Disraeli Gears was one of my favorite albums of the sixties. It was the second album by Cream. It was originally released in November of 1967, and it was their American breakthrough. The album featured two of my favorite singles, “Strange Brew”, and “Sunshine of Your Love”. At this time, Cream was veering away from their blues roots and indulged in more of the psychedelic sounds.

The title of the album, Disraeli Gears, was actually an inside joke. Eric Clapton had been thinking of getting a racing bicycle, and was discussing it with Ginger Baker, when Mick Turner, one of the roadies, commented on the performance of those “Disraeli Gears”, meaning to say “derailleur gears” ( a device for shifting gears on a bicycle by moving the chain between sprocket wheels of different sizes). The band thought this was hilarious and decided it should be the title of their next album. Had it not been for Mick Turner, the title of the album would simply have been entitled “Cream”.

Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker all contributed songs with the help of lyricist Pete Brown and producer Felix Pappalardi.

During the late 1967, they incorporated more jamming time into each song when performing live, sometimes stretching out to 20 minutes. According to Jack Bruce, they were obligated to play 20 minute jams or the audience would ask for their money back. The band would also do a 45 minute opus of songs capturing a medley of “Steppin’ Out” featuring Eric Clapton, “Traintime” featuring Jack Bruce’s harmonica, and “Toad” featuring a drum solo by Ginger Baker. They usually did “I’m So Glad” as their encore.