Cream Singles Collection

Not too far removed from Traffic are Cream (through the Powerhouse / Blind Faith connections). After the passing of Jack Bruce we'll never see Cream perform ever again. I first heard live recordings of them on Dutch radio in late 1966. I didn't hear their debut "Wrapping Paper" until later, but "I Feel Free" made a deep impression. Not the least through the reputations of both Eric Clapton (the John Mayall Bluesbreakers album was hot at the time) and Jack Bruce (during his stint in Manfred Mann he claimed to be the world's best bass player.........). Cream never quite fulfilled its promise, probably due to the pressure of constant touring and the lack of sufficient original material. But listening to all their Dutch/German singles certainly proves they were one of the all-time best bands. Despite strange sidesteps like "Anyone For Tennis" and "Wrapping Paper".

Wrapping Paper / Cat's Squirrel - Polydor Int. 421 059 {1966}

I Feel Free / NSU - Polydor 59058 {1966}

Strange Brew / Tales Of Brave Ulysses - Polydor 59106 {1967}

Sunshine Of Your Love / SWLABR - Polydor 59165 {1967}

Anyone For Tennis / Pressed Rat And Warthog - Polydor 59206 {1968}

White Room / Those Were The Days - Polydor 59235 {1968}

Crossroads / Passing The Time - Polydor 59259 {1969}

Badge / Doing That Scrapyard Thing - Polydor 59206 {1969}

Lawdy Mama / Rollin' And Tumblin' - Polydor DP 1741 {1970}

Rating: *****

Traffic singles

Trying to figure out which Traffic singles were released can be a nuisance. The first three singles were recorded as such by the band, but after that the local representatives of Fontana / Island took over by picking album tracks and releases differed from country to country. This is a mishmash of UK, Dutch and German releases:

Paper sun / Giving to you {Fontana, 278 301 YF}

Hole in my shoe / Smiling phases {Island, WIP 6017}

Here we go round the mulberry bush / Coloured rain {Island, WIP 6025}

No face, no name, no number / Forty thousand headmen {Fontana, 269 378 YF}

Feelin’ alright? / Withering tree {Fontana, 269 387 TF and Island, WIP 6041}

You can all join in / Withering Tree {Fontana, 260 163}

Shanghai Noodle Factory / You can all join in {Island, ALSO WIP 6041}

Medicated goo / Shanghai Noodle Factory {Island, WIP6050}

Medicated goo / Pearly Queen {Island, 269 394 TF}

Empty Pages / Stranger To Himself {Island, 6014 021}

Although there are picture sleeves of "Feelin’ alright?" / "Withering tree" with release number Island WIP 6041 there are also UK labels of "Shanghai Noodle factory" with release number WIP 6041. Even the Traffic fansite doesn't shed a light on this. "Medicate goo" was released with "Shanghai Noodle Factory" as the B-side as Island WIP6050, but in The Netherlands the flipside was "Pearly Queen". To confuse matters even more "Withering tree" (flipside of "Feelin' alright") was also B-side to a French (?) "You can all join in" single.
Anyway: great band, nice collection!
Rating:*****

"Albatross" b/w "Jigsaw Puzzle Blues" by Fleetwood Mac (Blue Horizon 3145)

The beginning of the end? Not really. We already knew Peter Green sometimes stepped out of the 12-bar format. "The Supernatural" and "The Same Way" on the Bluesbreakers' "A Hard Road" album were points in case. Besides, "Albatross" was a wonderful tune and we weren't blues purists. We were happy that 'our' band was finally making it big, which was always a sign that we had been 'right' all along. Fact is that Fleetwood Mac were steering away from the blues and wonderful singles like "Man of the world" and "Oh well" were to follow.
We were sorry to miss the second Fleetwood Mac concert we were about to witness on Sunday 2 March, 1969. Mac's touring schedule was ridiculous: they played an evening show in Rotterdam and then a post-midnight show in Amsterdam on Friday (so in Amsterdam actually on Saturday in the early hours). Two Dutch blues bands opened for them (Livin' Blues and Cuby + Blizzards), so the Mac must have come off-stage close to 3 in the morning. Then on Saturday there was a notorious concert at De Korenbeurs in Groningen (up north). This gig was ended early when the janitor pulled the plug............. On Sunday afternoon they had a show in the village of Schaijk at about 110 km from Amsterdam. And on Saturday night there was a gig planned in the village of Rijen, another 50 km west.
When we arrived at the church hall (!) in Rijen Livin' Blues was playing. Great band with future Golden Earring drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. Then we heard an elderly woman tell the band (as it turned she was manager of the band and the guitarist was her son, Ted Oberg) to play on as there were problems with Fleetwood Mac: John McVie had collapsed and had been taken to hospital. Knowing of McVie's drinking habits we feared the worst. Strangely enough when Livin' Blues got off-stage all of Mac's new Orange equipment and the new blue drum kit were built up. Then Mick Fleetwood took the stage and said he was sorry they couldn't play as "John is a very sick man". It was the first time I noticed Mick Fleetwood was the leader of the band and not Peter Green. Fleetwood would hold the Mac together until this day. But we were very disappointed on that day. We got our money for the tickets back, but had to pay for the petrol our driver had used with his father's Volkswagen Mini Bus. And we missed the opportunity to see the Green God again. About one year later he would announce he was leaving Fleetwood Mac and things would never be the same again.
Rating: ****