''Goodbye'' (also called ''Goodbye Cream'') is the fourth and final studio album by

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 ...

, with three tracks recorded live, and three recorded in the studio. It was released in Europe by

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

and by

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 ...

in the United States, debuting in ''Billboard'' on 15 February 1969. It reached number one in the United Kingdom and number two in the United States. A single, "

Badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and ...

", was subsequently released from the album a month later. The album was released after Cream disbanded in November 1968.

Background and recording

Just before Cream's third album, ''

Wheels of Fire ''Wheels of Fire'' is the third album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in the US in June 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It was released in the UK on August 9. It ...

'', was to be released, the group's 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 ...

announced that the group were going to disband after a farewell tour and a final concert at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in November. Just before the start of their farewell tour in October 1968, Cream recorded three songs 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 with 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

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Damon Lyon-Shaw. The songs "Badge" and " Doing That Scrapyard Thing" featured

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 ...

using a Leslie speaker, while all three recordings featured keyboard instruments played by either

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 ...

or Felix Pappalardi. The group started their farewell tour on 4 October 1968 in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

and 15 days later on 19 October the group performed at The Forum in Los Angeles where the three live recordings on ''Goodbye'' were recorded with Felix Pappalardi and engineers Adrian Barber and Bill Halverson.

Compiling, artwork, and packaging

The original plan for ''Goodbye'' was to make it a double album, with one disc featuring studio recordings and the other with live performances like ''Wheels of Fire''. With a lack of quality material on hand, however, the album was only one disc with three live recordings and three studio recordings. The original LP release of the album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve with art direction handled by Haig Adishian. The outer sleeve featured photography by Roger Phillips with a cover design by the Alan Aldridge ink Studios, while the inner sleeve featured an illustration of a cemetery by

Roger Hane Roger T. Hane (1939–1974) was an illustrator of paperback books, commercial advertising campaigns, and record albums, known for his surreal, fanciful art. During his eleven-year professional career, Hane produced over three hundred illustrations ...

that had the song titles on tombstones. A Compact Disc reissue of the album for the Cream Remasters series in 1998 featured an inlay photograph and had the inner-sleeve illustration in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of the album.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

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 ...

'', music critic Ray Rezos felt Cream deserved to depart with a better album. He wrote that most of the live songs sounded inferior to the original recordings and that the studio tracks were marred by the same flaw as on ''Wheels of Fire'', namely the presence of blues playing on songs whose compositions were not blues in his opinion. Nonetheless, ''Goodbye'' was voted the 148th best rock album of all time in

Paul Gambaccini Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born April 2, 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author in the United Kingdom. He has dual United States and British nationality, having become a British citizen in 2005. Known as "The Grea ...

's 1978 poll of 50 prominent American and English rock critics. In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, senior editor

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

called ''Goodbye'' a work of "hard, heavy rock" and "strong moments" rather than cohesiveness, with live music that is generally better than on ''Wheels of Fire'' and a side of studio recordings that also found Cream "at something of a peak". Robert Christgau also reacted favourably to the album, citing it as his favorite record from the group. J. D. Considine was less impressed in ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (1992), deeming ''Goodbye'' an incomplete record with "exquisite studio work" but mediocre live performances.

Track listing

* Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–6 on CD reissues. Notes: * –3recorded live at The Forum, Los Angeles, 19 October 1968. * Original pressings of the album (as well as the single) list composer credit on "Badge" to Clapton alone. * "Anyone for Tennis" was originally released as a non-album single, as well as by Atco on the soundtrack album to the film ''

The Savage Seven ''The Savage Seven'' is a 1968 outlaw biker exploitation film directed by Richard Rush, who had directed the previous year's '' Hells Angels on Wheels''. Rush agreed to direct ''The Savage Seven'' in exchange for the opportunity to make the psyc ...

'' (catalogue no. SD 33-245, 1968). The song was subsequently sometimes included on pressings of ''Wheels of Fire'' (1968) and later pressings of ''Goodbye'' by Polydor.

Personnel

Cream *

guitars , lead vocals backing vocals *

bass guitar , lead vocals , piano , organ *

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 ...

drums , backing vocals , percussion Additional musicians * L'Angelo Misterioso ( George Harrison)rhythm guitar *

piano , mellotron , bass Recording *

Engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...

Bill Halverson, Adrian Barber, Damon Lyon-Shaw

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1969 albums Cream (band) albums Polydor Records albums Atco Records albums 1969 live albums Polydor Records live albums Atco Records live albums Albums produced by Felix Pappalardi Albums recorded at the Forum Albums recorded at IBC Studios Albums with cover art by Alan Aldridge