Goodbye (Cream album)

Goodbye
Studio album / Live album by Cream
Released 5 February 1969
Recorded 19 October 1968 at The Forum in Los Angeles, California
October 1968 at IBC Studios in London, UK[1]
Genre Hard rock
Length 30:09
Label Polydor
Producer Felix Pappalardi[1]
Cream chronology
Wheels of Fire
(1968)		 Goodbye
(1969)		 Best of Cream
(1969)
Eric Clapton chronology
Wheels of Fire
(1968)		 Goodbye
(1969)		 Blind Faith
(1969)

Goodbye (also called Goodbye Cream)[2] is the fourth and final studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in Europe by Polydor Records and by Atco Records in the United States, debuting in Billboard on 15 February 1969.[3] It reached #1 in the United Kingdom and # 2 in the United States. A single, "Badge", was subsequently released from the album a month later (see 1969 in music). The album was released after Cream disbanded in November 1968.[4]

Background and recording

Just before Cream's third album, Wheels of Fire, was to be released, the group's manager Robert Stigwood announced that the group were going to disband after a farewell tour and a final concert at the Royal Albert Hall in November.[5]

Just before the start of their farewell tour in October 1968, Cream recorded three songs at IBC Studios in London with producer Felix Pappalardi and engineer Damon Lyon-Shaw.[1] The songs "Badge" and "Doing That Scrapyard Thing" featured Eric Clapton using a Leslie speaker,[5] while all three recordings featured keyboard instruments played by either Jack Bruce or Felix Pappalardi.[1]

The group started their farewell tour on 4 October 1968 in Oakland, California[5] and 15 days later on 19 October the group performed at The Forum in Los Angeles where the three live recordings on Goodbye were recorded with Felix Pappalardi and engineers Adrian Barber and Bill Halverson.[1]

Compiling, artwork and packaging

The original plan for Goodbye was to make it a double album, with one disc featuring studio recordings and the other with live performances much like Wheels of Fire, but with a lack of quality material on hand the album was only one disc with three live recordings and three studio recordings.[5]

The original LP release of the album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve with art direction handled by Haig Adishian. The outer sleeve featured photography by Roger Phillips with a cover design by the Alan Aldridge ink Studios, while the inner sleeve featured an illustration of a cemetery by Roger Hane that had the song titles on tombstones.[6] A Compact Disc reissue of the album for the Cream Remasters series in 1998 featured an inlay photograph and had the inner-sleeve illustration in the liner notes of the album.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Retrospective reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Chicago Tribune[8]
Robert ChristgauA–[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, music critic Ray Rezos felt Cream deserved to depart with a better album. He wrote that most of the live songs sound inferior to the original recordings and that the studio tracks are marred by the same flaw as on Wheels of Fire, namely the presence of blues playing on songs whose compositions were not blues in his opinion.[11] Nonetheless, Goodbye was voted the 148th best rock album of all time in Paul Gambaccini's 1978 poll of 50 prominent American and English rock critics.[12]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Goodbye a work of "hard, heavy rock" and "strong moments" rather than cohesiveness, with live music that is generally better than on Wheels of Fire and a side of studio recordings that also found Cream "at something of a peak".[7] Robert Christgau also reacted favourably to the album, citing it as his favorite record from the group.[9] J. D. Considine was less impressed in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992), deeming Goodbye an incomplete record with "exquisite studio work" but mediocre live performances.[10]

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s)Vocal(s)[1] Length
1. "I'm So Glad"  Skip JamesJack Bruce, Eric Clapton 9:11
2. "Politician"  Jack Bruce, Pete BrownBruce 6:19
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s)Vocal(s)[1] Length
1. "Sitting on Top of the World"  Vinson, Chatmon; arr. BurnettBruce 5:01
2. "Badge"  Eric Clapton, George Harrison[13]Clapton 2:45
3. "Doing That Scrapyard Thing"  Jack Bruce, Pete BrownBruce 3:14
4. "What a Bringdown"  Ginger BakerBruce, Clapton 3:56
CD bonus track
No. TitleWriter(s)Vocal(s) Length
7. "Anyone for Tennis" (The Savage Seven theme)Eric Clapton, Martin SharpClapton 2:37

Notes:

Personnel

Personnel for the studio recordings

I'm So Glad
Politician
Sitting On Top Of The World
Badge
Doing That Scrapyard Thing
What A Bringdown

[14]

Charts

Chart (1969) Peak
position
Canadian Top 50 Albums[15] 5
French Top Albums[16] 3
German Albums Chart[17] 9
Norwegian Top 40 Albums[18] 7
UK Albums Chart[19] 1
US Billboard 200[20] 2

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[21] Gold 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[23] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Goodbye (CD liner). Cream. Polydor Records. 1969. 31453 1815-2.
  2. ↑ Baker, Ginger. "Ginger Baker History Archive 1968". gingerbaker.com.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel. "Joel Whitburn's Record Research: Online Music Vault". Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Welch, Chris (4 August 2005). "The Farewell". Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Schumacher, Michael (2005). "Chapter 5: Do What You Like (1968–69)". Crossroads: The Life and Times of Eric Clapton (First ed.). New York City, United States: Hyperion Books. pp. 107, 111, 113, 114. ISBN 0-7868-6074-X.
  6. ↑ Goodbye (Vinyl sleeve). Cream. New York City, United States: Atco Records. 1969. SD 7001.
  7. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Cream: Goodbye > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  8. ↑ Kot, Greg (1993). "It's A Roller-coaster Career From Blues To Pop And Back". Chicago Tribune (February 21). Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Robert Christgau: Online Exchange, part 3". RockCritics.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Considine, J. D. (1992). "Cream". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly. The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 166. ISBN 0679737294.
  11. ↑ Rezos, Ray (5 April 1969). "Review: Goodbye by Cream". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Gambaccini, Paul (1978). Rock Critic's Choice: The Top 200 Albums. Omnibus. pp. 83–4. ISBN 0860014940.
  13. ↑ Per BMI records, BMI Work #80556. Some releases of the album erroneously credit Clapton only.
  14. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Cream-Goodbye/release/1344975
  15. ↑ "Top 50 Albums" (PDF). RPM. 11 (8). 21 April 1969. ISSN 0315-5994. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  16. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste" (PHP). InfoDisc (in French). Find "CREAM" under the drop-down menu to see statistics.
  17. ↑ "Album – Cream, Goodbye" (ASP). Media Control Charts (in German). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  18. ↑ "Cream – Goodbye (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  19. ↑ "All the Number One Albums: 1969". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  20. ↑ "Cream: Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  21. ↑ "Australian Fun Countdowns: Accreditation Awards". Warner Music Sales International. BMI Music International. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Best-selling Rock LPs". Billboard Magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 28, 1968. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  23. ↑ "American album certifications – Cream". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 17, 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations by The Supremes and The Temptations
The Best of The Seekers by The Seekers
The Best of The Seekers by The Seekers		 UK Albums Chart number-one album
15 March 1969 – 29 March 1969
12 April 1969 – 19 April 1969
26 April 1969 – 3 May 1969 		Succeeded by
The Best of The Seekers by The Seekers
The Best of The Seekers by The Seekers
The Best of The Seekers by The Seekers
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