''Disraeli Gears'' is the second studio album by the 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 ...

. It was released in November 1967 and reached No. 5 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. Search "Cream" in ''Name of Artist'', and No. 1 on the Swedish and Finnish charts. The album was also No. 1 for two weeks on the Australian album chart and was listed as the No. 1 album of 1968 by ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' in the year-end album chart in the United States. The album features the singles " Strange Brew" and "

Sunshine of Your Love "Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British rock band Cream. With elements of hard rock, psychedelia, and pop, it is one of Cream's best known and most popular songs. Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive ...

", as well as their respective B-sides "

Tales of Brave Ulysses "Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song recorded in 1967 by British group Cream. It was released as the B-side to the "Strange Brew" single in June 1967. In November, the song was included on Cream's second album, ''Disraeli Gears''. The song featu ...

" and "

SWLABR "SWLABR" is a song recorded by the British rock band Cream in 1967. It first appeared on the album '' Disraeli Gears'' (1967). Later, the song was the B-side to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" single. Background The poet Pete Brown wrote the w ...

". The original 11-track album was remastered in 1998, and then subsequently released as a two-disc ''Deluxe Edition'' in 2004.

Production

The album was recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York between 11 and 15 May 1967, following the band's nine shows as part of Murray the K's "Music in the 5th Dimension" concert series. Cream's American label, ATCO, was a wholly owned subsidiary of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

. The sessions were produced by future

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

bassist Felix Pappalardi – who co-wrote the tracks "Strange Brew" and "World of Pain" with wife Gail Collins – and were engineered by

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

– who would later work with Clapton on projects such as '' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' and '' 461 Ocean Boulevard''. Atlantic Records owner

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...

was also present during the sessions.''Clapton: The Autobiography'' by Eric Clapton According to Dowd the recording sessions took only three-and-a-half days. The band's visas expired on the very last day of recording. 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 pi ...

recalled how the album's title was based on a

malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed t ...

which alluded to 19th-century British Prime Minister

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...

Artwork

The cover art was created by Australian artist

Martin Sharp Martin Ritchie Sharp (21 January 1942 – 1 December 2013) was an Australian artist, cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker. Career Sharp was born in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales in 1942, and educated at Cranbrook private school, where one ...

who lived in the same building as Clapton, The Pheasantry in Chelsea. Sharp would go on to create the artwork to Cream's next album '' Wheels of Fire'' and co-wrote the songs "

" and '' The Savage Seven'' movie theme "Anyone for Tennis" with Clapton. The photography was by Bob Whitaker, known for his work for

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, including the controversial '' Yesterday and Today'' "butcher" cover. Most of the photographs were taken in July 1967, with shoots in London's Hyde Park as well as in the Scottish Highlands. Some of the images were shot on Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the British isles. The photos show a clean-shaven Clapton with a bouffant, permed hairstyle. By the time of the album's release in November, however, he was letting his hair grow out straight and had grown a moustache. The front cover consists of a psychedelic collage with the title centred and band name below, surrounded by a floral arrangement. Martin Sharp was attempting to capture the sound of the music in the cover, which he describes as a "warm fluorescent sound": The cover art was later used for the compilation ''

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 ...

''.

Musical style

''Disraeli Gears'' features the group veering away, quite heavily, from their blues roots and indulging in more

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...

sounds, in particular on tracks such as "Tales of Brave Ulysses", "SWLABR", "World of Pain" and "Dance the Night Away", the last of which features a 12-string guitar (the only time the instrument would be used on a Cream recording). The most blues-like tunes on the album are Clapton's arrangement of "Outside Woman Blues", the Bruce-Brown composition "Take It Back" which had been inspired by the contemporary media images of American students burning their draft cards which featured harmonica work by Jack Bruce, and the opening track "Strange Brew", which was based on a 12-bar blues song called "Lawdy Mama" and features an

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

guitar solo, copied note for note. Unlike the previous ''Fresh Cream'', which was vocally dominated by Bruce, the vocals on ''Disraeli Gears'' were a more democratic affair. Clapton sings lead on "Strange Brew" and "Outside Woman Blues", and co-lead on "World of Pain", "Dance the Night Away" and "Sunshine of Your Love". Baker, meanwhile, performs lead vocals on his composition "Blue Condition". All three band members sing together on "Mother's Lament". In contrast to much of the band's other work, ''Disraeli Gears'' comprises mainly short, self-contained songs, with none of the improvisation and jamming for which the band was known onstage.

Release

The album was released in November 1967 by

Reaction Records Reaction Records was an independent British record label, run by music executive Robert Stigwood in 1966 and 1967. Although Reaction released only three albums, one EP and eighteen singles in its brief existence, its roster included two of t ...

Deluxe Edition

The original 11-track album was remastered by

Joseph M. Palmaccio Joseph M. Palmaccio also credited as Joe Palmaccio was an American mastering engineer born in rural South Carolina. Palmaccio has been nominated for six Grammy Awards and has won 4 in the Best Historical Album category for mastering. Those projec ...

at PolyGram Studios for a 1998 release, including bonus photographs accompanying the original album artwork. The ''Disraeli Gears Deluxe Edition'' includes the complete album in both mono and stereo, demos, alternative takes and tracks taken from the band's live sessions on

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

. Included is an outtake of "Blue Condition" with Eric Clapton on lead vocals, and demos of the songs "Weird of Hermiston" and "The Clearout" which were not released until Jack Bruce's first solo album ''

Songs for a Tailor ''Songs for a Tailor'' is the 1969 debut solo album by the Scottish musician, composer and singer Jack Bruce, who was already famous at the time of its release for his work with the supergroup Cream. Originally released on the Polydor label in ...

''.

Reception

Writing for the BBC, Chris Jones described the album as "a perfect encapsulation of the point where the blues got psychedelic and in turn got heavy". Thomas Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

describes the album as "a quintessential heavy rock album of the '60s". Dave Swanson of

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

believes the album to be "their masterpiece". In 1999, the album was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. It was voted number 182 in the third edition of

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by '' The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along w ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by t ...

'' (2000). In 2003 the album was ranked number 112 on ''

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 ...

'' magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, then was re-ranked at number 114 in a 2012 revised list, and at number 170 in a 2020 revised list. VH1 named it 87th-greatest album of all time in 2001. In 2008, the album won a Classic Rock Roll of Honours Award for Classic Album.

Track listing

Original album

''Disraeli Gears'' – deluxe edition (2004)

#Tracks previously released on the ''

'' box set. #Tracks previously released on the '' BBC Sessions'' compilation album.

Personnel

Cream *

– drums, percussion, vocals *

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...

– bass, piano, vocals, harmonica *

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

– lead guitar, rhythm guitar, 12-string guitar, vocals Production * Felix Pappalardi – producer *

–

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

* Bob Whitaker – cover

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...

–

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ...

* Jim Marshall – additional photography

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

Sources

*Cream, ''Disraeli Gears'' (1967) *Cream, ''Disraeli Gears – Deluxe Edition'' (2004)

External links

''Disraeli Gears''
Those Were the Days.

JackBruce.com.

JackBruce.com.

Gingerbaker.com. {{Authority control Cream (band) albums 1967 albums Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Albums produced by Felix Pappalardi Reaction Records albums Atco Records albums Polydor Records albums RSO Records albums