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M Welcome

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to Induction Vault, a production of I

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Heart Radio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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M A

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guitar, bass, drum kit and

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three virtuosic musicians was all

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Cream needed to create a hell of a legacy

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worthy of a Hall of Fame induction. Zz

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Top is there to honor and recognize the supergroup

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who set the blueprint for many rock trios,

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concluding that Litlod Band from Texas

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for Frank Beard, Ginger Baker's

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African influence percussion altered

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the landscape of what it meant to be a rock

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drummer. Billy Gibbons

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highlights the unique, powerful sound

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of Cream that everyone in the audience

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could relate to, and

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as Cream accepts the honor, they

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highlight the magic and power of the induction

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ceremony itself. According

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to Jack Bruce, rock and roll is what

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brings people together, even after twenty years

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of being apart, and

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even Eric Clapton, a self proclaimed

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skeptic of the Hall, admits

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how this honor can heal old wounds

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and reignite friendships of the past.

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Well, I'm really glad to be here tonight, not

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because it's the place to be on a Tuesday

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night. And not

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because once a year this is the

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place to be. Not because

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you get to see your old friends once again.

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You get to maybe meet somebody you didn't meet

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that you'd you'd heard their work. And

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uh, not

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because as we were in the studio and I do anything

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to get out of the studio. But because

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tonight I get to hear Ginger Baker

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play drums. Starting

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out in the sixties, Uh there

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were a hundred drummers in Dallas, and

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when Ginger Breaker and the Cream came out,

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we all set our drums up like Ginger

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Baker. We all had two bass

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drums now, and we all had

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our time tom set sideways

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and we all put two symbols on each

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stand and it worked out

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good. You went from club to club and the set

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was just right. I mean, you could jam here, you could jam

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there, and it all worked out good. But what I'm

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trying to say is that he

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was the one drummer that

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that we all wanted to be like, and

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we all studied his work and listened

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to the record and how did he do that? How

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how did he make that sound? It sounded

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Sometimes he would be playing a solo and it sounded

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like he was sawing on something. It was, I

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mean. And so when

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we get through introducing Cream

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and the the gentleman

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tries to lead me back to my table over

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there, I'm not going. I'm gonna be hiding

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over here behind an amplifier and I'm gonna

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be watching Ginger Baker play drums.

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Any better do it like the records, because

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I spent two three, four hundred hours

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learning those songs, just like those

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records. And I'm gonna know if he hadn't do it.

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Yeah, well, this is gonna be short.

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About the same time Frank was listening, I

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was listening to Jack Bruce. I was much younger

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than Frank, and

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I thought I could play the bass at the time until

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I heard Jack Bruce play and I had to rethink that.

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And Uh, the best compliment around

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then and now it was

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to be a musicians band. And

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every musician loved Cream

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and they still do. That's all I got

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to say. There's

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only one name that

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rounds out this trio, and

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Uh. As we all discussed

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this backstage, it was a

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group of

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talented musicians that made up three

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guys that express

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power. Uh,

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Eric Clapton being the third, following

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the two names that were previously mentioned.

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UH created a sound that

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everybody in this room can relate

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to, and UH

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certainly set the stage for

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our outfit. And

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it's with great pleasure that

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we UH announced

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them

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bad bad boys of that good thing Cream.

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After the break, we'll hear from the members of

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Cream on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

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Roll. Well,

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this is really fantastic. I

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can't tell you. Um,

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I come from Glasgow in Scotland, and

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it doesn't seem so far away now. I

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think. I think there must be what rock

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and rolls about. It brings people together,

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and if the three of us can be together again, anybody

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can be together again. I'll tell you. I'd

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like to thank everybody ever,

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UH, but I'd

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mostly like to thank Anna really,

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first of all for for leaving in us

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enough to record this and so on. I'd

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like to thank Ginger for showing

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me some mad African rhythms that

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I can't get over. And Eric

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for clearing my mind

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teach me the purity of the blues and

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the honesty of it. Thank you, thank

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you, thank

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you very much. I

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have to be honest and say that until

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very recently, I just didn't believe in this institution

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at all. I don't believe in

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institutions, I suppose, but it seemed

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to me that rock and roll should never be respectable,

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you see, and I was. And

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then a friend of mine not so long ago,

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Robbie Robertson, pointed out

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to me that minor

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and major miracles take place in here, and

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it deeply moved me. And I

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looked at this from a different point of view, and I saw

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that a lot could be gained by

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coming here tonight. And a lot has been

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gained. I've been

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reunited with two people that I love very dearly.

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It's very moving. And

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yesterday, yesterday

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we played together for the first time in twenty

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five years, and

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uh, it was pretty amazing.

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It was wonderful. It was wonderful. And we're going to play

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again a little while and I don't know how it will be.

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But as Ginger says,

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or as I say to Ginger, apparently whatever

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you do, don't worry. Yeah.

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The last time I actually the three of us were together,

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we were on acid down at my house, yea,

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and this this drug dealer came around the

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corner. We were in the garden, this drug dealer that owed

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me money or drugs or something came around the corner

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and he stopped about thirty ft way

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and he couldn't get any closer. He

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just was like a wall, like a

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force field, And kind

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of that symbolizes to me what

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happens when the three of us to get together, and it

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can be good or bad. You never

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know. But I'm very, very

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grateful to be here tonight, and I

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want to thank Armitt too, and I want to thank Tom

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Down, and I want to thank Roger Forrester, and

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I want to thank all of you for making this possible.

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God bless you all. Thank you. Yeah,

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um, I think

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everybody said everything, so

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I'll be very brief. Just thanks very

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much. It's nice to be here. Thank

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you. Thanks

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for joining us on this week's episode of Rock

9:11

and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Vault. For

9:13

more on your favorite inductees, to shop

9:16

Inductee merch or to plan your trip to

9:18

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visit rock

9:20

Hall dot com plus Rock

9:23

and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Special on demand

9:25

on HBO Max. Our

9:28

executive producers are Noel Brown, Shelby

9:30

Morrison, and Esa Gurkey. Supervising

9:33

producer is Taylor Shakin. Research

9:35

and archival assistants from Isabelle Keeper

9:37

and Shannon Herb. Thanks again for joining

9:40

us on this week's episode of Rock and Roll Hall of

9:42

Fame Induction Vault. Induction Ball

9:44

is a production of I Heart Radio in the Rock

9:46

and Roll Hall of Fame. For

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more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I

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