Cream – Live at Oakland Colosseum [Oct, 1968]

This is the first concert Cream played on their official ‘Farewell Tour’, which was their sad departure from the world of rock music. Even though this is a bootleg, it was recorded officially, in the hopes of turning it into an official live album, so the recording is excellent. Due to the band not having played with each other for some time prior to this concert, a lot of the songs were sloppy and it was decided that it wouldn’t be officially released, though some of the tracks were released on the Live Cream Vol. I and II albums. Even though this is probably Cream at their worst, they were still significantly better than most other bands at their best. The quality of the recording is worth the download alone, and they actually tear it up on some of the tracks! However… the version of crossroads is an absolute disgrace, Clapton insisted on playing it as a slow groove (similar to how he plays the song post Cream – god I hate post Cream Clapton..), despite Ginger’s attempt at speeding it up Clapton continued to defile the song, and even jumps into a really bad solo. Then again I guess I have high standards for this song, Clapton set the bar so high with his recording at Winterland (released on the Wheels of Fire album, and on my Wheels of Ice compilation) that I wish they had never played the song again after that… that version was, and always will be untouchable. Highlights include one of the only live performances of Deserted Cities of the Heart, White Room, and Politician. Download it here.

TRACK LISTING:

1. White Room [6:34]
2. Politician [5:16]
3. Crossroads [3:57]
4. Sunshine of Your Love [5:12]
5. Spoonful [17:09]
6. Deserted Cities of the Heart [4:19]
7. Passing the Time [10:57]
8. I’m So Glad [7:02]

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