Day 17: May 24, 2005

Cream, DISRAELI GEARS - So many great Cream songs are here and no filler. A shining moment for Clapton and one of his best performances.
unaired - GOODBYE

Croce, Jim, PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORIES - A very pedestrian greatest hits collection, one that should have been expanded when it was transitioned to cd. Croce songs, like Croce himself, are very friendly and memorable - old friends who stop by for an occasional visit and you're always happy to see them.

Crosby Stills Nash and Young, DEJA VU - It took CSNY 800 hours to record this 35 minute album. Of course, by today's standards it sounds like a demo tape. But each of these four guys was at or near the height of their creative powers when they were making this record, so the songs are at or near perfect. It's easy to hear, listening to it now, that it's mostly the work of four individuals who may or may not be tolerating each other in order to produce a great landmark on the hippie landscape. If you want to know how the 60's generation was feeling the morning after Woodstock, the answers lie within.
unaired - FOUR WAY STREET

This was actually a pretty interesting trio. From flower-power blues to introspective family-man songcraft to the death of the hippie dream. Three very distinct groups/artists. Although Cream didn't represent the hippie ethic, the free-flowing blues was certainly indicative of the times in which they lived. The CSNY disc, to me, pinpoints the moment at which the hippie generation admitted defeat, and Jim Croce represents that generation coming to grips with adult responsibilities.