Cream was both cursed and blessed with being the hard rock prototype even though much of their material wasn't. I bow to their legacy, we probably all do. But what Clapton sincerely wanted, that singer/songwriter thing with his very English take of American blues guitar, he could not do with Cream.
In defense of ole Ginger: I loved his drumming on the reunion. If many drummers today are a recorded phone message, he is a slightly hypheractive real person talking to you animatedly about something that actually is interesting. And, thankfully, he doesn't have the Bonham disease and drags on the beat. This with all due respect to Led Zeppelin and the vast impact of their thoughtful lyrics on American youth culture. I also liked their horn section a lot.
