Cream's Farewell Concert

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''Farewell Concert'' is the live recording of the 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 ...

's final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 26 November 1968. Aside from the band's reunion concert in 2005 it is Cream's only official full concert release on video. It was originally broadcast by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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on 5 January 1969. It was not released on video in the US until 1977. The opening acts for the concert were future

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stars Yes who were just starting out and

Taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

, an Irish trio led by

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...

Versions

There are in fact several versions of this film. They are as follows - ''Original theatrical release'' * Created by Director

Tony Palmer Tony Palmer (born 29 August 1941)IMDb: Tony Palmer
Retrieved 24 September 2011 is a British film direc ...

and distributed by manager

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream (band), Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions ...

, this was a documentary style film, incorporated live performances, narration by BBC announcer

Patrick Allen John Keith Patrick Allen (17 March 1927 – 28 July 2006) was a British actor. Life and career Allen was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi), where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada ...

, and interviews with the band members themselves showcasing their playing abilities (actually filmed in late 1967 or early 1968). Duration was 84 minutes. * In 1977, a shorter version of the above film, presenting the footage in edited form, now lasting 51 minutes, was released on home video. ''Television version'' * The first BBC Television broadcast - Containing the same songs as the 1977 version (and lasting the same length), but featuring narration from Radio One DJ

Pete Drummond Peter Drummond-Hay (born 29 July 1943), known professionally as Pete Drummond, is a British voice artist and former BBC and pirate radio disc jockey and announcer. Biography Early years and pirate radio He was born in Bangor, Wales. His par ...

, and a different introduction and BBC end credits. (Note - The narrations by both Drummond and Allen are virtually identical.) This was also on the official DVD release. * A music only version, shown by the BBC in 1980 (The end credits show "MCMLXXX"), which was 30 minutes long, featuring just five complete songs, with no narration or interviews. In 2005, a ''special extended edition'' of the concert appeared featuring full versions of all songs separated from the narration and interviews. Lasting 80 minutes, it was released on the official DVD reissue. The new version featured digitally remastered sound and video including three bonus songs. A short clip of White Room from the second set (the film used the version from the first show), together with D.J. John Peel introducing the band onstage, was shown on the BBC1 programme "The Rock And Roll Years" in the late 1980s. In June 2014, it was given a Blu-ray / DVD release. ''Album release'' In March 2020, the concert was released as part of the live album ''Goodbye Tour - Live 1968'', being the first time the Royal Albert Hall concert was officially released via audio format. Sadly the sound of this Royal Albert hall concert is much worse than the sound of the other 3 shows of this box set.

Criticism

The original film has often been criticized for both its mediocre sound and visual effects:

The audio is a turgid sonic sludge. The visuals are even worse, with director Tony Palmer jerking the camera around as if this were an episode of NYPD Blue, layering the picture with dated and distracting psychedelic light effects, and providing far too many close-ups of Bruce's teeth (and almost no wide shots of the entire band).

The band had performed two sets at the Albert Hall, but it is believed only the second set was filmed in its entirety. Several times during the performance, it is apparent that the on-screen shot is not in sync with the audio. In fact, in several songs, including during

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 ...

's drum solo, he seems to change clothes at lightning speed due to careless post-editing, as well as Eric Clapton playing two different guitars. This is because footage from both sets, with the band wearing different clothes and Clapton using a

Gibson Firebird The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Gibson beginning in 1963. History The Gibson Guitar Corporation released several new styles during the 1950s to compete with Fender's solid-body instruments, such as the Telecas ...

for the first set, a Gibson 335 for the second, were edited together. The BBC used four static cameras and two hand held cams, all recording onto video tape, whilst Palmer himself filmed footage at the front of the stage, utilising a 16mm film camera. The difference in quality can be detected easily during the broadcast. However, the BBC "Pete Drummond" version was better quality overall, and is the only version that has these 16mm film clips removed – the remastered release on the 2005 DVD presents both audio and video in excellent quality. Ginger Baker himself has lashed out in an interview against the ''Farewell Concert'' video, stating: "Cream was so much better than that." Nonetheless, most Cream fans regard the actual performance with great enthusiasm, disregarding the poor quality of the video.

Track listing

Original video release (Both Patrick Allen narrated film & Pete Drummond narrated BBC broadcast)

# " Sunshine of Your Love" # "Politician" # " White Room" # "

Spoonful "Spoonful" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. Called "a stark and haunting work", it is one of Dixon's best known and most interpreted songs. Etta James and Harvey Fuqua had a pop and R&B reco ...

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I'm So Glad "I'm So Glad" is a Delta blues-style song originally recorded by American musician Skip James in 1931. Blues historian Gerard Herzhaft notes "This spiritual probably dates back to the beginning of the blues". Blues writer Stephen Calt describes ...

Extended DVD edition (Patrick Allen narrated film)

# " Sunshine of Your Love" # " White Room" # "Politician" # "

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

" # " Steppin' Out" # "

Sitting on Top of the World "Sitting on Top of the World" (also "Sittin' on Top of the World") is a country blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon. They were core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, who first recorded it in 1930. Vinson claimed to have c ...

" # "

BBC broadcast (1980 repeat, no narration)

# " White Room" # "Politician" # "

Sitting On Top Of The World "Sitting on Top of the World" (also "Sittin' on Top of the World") is a country blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon. They were core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, who first recorded it in 1930. Vinson claimed to have c ...

" # "

" # " Sunshine Of Your Love"

Appearance on Goodbye Tour-Live 1968

# " White Room" # "Politician" # "

" # "

" # " Sunshine Of Your Love" # " Steppin' Out"

References

{{cream 1969 films Cream (band) live albums Live albums recorded at the Royal Albert Hall 2005 video albums Live video albums 2005 live albums Cream (band) video albums