Cream vs. the Jimi Hendrix Experience!

[Foxhound]

Much to my surprise these two psychedelic blues bands from the late 1960's have not yet met in the ring at this historical venue of ours. Well I've now convinced them to sign on the dotted line.

Which band do you like better? Why?

Cream










Jimi Hendrix Experience

[dr wu]

4 days and no replies yet......after some consideration I went with Jimmi...but it was very very close.
Hendrix had a few more radio 'hits' than Cream but they both only had 4 studio lps and Hendrix' Cry of Love wasn't even completed before he died....and Goodbye Cream was cobbled together from studio and live songs. Ladyland is a bit stronger than Wheels imo so on that basis Jimmi.....buy I could chnage my mind next week.

[Darth Pazuzu]

I have to say I'm a bigger fan of Hendrix than I am of Cream. Don't get me wrong, both are great, but Hendrix is absolutely one of a kind.

(Sorry, but I'm having trouble finding the studio versions of my favorite Hendrix tracks.)

[Foxhound]

Originally Posted by Darth Pazuzu

Sorry, but I'm having trouble finding the studio versions of my favorite Hendrix tracks.

Beyond the five I included in my initial post, those are nigh impossible to find.

[Foxhound]

Originally Posted by dr wu

after some consideration I went with Jimmi...but it was very very close.

Hendrix had a few more radio 'hits' than Cream but they both only had 4 studio lps....

The Jimi Hendrix Experience released three studio albums over fourteen months:

Are You Experienced? ( 23 August 1967)
Axis: Bold as Love (15 January 1968)
Electric Ladyland (16 October 1968)

Since Electric Ladyland was a double disc album, that makes four studio LPs in all. These three tracks were on 45s but didn't appear on the three albums:

51st Anniversary
Highway Chile
The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice


Meanwhile Cream released four albums with studio tracks in just over two years:

Fresh Cream (9 December 1966)
Disraeli Gears (2 November 1967)
Wheels of Fire (9 August 1968)
Goodbye (5 February 1969)

Since Wheels of Fire contained only one studio disc and studio recordings accounted for less than half of Goodbye, that amounts to less than 3 1/2 studio LPs in all. Cream also released a couple of (actually lousy) tracks on 45s that didn't appear on the albums:

Wrapping Paper
Anyone for Tennis

Cream also recorded this ode to their favourite brew combining Spoonful like vocals with an instrumental backing derivative of Sunshine of Your Love:



While blues bands have traditionally extolled the merits of strong drink, for whatever reason their record company chose not to release it.


The studio output of the two bands was therefore very close in quantity.

I went with the Cream here because I like several of their tracks (including the five I listed in my initial post) more than I like anything by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. I still really like the Jimi Hendrix Experience though.

[Foxhound]

Interesting about the Cream. While originating in the mid-1960's when Top Forty AM radio was still incredibly good, they didn't have a major impact on the hit charts. They instead were trailblazers in the progressive rock movement that eventually became known as "album-oriented rock". The Cream were actually seminal in drawing me into album-oriented rock.

It may be tough for younger rock music enthusiasts to believe, but "rock journalism" was basically non-existent prior to the 9 November 1967 launch of Rolling Stone magazine. Moreover it was several years before Rolling Stone became widely available on newsstands across the breadth of the country. Stereo Review which I looked through at the local library reviewed rock albums sporadically beginning sometime in the late 1960's and the music section in Time magazine to which we subscribed also carried the occasional article. It was through an article in Time magazine in late 1967 or early 1968 that I first learned of the Cream. They were described as bringing a bit of the Chicago blues scene to whatever venue they played (or something like that).

When I therefore heard Anyone for Tennis? on the radio, I therefore listened in rapt wonder/attention. I knew it was supposed to be good but somehow it wasn't as described. Not surprising though since Anyone for Tennis? was neither representative of the Cream's music nor was it very good:



But then Sunshine of Your Love hit big in mid-1968. It was a real ear opener for me.

When I then heard White Room on Thomas Aquinas' half hour progressive rock show a few weeks later, I immediately went downtown to Bluebird Records and bought Wheels of Fire. While listening to Wheels on Fire on my Seabreeze suitcase stereo that day, my older sister by nearly seven years came into my room and commented that our tastes in music had clearly diverged entirely. She was still an Elvis Presley fan although she really loved my High Tide and Green Grass album by the Rolling Stones.

So like I say Cream were instrumental in introducing me to album-oriented rock. Together with other bands/artists such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Grateful Dead, Butterfield Blues Band, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck Group, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Nice, (Peter Green's) Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, Spirit, Spooky Tooth, Leslie West and Johnny Winter that had very few if any Top Forty hits, the Cream drew me into more serious "intellectual" variants of rock music. My first exposure to most of these bands was in 1968-69 on Thomas Aquinas' progressive rock show on CFPL-AM. So that was my personal Golden Age when album-oriented rock began to diverge from still very good Top Forty hit radio. And of course I'm still a classic rock fan to this very day.



Incidentally, I have to admit that when I first heard Purple Haze by the Jimi Hendrix Experience from the single a buddy of mine played for me on my Seabreeze stereo, I just thought it was a bunch of noise! It took me a few more listens to appreciate the Jimi Hendrix Experience and then of course I bought both Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold as Love.

[Tkitna]

A little bit of Jimi goes a long way with me. Voted for Cream.

[dr wu]

Interestingly.....when asked once back in the day who was the greatest guitarist Clapton said ....Jimmi of course.

[Foxhound]

This continues to be a classic match-up:

Cream






Jimi Hendrix Experience

[kw21925]

Originally Posted by dr wu

Interestingly.....when asked once back in the day who was the greatest guitarist Clapton said ....Jimmi of course.

And when Hendrix was asked the same question, he named Rory Gallagher, or Terry Kath, or Phil Keaggy, depending on who you believe.

[Foxhound]

Live performances by the two bands:

Cream








Jimi Hendrix Experience