| "White Room" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Italian single picture sleeve | ||||
| Single byCream | ||||
| from the albumWheels of Fire | ||||
| B-side | "Those Were the Days" | |||
| Released |
| |||
| Recorded | July 1967 – April 1968 | |||
| Studio | Atlantic, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | ||||
| Composer | Jack Bruce | |||
| Lyricist | Pete Brown | |||
| Producer | Felix Pappalardi | |||
| Cream US singles chronology | ||||
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| Cream UK singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio sample | ||||
Intro and part of first verse | ||||
"White Room" is a song by Britishrock bandCream, composed by bassistJack Bruce with lyrics by poetPete Brown.[2] They recorded it for the studio half of the 1968double albumWheels of Fire. In September, a shorter US single edit (without the third verse) was released forAM radio stations,[3] althoughalbum-orientedFM radio stations played the full album version. The subsequent UK single release in January 1969 used the full-length album version of the track.
Jack Bruce came up with music for the song as a tribute toJimi Hendrix, and was later surprised when Hendrix visited the group in New York as they were recording it and commented "I wish I could write something like that", only to be told it had been directly inspired by him.[4] Lyricist Pete Brown's original idea for the song revolved around ahippie girl titled "Cinderella's Last Goodnight", but when that did not work, he dipped into an earlier eight page poem he had written about a new apartment he had moved into with white walls and bare furnishings, where he gave up drinking and drugs.[4] The personal demons he battled while living in the white room spawned the imagery of the poem, which was eventually whittled down to a few verses for the song lyric.
In July 1967, at the initial sessions for Cream's third album (then still unnamed), recording for "White Room" began in London. In October and December work continued atAtlantic Studios in New York City and was completed during three sessions in February, April and June 1968, also at Atlantic.[5][6]
Jack Bruce sang and played bass on the song,Eric Clapton overdubbed guitar parts,Ginger Baker played drums andtimpani, andFelix Pappalardi – the group'sproducer – contributedviolas.[7] Clapton played his guitar through awah-wah pedal to achieve a "talking-effect".[8] The song has an identical chord progression to Cream's previous recording "Tales of Brave Ulysses".[9] Both Bruce and Baker claimed to have added the distinctive5
4 orquintuple metre opening to what had been a4
4 orcommon time composition.[10] Bruce later revealed that the5
4 opening had made the record company wary that it would do well commercially.[4]
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Rolling Stone ranked "White Room" at number 376 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". A live recording appears on the group'sLive Cream Volume II album (1972). Clapton, along withPhil Collins, began his act atLive Aid in 1985 with the song. In 1990, Clapton performed the song at hisRoyal Albert Hall concert series and in 1999 withSheryl Crow at Crow'sSheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park concert. In 2005, the reunited Cream played the song at theRoyal Albert Hall, which was released on theirRoyal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album.
In a song review forAllMusic,Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that the song has been "covered frequently, and by a bizarre group of artists: Broadway starJoel Grey, the Finnish symphonic metal bandApocalyptica, fusion guitaristFrank Gambale, the Bluegrass-inspiredCache Valley Drifters, and heavy metal bandHelloween. That wildly eclectic list proves that 'White Room' is a multi-faceted song, containing equal parts dramatic spectacle, intricate musicality, and hard rock menace. Other artists emphasize different elements in their interpretations, but the original Cream version wrapped it all up in one startling package".[1]
Billboard described the single as a "solid, driving rocker".[11]
| Chart (1968–2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Go-Set)[12] | 1 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] | 19 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] | 14 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[15] | 44 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16] | 2 |
| Canada (CHUM Chart)[17] | 1 |
| Finland (Suomen Virallinen)[18] | 10 |
| France (IFOP)[19] | 73 |
| Germany (GfK)[20] | 28 |
| Malaysia (RTM)[21] | 1 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[22] | 4 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23] | 2 |
| New Zealand (Listener)[24] | 2 |
| Spain (AFYVE)[25] | 15 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[26] | 28 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[27] | 6 |
| USCashbox Top Singles[28] | 5 |
| USHot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[29] | 15 |
| Chart (1968) | Rank |
|---|---|
| Canada[30] | 39 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[31] | 81 |
| USCash Box[32] | 48 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[33] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
A version of the track was featured onDeep Purple's 2021 covers albumTurning to Crime.[34]
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)| Studio albums | |
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