Cream – Heavy Cream

Okay, until I ran across this record at a vinyl market earlier this year, I don’t believe I had ever seen it. Issued in October 1972, now well more than three years since Cream’s breakup, it’s a pretty comprehensive two-disc collection, and I’d strongly recommend it on that basis. It also gives me back a copy of “I’m So Glad,” which I lost in switching from a US to a UK copy of “Fresh Cream.” In fact, by getting rid of the overly long live jams that dominated “Wheels of Fire” and “Live Cream,” this may be the definitive Cream collection on vinyl. (But there are a lot of those.)

One interesting thing about this album – it’s a rare top loader. The embossed “Heavy Cream” is on a flap that folds over the opening in the cover. I mean, that also includes the spine type, so I guess you could store it on its side, but you’d have to be an animal.