''Wheels of Fire'' is the third album 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 ...

. It was released in the US in June 1968 as a two-disc

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It was released in the UK on August 9. It reached number three in the United Kingdom and number one in the United States, Canada and Australia, becoming the world's first platinum-selling double album. In May 2012, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine ranked it at number 205 on its list of

the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...

. It was voted number 757 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 wit ...

'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 the ...

'' (2000). It was also released as two single LPs, ''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.

Recording

Cream's third album was planned to be a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

on which

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the comp ...

' producer

Felix Pappalardi Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at ...

and the group would include several live performances. Unlike ''

Disraeli Gears ''Disraeli Gears'' is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in November 1967 and reached No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. Search "Cream" in ''Name of Artist'', and No. 1 on the Swedish and Finnish charts. The albu ...

'', which had been recorded in a matter of days, the ''Wheels of Fire'' sessions took place in small bursts over many months. The group and Pappalardi had, in July and August 1967, recorded studio material at

IBC Studios The IBC Recording Studios were independent recording studios located at 35 Portland Place in London, England. In the 1960s and 1970s, the studios become internationally famous after being used by recording artists like the Kinks, the Who, Bee Gee ...

in London. Recordings continued with short sessions at Atlantic Studios in September, October and December 1967. Further work took place at Atlantic in February 1968, during a break from the band's heavy tour schedule. The following month, Pappalardi ordered that a mobile

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

in Los Angeles be shipped to

the Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...

Auditorium and the

Winterland Ballroom Winterland Ballroom (more commonly known as Winterland Arena or simply Winterland) was an ice skating rink and music venue in San Francisco, California. The arena was located at the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street. It was converted for ...

in San Francisco. Six shows were recorded in San Francisco by Pappalardi and

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, reproduction, ...

Bill Halverson, and extra performances not included on ''Wheels of Fire'' ended up on ''

Live Cream ''Live Cream'' (also called ''Live Cream, Volume 1'') is a live compilation album by the British rock band Cream, released in 1970. This album comprises four live tracks recorded in 1968 and one studio track "Lawdy Mama" from 1967. The instrume ...

'' and ''

Live Cream Volume II ''Live Cream Volume II'' is the second live album by the British rock band Cream, released in March 1972 by Polydor Records (Atco Records in the US). This album contains six tracks recorded at various performances from 9 March to 4 October 196 ...

''. Studio recordings and mixing for the album were completed in June 1968, nearly a year after they had started.

Production and artwork

The recording engineers on disc one were

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 recordings ...

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 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 had also done the artwork for ''Disraeli Gears''. The

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 employed ...

was by Jim Marshall.

Songs

The band's 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 Music of Africa, Africa ...

co-wrote three songs for the album with pianist Mike Taylor. Bassist

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 disbande ...

co-wrote four songs with poet

Pete Brown Peter Ronald Brown (born 25 December 1940) is an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 80 Bro ...

. Guitarist

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 ...

contributed to the album by choosing two

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

songs to cover. For the second disc, Felix Pappalardi chose "Traintime" because it featured Jack Bruce's singing and harmonica playing, and "Toad" because it featured Ginger Baker's lengthy drum solo, while "Spoonful" and "Crossroads" were used to showcase Eric Clapton's guitar playing.

Track listing

Disc one: ''In the Studio'' Disc two: ''Live at the Fillmore'' Performers on disc one are "the Cream quartet" consisting of Clapton, Baker, and Bruce together with

, who plays many different instruments and is also credited with production. Some pressings of this album contain a longer version of "Passing the Time". The "long version" is extended by one minute and 13 seconds, and was included on the gold CD issued by DCC Compact Classics. An "extended version" included on ''

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 ...

'' is an additional seven seconds longer. Original pressings of ''Wheels of Fire'' incorrectly listed the running time of "Deserted Cities of the Heart" at 4:36. This incorrect time was still present on 1980s pressings in the UK. Some songs on the studio album were processed with the Haeco-CSG system. Also processed was " Anyone for Tennis", which was released as a single. Haeco-CSG was intended to make stereo recordings that were compatible with mono playback but has the unfortunate side effect of "blurring" the phantom centre channel. On ''Wheels of Fire'' this side effect is particularly noticeable during Eric Clapton's guitar solo on "Deserted Cities of the Heart". 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 The Graham Bond Organisation (GBO) were a British jazz/rhythm and blues group of the early 1960s consisting of Graham Bond (vocals, keyboards, alto-saxophone), Jack Bruce (bass), Ginger Baker (drums), Dick Heckstall-Smith (tenor/soprano saxopho ...

(with whom Bruce originally recorded the song in 1965) and was used by that band to ensure that members other than

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

received songwriting royalties. The song is based on a vintage blues by

Peter Chatman John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxop ...

. While the second disc is labelled ''Live at the Fillmore'', only "Toad" was recorded there. The other three tracks were recorded at the

. In 2014, Japan Polydor released a two-disc limited edition SHM-CD (UICY-76024/5) with four bonus tracks: two on the studio disc, and two on the live one.

2014 Japan Polydor 2-disc Limited Edition bonus tracks

Disc one

"Anyone for Tennis" (Eric Clapton, Martin Sharp)

# "Falstaff Beer Commercial" (Clapton, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce)

Disc two

"Sunshine of Your Love" (Clapton, Bruce, Pete Brown)

# "N.S.U." (Bruce)

Personnel

Per liner notes *

– lead vocals, bass guitar, cello, harmonica,

calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses" ...

, acoustic guitar,

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

– drums, percussion,

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

, vocals, spoken word on "Pressed Rat and Warthog" *

– guitar, vocals *

– viola, bells, organ, trumpet,

tonette The stub-ended Swanson Tonette is a small (6" cavity), end-blown vessel flute made of plastic, which was once popular in American elementary music education. Though the Tonette has been superseded by the recorder in many areas, due to their pric ...

–

on disc one * Adrian Barber – recording engineer on disc one, re-mix engineer on disc two * Joseph M. Palmaccio –

digital remastering Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

– art * Jim Marshall – photography

Personnel and information for the studio sessions

"White Room" ''Recorded at IBC Studios, July and August 1967; Atlantic Studios, September, 9–10 October, and 12–15 December 1967; 13–22 February and 12–13 June 1968'' *

– lead and rhythm guitars *

– vocals, bass *

– drums,

– viola "Sitting on Top of the World" ''Recorded at IBC Studios, July 1967; Atlantic Studios, September 1967'' * Eric Clapton – lead and rhythm guitars * Jack Bruce – vocals, bass * Ginger Baker – drums "Born Under a Bad Sign" ''Recorded at IBC Studios, July and August 1967; Atlantic Studios, September 1967'' * Eric Clapton – lead and rhythm guitars * Jack Bruce – vocals, bass * Ginger Baker – drums, tambourine "Pressed Rat and Warthog" ''Recorded at Atlantic Studios, 9–10 October and 12–15 December 1967; 13–22 February 1968'' * Eric Clapton – lead and rhythm guitars * Jack Bruce – basses,

* Ginger Baker – spoken-word vocals, drums * Felix Pappalardi – trumpet,

"Anyone for Tennis" ''Recorded at Atlantic Studios, 9–10 October and 12–15 December 1967; 13–22 February 1968'' * Eric Clapton – vocals, acoustic guitar, slide guitar * Jack Bruce – bass, recorder * Ginger Baker – congas * Felix Pappalardi – viola "Passing the Time" ''Recorded at Atlantic Studios, 13–22 February and 12–13 June 1968'' * Eric Clapton – backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars * Jack Bruce – lead vocals, bass, cello,

* Ginger Baker – backing vocals, drums,

* Felix Pappalardi –

organ pedals A pedalboard (also called a pedal keyboard, pedal clavier, or, with electronic instruments, a bass pedalboard) is a keyboard played with the feet that is usually used to produce the low-pitched bass line of a piece of music. A pedalboard has long ...

"As You Said" ''Recorded at Atlantic Studios, 13–22 February and 12–13 June 1968'' * Jack Bruce – vocals, acoustic guitars, cello * Ginger Baker –

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...

"Politician" ''Recorded at Atlantic Studios, 13–22 February and 12–13 June 1968'' * Eric Clapton – lead and rhythm guitars * Jack Bruce – vocals, bass * Ginger Baker – drums "Deserted Cities of the Heart" ''Recorded at Atlantic Studios, 13–22 February and 12–13 June 1968'' * Eric Clapton – lead and rhythm guitar * Jack Bruce – vocals, bass, cello, acoustic guitar * Ginger Baker – drums, tambourine * Felix Pappalardi – viola "Those Were the Days" ''Recorded at Atlantic Studios, 12–13 June 1968'' * Eric Clapton – backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars * Jack Bruce – lead vocals, bass * Ginger Baker – drums,

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

* Felix Pappalardi – Swiss hand bells

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

The making of Wheels of Fire – from the Official Ginger Baker Archive
{{Authority control Cream (band) albums 1968 albums Polydor Records albums Albums recorded at the Fillmore Atco Records albums 1968 live albums Polydor Records live albums Albums produced by Felix Pappalardi Albums recorded at IBC Studios Acid rock albums Atco Records live albums