Cream teamed up with producer Felix Pappalardi for their second album, Disraeli Gears. This was a move that helped push the power trio toward psychedelia and also helped give the album a thematic coherence missing from the debut. It was released in November, 1967 and went on to reach #5 on the UK charts. The album was also a massive seller in the US in 1968, reaching #4 on American charts. The title, Disraeli Gears, was actually an inside joke. Eric Clapton wanted to buy a racing bicycle, and when discussing it with Ginger Baker, Mick Turner, a roadie, commented on the performance of “those Disraeli Gears” meaning to say “derailleur gears.” The band thought this was hilarious and decided that it should be the title of their next album. Disraeli Gears features two hit singles, “Strange Brew” featuring the dreamy vocals of Jack Bruce and “Sunshine of your Love” in which you hear some of the most legendary riffs of all time by Eric Clapton. Another memorable song on the album is “Tales of Brave Ulysses.” In this song, Cream manages to craft a two minute, forty nine second song into a masterpiece of seemingly epic proportions. Disraeli Gears is a quintessential heavy rock album of the ’60s. 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.

Graeme Pattingale’s Those Were The Days. Complete repository of information on Cream concerts and recordings
Marlene of Newark, DE remembers (almost) seeing Cream many years apart
Andrew of Hopewell Township, NJ recalls two defining albums of 1967