George Harrison - ...and on guitar (1975)

By 1969 George Harrison's songwriting had come on in leaps and bounds, culminating in him providing two of the most popular songs on The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' album. That same year he co-wrote 'Badge' with Eric Clapton, which was included on Cream's 'Goodbye' album, and on which Harrison played rhythm guitar, using the pseudonym L'Angelo Misterioso for contractual reasons. In May 1970 he played guitar on several songs during a recording session for Bob Dylan's album 'New Morning', and although none of them made the final cut for the album, some of them have appeared on one of Dylan's 'Bootleg Series' albums, including an alternate take of 'New Morning's 'Time Passes Slowly'. In 1971 he produced and played slide guitar on Badfinger's top ten hit 'Day After Day', and contributed dobro to Billy Preston's 'I Wrote a Simple Song', while in 1972 he added guitar to Harry Nilsson's 'You're Breakin' My Heart'. The following year he appeared on Cheech & Chong's 'Basketball Jones' from their 'Big Bambu' album, and 1973 also saw him add guitar to 'Waiting For The Band' from Nicky Hopkins' 'The Tin Man Was A Dreamer' under the name of George O'Hara, and 'If You've Got Love' from 'It's Like You Never Left' by Dave Mason under another of his pseudonyms, Son Of Harry. Lastly from 1973, Hari Georgeson helped out Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre on 'So Sad (No Love Of His Own)' from their 'On The Road To Freedom' album. 1974 was a bit quieter, with Harrison co-writing 'Far East Man' with Ronnie Wood, and both artists recording their own versions of the song, with Wood's coming out first on his 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' release. Also in 1974, two-man band Splinter released their debut, Harrison-produced album 'The Place I Love' on his Dark Horse label. It was actually the first record to be released on the label, and Harrison played guitar and keyboards on it as well, with the record spawning the hit single 'Costafinetown'. In 1975 Harrison expanded his horizons and added guitar to Tom Scott's jazz album 'New York Connection', rounding off nicely his extra-curricular activities from the first half on the 70's. Harrison then took a break while he released solo albums of his own, with his next guest appearances being in 1981 on an album from Mick Fleetwood and a single by Ringo Starr.   

Track listing

01 Badge (single by Cream 1969)

02 Time Passes Slowly (from the 'New Morning' sessions with Bob Dylan 1970)

03 I Wrote A Simple Song (from 'I Wrote A Simple Song' by Billy Preston 1971)

04 Day After Day (single by Badfinger 1971)

05 You're Breaking My Heart (from 'Nilsson Schmilsson' by Harry Nilsson 1972)

06 If You've Got Love (from 'It's Like You Never Left' by Dave Mason  1973) 

07 Waiting For The Band (from 'The Tin Man Was A Dreamer' by Nicky Hopkins 1973)  

08 Basketball Jones (from 'Big Bambu' by Cheech & Chong 1973)

09 So Sad (No Love Of His Own) (from 'On The Road To Freedom' by Alvin Lee 1973)  

10 Far East Man (from 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' by Ronnie Wood 1974)

11 Somebody's City (from 'The Place I Love' by Splinter 1974)

12 Appolonia (from 'New York Connection' by Tom Scott 1975)

Cream - Double Cream (1966)

By July 1966, Eric Clapton's career with the Yardbirds and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers had earned him a reputation as the premier blues guitarist in Britain, but latterly he found the environment of Mayall's band confining, and sought to expand his playing in a new band. Ginger Baker was also feeling stifled as leader of the leader of the Graham Bond Organisation, and was becoming increasingly frustrated with Graham Bond's drug addictions and bouts of mental instability. Each was impressed with the other's playing abilities, prompting Baker to ask Clapton to join his new, then-unnamed group. Clapton immediately agreed, on the condition that Baker hire Baker's old Graham Bond Organisation band-mate Jack Bruce as the group's bassist. Clapton had also played with Bruce in the past, and having been impressed by his vocals, he wanted to work with him on an ongoing basis. Baker and Bruce had a volatile relationship while playing together in Bond's band, but they agreed to put aside their differences for the good of Baker's new trio, which he envisioned as a collaborative effort, with each of the members contributing to music and lyrics. The band was named Cream, as Clapton, Bruce, and Baker were already considered the 'cream of the crop' amongst their peers. 
Initially, the group were billed as The Cream, but starting officially with their first record releases the trio became known as Cream. The band's debut album, 'Fresh Cream', was recorded and released in 1966, and was evenly split between self-penned originals and blues covers, including 'Four Until Late', 'Rollin' and Tumblin'', and 'Spoonful'. The rest of the songs were written by either Jack Bruce or Ginger Baker, with his 'Toad' containing one of the earliest examples of a drum solo in rock music, as Baker expanded upon his 1965 composition 'Camels and Elephants'. This extended version of that debut album includes alternate mixes and masters of a number of songs which were released on a couple of French EP's in 1966, alongside a number of out-takes from the original sessions, the non-album UK single 'I Feel Free', some rare BBC sessions, a commercial for Falstaff Beer recorded in Sweden in 1967, and a couple of takes of 'Lawdy Mama', the second of which is obviously the inspiration for their own 'Strange Brew'. There's was almost enough material recorded in 1966 for their debut to be a double album, hence the title, so enjoy this alternate look at the early days of a classic band, mostly recorded in glorious mono for that authentic feel. 

Track listing

01 Lawdy Mama (version 1)
02 Sweet Wine (French EP version)
03 Spoonful Part I (single 1967)
04 Spoonful Part II (single 1967)
05 Cat's Squirrel (French EP version)
06 Four Until Late (French EP version)
07 Rollin' And Tumblin' (French EP version)
08 I'm So Glad (French EP version)
09 Sleepy Time Time (BBC session)
10 The Coffee Song (album out-take)
11 Toad (early version)
12 Wrapping Paper (French EP version)
13 Beauty Queen (previously unreleased)
14 Crossroads (BBC session)
15 You Make Me Feel (previously unreleased)
16 Train Time (BBC session)
17 Falstaff Beer Commercial
18 I Feel Free (single)
19 N.S.U. (b-side of 'I Feel Free')
20 Lawdy Mama (version 2)
21 Steppin' Out (BBC session)