Cream 1966-1972 traces the rise and fall of the jam-friendly power trio, which brought Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce together for a tumultuous (yet prolific) brief run before splintering due to tension between band members. They’ve reunited periodically over the years, most recently for a series of shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2005

Fresh Cream is the debut studio album by the English rock band Cream. It was the first LP release of producer Robert Stigwood’s new “Independent” Reaction Records label, released in the United Kingdom as both a mono and stereo version on December 9, 1966, the same time as the single release of “I Feel Free.” The album was released a month later, in January 1967, in the United States by Atco Records in both mono and stereo versions. The album peaked at No. 6 on the U.K. album chart and No. 39 on the U.S. album chart. The album was ranked No. 101 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

This British rock supergroup was formed in 1966 and their sound was characterized by a hybrid of blues rock, hard rock, and bourgeoning psychedelic rock as performed by Eric Clapton’s innovative blues guitar, Jack Bruce’s operatic voice and fluid bass playing, and Ginger Baker’s jazz-influenced drumming. Cream soon evolved further, creating a trademark approach built around each musician’s virtuoso playing. The band’s imaginative lyrics were often written by poet Pete Brown.

“Fresh Cream represents so many different firsts, it’s difficult to keep count. Cream, of course, was the first supergroup, but their first album not only gave birth to the power trio, it also was instrumental in the birth of heavy metal and the birth of jam rock…Fresh Cream was a remarkable shift forward in rock upon its 1966 release and it remains quite potent.” — AllMusic