MusicRadar

Cream - the first supergroup?

View in gallery

With the arrival of the hard-rocking Chickenfoot (Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith), 'supergroups' are back.

Hey, add the formation of Tinted Windows (including James Iha, Bun E Carlos, Adam Schlesinger from Fountains Of Wayne and Hanson's Taylor Hanson), supergroups are definitely back.

Star-studded collectives have been around since the mid-'50s, when Sun Records founder Sam Phillips assembled perhaps the first rock 'n' roll dream team of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis for an impromptu jam.

Supergroups have been around since the mid-'50s

Dubbed the 'Million Dollar Quartet,' the foursome kicked back and played mostly gospel tunes. Tapes of this one-day-only session were stashed in a vault until they were finally released in 1987.

Creme de la Cream?

However, it was in 1967 that the world's first working supergroup, Cream, came to the fore and paved the way for future musical X-Men. Throughout the decades, we've had supergroups both sublime and subpar - and some truly sucky.

Without further ado, MusicRadar rates the 18 most notable supergroups in rock history.

Who should you check out? And who should you avoid at all costs?

Cream

The world's first 'supergroup'? Quite possibly. Eric Clapton was already being called 'God' by the time he hooked up with fellow ex-Bluesbreaker Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker from the Graham Bond Organization. During their three-year run (1966-'69), the trio put out explosive albums (Fresh Cream, Disraeli Gears, Wheels Of Fire) that fused amped-up blues, psychedelia and tight pop tunes, too. They also had explosive fights that fused raging egos with enthusiastic drug intake. Finally, Clapton said "enough", and Cream bid farewell with an album appropriately called Goodbye.
MusicRadar rating 5/5

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Take two Buffalo Springfields (Stephen Stills, Neil Young), a Byrd (David Crosby) and a Hollie (Graham Nash) and you have the world's first folk-rock supergroup. Young has always been an in/out member, but whether they're a threesome or a foursome, soaring harmonies abound. The band splintered into solo careers but always manage to come together. (Their longest period of inactivity was during David Crosby's stretch in the cooler for drugs and weapons possession, always a good career move.) They've released their share of latter-day clunkers (Live It Up, After The Storm), but 1970's Déjà Vu is an unqualified masterpiece.
MusicRadar rating 4/5

Blind Faith

Nine weeks after Cream went sour, Clapton had another supergroup on his hands, with Steve Winwood from The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic, Rick Grech from Family, and Ginger Baker, who somehow talked his way into the band despite Clapton's misgivings. The band's eponymous debut became famous for its songs (Presence Of The Lord, Can't Find My Way Home) and infamous for its cover, featuring a topless, underage girl holding a phallic silver space ship. In the US, the artwork was scrapped as record stores refused to carry it. The band barely lasted a year - after a US tour that sparked riots, Clapton, sick of being stuck in another supergroup, called it quits.
MusicRadar rating 4/5

Around the web: