Tales of Brave Ulysses

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"Tales of Brave Ulysses"

Single by Cream
from the album Disraeli Gears
Released	3rd June 1967 (single)
Format	Vinyl album
Recorded	Atlantic Studios, New York
Genre	Rock music
Length	2:49 (album) ([1])
Label	Polydor (album)
Producer(s)	Felix Pappalardi
Chart positions
Insert Later
Cream singles chronology
Insert Later (1967)	Strange Brew"/"Tales of Brave Ulysses" (1967)

"Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song performed by the 1960s group Cream. It was written by Eric Clapton and Martin Sharp. The song is featured on Cream's album Disraeli Gears. The lyrics were written by Martin Sharp on the back of a beer mat, which he gave to Eric Clapton after a chance meeting. These lyrics were put to a series of chords inspired by The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City", and made to scan by Cream singer Jack Bruce.

The song also featured Eric Clapton's first use of the wah wah pedal.

[edit] Song Meaning

Some believe the lyrics detail a few of the adventures undertaken by Ulysses (a Latinate form of Odysseus), which are the subject of Homer's the Odyssey. This can be seen in the song's reference to "the sirens sweetly singing," an event from Homer's poem.

[edit] Composition

The main guitar riff repeats throughout the song, interspersed with small solos:

D C B Bb

The composition of "Tales of Brave Ulysses" has been likened by some to "White Room", another Cream song, as well as to Bob Dylan's "It's Alright Ma" in terms of vocal pacing. It is also similar to "White Room" in that they are two of the very few occasions in his career with Cream, that Clapton used a wah-wah pedal for his guitar parts. The similarity to "White Room" is particularly apparent in live versions [2] of the song. Despite being one of their more popular songs, Cream did not play this in their 2005 reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall, though they did play it at their Madison Square Garden shows.