Why One of Eric Clapton’s Most Famous Supergroups Fell Apart in the Late 1960s

Keeping a band together isn’t an easy feat. Plenty have failed to do it in the past, and many more will likely do so in the future. Even a band that’s perfect on stage can be hiding some pretty tumultuous tensions offstage. That was the case for one of Eric Clapton’s most famous bands. Find out why this 1960s supergroup failed to stay together despite making great music below.

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Eric Clapton’s Time in Cream

Cream was one of the 1960s most impressive supergroups. Consisting of Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker, this group effectively made what we now call The Power Trio. The band wasn’t together long compared to many other, more enduring groups. But left a massive legacy, not only in the individual members’ lives but also in rock as a whole.

All three members were making a name for themselves around London in the blues scene. They joined forces in the mid-1960s, combining their strengths for a band greater than the sum of its parts. Clapton had already been a member of a few other notable bands, making him a seasoned musician.

Despite being together for only a short time, they managed to release four albums; quite the track record for a band that only survived two years. Their end was brought about by a bitter feud between Bruce and Baker that the trio couldn’t survive.

The Feud At The Heart of Cream

With only three members in the band, there was really nowhere for a feud to hide. Bruce and Baker had bad blood even before they formed Cream, making that decision quite an odd one to begin with. Their shared love of music was able to keep that fighting at bay for a while, but it eventually mounted to a breaking point.

After disagreeing about pretty much everything, there was no common ground between the bassist and drummer. Clapton, caught in the middle, was feeling drained by the feud. No one was left unscathed.

The band decided to hang up their hats in 1968, ending this supergroup’s heyday. Though they reunited a couple of times over the years, there was always a stain on their legacy due to this well-known case of infighting.  

Clapton would go on to become a member of several other bands and foster a solo career. So in the end, the dissolution of this band didn’t have a disastrous impact on him. But one can only imagine what they would’ve accomplished had they stuck it out.

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