{"id":582055,"date":"2026-05-13T17:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T17:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582055\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T17:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T17:08:09","slug":"in-a-white-room-creams-wheels-of-fire-spins-back-into-print-as-box-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582055\/","title":{"rendered":"In a White Room: Cream’s ‘Wheels of Fire’ Spins Back Into Print As Box Set"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"Wheels<\/a>BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM<\/p>\n

Cream\u2019s penultimate album \u2013 the 1968 studio\/live set\u00a0Wheels of Fire \u2013 will be expanded this summer, offering four unique mixes of the studio disc on two CDs, an expanded concert offering on another two, and a selection of rare and unreleased cuts on a fifth CD.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Wheels of Fire (Super Deluxe Edition)\u00a0will also be matched by\u00a0Wheels of Fire: In the Studio, a triple LP set that, true to its name, features the studio material from the 5CD collection. (Wheels of Fire: Live At The Fillmore and Winterland, a triple album collecting the live tracks, was released for Record Store Day last month.) Overseen by producer Bill Levenson, the collection includes liner notes by Jim Faber and archival photographs in a hardcover book, which is packed in a rigid, silver laminate-finished slipcase alongside a gatefold carrier to house the discs. (The 3LP version, pressed on 180-gram vinyl, is packaged in a metallic-finished gatefold with unique color inner sleeves.) Both sets hit stores June 12.<\/p>\n

Released less than a year after the release of Disraeli Gears in late 1967, Wheels of Fire actually started recording months before. The studio disc featured a burst of sessions where lead singer\/bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker collaborated with producer Felix Pappalardi on a series of powerful originals (the Bruce-led \u201cWhite Room\u201d and \u201cPolitician,\u201d the Baker-fuelled \u201cPressed Rat and Warthog\u201d) and Clapton-curated blues standards (\u201cBorn Under a Bad Sign,\u201d \u201cSittin\u2019 on Top of the World\u201d). The accompanying live disc (each of them released separately, as well) featured a quartet of recordings from springtime 1968 sets in San Francisco \u2013 marketed as primarily from The Fillmore West but mostly taken from the Winterland Ballroom. Highlights include the Baker drum solo \u201cToad\u201d and a searing rendition of the Robert Johnson standard \u201cCrossroads.\u201d (Clapton first recorded the tune with studio group The Powerhouse in 1966; it\u2019s since become closely associated with him thanks to his arrangement.) Despite the more relaxed sessions and eventual success of the album, reaching No. 3 in the U.K., topping the U.S. charts and spinning off an American Top 10 in \u201cWhite Room,\u201d\u00a0Wheels of Fire essentially heralded the end of Cream. Exhausted by a relentless touring schedule and increasing tensions among the rhythm section, Cream announced their split before\u00a0Wheels even started turning in U.K. record shops. They embarked on a final tour in 1968 and released the album\u00a0Goodbye<\/a> in early 1969.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Though the first two discs of the new\u00a0Wheels of Fire box feature the album four times, the various mixes will be of particular interest to collectors and fans. The album\u2019s original stereo mix utilized a then-new process known as the Haeco-CSG (Compatible Stereo Generator), a processor meant to facilitate stereo recordings that could easily play in mono. However, this process regrettably \u201cblurred\u201d any sound caught toward the center of the audio image. A new stereo restoration removes the encoder, enabling the clearest stereo mix of the album yet. (Also included are stereo and mono reference mixes recovered from long-lost session reels from producer Pappalardi\u2019s archive.) Most of the bonus live material was released on the 1972\u00a0Live Cream volumes, with one track debuting on the aforementioned RSD release. The studio rarities disc includes a host of alternate mono and stereo mixes as well as single versions of \u201cWhite Room,\u201d the non-album \u201cAnyone for Tennis,\u201d and additional live Winterland tracks that appeared on various box sets and reissues over the years. It looks far and away the most comprehensive version of the album one could imagine, and it\u2019s yours to pre-order below, with a June 12 release holding firm. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)<\/p>\n

Wheels of Fire (Super Deluxe Edition)\u00a0(Polydor\/UMR (U.K.), 2026)<\/p>\n

5CD: Amazon U.S.<\/a> \/ Amazon U.K.<\/a> \/ Amazon Canada<\/a>
3LP: Amazon U.S.<\/a> \/ Amazon U.K.<\/a> \/ Amazon Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

CD 1-2:\u00a0Wheels of Fire \u2013 In the Studio<\/p>\n

CD 1 features original CSG encoded stereo version as Tracks 1-9 and phase corrected\/de-CSG\u2019d stereo version as Tracks 10-18. Tracks 1-9 released as LP1 of Polydor 583 031\/2 (U.K.)\/ATCO SD 2-700 (U.S.), 1968. Tracks 10-18 previously unreleased and also included as LP 1 of vinyl version.<\/p>\n

CD 2 features stereo reference reels as Tracks 1-9 and mono reference reels as Tracks 10-18. Tracks 3 and 12 are listed as \u201c(Long Version)\u201d and Tracks 5 and 14 listed as \u201c(with Spoken Intro).\u201d All tracks previously unreleased; Tracks 10-18 also included as LP 2 of vinyl version.<\/p>\n

White Room
\nSitting on Top of the World
\nPassing the Time
\nAs You Said
\nPressed Rat and Warthog
\nPolitician
\nThose Were the Days
\nBorn Under a Bad Sign
\nDeserted Cities of the Heart<\/p>\n

CD 3-4: Live At The Fillmore & Winterland Ballroom<\/p>\n

Crossroads
\nSpoonful
\nTraintime
\nToad<\/p>\n

N.S.U.
\nSleepy Time Time
\nRollin\u2019 and Tumblin\u2019
\nSweet Wine
\nTales of Brave Ulysses
\nWe\u2019re Going Wrong
\nSunshine of Your Love
\nSteppin\u2019 Out<\/p>\n

CD 3 released as LP 2 of Polydor 583 031\/2 (U.K.)\/ATCO SD 2-700 (U.S.), 1968<\/p>\n

Tracks 1-2 recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/10\/1968 (first show)
\nTrack 3 recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/8\/1968 (first show)
\nTrack 4 recorded live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/7\/1968 (second show)<\/p>\n

CD 4, Tracks 1-4 released on Live Cream\u00a0\u2013 Polydor 2383 016 (U.K.)\/ATCO SD 33-328 (U.S.), 1970<\/p>\n

Tracks 1 and 4 recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/10\/1968
\nTrack 2 recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/9\/1968
\nTrack 3 recorded live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/7\/1968<\/p>\n

CD 4, Tracks 5 and 7-8 released on\u00a0Live Cream Volume II \u2013 Polydor 2383 119 (U.K.)\/ATCO SD 7005 (U.S.), 1972<\/p>\n

Track 5 recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/10\/1968
\nTracks 7-8 recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/9\/1968<\/p>\n

CD 4, Track 6 recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/x\/1968. Released on Wheels of Fire: Live At The Fillmore & Winterland\u00a0\u2013 Polydor\/UMR, 2026<\/p>\n

CD 5: Rarities \u2013 Early Versions, Alternate Mixes, Single Versions and Live Recordings<\/p>\n

* previously unreleased; + included on LP 3 of vinyl version<\/p>\n

White Room (Stereo U.S. Single Edit) (from ATCO U.S. single 45-6617, 1968) +
\nSitting on Top of the World (Alternate Stereo Mix) * +
\nPassing the Time (Alternate Long Stereo Mix) * +
\nAs You Said (Alternate Stereo Mix) * +
\nPressed Rat and Warthog (Alternate Stereo Mix) *
\nPolitician (Alternate Stereo Mix) * +
\nAnyone for Tennis (Stereo Single Mix) (from ATCO U.S. single 45-6575, 1968) +
\nWhite Room (Early Version Mono Mix) * +
\nDeserted Cities of the Heart (Rough Mono Mix \u2013 No Strings) * +
\nPressed Rat and Warthog (Alternate Mono Mix) * +
\nAs You Said (Alternate Mono Mix) * +
\nAnyone for Tennis (Mono Single Mix) (from Polydor U.K. single 56258, 1968) +
\nCrossroads (Mono Single Version) (from ATCO U.S. single 45-6646, 1969)
\nN.S.U. (Live At the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/9\/1968) (from\u00a0Those Were the Days \u2013 Polydor 314 539 000-2, 1997)
\nSunshine of Your Love (Live At the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA \u2013 3\/7\/1968) (from Japanese pressing of\u00a0Wheels of Fire \u2013 Polydor UICY-40038\/9, 2013)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM Cream\u2019s penultimate album \u2013 the 1968 studio\/live set\u00a0Wheels of Fire \u2013 will be expanded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-582055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}