The transition from Blues, Beat or any form of Pop proved difficult for some of the more succesful bands of the early sixties. The Hollies and The Stones cautiously tinkered with psychedelia with mixed results, but the one of the most unlikely and successful transitions was Cream with their album Disraeli Gears. Sgt. Pepper’s June ’67, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, August ’67 and Disraeli Gears November ’67.

Like The Hollies, the band didn’t just sing and play their way into Psychedelia, they changed their clothes with help from Dutch Art collective The Fool who had given The Hollies a make over for their 1967 album Evolution. Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce were allegedly very uncomfortable in the new threads – hilarious! As they were selling their look to the world they were embarassed about it, it wasn’t them. Still, musically somehow they blended their blues roots with the new mind expanding scene and created a new genre – Psychedelic Blues.

There were some key elements that helped them along. Felix Pappalardi future Mountain bassist was their producer and his wife Gail Collins helped out with lyrics as did Jack Bruce’s songwriting partner and lyricist, Pete Brown. The results of these lyrical collaborations had Brown co-writing four songs on the album including one of their most famous songs and second single Sunshine Of Your Love (With Bruce and Clapton) as well as Take It Back, Dance The Night Away and SWLABR with Bruce. Interestingly Martin Sharp the Australian designer who was responsible for the cover art for the album wrote the most Psychedelic lyric of all with Tales Of Brave Ulysses, co-written with Clapton and the B-side of Strange Brew. Pappalardi and Collins wrote World Of Pain and with Clapton and the first single from the album Strange Brew.

She’s a witch of trouble in electric blue,
In her own mad mind she’s in love with you.
With you.
Now what you gonna do?
Strange brew, kill what’s inside of you.

She’s some kind of demon messing in the glue.
If you don’t watch out it’ll stick to you.
To you.
What kind of fool are you?
Strange brew, kill what’s inside of you.

On a boat in the middle of a raging sea,
She would make a scene for it all to be
Ignored.
And wouldn’t you be bored?
Strange brew, kill what’s inside of you.

Strange brew, strange brew, strange brew, strange brew.
Strange brew, kill what’s inside of you

Strange Brew was a rewrite of a Blues song called Lawdy Mama (avaialable on the deluxe edition of the CD). With Gail Collins lyric, the song was transformed into a classic cross-genre Top 20, reaching No 17 on the British chart (released on Reaction Records) – the album did even better reaching No. 5.in UK. In America it was Sunshine Of Your Love (released on Atco records) that was the hit, reaching No.4 on the US chart.

Collins also co-wrote six songs each on the first two Mountain albums, Climbing 1970 and Nantucket Sleighride 1971, four songs on Flowers Of Evil 1971 and five on Avalance 1974. She also was responsible for Mountain’s colourful artwork. In 1983 Collins shot and Killed Felix Pappalardi in a domestic incident in their apartment in New York. She claimed it was an accident and was convicted of second degree murder. She moved to Mexico and died in 2013.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Brew_(song)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disraeli_Gears

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream_(band)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Pappalardi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Collins_Pappalardi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Baker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Bruce

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Clapton

Martin Sharp Obituary:

http://indeepmusicarchive.net/2013/12/martin-sharp-1942-1st-december-2013/

Tales Of Brave Ulysses Lyrics:

http://indeepmusicarchive.net/2013/12/tales-brave-ulysses-cream-1967-lyrics-martin-sharp/

In the video Jack Bruce is playing a Fender 6 string bass, Clapton ‘that’ SG and it looks like Ginger Baker might be wearing some kind of mini cloak – no wonder he felt uncomfortable! Clapton’s hair is as close as he got to Jimi Hendrix but this soft and breezy groovy tune is one of the highlights of the Psychedelic sixties hits of 1967.