首相的齿轮 (1967)

Disraeli Gears is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was produced by Felix Pappalardi and released on Reaction Records in 1967. The album features the singles "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love".

The original 11-track album was remastered in 1998, and then subsequently released as a two-disc Deluxe Edition in 2004.

Production

Early demo sessions for the album were held on March 15, 1967, at London's Ryemuse Studios which yielded rough renditions of "SWLABR", "Blue Condition" and "We're Going Wrong" as well as three other Bruce/Brown compositions: "Hey Now Princess", "The Weird Of Hermiston" and "The Clearout", the latter two of which would be re-recorded for Bruce's 1969 solo effort Songs for a Tailor. On April 3, following the band's nine shows as part of Murray the K's "Music in the 5th Dimension" concert series which comprised their first tour of America, Cream checked into Atlantic Studios in New York City with label owner Ahmet Ertegun to record a cover of "Lawdy Mama". Cream's American label, ATCO, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Encouraged by the results, Ertegun booked more time at the studio for a return visit to the US the following month.

The bulk of the album was recorded at Atlantic between 11 and 15 May 1967. The sessions were produced by Ertegun protege and future Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi and engineered by Tom Dowd, who would later work with Clapton on projects such as Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and 461 Ocean Boulevard. According to Dowd, the recording sessions took only three-and-a-half days, as the band's visas expired on the very last day of recording. Pappalardi soon proved his worth to the group when he took the tape of "Lawdy Mama" recorded in April and added new lyrics he co-wrote with his wife Gail Collins, transforming the song into "Strange Brew", the first track completed at the sessions (the Pappalardi songwriting team would also contribute "World of Pain").

The sessions were swift and efficient, with the band recording no more than one or two takes of a backing track and then adding minimal overdubs, despite an Ampex 8-track recorder now available to them; Dowd reportedly had to guide the group on the use of the new equipment. The recording atmosphere was also somewhat relaxed, with visitors often encouraged to drop by including Linda Eastman, Al Kooper, Janis Joplin and local groupie Jenny Dean (who provided many of the party sounds on "Take It Back"). Some friction ensued when Ertegun, who had expected the band to play blues, baulked at what he called the "psychedelic hogwash" of tracks like "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Tales of Brave Ulysses". Eventually he backed down after Booker T. Jones and Otis Redding both expressed their adoration of "Sunshine of Your Love". Believing the band to be led by Clapton, and that the star of a band should sing, he also baulked at the idea of Bruce or Baker taking any vocal leads but again relented after resistance from the group. The sessions reportedly concluded just hours before their visas expired and the band was due to fly back to the UK.

Musical style

Disraeli Gears features the group veering away, quite heavily, from their blues roots and indulging in more psychedelic sounds, in particular on tracks such as "Tales of Brave Ulysses", "SWLABR", "World of Pain" and "Dance the Night Away". "Tales of Brave Ulysses" had been inspired by a trip to Ibiza that artist Martin Sharp had recently taken, where the sirens were alleged to have sung to Ulysses. "Dance the Night Away" was penned by Pete Brown as a tribute to the freedom dancing gave him after he quit drugs, while the words to "We're Going Wrong" had been written by Bruce after a fight he'd had with his wife. The most blues-like tunes on the album are Clapton's arrangement of "Outside Woman Blues", the Bruce-Brown composition "Take It Back" which had been inspired by the contemporary media images of American students burning their draft cards and featured harmonica work by Jack Bruce, plus the opening track "Strange Brew", which was based on the 12-bar blues "Lawdy Mama" and featured a guitar solo copied from Albert King's solo on "Oh Pretty Woman".

Unlike the previous Fresh Cream, which was vocally dominated by Bruce, the vocals on Disraeli Gears were a more democratic affair. Clapton sings lead on "Strange Brew" and "Outside Woman Blues", plus co-lead on "World of Pain", "Dance the Night Away" and "Sunshine of Your Love". Baker, meanwhile, performs lead vocals on his composition "Blue Condition" which the others encouraged him to write (an outtake features Clapton on vocal). All three band members sing together on "Mother's Lament".