"Strange Brew" is a song by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 ...

. First released as a single in June 1967 in the UK and US, it was later added to their second studio album '' Disraeli Gears''. The song features

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 of ...

on lead vocals rather than the usual lead by Jack Bruce. The single peaked at number 17 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in July of that same year. In the UK, it was the last Cream single to be released 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 the ...

Background

In April 1967, during their first trip to New York, Cream recorded a song called " Lawdy Mama" with

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 ...

at Atlantic Studios, at the beginning of the sessions for what would become the '' Disraeli Gears'' album. The band cut two versions of the song, the first a typical blues shuffle, and the second converted to straight time in a more rock 'n' roll style (both versions can be heard on the ''Those Were the Days'' collection). Producer Felix Pappalardi took the tape of the second version of "Lawdy Mama" and, with help from his wife Gail Collins, transformed the song into "Strange Brew" which according to Eric Clapton "created a pop song without completely destroying the original groove." One journalist noted that Clapton at this stage was employing Albert King guitar stylings; and that both "Strange Brew" and another Cream track, " Born Under a Bad Sign", "were practically Albert King parodies". Clapton performs lead vocals on the song mostly in

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

. It was the first Cream single on which he sang lead. Unlike the group's previous single, " I Feel Free", no promotional video was made for the song, but the band mimed to it on television on the German program ''Beat Club'' on 19 May 1967. The song later appeared on the soundtrack of the 1979 feature film, '' More American Graffiti''.

Reception

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 online ...

'' called it a "driving, frenetic, medium-paced rock venture."

Chart performance

The song "Strange Brew" first appeared on the

on the week ending 10 June 1967 at number 43. It hit its highest position number 17 on the week ending 15 July and then was at position number 35 in the week ending 5 August, its final week, having spent a total of nine weeks in the chart. In the same week ending 8 July 1967 in the Netherlands, the song also peaked at number 18 on the Dutch Single Top 100 and number 30 on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

. In Belgium, it also peaked at number 50 on 2 September 1967 in the Wallonia region of

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

50.

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

* Jack Bruce –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocal * Ginger Baker –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control Cream (band) songs 1967 singles Songs written by Eric Clapton Songs written by Felix Pappalardi Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi Polydor Records singles 1967 songs Reaction Records singles