English rock group. It was formed in London in 1966 by Ginger Baker (b London, Aug 19, 1940; d Canterbury, UK, Oct 6, 2019; drums), Jack Bruce (b Glasgow, May 14, 1943; bass guitar, vocals, and harmonica), and Eric Clapton (electric guitar and vocals). Each member came to the group as an established virtuoso: Clapton from John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Baker from the Graham Bond Organisation, and Bruce from Manfred Mann. The name Cream was a boast about their collective talents. The group played blues, covering such standards as Willie Dixon’s Spoonful and Robert Johnson’s Crossroads, but Clapton was the only blues purist in the group and even he acknowledged the need to move in other directions, especially after hearing Hendrix. The group’s most enduring songs are those in which a new rock style was forged: blues-based riffs, often played in octaves by Clapton and Bruce (as in Sunshine of Your Love).
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