CREAM Fresh Cream US Stereo Atco First Pressing 1967 NM

$

51

PLEASE READ AND CONSIDER THIS IMPORTANT SHIPPING INFORMATION BEFORE YOU READ ABOUT THIS RECORD:
Ebay does not let me specify a greater shipping amount than $4 for US shipping in the listing, but I am in Canada and shipping a record to you in the US costs $12, not $4, so kindly disregard the listed shipping price and follow the shipping charges below. I will send you an invoice with the correct shipping amount shortly after the end of the auction. If you jump the gun and submit a payment with just $4 shipping I will send you a paypal invoice to cover the remaining $8, so it's better to wait for my invoice.
By bidding on my auction you are acknowledging that you have read and understood my shipping terms.

SHIPPING PRICES ARE AS FOLLOWS

Within North America:
1 record: $12, 2 records: $17, 3 records: $22, 4 records: $25, 5, 6 or 7 records: $28

Outside North America:
1 record: $18, 2 records: $30, 3, 4 or 5 records: $50, 6 records: $75

Over a period of several years I am slowly listing a remarkable record collection for auction on ebay. This collection belonged to my friend Brian, one of the most discerning record collectors I have ever known. Brian started buying records in 1966 when he was a teenager. His infatuation for vinyl developed into a career and he eventually ended up working for RCA records and CBS/Sony records as a disc mastering engineer from 1977 to 1989. Brian’s not with us anymore, and I’m making good on my promise to him to sell his records in lovingly-prepared auctions which reflect the love he had for his vast collection. The proceeds go to his family.

Brian’s collection is the kind that rarely comes up for sale. He had great taste in music and collected vinyl seriously for 40 years, taking superb care of his collection. To see all of Brian’s records that I currently have listed, click here.

I grade records conservatively to ensure your satisfaction as the buyer. All LPs will be shipped promptly in reinforced record-mailing boxes. Because of the size of this collection, I will be listing these records in sections, so you might want to bookmark my listings page and keep checking back. Also, if you want to be notified when a new block of records is listed, drop me a line with your email.

This month I'm offering for your consideration Brian's Johan Mayall, Eric Clapton, Cream, Jack Bruce and related LPs.

Artist: Cream

Title: Fresh Cream

Country of Issue: US

Date of Issue: January 1967

Catalogue Number: Atco SD 33-206

Matrix side one: ST-C-66957-1A

Matrix side two: ST-C-66958-1A

Condition of sleeve: VG+ with some general wear - mostly to the edges, but no seam splits.

Hey there, I'm just interrupting in the middle of the crucial record condition descriptions to make sure you saw the important information about shipping that is at the start and end of this listing, and why shipping on this LP is NOT $4. It's incredible how many people fail to read this, or worse: choose to ignore this important information! Thanks!

Condition of record: NM. There are a couple of superficial marks on side two. An astonishingly nice sounding copy of a classic LP that is almost half a century old.

Further Notes:

Fresh Cream was the first release on Robert Stigwood's Reaction label. It's remarkable to consider that Clapton had only left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in July of 1966, quickly accepted Ginger Baker's offer to join Cream, played their first show on July 29th, by October this album was recorded, and it was in stores on December 9th.

Tracklist: (note that this US edition omits "Spoonful" but adds the single "I Feel Free")

Side one:
1. "I Feel Free" Jack Bruce, Pete Brown 6:30 2. "N.S.U." Jack Bruce 2:43
3. "Sleepy Time Time" Bruce, Janet Godfrey 4:20
4. "Dreaming" Bruce 1:58
5. "Sweet Wine" Ginger Baker, Godfrey 3:17

Side Two:
1. "Cat's Squirrel" (Instrumental) Traditional, arr. by Baker, Bruce, Eric Clapton 3:03
2. "Four Until Late" (Lead vocals: Eric Clapton) Robert Johnson, arr. Clapton 2:07
3. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" McKinley Morganfield 4:42
4. "I'm So Glad" Skip James 3:57
5. "Toad" (Instrumental) Baker 5:11

All Music Guide:
Fresh Cream represents so many different firsts, it's difficult to keep count. Cream, of course, was the first supergroup, but their first album not only gave birth to the power trio, it also was instrumental in the birth of heavy metal and the birth of jam rock. That's a lot of weight for one record and, like a lot of pioneering records, Fresh Cream doesn't seem quite as mighty as what would come later, both from the group and its acolytes. In retrospect, the moments on the LP that are a bit unformed -- in particular, the halting waltz of "Dreaming" never achieves the sweet ethereal atmosphere it aspires to -- stand out more than the innovations, which have been so thoroughly assimilated into the vocabulary of rock & roll, but Fresh Cream was a remarkable shift forward in rock upon its 1966 release and it remains quite potent. Certainly at this early stage the trio was still grounded heavily in blues, only fitting given guitarist Eric Clapton's stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, which is where he first played with bassist Jack Bruce, but Cream never had the purist bent of Mayall, and not just because they dabbled heavily in psychedelia. The rhythm section of Bruce and Ginger Baker had a distinct jazzy bent to their beat; this isn't hard and pure, it's spongy and elastic, giving the musicians plenty of room to roam. This fluidity is most apparent on the blues covers that take up nearly half the record, especially on "Spoonful," where the swirling instrumental interplay, echo, fuzz tones, and overwhelming volume constitute true psychedelic music, and also points strongly toward the guitar worship of heavy metal. Almost all the second side of Fresh Cream is devoted to this, closing with Baker's showcase "Toad," but for as hard and restless as this half of the album is, there is some lightness on the first portion of the record where Bruce reveals himself as an inventive psychedelic pop songwriter with the tense, colorful "N.S.U." and the hook- and harmony-laden "I Feel Free." Cream shows as much force and mastery on these tighter, poppier tunes as they do on the free-flowing jams, yet they show a clear bias toward the long-form blues numbers, which makes sense: they formed to be able to pursue this freedom, which they do so without restraint. If at times that does make the album indulgent or lopsided, this is nevertheless where Cream was feeling their way forward, creating their heavy psychedelic jazz-blues and, in the process, opening the door to all kinds of serious rock music that may have happened without Fresh Cream, but it just would not have happened in the same fashion as it did with this record as precedent.

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IMPORTANT SHIPPING NOTE (in case you missed it above):
Ebay does not let me specify a greater shipping amount than $4 for US shipping in the listing, but I am in Canada and shipping a record to you in the US costs $12, not $4, so kindly disregard the listed shipping price and follow the shipping charges below. I will send you an invoice with the correct shipping amount shortly after the end of the auction. If you jump the gun and submit a payment with just $4 shipping I will send you a paypal invoice to cover the remaining $8, so it's better to wait for my invoice.
By bidding on my auction you are acknowledging that you have read and understood my shipping terms.

SHIPPING PRICES ARE AS FOLLOWS

Within North America:
1 record: $12, 2 records: $17, 3 records: $22, 4 records: $25, 5, 6 or 7 records: $28

Outside North America:
1 record: $18, 2 records: $30, 3, 4 or 5 records: $50, 6 records: $75