Wheels of Fire | ||||
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Studio album / Live album by Cream | ||||
Released | August 1968[1] | |||
Recorded | July, August 1967 at IBC Studios, London September – October 1967, January – February, June 1968 at Atlantic Studios, New York 8 and 10 March 1968 at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California 7 March 1968 at The Fillmore, San Francisco[1] |
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Genre | Blues rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock | |||
Length | 80:32 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Producer | Felix Pappalardi[1] | |||
Cream chronology | ||||
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Singles from Wheels of Fire | ||||
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Wheels of Fire is the name of a double album recorded by Cream. The release was largely successful, scoring the band a #3 peak in the United Kingdom and a #1 in the United States, and became the world's first platinum-selling double album.[3]
The album was also released as Wheels of Fire (In the Studio) and Wheels of Fire (Live at the Fillmore) as two single albums, released together, with similar cover art except: In the UK, the studio album was black print on aluminium foil, while the Live at the Fillmore album was a negative image of the studio cover. In Japan, the studio album was black on gold foil, while the live album was black on aluminium foil. In Australia, both covers were laminated copies of the Japanese releases (it was never released as a double album in Australia). In 2003, the album was ranked number 203 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[4]
Contents |
After the release of Disraeli Gears in November 1967, Polydor Records and Atco Records, planned for Cream's third album to be a double album, on which Atco Records' producer Felix Pappalardi and the group wanted to include several live performances.[5]
The group and Pappalardi had, in July and August 1967, recorded studio material at IBC Studios in London, and at Atlantic Studios in New York City during September and October of the same year.[1] Additional studio material was recorded at Atlantic Studios in January and February 1968, during a break from the band's heavy tour schedule.[1][5] The following month,[1] Pappalardi ordered for a mobile recording studio in Los Angeles to be shipped to the Fillmore auditorium and the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.[5] Six shows were recorded in San Francisco by Pappalardi and recording engineer Bill Halverson,[1] and extra performances not included on Wheels of Fire ended up on Live Cream, and Live Cream Volume II.[5]
The sessions for Wheels of Fire were one of the first to use eight-track tape recorders at a time when four-track recorders were the standard.[5] The recording engineers on disc one were Tom Dowd and Adrian Barber, while the songs on disc two were recorded by Bill Halverson, and the performances on the second disc were re-mixed by Adrian Barber. The artwork for the album was done by Martin Sharp,[1] who had also done the artwork for Disraeli Gears. The photography was done by Jim Marshall.[1]
The band's drummer Ginger Baker co-wrote three songs for the album with pianist Mike Taylor. Bassist Jack Bruce co-wrote four songs with poet Pete Brown. Guitarist Eric Clapton contributed to the album by choosing two cover songs.
For the second disc Felix Pappalardi chose "Traintime" because it featured Jack Bruce performing a harmonica solo. "Toad" was chosen because it features Ginger Baker's drumming. The songs "Spoonful" and "Crossroads" were used to feature Eric Clapton's guitar as the songs focus.[5]
Performers are "the Cream quartet" consisting of Clapton, Baker, and Bruce together with Felix Pappalardi, who plays many different instruments and is also credited with production.
^Note 1: Some pressings of this album contain an alternative version of "Passing the Time". This "long version" is extended by 67 seconds, but also differs from the "extended version" included on Those Were the Days, which is longer by a further 8 seconds.
^Note 2: Original US pressings of Wheels of Fire incorrectly listed the running time of "Deserted Cities of the Heart" at 4:36.
^Note 3: Side 1 tracks 1 and 3 and Side 2 tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the studio album were processed with the Haeco-CSG system. Also processed was "Anyone For Tennis", which was recorded at the same sessions and appears on some versions of the album. Haeco-CSG was intended to make stereo recordings that were fully compatible with mono playback equipment. The unfortunate side effect is that it "blurs" the stereo imaging of musical parts mixed to the phantom centre channel. Using modern digital audio processing software it is possible to reverse the Haeco-CSG effect and restore the original intended sound quality.
During the 10 March first set, "Spoonful" preceded "Crossroads", and though it seems as though "Traintime" aurally precedes "Toad", "Traintime" was recorded a day later, and expertly edited to seamlessly blend into the introduction to "Toad".
While the disc is labelled Live at the Fillmore, only "Toad" was recorded at The Fillmore. The other tracks were recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.[6]
^Note 4: Original album pressings list "John Group" as the author of "Traintime." The "John Group" appellation dates back to Jack Bruce's tenure with the Graham Bond Organisation (with whom Bruce originally recorded the song in 1965), and was used by that band to ensure that members other than Bond received songwriting royalties.[7] The song is based on a vintage blues by Peter Chatman.
Per liner notes[1]
Chart (1968) | Peak position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] | 1 |
Canada (RPM Top 50)[9] | 1 |
Norway (VG-lista)[10] | 16 |
UK (The Official Charts Company)[11]
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3 |
UK (The Official Charts Company)[12]
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7 |
US Billboard 200[13] | 1 |
Year | Single | Position | |
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Billboard Hot 100[14] | UK Top 40[15] | ||
1968 | "White Room" | #6 | #28 |
1969 | "Crossroads" | #28 | - |
Organization | Level | Date |
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RIAA | Gold | 22 July 1968 |
Preceded by The Beat of the Brass by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass |
Billboard 200 number-one album 10 August - 6 September 1968 |
Succeeded by Waiting for the Sun by The Doors |
Preceded by The Graduate (soundtrack) by Various artists |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 7–20 December 1968 |
Succeeded by The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles |
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