I was in the recording studio editing the audio for our cartoon presentation and it got me thinking about one of the worst edits or one of the edits I love to hate!

In June of 1970 one of my favorite bands at the time FREE released Fire and Water.

It was a great record. A breakthrough for the band even though I thought Tons of Sobs was brilliant, particularly for a first LP. You may remember me discussing it in a previous blog post. http://talkinaboutmygeneration.com/2010/05/free-humble-pie-fleetwood-mac/

But I do digress!

So…I, priding myself with always being on the cutting edge of new releases had this album way before people started catching on. I memorized that record. With all of the great songs on it, “All Right Now” had this infectious riff that couldn’t be beat! It was also 5:34 minutes long! Being a teenager, I felt that I had discovered this song first. I played it for friends, my bandmates etc.

Then, the most horrible thing occured. AM radio had discovered “All Right Now.” But it wasn’t my “All Right Now,” it was an edited version of “All Right Now!” Yet not long before there was a full  7:19 “Hey Jude!”

What had they done to my song? I was furious!  What happened to the solo by the great Paul Kossoff Well, as I started making records myself, I knew all to well what was happening.

But here is the good news; on  December 20, 2012 in NYC @ 78 Below 380 Columbus Ave I will have the chance to ask Free and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke what his feeling was about that edit. Our charitabble organization-Music and Arts USA will be holding it’s first benefit on that night. A number of well known musicians will be performing to help us raise money to bring music into our public schools free of charge and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross to help with the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.                                                                                                                                                                  Steve Augeri (Journey,Tall Stories), Rex Brown (Pantera, Kill Devil Hill), Bobby Rondenelli (Black Sabbath, Quiet Riot), Alex Skolnick (Testament, Alex Skolnick Trio) Oz Noy and a bunch more!

We have been working hard to make this event a success. Please check out our links below and it would be great to see you down there. As amatter of fact, I too am going to play a few songs.

And…to all of you and your families, have a wonderful Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving. We all have so much tto be grateful for!

The main website:

www.musicandartsusa.org

The Benefit page:

www.facebook.com/BenefitDecember20

The Fan Page:

www.facebook.com/MusicandArtsUSA

The Twitter Site:

www.twitter.com/musicandartsusa

Happy Valentines Day!

One month from today is the Induction ceremony of the following folks into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

• Performers:
• Alice Cooper
• Neil Diamond
• Dr. John
• Darlene Love
• Tom Waits

• Non-Performers:
• Jac Holzman
• Art Rupe

• Sidemen:
• Leon Russell

What a great honor! They should all be very proud!

For all of you who read this blog I would like to suggest that you sign the following petition to induct

Clay Cole into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I met Clay at a special book signing in April of last year. One of the nicest people you would ever want to meet!

His passing was truly a sad day for me. His show was one of the best music shows on television.

He truly deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

All of the stores were mom and pop variety and it was always a treat to go inside and look at all the cool gear. There was Terminal Music, and few others I can’t remember! My favorite was Manny’s Music.

Run by Manny Goldrich and family, Manny’s was the place to be ! You never knew who would be in there. Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, Keith Emerson. I saw them all. Manny’s had what became known as the Wall of Fame

The available wall space was adorned with autographed promotion photos of all the musicians and groups that purchased equipment there. I actually ended up on that wall! What an honor!!!

I started hanging out there when I was about 12 because of drummer Don Lamond. When I would cut school and go with him to the taping of the Les Crane show, we would sometimes go out for a bite to eat at Jim and Andy’s, a musicians hang also on West 48th St. He showed me around, introduced me to the owners and I was a “regular” there. I gravitated to one of the sons, Stewart. He was a born salesman and truly a great guy. I ran into him in Nyack NY about 4 years ago and it was great to see him.

One of the guitar salesman Billy, who happened to be a great guitarist told me that he was going to do a commercial and need a bass player and he would call me for the date. Imagine me at Electric Lady Studios, 20 years old cutting an Uncle Ben’s Rice jingle! I left that studio feeling as if I had truly made it! Oh, how naive! About two weeks later, I was listening to the Jazz station WRVR and on came my bassline. OMG!

Back in 1969, I had saved up enough money to buy a brand new sunburst Fender Precision bass and I was going to Manny’s to buy it. When I got there, money burning a hole in my pocket, I got a hold of Stewart and told him “I wanted a Sunburst P bass.” He went to the stockroom and after what seemed an eternity came down with a bass case. He told me that they were sold out of the Sunburst P Bass but, he had a “Fretless” Sunburst P bass. Now as I said, “I wanted a Sunburst P bass” and I was not leaving without one.

So I became a fretless bass player. A couple of months of intonation problems and I was ready to play! I really loved that bass!

Many many basses later, I still remember that one and how Stewart got a sale! Roughly 14 years later, Manny’s was having a celebration at the Rainbow Room and I was invited. I was playing in a band with ex Foreigner and King Crimson member Ian MacDonald and we had a great time! One funny incident that night, Stewart and I took a picture together, reminisced and I opined, “Stewart, we know each other so long, I  remember when you had hair!”

Manny’s was bought by Sam Ash Music. An end of an era! Paul Ash is quoted as saying Music Row will at some point no longer exist. I hope he is wrong.

As I said, 48th St was like Disneyland to all aspiring musicians.

Fast forward to today. I still play fretless bass, albeit a 6 string fretless. The bass builder is a gentleman by the name Ken Bebenseehttp://www.kbguitars.com/wordpress/?page_id=498

He is in the process of building me a new one as we speak!

Can’t wait to play it.!

A little commentary on some great songs!

The Music Machine-Talk Talk

So even at my young age, I always wondered how they could play their instruments with a leather glove on!

The Seeds-Pushin to Hard

The Seeds were a bit scary to me! Probably one of the worst designed record label logos!

The Blues Magoos-We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet

One of my favorite songs! When I was managed by Leiber Krebs, former Magoo Peppy Castro was also managed by them in a great band named Balance

The Electric Prunes-I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night

The Prunes were great on the Smothers Brothers Show. Dig that autoharp! SHades of John Sebastian?

The Music Explosion-Little Bit O’Soul

Out of Ohio, they were discovered and managed by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz who worked with the 1910 Fruitgum Company and Ohio Express

The Five Americans-Western Union

Da dit da dit da dit da dit Western Union!

Every Mother’s Son-Come On Down To My Boat Baby

My dentist, Bruce Miner was the keyboardist and his brother played guitar in this band. The song paid Bruce’s dental school bills! He still plays and sings and as well as extracting molars!

The Count Five-Psychotic Reaction

Take five guys from San Jose, CA wear Count Dracula-style capes when playing live and co-op the sound of the Yardbirds and boom, instant hit

The Barbarians-Are You A Boy or Are You A Girl

Age 11, my sister took me to see the T.A.M.I show at the Bell Blvd movie theater. On screen was this cool band with a drummer using a hook for a hand! The song was good too!

One of those bands was Danny Beline the Rich Kids.

Money Isn’t Everything

Danny was Perry Como’s nephew.The band was considered RCA Victor’s answer to the Young Rascals.  I had heard a lot about this group but never got a chance to see them. I did end up playing on another member of the band’s solo LP “Tale Tales” by Richie Supa who went on to great fame with Aerosmith, Richie Sambora and Pink. A great writer! I remember walking into Tower Records, hearing something on the sound system, thinking to myself, “I know this song, I know this bassline!” Well, I realized that the track I recorded with Richie was Lightning Strikes recorded here by Aerosmith! Small world.

Another interseting, ironic twist was I was at Richie’s house on the Eastside when we received the news about John Lennon.

The Illusion were an American psychedelic rock band from Long Island. They released three full-length albums in the U.S., the first of which was also issued in the United Kingdom. The group had one minor hit in the U.S. in 1969 w!ith “Did You See Her Eyes”, which peaked at #32. I wore this record out!

I felt they were similarities between the Illusion and Nazz, Todd Rundgren

Listen to the song and let me know

Did You See Her Eyes

The Hassles were a rock group in the 1960s, most notable for being the first releases to feature Billy Joel. The group released two full-length albums and a number of singles. The original line-up of the group was John Dizek (vocals), Billy Joel (Keyboards), Jon Small (drums), Howie Blauvelt (bass) and Richard McKenner (guitar). Dizek left some time after their first album, at which point Joel took over on vocal duties. Joel and Small eventually formed Attila while Blauvelt later joined Ram Jam who had the hit Black Betty.

There was a band from my high school days that had some great musicians in it. They were called Fire and they played this song. A personal shout out to Taylor Daniels, Tommy Schiff, my good friend, the late Bobby Blaine and Roger Kahn!

Have a listen to this great Sam and Dave cover!

You Got Me Hummin

Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band’s original lineup – vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalistCarmine Appice – recorded five albums during the years 1966-69, before disbanding in 1970. What a great band! Tim Bogart was one of my early influences. The band has been cited as, “one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal.”

You Keep Me Hangin On

The Rascals (initially known as The Young Rascals) were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits “Good Lovin’” (1966), “Groovin’” (1967), and “People Got to Be Free” (1968). Back in 1989, I got a call from Gene Cornish, their guitarist. He was reforming a new version of the Rascals and asked if I would like to audition. I was thrilled! How great to play that great music and to be part of  a rhythm section with the great Dino Danelli. The audition went great, we started rehearsals, shot a new video, which I wish I could find, and then I went out on the road with CIndy Bullens, followed by 6 months in Europe with Robin Beck. Oh well, I still enjoyed myself immensely with the Rascals. The band was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore

What all of these bands had in common was a club, I had heard about on the radio dubbed  ”the real home of the Long Island sound.” The Action House in Island Park. It was owned by Phil Basile, described a New York magazine article as “the all-time classic Island club owner. A reputed Luchese crime-family member, Basile operated several famous L.I. clubs—the Action House, Speaks, Channel 80,  Industry—three of which were the same club (on Austin Boulevard) with different names.” Here are a bunch of ads for bands that played there. It was a regular stop on the East Coast circuit. I wish I was old enough to own a car!

I know you will find it hard to believe in the 1960′s, Macy’s had one of the best record departments! My mother worked there and I would sometimes go to visit her for lunch and she would give me her employee discount card and I would go into the record dept. and go nuts! I never met the person who was the buyer but whomever it was, had a very progressive bent. Some days I would walk out with 10 LP’s (LP-big black piece of vinyl that you would put on a turntable-(something that goes round and round) and miraculously sound would come out!)

I was also very lucky because I would get tickets to the Thanksgiving Day Parade and sit right in the front of Macy’s Herald Square.

It wasn’t until years later that I was introduced to the Thanksgiving Eve balloon inflation spectacle at the Museum of Natural History.

Every year, on Thanksgiving Eve thousands of people would visit the blocks between 78th and 81st St on Columbus and Central Park West and watch the balloons as they were blown up. One year we were at my friend, record producer Richard Gottherer’s house, which was on 78th st. Around 11:30PM all of a sudden, Snoopy would be peering in the window!

My grandmother lived on Central Park South and when it was too cold to watch the parade on the outside, we would go to her house. Outside her window was the famous Coca Cola Weather sign which is now the Trump International Hotel.

What a great parade!

Well, back to the music!

I bought so many great records there. There are a few occasions that really stand out. I purchased Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull “This Was” the same day. What a revelation to an impressionable youth to hear both Good Times Bad Times and Dharma for One the same day!

Good Times Bad Times

Dharma For One

A great story about Jethro Tull. A good friend of mine from high school, Doane Perry was a great drummer. He loved Clive Bunker. Well, just to show you how life imitates art, for the past 15 years, Doane has been the drummer for Jethro Tull!

Another day of record shopping brought me face to face with Spirit and Pink Floyd Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Having a sister who got all of the Melody Makers, I was already familiar with “See Emily Play” from the charts but had never heard the song. That was certainly going to change! I saw Pink Floyd a number of times. Once at Carnegie Hall, they debuted their “Quad” sound system. They had just released Meddle and the sound was incredible!

See Emily Play

As a young bass player, I remember attempting to learn “Fresh Garbage” took a lot of time. When I was in Aztec Two Step, we opened for Firefall and I met Mark Andes who was their bassist but had previously been the bassist for Spirit. A very small world!

Fresh Garbage

For me, Macy’s really was  the Miracle on 34th St.

I am writing today to express my deep sadness over the passing of one of the legends of music television in the late 1950′s and 1960′s, Clay Cole. Clay passed on Dec 18th.

In October 2009 I started this blog as an homage to my sister Denyse as well as to  New York City in the 1960′s. I never dreamed I would one day receive an email from Clay Cole telling me he loved the blog and thanking me for mentioning him. Clay was thanking me! I immediately wrote back telling him how important he and his show was to me and we immediately became friends. Clay in the short time I knew him was one of the most gracious and generous people I had ever met. I was fortunate to meet him on April 18, 2010 for a book signing in NYC. There were so many memories going through my mind that day. I saw the Stones on his show. I saw the Who on his show. Music already had transformed my life that any chance I got to see bands on TV, I jumped on it! Clay’s show was not only a great piece of music history, it was a great piece of NY history as well.

It would be a fitting tribute to induct Clay Cole into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! He certainly deserves it!

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/rabcdfcc/

All I can say is thank you for all of the memories! aI am so happy to have met you!

The Clay Cole Show

A friend of mine Lynn, was a Rolling Stone junkie. She traveled all over the US and Canada to see them play live. I guess that was one of the reasons Exile on Main Street was not played constantly on my turntable. Another reason was Jazz Fusion! I was spending so much time practicing and getting better as a bassist, I was beginning to turn my nose up at basic R & R.

So, when I returned to NYC, started playing regularly, I got my R & R groove back on. It started from an economic point. You didn’t make much money playing jazz! However, a couple of months into it, I was back to playing loud and fast!

A week before the release of Exile, I started listening to my previous CD version so I would be able to compare the re-release of the 18 songs on the original.

I am listening to the new version and am not 100% sure there is much of a difference sonically with the original. I do hear a bit more high end but, that is about it. Don’t get me wring, this is a phenomenal record! The original 18 songs are true classics! I was talking to a couple of my friends and remarked that there would be no glam rock, Guns n Roses, Black Crowes, etc if this record had not been made.

The original 18 were composed over a four year period from 1968-1972. By the spring of 1971, the Rolling Stones, who owed more taxes than they could pay, left England before the government would seize their assets. Mick Jagger settled in Paris with his new bride Bianca, and guitarist Keith Richardsrented a luxurious villa, Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice. The other members settled in various places in the south of France. After unsuccessfully looking for a recording studio in France that would be suitable for the next Rolling Stones album, it was decided they would record at Nellcôte using the band’s remote recording truck brought in from England.

The basic band for the Nellcôte sessions consisted of Richards, Bobby Keys, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, Miller (a skilled drummer in his own right who covered for the absent Watts on the aforementioned “Happy” and “Shine a Light”), and Jagger when he was available. Wyman did not like the ambience of Richards’ villa and sat out many of the French sessions. As Wyman appeared on only eight songs of the released album, the other bass parts were played by Taylor, Richards and on four tracks, the upright bassist Bill Plummer. Wyman noted in his memoir Stone Alone that there was a dichotomy between the band members who freely indulged in drugs (Richards, Miller, Keys, Taylor, the engineer Andy Johns) and those who abstained to varying degrees (Wyman, Watts and Jagger).

So enough proselytizing, let’s get to the songs:

Rocks Off: No better way to jump start the record! This is so patently a Stones song! The song’s mix is notoriously haphazard, as many instruments, and even the lead vocals, fade in and out of prominence. The villa’s basement, where many of the songs were recorded, was extremely hot and many of the guitars could not stay in tune as a result. Jimmy Miller produced the track, and it features session men Nicky Hopkins on piano, Jim Price and Bobby Keys on brass, as well as regular band members Jagger (lead vocals), Richards (backing vocals, guitar), Charlie Watts (drums), Mick Taylor (guitar) and Bill Wyman (bass).

Shake Your Hips: is a song written and first performed in 1966 by Slim Harpo.  These boys had a groove that was at times sloppy, but always in the pocket!

Ventilator Blues & I Just Want to See His Face: Ventilator marks the first and only time guitarist Mick Taylor would be given credit alongside regular Stones scribes Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. While his exact amount of input is unknown, Taylor’s contribution of the song’s opening slide riff is considered the main reason he was given the credit.

Tom Waits credits I Just Want to See His Face as one of his favorite recordings. “That song had a big impact on me, particularly learning how to sing in that high falsetto, the way Jagger does. When he sings like a girl, I go crazy,” Waits says. “This is just a tree of life. This record is the watering hole.” The gospel elements to some songs on Exile have been attributed to the presence of Billy Preston during the final recording sessions in LA.

All Down the Line & Tumbling Dice I don’t think there was a punk band that did not borrow from All Down the Line which was one of their mainstays on the concert circuit.  ”Good Time Women”, an early version of “Tumbling Dice”, was recorded during the sessions for the album Sticky Fingers. Both are on the new release however, “Good Time Woman” lacked an opening riff, a background choir and the beat which propels “Tumbling Dice”‘s groove.

Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren) is my favorite “new track.” It seems to be  in the vein of War’s Spill The Wine or even Santana’s Oye Como Va. THis song has been bootlegged fro years!

While it features some of Nicky Hopkins’ most intuitive playing – he jumps effortlessly from jazz to honky-tonk – the real revelation is a mid-song harmonica solo by Jagger, truly one of the world’s most underrated harp players. What he lacks in melody he makes up for in guts and a raw desire to connect.

Dancing in the Light is a gospel country kind of thing that the Stones do so well!

In 2003, Jagger said, “Exile is not one of my favourite albums, although I think the record does have a particular feeling. I’m not too sure how great the songs are, but put together it’s a nice piece. However, when I listen to Exile it has some of the worst mixes I’ve ever heard. I’d love to remix the record, not just because of the vocals, but because generally I think it sounds lousy. At the time Jimmy Miller was not functioning properly. I had to finish the whole record myself, because otherwise there were just these drunks and junkies. Of course I’m ultimately responsible for it, but it’s really not good and there’s no concerted effort or intention ”

So a week later, I am still listening and re-listening to these recordings and I am amazed at how many influences came from it. It certainly deserves all of its accolades.

On a somewhat somber note, it is about a week away from the 1st anniversary of my sister Denyse’s passing. My original intent of this blog was to create an homage to her importance in my life. She, in her own way, was instrumental in supporting my passion for music. I would not be where I am today without her inspiration.

At present, I am going to take a leave of absence. I have a number of projects that are going to keep me very busy over the next few months.

I want to thank all of you for reading and participating in this journey through my memories. I am grateful to all of you.

The album was Liege and Lief, the 4th album by the band and it has won the award for the Most Influential Folk Album of All TIme by the BBC.  The band was startling in their playing! World renown guitarist Richard Thompson, drummer Dave Mattacks, who was the replacement for Martin Lamble, killed in a car accident,  bassistst Ashley Hutchings,guitarist Simon Nicol, and the spectacular Dave Swarbrick on fiddle! The beauty of this band came through with the most perfect voice of Sandy Denny.
If you were to purchase only one Fairport recording this would be it!

Matty Groves

Tam Lin

I am a completist so I had to find the 3 previous recordings and check them out! The first LP was just called Fairport COnvention. The difference with this recording was that Sandy Denny was not a member of the band and a great folk artist, Judy Dyble was.  This incarnation was much more of a Jefferson Airrplane styled band.

Here is a live version of an Emitt Rhodes composition   Time WIll Show the Wiser

On their 2nd LP What We Did on Our Holidays Sandy Denny appears.

The purity of her voice is apparent on this traditional tune She Moves Through the Fair.   Meet on the Ledge penned by RIchard Thompson was also one of the highlights of this LP.

This brings us to Unhalfbricking, thier 3rd release and includes one of the most covered tunes Who Knows Where the Time Goes a classic written by Sandy Denny.

Si Tu Dois Partir, a Bob Dylan song, they did a number of his tunes, is a wonderful rendition in a class British folk tradition.

By 1970, Sandy Denny had left to form her own band Fotheringay, Ashley Hutchings had left to form Steeleye Span however, the band kept on writing great songs.

Sloth, written by Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick is one of my favorites as well as  Walk Awhile

There were many versions of this band and many bands came out of Fairport Convention but, in my mind, this was the golden age .

I finally got to see the band in 1973 at Alice Tully Hall and they did not disappoint! But my fondest memory is going  to the Bitter End Cafe in Greenwich Village on the coldest day of the year February 1973. I and two friends were the only people in the audience and she performed her full show and afterwards, came out to talk to us. I was so taken with her warmth and good humor! As a matter of fact, she asked if we had heard of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and I asked her what kind of music did they play!!! Sadly, she left us in 1978 but remains one of the standout female artist of our time. I am so glad I got to meet her!

Next week we will do something totally unique! I have not done a piece on the Stones basically because there are too many records to list. With the 40th Anniversary release of Exile on Main Street tomorrow, I feel it is time and to kick things off, I will do a track by track review of the re-release and the next few weeks will be my homage to the Rolling Stones

Stay tuned!

Roughly two weeks later, my sister came home with an autographed copy of “Fresh Cream” and she told me about the recording session she just left with Cream.

I was amazed! One of my favorite songs on the LP was NSU allegedly named after Non-Specific Urethritis, which Eric Clapton was supposedly afflicted with when Jack Bruce wrote the song.

They were making a new LP. The title of the album was taken from an inside joke. Eric Clapton had been thinking of buying a racing bicycle and was discussing it with Ginger Baker, when a roadie named Mick Turner commented, “it’s got them Disraeli Gears”, meaning to say “derailleur gears,” but instead alluding to 19th Century British Prime Minister,Benjamin Disraeli. The band thought this was hilarious, and decided that it should be the title of their next album. Had it not been for Mick’s turn of phrase, the album would simply have been entitled “Cream!”

As a matter of fact, she was there when they recorded SWABLR The songs title is an acronym for either: She Walks Like A Bearded Rainbow or She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow.

This is still one of my favorite LP’s. With songs like Sunshine of Your Love and Tales of Brave Ulysses, how could you go wrong! Plus, the first issue of the album lit up beautifully under black light! Oh those psychedelic 60′ssssssssssssssssss

As an aspiring bass player, Wheels of Fire was a revelation! The studio side had a wide swath of styles from the hit tune White Room, to the classically derived As You Said and the strange and mystical Pressed Rat and Warthog with a killer Clapton solo at the end. Plus, a live side from FIllmore West which captured some of the most groundbreaking improvisation ever! Crossroads had some of the growlingest (if I can make up the word!) bass, Toad, showcasing the great drumming of Ginger Baker and Traintime with Jack Bruce on harmonica. A historic note, it was the world’s first platinum-selling double album

ANother outstanding feature of this album was its producer the great Felix Pappalardi. It was roughly 10 years later that I would become friends with Felix. I was called in to record and perform with Stephen Stills on a segment of an Saturday morning teen show Hot Hero Sandwich that Felix was producing. We hit it off very well and before his passing, he, Aerosmith bassist Ton Hamilton and I were going to collaborate on my 2nd bass instruction book “Improvising Rock Bass.” He was a truly great musician and an inspiring person who I still sorely miss.

Another interesting connection I had with Cream was when in 1989 I was touring with a fabulous singer/songwriter Cindy Bullens Survivor and after  an opening slot with Joe Cocker, we did some dates with the Jack Bruce Band. I had always been a fan of his bass playing but when I heard his stride piano playing, I was blown away! What a left hand!

Another LP produced by Felix and considered their “final” LP was Goodbye. Consisting of 3 studio tracks and 3 live tracks. It was the end of a short lived and extraordinarily talented trio of musicians who broke so much musical ground on a consistent basis!

The big hit from the record, and still one of the most popular songs on the “classic rock” stations is Badge. Not only a great bassline but it has a guitar solo  from “L’Angelo Misterioso” better known as George Harrison.

One of the live tracks that features the another great riff is Politician which was originally found on the Wheels of Fire record.

Cream opened the door for rock musicians to be able to explore via extended jams true self expression. I will always be indebted to them for this!