardi had, in July and August 1967, recorded studio material at IBC Studios in London, and at Atlantic Studios in New York City during September and October of the same year. Additional studio material was recorded at Atlantic Studios in January and February 1968, during a break from the band's heavy tour schedule. The following month, Pappalardi ordered for a mobile recording studio in Los Angeles to be shipped to the Fillmore auditorium and the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Six shows were recorded in San Francisco by Pappalardi and recording engineer Bill Halverson, and extra performances not included on Wheels of Fire ended up on Live Cream, and Live Cream Volume II.
Production and artwork
The recording engineers on disc one were Tom Dowd and Adrian Barber, the songs on disc two were recorded by Bill Halverson and the performances on the second disc were mixed by Adrian Barber. The artwork for the album was by Martin Sharp who had also done the artwork for Disraeli Gears. The photography was by Jim Marshall.
Songs
The band's drummer Ginger Baker co-wrote three songs for the album with pianist Mike Taylor. Bassist Jack Bruce co-wrote four songs with poet Pete Brown. Guitarist Eric Clapton contributed to the album by choosing two cover songs.
For the second disc Felix Pappalardi chose "Traintime" because it featured Jack Bruce performing a harmonica solo, and "Toad" because it features Ginger Baker's drumming while "Spoonful" and "Crossroads" were used to showcase Eric Clapton's guitar-playing.
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Rolling Stone mixed AllMusicTrack listing
Disc one In the Studio Side one No. Title Length 1. "White Room3" (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown) 4:58 2. "Sitting on Top of the World" (Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon; arr. Chester Burnett) 4:58 3. "Passing the Time13" (Ginger Baker, Mike Taylor) 4:31 4. "As You Said" (Bruce, Brown) 4:20 Side 2 No. Title Length 1. "Pressed Rat and Warthog" (Baker, Taylor) 3:13 2. "Politician3" (Bruce, Brown) 4:12 3. "Those Were the Days3" (Baker, Taylor) 2:53 4. "Born Under a Bad Sign3" (Booker T. Jones, William Bell) 3:09 5. "Deserted Cities of the Heart23" (Bruce, Brown) 3:38 Disc two Live at the Fillmore Side three No. Title Recording date Length 1. "Crossroads" (Robert Johnson, arr. Clapton) 10 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show) 4:13 2. "Spoonful" (Willie Dixon) 10 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show) 16:43 Side 4 No. Title Recording date Length 1. "Traintime4" (Bruce) 8 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show) 7:01 2. "Toad" (Baker) 7 March 1968 at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA. (2nd show) 16:15Performers on disc one are "the Cream quartet" consisting of Clapton, Baker, and Bruce together with Felix Pappalardi, who plays many different instruments and is also credited with production.
^Note 1: Some pressings of this album contain an unedited version of "Passing the Time". This "long version" is extended by 73 seconds and was included on the gold CD issued by DCC Compact Classics. The "extended version" included on Those Were the Days was edited to be an additional 7 seconds longer.
^Note 2: Original U.S. pressings of Wheels of Fire incorrectly listed the running time of "Deserted Cities of the Heart" at 4:36.
^Note 3: Side 1 tracks 1 and 3 and Side 2 tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the studio album were processed with the Haeco-CSG system. Also processed was "Anyone for Tennis", which was recorded at the same sessions and appears on some versions of the album. Haeco-CSG was intended to make stereo recordings that were fully compatible with mono playback equipment. The unfortunate side effect is that it "blurs" the stereo imaging of musical parts mixed to the phantom centre channel. Using modern digital audio processing software it is possible to reverse the Haeco-CSG effect.
During the 10 March first set, "Spoonful" preceded "Crossroads", and though it seems as though "Traintime" aurally precedes "Toad", "Traintime" was recorded a day later, and expertly edited to seamlessly blend into the introduction to "Toad".
While the disc is labelled Live at the Fillmore, only "Toad" was recorded at The Fillmore. The other tracks were recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
^Note 4: Original album pressings list "John Group" as the author of "Traintime". The "John Group" appellation dates back to Jack Bruce's tenure with the Graham Bond Organisation (with whom Bruce originally recorded the song in 1965), and was used by that band to ensure that members other than Bond received songwriting royalties.[8] The song is based on a vintage blues by Peter Chatman.
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