Listen To Previously Unreleased Live Version Of Cream’s ‘Crossroads’

In a further preview of the forthcoming four-CD set Cream’s Goodbye Tour Live 1968, a previously unheard version of their live staple ‘Crossroads’ has been released. It was recorded at the International Sports Arena in San Diego, one of three complete concerts on the US tour to debut in the set, along with the complete, celebrated farewell show at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 26 November that year.

The box set, released on 7 February, contains 36 tracks, of which 29 have never been released on CD. Of those, ten from the Albert Hall show have only ever been available on a DVD release of the show. The newly-available version of ‘Crossroads’ from the San Diego show follows the release last November of a recording of ‘Sunshine Of Your Love,’ captured at Oakland Coliseum Arena in California on the 1968 tour.

‘Crossroads’ was written as ‘Cross Road Blues’ by blues pioneer Robert Johnson in 1936 and was recorded, twice, by fellow inspiration Elmore James before Cream adopted it. The version taped at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco in March 1968 was included on their Wheels of Fire album. It was subsequently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Liner notes fo the new set are by Rolling Stone‘s David Fricke. In a statement, Eric Clapton says: “Cream was a shambling circus of diverse personalities who happened to find that catalyst together. Any one of us could have played unaccompanied for a good length of time. So you put the three of us together in front of an audience willing to dig it limitlessly, we could have gone on forever…and we did…just going for the moon every time we played.”

Clapton is hosting a tribute concert to his former Cream colleague Baker, who died last October, at Hammersmith Apollo in London on Monday, 17 February. No other artists have yet been announced for the show, which is billed as Eric Clapton & Friends: A Tribute To Ginger Baker.

Goodbye Live Tour 1968 is released on 7 February 2020. Scroll down for the full tracklisting, and pre-order it here.

Listen to the best of Cream on Apple Music and Spotify.

CREAM – GOODBYE TOUR LIVE 1968

First authorised release of four historic complete 1968 concerts:

DISC ONE – OCTOBER 4, 1968 – Oakland Coliseum, Oakland (all tracks previously unreleased, except *)

1. White Room 6.19*
2. Politician 5.22*
3. Crossroads 3.57
4. Sunshine Of Your Love 5.35
5. Spoonful 16.47
6. Deserted Cities Of The Heart 5.26*
7. Passing The Time 10.40
8. I’m So Glad 7.07

DISC TWO – OCTOBER 19, 1968 – Los Angeles Forum, Los Angeles (all tracks previously unreleased except *)

1. Introduction by Buddy Miles 1:39
2. White Room 6.53
3. Politician 6.41*
4. I’m So Glad 9.37*
5. Sitting On Top Of The World 4.53*
6. Crossroads 4.25
7. Sunshine Of Your Love 6.27
8. Traintime 8.11
9. Toad 12.55
10. Spoonful 17.27*

DISC THREE – OCTOBER 20, 1968 – San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego (all tracks previously unreleased)

1. White Room 6.42
2. Politician 6.26
3. I’m So Glad 7.53
4. Sitting On Top Of The World 5.45
5. Sunshine Of Your Love 5.13
6. Crossroads 4.13
7. Traintime 9.39
8. Toad 14.03
9. Spoonful 9.12

The Oakland Coliseum, Los Angeles Forum and San Diego Sports Arena concerts were mastered from the original 1968 analog mix reels by Kevin Reeves at Universal Mastering, Nashville, TN.

DISC FOUR – CREAM FAREWELL CONCERT NOVEMBER 26, 1968 – Royal Albert Hall, London (all tracks first-time release on CD)

1. White Room 8.02
2. Politician 6.37
3. I’m So Glad 6.53
4. Sitting On Top Of The World 5.06
5. Crossroads 5.03
6. Toad 11.22
7. Spoonful 15.47
8. Sunshine Of Your Love 8.37
9. Steppin’Out 5.02

The Royal Albert Hall concert was mastered from the original 1968 analog transfer reels by Jason NeSmith at Chase Park Transduction, Athens, GA.

Format: UK English