Cream

However, he left the group of Mayall to create a new band. That month, the guitarist met with Ginger Baker, drummer of The Graham Bond Organisation, and discussed the possibility of creating a new project. Clapton commented later: «I always liked Ginger [Baker]. He came once to see me play with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and after the concert he drove me back to London where he told me he wanted to form a new group, something I had also been thinking about».Clapton accepted to form a new project with the condition that Baker hired Jack Bruce, his partner in The Graham Bond Organisation, as bassist. The guitarist had met this when he played with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in November 1965 and had worked with him in Powerhouse, a short-lived project.

On the other hand, Baker and Bruce had had strong disagreements when they were part of the band of Bond, which led the drummer to fire him. When the bassist questioned his right to take such a decision, Baker threatened him with a knife. However, for the future of the new group, both put aside their differences.The trio chose the name Cream because they considered themselves the «crème de la crème» among the musicians of jazz and blues of the British music scene. Initially the group was called The Cream (with the article), but from the release of their first work they were simply known as Cream. Before deciding on such a name, there was also the possibility of calling it Sweet 'n' Sour Rock 'n' Roll.

Of the three, Clapton was the one with the most reputation in the United Kingdom, but in the United States he was almost unknown; he had left The Yardbirds before the single «For Your Love» reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.Cream made their official debut at the Sixth Annual Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival on July 3, 1966. As a new group with few original songs, the trio played some classic blues tracks. In October, the band allowed Jimi Hendrix to join them to improvise during a performance. Hendrix had just arrived in London and was a fan of Clapton's music. They met through the intervention of Chas Chandler, bassist of The Animals and manager of the American guitarist.