by Stuart Penney
I must declare a vested interest here. There was a period when Wheels of Fire was my all-time favourite album. From Martin Sharp’s eye-watering psychedelic sleeve artwork to the life-affirming music within, Cream’s third LP was (and still is) just about perfect.Nestling
alongside the timeless self-penned heavy rock anthems (“White Room”,
“Politician”), high octane psychedelia (“Passing the Time”, “Those Were the
Days”, “Deserted Cities of the Heart”) and the just plain bizarre (“Pressed Rat
and Warthog”) are supercharged blues classics learned from Albert King, Robert
Johnson, Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf. The performance of “Crossroads” here is
sometimes described as the greatest live rock ensemble recording ever committed
to vinyl and it’s hard to argue with that. On an album bursting at the seams
with great music, this titanic performance of Robert Johnson’s most famous song
towers above all else.
I bought my
original vinyl copy of Wheels of Fire within days of
release in August 1968, and it was very expensive at the time. Available in
mono or stereo (mine was mono, although I didn’t specify), the double album
retailed at 72s/2d (£3.60). To put that in perspective, it was getting on for a
third of my £12 weekly wage at the time. But it was worth every penny. Despite
acquiring several more copies both on vinyl and CD over the years, I still own
that original double LP. It’s looking a little dog eared now, but I’ll never
part with it.
And now here
comes this much-anticipated five CD box set which surely must be the last word
on all things Wheels of Fire. Perhaps I was expecting too
much, but I have to say I was a little underwhelmed, if not exactly disappointed.
It goes
without saying that the packaging is excellent. No problem there. It comes
housed in a beautiful 10-inch slipcover box. Inside is a 30-page book
incorporating sleeve notes by Jim Farber plus a wealth of era-correct colour
and black and white photos showing onstage action, together with US and UK
record labels (although I have to say the binding is already coming unglued on
my copy of the book).
The problem
for me is the music, or the repetition thereof. The original remastered album
sounds magnificent naturally. It always has and probably always will. But you
can have too much of a good thing and stretching what is basically the same
double LP out over most of the five CDs is overegging the pudding somewhat.
Disc One
contains the studio album – twice. I confess I didn’t understand the technical
jargon used such as “CSG Encoded Version” and “Phase Corrected (de-CSG’d)
Version” so had to look it up. I discovered that CSG was used primarily between
1968-70 to make two-channel stereo recordings compatible with mono equipment.
It’s estimated that 10% of all stereo albums released in the late 60s and early
70s employed the CSG system. Unfortunately, it apparently made listening on
stereo headphones less than ideal resulting in a “tinny” sound. That doesn’t
appear to be a problem here, but I confess I simply couldn’t hear much
difference between the two versions.
Disc Two
contains the studio album twice (again), this time as “Stereo and Mono
Reference Reels”. Ginger Baker’s “Pressed Rat and Warthog” features a brief
spoken introduction we’ve not heard before and there are small differences in
the track timings but, again, you’d be hard pushed to notice too much
difference between the two versions, other than the obvious, of course.
Disc Three
features the WOF live material and at 44 minutes has
the shortest running time of the lot. The original double LP told us that the
live album was recorded at the Fillmore Auditorium when, in fact, only Ginger’s
drum marathon “Toad” originated there. The rest (including the aforementioned
magnificent “Crossroads”) were recorded a few streets away at Bill Graham’s
other San Francisco venue, the Winterland Ballroom. It’s good to see that
information finally corrected here.
The 1968 album
also credited “Sitting on Top of the World” to Chester Burnett (aka Howlin’
Wolf). The Wolf made the song famous, it’s true, but it was first recorded in
1930 by the Mississippi Sheiks as a fiddle and guitar country blues. That
credit has also been amended for the box set.
Disc Four
gives us eight more live tracks recorded at the Fillmore and Winterland in
March 1968. Aside from a previously unreleased version of “We’re Going Wrong”
all of these tracks originally appeared on Live Cream (1970)
and Live Cream Volume II (1972). Three tracks
from Volume II are not included here, however,
because they were recorded later in 1968 at the Oakland Coliseum. The three
live tracks from Goodbye Cream also date from the LA
Forum in October 1968 and these were included on the 2020 box set Goodbye
Tour (1968). Some early vinyl pressings of Volume
II erroneously listed
“Steppin’ Out” as “Hideaway” and, again, that mistake has been fixed.
Disc Five.
This 15-track CD is the pick of the bunch. Featuring alternate mixes, early
versions, rare live cuts and the non-album single “Anyone For Tennis” it’s
worth the price of admission alone.
It’s all great
stuff, but the stand-out tracks are an early mono mix of “White Room” with
different guitar parts (sans wah-wah) and 1968 live versions of
“N.S.U.” (previously available only on the Those Were The Days box
set) and “Sunshine of Your Love” (previously available only on a rare Eric
Clapton CD single).
58 years after
it was first released this is probably the ultimate version of Wheels
of Fire. Featuring three of the finest rock musicians of the era at
the very top of their game, it was the pinnacle of their brief three-year
career. At fifty quid, this is not a cheap item, especially as much of the
material is repeated several times over with (to my ears) little difference
between the many versions. But to hard core Cream aficionados that will matter
not at all.
TRACK LISTING:
Disc One:
Wheels of
Fire: In the Studio (2026 Remaster)
1968 Originally Released CSG
Encoded Version
1. White Room (4:59)
2. Sitting On Top of the World (4:59)
3. Passing The Time (4:33)
4. As You Said (4:22)
5. Pressed Rat and Warthog (3:15)
6. Politician (4:14)
7. Those Were the Days (2:55)
8. Born Under a Bad Sign (3:11)
9. Deserted Cities of the Heart (3:42)
Wheels of
Fire: In the Studio (Phase Corrected 2026 Remaster)
Previously Unreleased Phase
Corrected (De-CSG’d) Version
10. White Room (4:59)
11. Sitting On Top of the World (4:59)
12. Passing The Time (4:32)
13. As You Said (4:22)
14. Pressed Rat and Warthog (3:15)
15. Politician (4:14)
16. Those Were the Days (2:55)
17. Born Under a Bad Sign (3:11)
18. Deserted Cities of the Heart (3:40)
Disc Two:
Wheels of
Fire: In the Studio (Stereo Reference Reels)
Previously Unreleased Stereo
Tapes
1. White Room
(4:59)
2. Sitting On Top of the World (4:55)
3. Passing The Time (Long Version) (5:50)
4. As You Said (4:16)
5. Pressed Rat and Warthog (With Spoken Intro) (3:16)
6. Politician (4:10)
7. Those Were the Days (2:54)
8. Born Under a Bad Sign (3:08)
9. Deserted Cities of the Heart (3:36)
Wheels of Fire: In the Studio (Mono Reference Reels)
Previously
Unreleased Mono Tapes
10. White Room (4:59)
11. Sitting On Top of the World (4:57)
12. Passing The Time (Long Version) (5:50)
13. As You Said (4:18)
14. Pressed Rat and Warthog (With Spoken Intro) (3:15)
15. Politician (4:11)
16. Those Were the Days (2:54)
17. Born Under a Bad Sign (3:10)
18. Deserted Cities of the Heart (3:39)
Disc Three:
Wheels of Fire: Live at the
Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom (2026 Remaster)
1. Crossroads (4:16)
2. Spoonful (16:48)
3. Traintime (7:02)
4. Toad (16:16)
Disc Four:
Wheels of Fire: More Live at the
Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom (2026 Remaster)
1. N.S.U. (10:15)
2. Sleepy Time Time (6:51)
3. Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (6:45)
4. Sweet Wine (15:18)
5. Tales Of Brave Ulysses (4:45)
6. We’re Going Wrong (6:55)
7. Sunshine Of Your Love (7:25)
8. Steppin’ Out (13:41)
Disc Five:
Wheels of Fire: Rarities (2026
Remaster)
Early Versions, Alternate Mixes,
Single Versions and Live Recordings + Previously Unreleased
1. White Room (Stereo Us Single
Edit) (3:05)
2. Sitting On Top of the World (Alternate Stereo Mix) (4:57) +
3. Passing The Time (Alternate Long Stereo Mix) (5:51) +
4. As You Said (Alternate Stereo Mix) (4:19) +
5. Pressed Rat and Warthog (Alternate Stereo Mix) (3:10) +
6. Politician (Alternate Stereo Mix) (4:11) +
7. Anyone For Tennis (Stereo Single Mix) (2:39)
8. White Room (Early Version Mono Mix) (4:29) +
9. Deserted Cities of the Heart (Rough Mono Mix / No Strings) (3:37) +
10. Pressed Rat and Warthog (Alternate Mono Mix) (3:14) +
11. As You Said (Alternate Mono Mix) (4:21) +
12. Anyone For Tennis (Mono Single Mix) (2:39)
13. Crossroads (Mono Single Version) (4:16)
14. N.S.U. (Recorded 9 March 1968 At Winterland Ballroom) (12:38)
15. Sunshine Of Your Love (Recorded 7 March 1968 at the Fillmore Auditorium)
(6:58)
