Eric Clapton reveals this week of his declining health

jafant and stuartk,

I am in agreement with both of you.  

Part of the tension within Cream resulted from the fact that Peter Brown, Jack Bruce's song writing partner, was making more money than either Eric Clapton or Ginger Baker.  Bruce/Brown were prolific songwriters and at that time publishing and copywrite royalties could generate more money than record sales.  Additionally, Bruce/Brown wrote quirky pop/rock tunes whereas Clapton tilted more towards riff based blues/rock.  And then there was the constant Ginger vs. Jack feud.  Over time these tensions added up and the band could not survive.

I much prefer Jack Bruce's post Cream output over Eric Clapton's.

I just checked, stuartk has a better memory on this than jafant!

@onhwy61 

Yes; and furthermore, G. Baker always felt his contributions to arrangements were overlooked and deserved financial compensation (royalties). He remained very bitter about this. And, the constant touring, in addition to being physically exhausting, made it very difficult for the band to generate new material. There's a documentary called Beware of Mr. Baker or something similar that reveals what a difficult person he was. At one point, he assaults the film maker!

Here's a track from Cream's reunion tour that shows what Clapton is capable of in the right company. Gorgeous soloing that transcends typical Blues/Rock playing. . .