This has to be the first time I have ever heard someone describe Cream as Soft Rock

Patty Boyd will go down in history as one of the great music muses of all time. The songs written for and about her are some of the greatest selling records. Layla, Something, Wonderful Tonight and many others will live on long after we are all long gone. ✌️

That woman is Patti Boyd. She inspired Layla and Wonderful Tonight AND Something by George and The Beatles. Arguably some of the greatest love songs ever, all about the same woman. Crazy

This is my absolute favorite song by.Cream. I listen to it at least once a week. Every week since at least 1973. ♥️💖♥️

Those of us who grew up in the era think of America, Bread, and Seals and Crofts as soft rock groups. Cream was Rock. This was definitely my favorite.

George Harrison played the opening guitar solo on this. Eric Clapton played the guitar solo on The Beatles song, written by George Harrison “ While my guitar gently weeps”. They were both married to Patti Boyd. Boyd inspired Harrison's song "Something", and Clapton's songs "Layla", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight".

I saw this great band Cream with my best friend back in the day ... they were playing on top floor of a pub in middle of nowhere in England ..... cost just the price of a drink to get in !! Those were the days ... we were so lucky to be in our teens then ...... saw so many legendary bands in those days...took it for granted. Great times ❤ x

George Harrison co-wrote this song with Eric Clapton and plays rhythm guitar. Harrison is listed on the album credits as "L'Angelo Misterioso".

The bass line is what drew me to this song.

Ringo walked in while George and Eric were in the middle of writing the song and just off the top of his head, he ad-libbed the line "I told you about the swans that they live in the park." They decided to use it. He never got credit for it but they kept it.

Jack Bruce is one of the most underrated bassists ever. His impeccable timing is on full display in this song

George plays the guitar solo in the middle, or bridge of the song. When Eric wrote the song he scribbled the word "bridge" to indicate where George would solo. When George looked at the sheet, he misread it as "badge". And that's how the song got it's name. Incidentally, on the album George is credited as L'Angelo Mysterioso (Mysterious Angel) because he couldn't be named due to contractual reasons.

Thank you Amber for talking about Ginger Baker! One of the best drummers ever imo. Also, the song was called Badge because Clapton couldn't fully read Harrison's hand writing too well. It was actually written bridge as in the bridge part in the song. But the kept Badge and the rest is history.

When did Cream get called soft rock? That is genuinely the first time I've ever heard that. They were a rock band.

The original power trio. What's amazing is Cream was only around for a little over 2 years, but their impact was phenomenal. Blues Rock at it's best.

"Soft rock", Jay and Amber? I'm scratching my head lol

The mutual wife (Patty Boyd) is also the "Layla" that inspired the Cream song. Some of the original psychedelic music.

I don't know if I'd call this soft rock, for me it's rock - it rocks! A good example of soft rock is Bread - WAY softer than Cream! Cream is considered by some to be proto-metal; listen to their live Albert Hall offerings (the 60's concert). Another great posting Kiddos! (I'm an old guy; I can call you Kiddos)

Clapton wrote this with George Harrison, and in fact George plays the guitar intro until the break where Eric breaks loose. The song title is a mistake based on Ringo who was in the room as they wrote the song out long hand. He looked at the paper upside down and saw the word "bridge", part of the song structure. He asked, "What's Badge?" George and Eric cracked up, and named the song Badge.

And amazingly so George & Eric remained great friends through their lives.

Funny you mentioned lyrics being out there- Eric and George were writing lyrics in a room and Ringo came in to visit but he was drunk and was rambling on about Swans in the park so Eric put that in his lyrics 😅

This song has so much George in it. Wasn't surprised when i found out he co-wrote it.

You guys are on fire tonight!

I truly wore off the grooves of every one of their albums....yes I said Albums 🤩🤩🤩

Yes! So glad you're doing this song! SO MUCH fun to play on the bass.

I Feel Free is my favorite Cream tune. They got back together in 2005 and played 3 concerts at MSG in NYC. Was at the second concert and was blown away!

My favorite song of Cream Great reaction

I’ve been bingeing your channel for a little over a week. Most videos are a year or two old, so to see new videos is very fun 🤩 And still discovering music I love. And how much you guys have learned about classic bands is wonderful 😁 I just watched your first Cream reaction, when you had no idea who any of the members were, to now when can dissect each member’s contributions of the group. Good job!

This may be my favorite Cream track. Great stuff. Patti Boyd quite the muse.

George Harrison plays guitar on this one too. It's him on the rhythm guitar at the beginning up until the break and then Eric comes in. The song gives me chills to this day.

Yes, they were both married to Pattie Boyd at one time. I believe she was still married to George Harrison when Clapton wrote the song "Layla", which was about her. Badge seems to be a favorite of many. It seems that almost every time a conversation comes up about Cream, it's the first song most people mention. At least in my experience.

Cream... soft rock... 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

My favourite Cream track also! Don’t forget Jack Bruce’s bass line, the foundation of the whole song, all three artists were the best of their time, maybe all time!

Ringo Starr contributed the line " I told you about the swans that they live in the park",

Patti Boyd (George Harrison's and later Eric Clapton's wife) was the inspiration for several songs. The song 'Something' by George was written for her. While 'Layla,' 'Wonderful Tonight' and 'Bell Bottom Blues' by Eric Clapton were all written with her in mind. Not sure if Eric Clapton wrote 'Promises' for Patti Boyd, but it would be a great one for your next Clapton reaction!

A great song. I also hear George Harrison on guitar. One of the greatest musicians in history. The great drums from Ginger and the awesome bass from Jack. Simply the best!

My absolute favorite Cream song!

Who here remembers CREEM magazine? 👍 if you do 👍👍👍

Soft Rock? Cream was a blues rock band! A rock n roll hall of famer!

The first semi solo Eric plays was the first time I heard a Guitar played through a "Leslie " usually used for the B3 Organ for that Tremelo effect

After about a fifty year absence from playing electric bass,I bought one at a pawn shop in Killeen,Texas and one of the bass lines I learned was to "Badge".I've been a big fan of Cream since 1968.By and large,Cream was a very hard rocking group.Another one to listen to was "SWALBR".Ginger Baker was actually a jazz drummer.Even though both Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker have since passed on,I'm still a big fan of Cream.I took up bass guitar in 1973 and did my first professional gigs on bass guitar.

Hey y’all. Ringo contributed the line “ I told you about that swans that they live in the park” on this song.

Love your channel great song from an unbelievable band

Love this song too. Played this on my car casset player. All the time

Great song by Cream! Just to clarify Cream is blues rock or Psychedelic rock. Examples of soft rock are The Carpenters, Carly Simon, Bread, Jim Croce and Seals & Croft etc.

They were both married to the lovely model + muse, Pattie Boyd. Some of the best luv songs ever written were about her- lncluding "Something"( George), +Layla( Eric).

Jay/Amber, you'll love their "SWLABR"!!! One of the great short lived groups, so much talent in 3 guys. Note: Eric Clapton has an excellent blues covers album, 'From The Cradle' (1994)

You know the song was untitled when they were recording in the studio, the name came about because Eric misread Harrison's note on the lyric sheet, which said “bridge.” The song is about someone he loved which in spite of his best efforts was going to be defeated, blames himself but in reflection upon it nothing ever being good enough for her. Last lyric: "She cried away her life, since she fell out the cradle."

Hey guys...Dwight Twilley just passed away. He was from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had a medium sized hit in mid-1975 called "I'm On Fire." You should check out his song if you want to react to a cool twangy rockabilly tune

And Patti had Something and Layla written about her. I exchanged some pleasantries with her a few years ago and she seemed to be a very sweet lady.

Something I started realizing now that I'm very old, I get very extreme nostalgia and feel tugs on my heartstrings about how music was so much different back then. Not just the music itself and the artist but as a listener, where today you just go online and stream a song, no big deal, but back then as a youngster I would save up my money and purchase a record... An owning the record was sort of a big deal back then what kind of gave me a personal connection with the music that you don't get anymore. Maybe it was just me but it was much more of a personal experience back then

Soft rock! They were the original power trio. .

From Wikipedia Harrison remembered the story thus: I helped Eric write "Badge" you know. Each of them had to come up with a song for that Goodbye Cream album and Eric didn't have his written. We were working across from each other and I was writing the lyrics down and we came to the middle part so I wrote 'Bridge.' Eric read it upside down and cracked up laughing - 'What's BADGE?' he said. After that, Ringo walked in drunk and gave us that line about the swans living in the park. George Harrison credited, for contractual reasons, as "L'Angelo Misterioso" You can hear George's distinctive guitar style at the beginning of the solo before Eric comes in.

LOVE CREAM!!!

I am surprised you hadn’t found that out before. We certainly told a dozen times. Patti Boyd was married to George Harrison it was for her that he wrote the song Something. She and Eric Clapton married in 1977? She of course was Layla and the inspiration behind Bell Bottom Blues. Need to pay more attention to our comments 🙂 This song was released in 1969.

As the ‘60’s wrapped up, Cream was my favorite trio…they still are.

Eric fell in love with George's wife Patti and she left George for him. 10 songs were written about her between George and Eric.

Cream = soft rock? Where did that idea come from? Sure, this particular song is a tad on the mellower side, but good golly. As for Pattie Boyd, if you know who to look for, you can spot her as an extra in The Beatles first movie, "A Hard Day's Night," where George and Pattie first met. Pattie Boyd is also in the video for The Beatles's song "Something," written and sung by George. As The Beatles began to fall apart, George ended up becoming very good friends with Eric Clapton as. As you already know, Pattie and Eric fell in love. Eric was really torn up about it: how could he betray his best friend? Or could he deny what was in his heart? That's what the album "Layla (and Other Assorted Love Songs)" is all about. (Album credited to Derek and the Dominoes.) You can truly hear the anguish in Eric's voice and guitar on so many of that album's songs. (For example, the song "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" features the lyric: "...all the time you know/She belongs to your very best friend.")

Yes, Pattei Boyd was George Harrison's first wife, whom George wrote "Something" about. And, as things went along, Clapton found himself falling for Pattie, and wrote "Layla" about that. Indeed, the whole album (1970) is pretty much about Pattie. But when Clapton in 1971 told Pattie that songs were about her and he was in love with her, Pattie rebuffed him and stayed with George, even though George was not terribly faithful. Clapton got depressed and became a heroin addict. It took him until 1974 to get clean. As George and Pattie's marriage was on the rocks by then, Eric tried to get with her once more and as he and George were still friends, they staged a guitar "duel" in Hyde Park (London) for Pattie's affections. Obviously that wasn't what resolved things, but on July 4, George and Pattie formally separated, so eventually Eric and Pattie got together, and Eric wrote "Wonderful Tonight" about how much he loved being with her (Pattie was starting to become alcohol-dependent, though), and they got married in 1979 and Pattie kept feeling unhappy (she thought that Eric didn't really love her, he was only competing with George) and eventually the marriage crumbled. Allegedly they're all happy in their new lives, though. Meanwhile, also in 1974, George decided to get over his break-up and do a big tour of North America, with Ravi Shankar as his co-star and Ringo on the drums. (They didn't play Ringo''s songs, though.) However, this didn't work so well, for 3 reasons: • they booked the tour dates too close and George's voice gave out • George was doing a rather large amount of cocaine and it affected his playing • George was banging Ringo's wife, Maureen Cox (perhaps as revenge for Eric and Pattie?) and that wrecked Ringo's marriage, leading to hard feelings. (I know George did some dates in Japan with Paul later on, but I don't think he and Ringo ever played together again.) MEANWHILE, Pattie's little sister Jenny was also a model, and she was dating Donovan, who wrote "Jennifer Juniper" for her. However, Peter Green, who had taken over as the star of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers once Clapton left to join the Yardbirds, had by now founded Fleetwood Mac, and by 1969 they were the biggest group in England (not that you have EVER played any of these Fleetwood Mac songs, grumble grumble) and so all of a sudden, while Mick Fleetwood was still a big creepy looking guy who once went two years without being able to get a woman (Peter Green wrote a hilarious song about how Mick had to, er, self-pleasure himself and the band kept playing it long after Peter was gone), being the drummer for the hottest act in Britain apparently was an aphrodisiac, and Creepy Mick and Sexy Model Jenny got married in 1970. Alas, Peter Green also retired in 1970 (Peter had always planned to retire; he named the band after Mick Fleetwood and John McVie so they could keep it going once he was gone), and the band fell off the charts. By 1973 they were a struggling act consisting of singer Dave Walker (from Savoy Brown), guitarists Bob Welch and Bob Weston, Mick and John and John's wife, Christine McVie. But after one tour, they decided Dave wasn't working, so they gave Walker his walking papers and decided to let Christine and Bob Welch do the singing. Unfortunately, Christine started having an affair with the band's longtime producer, Martin Birch, which wrecked the McVies' marriage (although they didn't formally divorce until 1978) and they also needed to find a new producer, but they had tour dates to cover and so they went out on the road. Unfortunately, while on tour in early 1974, Mick found out that Jenny was sleeping with Bob Weston. Which led to the tour being cancelled, Mick and Jenny getting divorced, Bob Weston getting fired (which is a pity as he was a really good slide guitar player [check out "Say It Isn't So, Joe" by Murray Head], but understandable), the band's manager (Clifford Davies) sending out an imposter Fleetwood Mac (they guys who later became Stretch and btw check Stretch out, they're very good!) to cover the dates, possibly with Mick's consent, the fakes being exposed, Clifford Davies getting fired, lots of lawsuits, and a very good album from a group that suddenly had Bob Welch as the only guitarist, which is a bit of a problem as al the old Peter Green hits required at least two guitars (they actually had three guitarists before Peter left) and so the new tour was a bit stressful and Mick decided they should get another guitarist to help Bob Welch out. So when Mick ran into Lindsay Buckingham at a recording studio, he hired him and Lindsay was "cool, can I bring my girlfriend? She sings!" and Mick said yes, and then Mick went to Bob Welch and was like "hey, I found a new guitarist" and Bob was like "great, I quit" (because the past year had been really stressful and with all the other marriages falling apart, he was worried about his own), which was not Mick's plan after all. But now he had Lindsay and Stevie and we know what a success that was. Of course, then Mick started sleeping with Stevie and Lindsay found out and we got all the "I hate you!"/"no, I hate you more!" songs from Rumours, but that didn't hurt the band, either. And basically, if Jenny hadn't cheated on Mick, there never would have been a chance for Mick to wreck Stevie and Lindsay's relationship, so…yay???? Lol. After all that, Mick and Jenny remarried [they have kids, after all]. And then they got divorced again, less than two years later. (Fleetwood Mac is THE rock soap opera.) And eventually, Jenny, just like her big sister Pattie, decided maybe ti was better to date somebody other than a rock star, and she has also lived Reasonably Happy Ever After. The end. :) (And perhaps the Fleetwood Mac stuff is extraneous, but I still want you to do a LOT of pre-Stevie FM, and stuff from Stretch, and the Murray Head song, so I figured I might as well get in a plug. Gotta keep plugging, right?)

Personal anecdotes, in the late sixties my friends and I listened to Cream a lot, usually in an altered state of consciousness. One day in 1969, a friend of mine and I were going to make some sandwiches and later go surfing. But first we took some purple haze. Then things changed, we put on "Goodbye Cream" and got focused on "Badge" and played it over-and-over. It took us hours to make the sandwiches because we forgot what we were doing. We never did get out surfing. Ah, those were the days.

George Harrison and Eric Clapton both married patty boyd. First George met her on the set of hard days night. She's in the movie. The beautiful blonde. Eric was smitten with her for years and was trying to win her heart and finally did. George wrote "something" on abbey road about her and Eric wrote Layla and wonderful tonight about her. Their might even be some more but not sure. But she had two of the biggest performers ever dedicate songs to her and George and Eric remained friends to the end. You should do "isn't it a pity" from the concert for George that Eric put together with all the artist that George knew a year after his death. POWERFUL POWERFUL song

The piano licks are a textbook example of briliance when it comes to coming out with subtle Pop hooks.

So rare to have a guitarist that could not only make his instrument sing, but sing and evoke an emotional response. More rare yet, this lineup had two other musicians that could do the same.

George was mentioned as L'Angelo Misterioso playing rhythm guitar in the liner notes for the Cream album Goodbye.

Love this song, love this band, when I think of the early British invasion rock bands... Beatles, Rolling Stones, Blind Faith, Cream, The Kinks, The Yardbirds , Dave Clark Five, The Animals.... all legends, all great bands

one of my favorite songs, it was also covered by the all female band from the 70's "Fanny"

A strawberry field was planted across the street from The Brownstone Apt.

The lady in the pic is Patti Boyd who was married to George Harrison but then left him and married Eric Clapton. Cream was a great band. It was one of the first bands that Eric was in. He was also in a later band called Derek and the Dominoes. Great reaction, thanks for posting.

The best bridge in history !! Thank you.

SOFT ROCK?!?! Heck! My ears are STILL ringing from when I saw them at the Fillmore! 😊 You aren't listening to it loud enough

Geez, you fall over yourselves praising (for good reason) Harrison, Clapton, and Baker for their contribution to this work, but fail to mention at all Jack Bruce for his wonderful soaring bass playing that, quite frankly, MADE THIS SONG!!!

I LOVE you guys' analysis! Such great review comments from both of you. Please keep doing this!!!

Song is absolute beautiful

The song was named Badge because someonein the session misread "bridge" as badge. Suggestion: China Grove by the Doobie Brothers, and Free Ride by Edgar Winter,

Fun song to play on bass for sure. ❤

I can't tell you how many times I've sang this in the shower - it's my shower song :)

Love this song! Played it over and over on a homemade cassette with multiple tunes, but I think I wore the tape out with this one!

Love this tune. George Harrison had a unique sound whether he was working with Clapton or Ringo or Badfinger or ELO. In around '69, he was in the studio with The Beatles and was heard on tape asking if anyone had heard the new album by Jimmy Page aka Zeppelin. He said it was unbelievable. I think he was impressed.

Jay, that woman is Patti Boyd. She and George met when she was hired as an extra on The Beatles' movie, "A Hard Day's Night." George asked her out, and she said no! A decade later. Patti started seeing Clapton when she learned that George had been cheating on her, believe it or not. Interesting side story, the term in England for a guy who cheats is "Dark Horse." In the U.S., it means someone who has been ignored, suddenly taking the lead. In 1974, George had a hit with a song (and album) called, "Dark Horse." We all thought he meant that he had pulled into the lead with his solo career over John and Paul, but he was actually singing about coming clean that he was cheating on her. That's definitely the next hit song you and Amber should hit from George. You'll be astonished at his vocals on this one. The B-side was called, "I Don't Care Anymore," and it's about him missing Patti after she left him for Clapton. Another amazingly well-sung song.

The thing that was possible in songs then that really can't happen anymore is silence. That moment before the guitar riff, like you are waiting and then it comes, is what makes rock real, because it can breathe...

When the guitar kicks in at 2:35 it reminds me of the song, "It Don't Come Easy".

Have always totally loved this song, one of my faves from the 60s. But I also never thought of Cream as soft rock. They play very tastefully, and not as raucous generally as others. But for ex. Sunshine of your love is totally rockin.

George Harrison co-wrote this song with his best friend Eric Clapton. George also plays guitar on this track. The name of the song "Badge" came from when Clapton mistakenly saw "Badge" where George had written "Bridge" on the music sheet. Ringo provided the line "I told you about the swans that they live in the park" when he showed up very drunk to the recording session. Great song! You can hear similar descending guitar scales played by George during the famous medley on side 2 of the Beatles classic Abbey Road album. Cheers!

This is my favourite song by Cream. The title is a mistake, when Clapton saw Harrison's notes on the song he misread 'Bridge' as 'Badge' and thought it was the title of the song. The lyrics are parts of a conversation which Harrison had with Ringo, doesn't make sense but this still a wonderful song regardless.

Side note: Donovan's song "Jennifer Juniper" is written about Patty Boyd's sister Jennifer.

Also, George had some lyrics written down and at the top of the page it said Bridge. Eric was across from George reading it upside down and thought it said Badge. So they named the song Badge.

I love playing this one on acoustic! I use to play this a lot on open mic nights. Between Clapton,Baker and Bruce the band truly represented their name.

As said below, Patti Boyd was married to both Clapton and Harrison. The Layla album (full title "Layla and other Assorted Love Songs') was Clapton trying to win her over, which he did. Listen to Have you Ever Loved a Woman". There is a line that says When she belongs to your very best friend".

I used to do a lot of Cream at karaoke. Brought the house down every time! 😊

This is a great track from Cream. 'I feel free' and 'White room' are 2 others. Patti Boyd is the lady in question who was first married to George Harrison but was then wooed by Eric. The song Layla is about her-Colin Ward

One of Cream's best! And that's saying a lot...they were sooo good. The back stories about Eric/George's friendship are heartwarming...and I'm glad Pattie 's happy today. She was their muse. She also lived through hell with a drunken, wife beating Clapton. Great times for music...relationships not so much.

Love this song. In high school, i went to a boys school, and the girls school was right next door. My girl at the time was a good singer, and we got permission for her and her friends to come over at lunch times to learn this song. She never did, but we did do lots of kissing!! Jeff Healey also did a great version of this song.

Cream? Soft Rock? I guess this song was a little soft, but... They were literally one of THE first *Hard Rock* bands. They were a huge influence on Heavy Metal and were also part of the Acid Rock, Blues Rock, and Psychedelic movements. I've literally never heard anyone refer to them as Soft Rock, though. Soft Rock was a completely different strain of music related to the Singer/Songwriter and Folk-Rock traditions, like Carole King and Paul Simon and was a genre largely established in the early-to-mid-1970s, while Cream was a late 60s band.

this is such a cool song and Clapton nails it on guitar

One of my favorite songs!!

Cream has now become soft rock ladies and gentlemen. Barry Manilow's gonna be mad.

One of my favorite Cream songs, so many to choose from though.

Mick Fleetwood was married to that woman’s sister. Yes. Mick Fleetwood was brother-in-law to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton. :-)

A Cream classic, but it pretty much split the band- Eric wanted to go in a more radio-friendly direction, while Ginger and Jack wanted to keep doing English Blues. And Ringo contributed to the lyric "I told you 'bout the swans, that they live in the park"

I made up a trivia contest where you name songs which do not have their title in the song lyrics (instrumentals don't count!) This song came up. I note though that in concerts Clapton has been tacking on a chaser where he's yelling "Where is my badge" over the outro! Eric was under some deadline pressure when he and George wrote this. Cream was breaking up but they owed an LP or two to the label. The resulting LP "Goodbye" was mostly live recordings with each of the Cream members contributing one new song to the LP...this was Eric's. Lots of great Cream tunes left for you though. One I really like is the studio version of "Spoonful."