Strange Brew

In April 1967, at the start of the Disraeli Gears sessions in New York, Cream recorded a song called Lawdy Mama at Atlantic Studios, first as a blues shuffle and then in straight time. Producer Felix Pappalardi took the tape of the second version and, with help from his wife Gail Collins, turned it into Strange Brew. Clapton said it created a pop song without completely destroying the original groove. His guitar solo is taken almost note for note from Albert King's solo on Oh Pretty Woman. He sings lead mostly in falsetto, and it was the first Cream single on which he took the lead vocal.

Reaction released it as a single in Britain in May 1967, with Tales of Brave Ulysses on the B-side, and Atco followed in the US in July. It entered the British chart on the week ending 10 June at number 43, peaked at number 17 in July, and spent nine weeks on the chart. No promotional video was made, but the band mimed to it on the German television program Beat Club on 19 May 1967. Rolling Stone's review of Disraeli Gears named it the most complex song on the album, noting that Clapton used reverb. The BBC's Chris Jones called it a contender for best album opener of all time.