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  • That guy has a point, ive never really heard a track with any similarities to tales of brave ulysses, the wah is so clean and precise, so amazing!

  • very interesting video thanks

  • why couldn't clapton have played the riff the way he does in the song, it made me sad to hear it how he played it

  • awesome

  • They liked the song so much they decided to turn it into white room!

  • Clapton is super cool always downplays his greatness

  • so looks like i've been playing that riff wrong for years...didn't know it was finger picked.

  • This song + Love + Acid = Best time i ever had! Thank you soooo much cream!

  • i was thinking susanne

  • Is that ' Blackie' he's playing ??

  • @rockandrant no..it's his E.C. custom stratocaster!

  • @TheOZMr  My thanks, OZ

  • @rockandrant no problem man...

  • One of my favorite bands of all times...These Dudes were "IT"!!! What chemistry, they were Juggernauts!!! Anyone need Cream??

  • i know this might be a tiny, tiny thing that irks me. but every so often clapton plays a chord where I swear he is flipping the camera off. odd

  • @beyoncelover202 Oh great, now that's all I'm going to see every time I watch a Clapton video! too funny

  • The artwork for the album was so dam amazing.

  • Amazing use of the Wah pedal! <3

  • Hold up people, Jimmy Hendrix said Eric Clapton was the greatest. Eric Clapton said Jimmy Hendrix was the greatest. Eric Clapton said Buddy Guy was the greatest. They all learn from one and other, and Robert Johnson.

    Me I don't care Chicago Electric Blues, does it for me every time.

    I always thought 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' was a great song, but then I always thought 'Cream' were a super group.

    (rambling mode off)).

  • @GreenmanXIV Yea,and don't forget Rory G. He hasn't got his propers here in the US.......oh,and ramble on,at least you are fair.I have concluded after all of my years digging R&R that theres no point comparing guitarists,they all have a different vibe,and if you don't like one,listen to the ones you prefer.And there are so many different catergories and styles.You DO know however,if a guitarist is shitty,you can't get around that.For instance i can't jive on Yengvie Malsteen,NO SOUL........

  • @littlequeen64 "Well did you ever wake up with those bullfrogs on your mind? You had to sit there laughing, Laughing just to keep from crying......"

  • @lewars1912 Yes,indeed......

  • @GreenmanXIV Dont worry, they were a super group

  • Every time I hear this song I get pleasant chills...

  • Jack Bruce = Bass God. 

  • This song is amazing.

  • Jack Bruce is a hero, dude. Cream was "CREAM" for his work (and Ginger's - let's not forget him), as well as EC's. His vocals, and stellar bass playing (seriously - are there any better bass players than he?) are so important in terms of the history of Rock and Roll.

  • @LostChord111 entwhistle?

  • @Magicquickfingers Entwistle*

  • the dude who wrote the song looks like fuckin zeus...good job man

  • I've always heard that "Summer in the City/Tales of Brave Ulysses" riff described as like a "downward spiral", the effect of a plane before it crashes to the ground. When played acoustically without a wah-wah pedal, as Eric does at 1:40, it almost sounds like "Shambala" by Three Dog Night. I think variations of this "spiral down" riff can also be heard on songs like "25 or 6 to 4" and "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You". Proabably one of my favorite types of riffs.

  • funny, I knew Eric didn't like much American pop music at the time, especially that which came out of San Fran because he thought it was "phony", but yet he was "down" with the Spoonful from New York!

  • @notfragile33 The Beatles had an appreciation for Sebastian & Zal as well as fellow Britons , Procol Harum.

  • No wonder this song is full of colours--crimson, purple, tourquoise, etc--it was written by a painter! (probably aided by LSD)!

  • Yes, same basic riff as White Room. Traffic (Mr. Fantasy) - Beatles (Dear Prudence) - same basic riff. I do a medley just based on that riff.

  • WAH WAH

  • 7 people aren't brave like ulysses

  • thumbs up if you like slow hand

  • Felix Pappalardi....

    Just had to mention his name here as he is a HUGE part of this and many other Cream works.

  • that old blonde looks baked as hell LOL

  • this song is purely genius. the lyrics are poetry. the music is heaven in a tune. this is just a beautiful masterpiece, and we will never see such talent again. such a shame..

  • Have to admire Clapton for admitting that Lovin Spoonful's "summer in the city" was an influence on "tales of Brave Ulysses". I never made the connection between those two songs before.

  • THE SONG IS ABOUT A HEROIN EXPERINCE !!!!! REALLY OH.!!!

  • Wax Poetics magazine Vol. 42 an oral history of the wah wah. 11 guitarists are interviewed: Skip Pitts (Shaft), Craig McMullen (Superfly), Jim McCarty, Dennis Coffey (Motown), Del Casher, Leo Nocentelli (The Meters), Wayne Kramer, Bobby Eli (MFSB), Pete Carr (Muscle Shoals)

  • How very cool that Clapton gives props to The Lovin' Spoonful as an influence, and even mentions Zal by name!

  • Bullied to fuuuuuck at school, I sought solace and found it in the music of this album......

  • @bolendoc Glad this album helped you through tough times.......music can so often be like a spiritual medicine! Do you know if the whole of this documentry is on YT anywhere?

  • @1THETRUTH10 Thanks for your kind words. There is a series of DVDs out commercially about the making of various epic and milestone albums.Never seen them here. Not gonna mention any by name, as personal opinions often get shot down in flames verbally on here - still licking my wounds, backpedalling furiously on some comments left on these pages, and seriously considering deleting all comments and my profile - so I hope that if not already released, one will be forthcoming on this music.

  • @bolendoc Do you write at all? You seem to have a way with words!

  • Yeah it sounds like white room because it's exactly the same chords... Dm | Dm/C | Dm/B | Dm/Bb.... Same descending pattern, same wah pedal. Clearly this is the better one than White Room though...

  • White Room rocked more though.

  • wow this is boring.

    should have just left the mystery in it

  • yes today i was with this song in my head. And then I realized how close to Whote Room is.

  • why is he flipping me off

  • only reason its sounds anything like the white room is wah pedal oh ya and tales of brave Ulysses came first

  • "...iiiiiiiii...feeel..freeeee­ee......" That solo sounds almost like a clarinet or bass flute.

    The Magic wahs' tonality on that album came via (one of) the first run of early-on, Italian-made Vox/Jen models. Clyde McCoy pic types, sometimes. The tonemagic itself came from the imperfections in those inductors (geofex.com) & the sweep of the wah's pot. Several reissues of both are out now, quite effective w some DIY-ing,for guitarists who want to upgrade (or backtrack) to get those epic tones.

  • White Room and Tales and Summer all use the D chord with the descending bass line - pick up a damn guitar and figure it out! Also Dear Prudence and Mr. Fantasy...I do a medley with this progression, goes on forever...

  • Legendary Felix Pappalardi introducing Clapton and boys to the Wah Wah pedal. One of the greatest Rock n Roll producers that ever lived. One heck of a great bassist in his own right. Played one mean Gibson EB-1 Mahogany solid body bass.

  • @depper Bad choices in women though!

  • Great song, one of my favourite cream tracks. I always thought Pete Brown wrote it, just shows you how wrong I can be.....

  • they should make more classic albums, maybe something like Blood Sugar Sex Magik or something by PJ Harvey, like Rid of Me. Maybe Kyuss: Blues for the red sun. I consider those real classics and every band member is still alive.

  • Why does everyone keep comparing this to White Room? He not only admits, but demonstrates how it's a direct steal from Summer In The City, by the Lovin' Spoonful! The structure might be similar to WR , but I think it's more a matter of style.

  • I defy any band out today to put out something even remotely as epic as this. Not gonna happen...

  • @zenstain Don't say that! That's how we got into this situation of crappy music- no one wants to outdo the classics, nor do the ones complaining try.

    There needs to be a new golden age of music, and if no one actually tries and just complains, it will never come.

    I tried telling Black Sabbath fans about this, to limited success.

  • @TourettesSomething so so sooo true. Imma take that challenge.

  • white room and the tales of are two completley different songs

  • The Wah-wah sound added 20 years to my life!!!

  • Can anyone say, why that's exactly like White Room'???

  • Same chord progression. But the end result is a very different song.

    A very laudable example of recycling.

  • well this came before white room, and the notes are different while th ryhthm is slightly off

  • saw clapton last november SO AWESOME!

  • I agree with "MirrorGallery" 100%! Hells yeah!

  • love how nonchalant clapton is, it's like he's totally oblivious to how awesome he is, which makes him humble. douche bag kanye west should take a page from his book.

  • For Christ sake.....please don't mention musicians that are just marketing products, completely empty of sense! Don't mix shit with great misicians!!!!!!!

  • @MirrorGallery no man, kanye west should go fuckin kill himself...along with fuckin lady gaga and fucks like that...

  • clapton, by his own admission, was not always so humble about his achievements and playing. just an fyi :)

  • @MirrorGallery well i would agree except clapton is a gigantic racist

  • @CaptainHellblaze You're ludicrous, he made Hendrix's first left hand guitar. Bullshit he is a racist.

  • @murderousbastard83

    that may be so but you can't not be a racist and support the bmp

  • @CaptainHellblaze Pardon my ignorance but what is the BMP? Is that some anti-Islamic group or something?

  • @CaptainHellblaze

    I fucking hate immigrants too. They are NEVER a good thing for a modern economy other than for a country like China who is prepared to pay below minimum wage. I couldn't care whether they red, blue, green or spotted either way they are little more than a waste of tax payer dollar.

  • @MirrorGallery contrary to how he is now, Clapton today admits how fyll of himself he was early on, because he never met anyone as good as he was, then he met the other members of cream, and then he met his match on other instruments, and he states thats what basically straightened him out, just thought you'd like to know :D

  • @MirrorGallery CREAM including clapton thought they were the greatest band to walk to earth... until clapton saw hendrix play. somehow gave him inner peace because he knew he'd met god

  • @MirrorGallery That may be true now, but back then he was the most arrogant guitarist around....

  • @MirrorGallery

    Kanye can take a page from Clapton's book? How? By becoming humble or becoming talented?

  • @MirrorGallery I've always been impressed by how humble and self-effacing Clapton is.

  • @MirrorGallery I think Clapton knows how awesome he is, he just understands that his magnitude of awesome doesn't need to be gloated

  • This album is where you need to start if you want to play lead guitar. Clapton is at his best here - you can whistle every single solo long after you hear it. There is beauty in economy and this album has it in spades. Better than 1,000 note per second guitarists - AND the wah wah never sounded better. Listen to "Outside Woman Blues" and you tell me YOU would have played that solo. So simple and yet so complicated at the same time. BB King would know.

  • "I'm a big sucker for wah wah"

    Me too man, me too....lol!!!

  • Martin Sharp is the name of the white haired bearded guy he actually was a painter, he did the cover for Disreali Gears as well. The chord structure is very similiar to White Room which was written by Jack Bruce and Peter Brown later in the year...because Jack loved the wah-wah. "Summer in the City" was where Clapton's inspiration for the structure sprang.

    This comes from the dvd Album Classics, Disraeli Gears, which you oughta get a hold of if your getting into cream...lot of great info

  • Who are the other dudes? I guess that's Peter Brown the lyricist? but there were 2 other guys I didn't recognize.

  • hey, what dvd is this from???? thanks

  • from Album Classics - Disraeli Gears, great info!

  • ... lol is "im a big sucker for wah wah" lol

  • jack bruce : im a big sucker wah wah lol

  • this song is very like White Room in structure

  • Yes, that's what I thought too, when I was listening to it.

  • @JOHNNYG99X it sounds heaps like it although i prefer white room.....

  • @JOHNNYG99X No, White Room is very much like THIS song in structure.

  • @JOHNNYG99X I think they've started as the same idea

  • @JOHNNYG99X This song came out about a year before White Room did.

  • @JOHNNYG99X But Tales is far superior to White Room

  • @JOHNNYG99X Yeah, but that's one of the reason's I like it, philosophically.

  • @JOHNNYG99X No, White Room is very like Tales of Brave Ulysses.

    Tales of Brave Ulysses came first...

  • @JOHNNYG99X yeah, it sounds like White room with different lyric!

  • eric clapton looks like he could be your dad

  • in fact he could... one of the greatest...

  • Love this interview.

  • dancing through the turquoise

  • jack bruce is a masteer

    cream awesoMe!

  • hahaha im ulises haha

  • pink noise

  • The wah wah makes it sound like water rippling. Its beautiful.

  • Interesting how they credited the Spponfull's Summer In The City which that and Tales sound completly different.

    Now White Room sounds a bit simmilar, and I wonder of both songs were written about the same time and maybe they diecided to hold that one back for heels of Fire which of course ended up being off that LP?

  • ..and the drums, let's not forget those drums! Ginger Baker.

  • That has got to be a wig on that artist dude

  • This is my favorite Cream song.I love Strange Brew and White Room too.

  • more fuzzzzzz

  • More Wah-Wah!

  • i thought that the first wah wah could only be pushed the down once and i would stay on wah wah and if you pushed again it will be normal again because i saw that cry baby was like that does someone knows what pedal he used for this song or if i'm wrong about that wah wah pedal?

  • lol all wah wah pedals are like that. if you just pushed it down once for it to wah itself then you wouldnt have any control when it wahs. Theres auto wahs which just go continuesly wah wah wah wah which sound very repulsive. lol

  • Morley all u do is push down and it automaticly turns on

  • Reminds me of white room.

  • Basically the same song...

  • @filiphopo same song my ass

  • Clapton used a Cry-Baby Wah; I'm quite certain as it was the only Wah around back then? (I think!)

  • I'm quite shure Vox made the first wah-wah pedal. But the crybaby was released shortly after. So Clapton could have used either one.

  • yep, vox was the original

  • clapton used crybaby, i'm quite sure about that

  • I thought it was a VOX Wah that he used not a Crybaby?

  • True...VOX V846,the model that came after the Clyde Mc Coy model...wahwah it's the sound that Clyde made with his trumpet and this pedal tried to replicate it...Crybaby was also a Vox design but made in Italy also

  • Yup!!! I want to get one with a Fuzz Face and a Uni-Vibe!!!

  • You're right raizumichin. The first wah wah pedal was developed for Vox by a good friend of mine, Del Casher. A great guitarist too, he also played with The Mothers of Invention for a short spell early on in their careers.

  • Yeah he and Hendrix and Page used VOx, they're the best!

  • would you stay with tales of brave or white room?

  • sounds like it could be slumped at the beginning of white room before it picks up

  • WHERE IS THE WHOLE VIDEO

  • hot town summer in the city! news to me. the wah wah made it completely original and it always will be :)

  • sounds like white room

  • wat wah is he using?

  • Vox was the one back in the '60s.

  • clapton flips me off alot...

  • why?

  • the way he leaves his middle finger up when he plays

  • yes,im always thinkin´that.also skynyrds searching i hear that"

  • that riff resembles where Skynard went on The needle and spoon. any one else hear that?

  • where is the whole documentary?

  • gibson should get together and make a guitar like e.claps physcadellic sg

  • The Fool SG

  • They had the idea to make a Eric Clapton Guitar. They decided upon either the ES-335 or The Fool SG. They ultimately chose the ES-335. I doubt that they will make a Fool SG anytime soon.

  • already did

    theres still replicas around if you can find em

  • The riff sounds similar at times to the opening riff of 'Today' by Jefferson Airplane? completely different songs of course but yeah :)

    ALSO:

    Has anybody noticed the similarities between "Sunshine Of Your Love", and "Cocaine". The beginings of both riffs consist of the same rhythm and the tone step down.

    And even listen to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins??

    haha :)

  • You're right.

  • i have noticed the similarity, but the rhythms are not the same.

  • Im suprised that a song with a subject like this is so short, still great but it should be longer

  • The Old guy is Martin Sharp or Peter Brown or the "Fool" dude ?

  • martin sharp brown is heavy set

  • it sounds a lot like white room to me.

  • yeah it does

  • Its because they're both in the same key.  And have very very similar chord progressions.

  • im aware of that

  • what? white room? The chord progressions are IDENTICAL! haha

  • Closely look at the chords:

    White room: D G/C G/B Bb C

    Tale Of Ulysses: D D/C D/B D/Bb

    This is during the verses.

  • The chord change doesn't have the refrain of the riff like White Room which ends in a quick "Bb-C", yea...but that doesn't mean it doesn't stand on it's own. The lyrics, vocal melody, and solo outro are some of Cream's best work. I've often felt "Tales" was an 'abridged" form of "White Room" without the bolero Gm/F - Dm/C/CaddA parts. But they both stand alone, and are unique. Amazing, amazing songs. Live of both on Those Were the Days / Live Cream 1&2 are biblical. Peace & love. :)

  • rockingmarshall, the chords to white room are closer to ulysses:

    D D/C D/B Bb C

    Really the only difference is the last two beats of the second bar.

  • yeah, but in a different way

  • i don't care what anybody thinks

    this is cream's best song

  • you're right you know

  • yeah, youre right

  • Thats a nice painting in the background, does anyone know who that guy who made is?

  • Martin Sharp I believe.

  • the painting was created by Martin who wrote the lyrics to the song you are hearing. He did the covers of some Cream albums

  • your list is definitely missing are you experienced? and electric ladyland by jimi hendrix

  • Cream's "Disraeli Gears": The greatest psychedelic album of all time and one of eight albums that defied the 60's (The Beatles' "Rubber Soul" and "Sgt. Pepper", Bob Dylan with "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde", The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" The Doors' first album; also in 1967, The Who's "Tommy"...and Cream with "Disraeli Gears". And oh yes, this documentary shows the historical significence of that album as America started to come apart in 1967 (and hasn't come together since).

  • pink floyd piper at the gates of dawn

  • Nah, at that point the Floyd was still what would now be called an indie band. They were relatively unknown outside of the London club scene.

    I would add Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland" to that list.