[Slowhand] Cream, Led Zep, etc

[Apurva Parikh]

Thought I would give my quick thoughts on the Cream, Led Zeppelin
genesis discussion and just basically discuss this topic further.

I think while both bands were influenced by the blues, Cream became
more of a jazz trio after 1966, in that their live shows became
steeped in improvisation, jams and long solos. While Led Zeppelin was
influenced by the blues, folk, country, rockabilly, they were more
than just a "heavy" band. Cream's existence, no doubt influenced some
aspects of Zeppelin i'm sure, as much as Jeff Beck's group, Yardbirds,
motown, etc, so I'm probably in the camp that believes Zeppelin was
more a brainchild of JImmy Page, post yardbirds breakup, than it was
of a direct lineage from Cream.

I think it's obvious that Clapton and Page had two ulimately different
interpretations of the blues. Jimmy/Robert Plant, took more from the
blues on a lyrical frame, while Clapton in his various incarnations as
solo, bandleader, band member has taken a more reverent and direct
interpretation.

Zeppelin often gets mislabaled as heavy metal band  due to all the
bands and groups that came after them who tried to copy what they did
but could only manage to capture the loudness, but not the
musicianship or the ability to range from country, rock, blues to
whatever it may have been. I love both bands for different reasons,
but ultimately dont really care who came first.

aap