CREAM Disraeli Gears REACTION MONO 593 003 (1st Ed. 1967 pressing) EXC

$

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CREAM Disraeli Gears REACTION MONO 593 003 (1st Ed. 1967 pressing)

Tracklist

A1 Strange Brew Written-By – Clapton*, Pappalardi*, Collins* 2:45 A2 Sunshine Of Your Love Written-By – Clapton*, Bruce*, Brown* 4:08 A3 World Of Pain Written-By – Pappalardi*, Collins* 3:05 A4 Dance The Night Away Written-By – Bruce*, Brown* 3:31 A5 Blue Condition Lead Vocals [Uncredited] – Ginger BakerWritten-By – Baker

3:26 B1 Tales Of Brave Ulysses Written-By – Clapton*, Sharp* 2:50 B2 Swlabr Written-By – Bruce*, Brown* 2:32 B3 We're Going Wrong Written-By – Bruce* 3:25 B4 Outside Woman Blues Arranged By – Clapton*Written-By – Reynolds* 2:20 B5 Take It Back Written-By – Bruce*, Brown* 3:05 B6 Mother's Lament Arranged By – Cream (2)Written-By – Trad.* 1:47

*(all photos are of the actual item)

• Produced For – The Robert Stigwood Organisation
• Published By – Dratleaf Ltd.
• Pressed By – Philips Records Ltd.

• Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals [Uncredited] – Jack Bruce
• Drums, Percussion, Vocals [Uncredited] – Ginger Baker
• Engineer – Tom Dowd
• Guitar, Vocals [Uncredited] – Eric Clapton
• Producer [By Arrangement With Robert Stigwood] – Felix Pappalardi

Notes

Mono issue on Reaction blue labels with silver print, no mention of "MCPS"; fully laminated sleeve stating 'MONO 593 003' on top left rear cover. 

Labels:
Made In England 
593003 Side 1: ? 1967 
593003 Side 2: ? 1966
[Publishers;]
All tracks Dratleaf Ltd. except
A3 Immediate Music

Back Cover: 
"Produced by Felix Pappalardi by arrangement with Robert Stigwood"
[...]
"Manufactured in Great Britain by Polydor Records Ltd., London".
"Printed and made by Ernest J. Day & Co. Ltd., London [...]".

B2: Swlabr is really SWLABR - an acronym for "She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow".
[Connotations have been made by some to the Bearded Iris flower, of the Rainbow Goddess cultivar]

Other Identifiers

• Matrix / Runout (Run-out side A, stamped): 593003 A ? 1
• Matrix / Runout (Run-out side B, stamped): 593003 B? 1

     Released in 1967, Disraeli Gears is the second studio album by the first rock ‘supergroup’ Cream (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) and the name of the album famously came from a malapropism. During a conversation about racing bikes, one of their roadies, a certain Mick Turner, made reference to Disraeli gears instead of Derailleur gears, which was greeted with hilarity and the group decided to use that as the title of the album.
     Something of a departure from their blues roots, Disraeli Gears perfectly captured the mood of the period with a powerful array of psychedelic rockers, reached number 5 in the UK Charts and was Cream’s breakthrough release in the US, hitting number 4 in the Billboard 200. It was all recorded in three and a half days at Atlantic Studios, New York, in the presence of Atlantic Records (to whom they were signed in the US) boss Ahmet Ertegun, following nine shows as part of the Music in the 5th Dimension concert series. Their work visas expired on the last day of recording.
     The sleeve was designed by Australian artist Martin Sharp, who lived in the same building as Eric Clapton, The Pheasantry in Chelsea. Sharp also co-wrote the lysergic tour-de-force Tales Of Brave Ulysses with Clapton and described the music on the album as a "warm fluorescent sound". His artwork was an attempt to represent this visually and is acknowledged to be one of the finest ‘acid rock’ designs of the era.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
     Cream teamed up with producer Felix Pappalardi for their second album, Disraeli Gears, a move that helped push the power trio toward psychedelia and also helped give the album a thematic coherence missing from the debut. This, of course, means that Cream get further away from the pure blues improvisatory troupe they were intended to be, but it does get them to be who they truly are: a massive, innovative power trio. The blues still courses throughout Disraeli Gears -- the swirling kaleidoscopic "Strange Brew" is built upon a riff lifted from Albert King -- but it's filtered into saturated colors, as it is on "Sunshine of Your Love," or it's slowed down and blurred out, as it is on the ominous murk of "Tales of Brave Ulysses." It's a pure psychedelic move that's spurred along by Jack Bruce's flourishing collaboration with Pete Brown. Together, this pair steers the album away from recycled blues-rock and toward its eccentric British core, for with the fuzzy freakout "Swlabr," the music hall flourishes of "Dance the Night Away," the swinging "Take It Back," and of course, the old music hall song "Mother's Lament," this is a very British record. Even so, this crossed the ocean and also became a major hit in America, because regardless of how whimsical certain segments are, Cream are still a heavy rock trio and Disraeli Gears is a quintessential heavy rock album of the '60s. Yes, its psychedelic trappings tie it forever to 1967, but the imagination of the arrangements, the strength of the compositions, and especially the force of the musicianship make this album transcend its time as well.