Crossroads

Cream, 1968. Solo by Eric Clapton.

Live at Winterland, Clapton's two choruses of improvised blues are why 'Clapton is God' ended up on London walls.

Recorded live, this is Clapton applying the electric phrasing of B.B. King and Albert King to a hard-driving twelve-bar shuffle rather than copying Robert Johnson's original. He takes two solo breaks: the first builds across two choruses from the lower register, and the second stretches over three more at doubled intensity, packed with fast pentatonic runs, stinging bends and repeated motifs. Behind him Jack Bruce roams the bass neck and Ginger Baker keeps filling, so the trio improvises almost like a jazz group while the riff keeps moving. It became a model for how blues-rock soloing could build over several choruses. Listen for the second break, where every chorus seems to start a little higher and hotter than the one before.

Crossroads by Cream is ranked #14 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Eric Clapton and the song was released in 1968. It appears on 31 lists, placing as high as #1 (Kobalog).

The story of Crossroads

Cream's "Crossroads" is a reworking of Robert Johnson's 1930s recording "Cross Road Blues", a Delta blues later wrapped in the legend that Johnson sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads in exchange for his talent. Eric Clapton's first attempt at the song came in early 1966, before Cream existed, with a one-off studio group called Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse that included Steve Winwood on vocals.

Clapton's aim was to turn Johnson's loose, solo acoustic performance into something a rock band could drive. He dropped the open-G slide part in favour of a punchy eighth-note riff played on one or two strings, squared Johnson's irregular verses into a standard twelve-bar form, and borrowed the rolling shuffle bass figure associated with Elmore James. He also folded in the "going down to Rosedale" lines from Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues", giving the lyric more variety.

Cream played the song live for more than a year; a short BBC radio version from November 1966 survives. The famous take was captured at Winterland in San Francisco on 10 March 1968, during the first of two shows that night, and became the opening track of the live half of the double album Wheels of Fire. The sleeve implied it came from the Fillmore, though only "Toad" was actually recorded there.

Released as a single in early 1969, after the group had already split, the track reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Whether producer Felix Pappalardi trimmed a longer jam down to about four minutes has long been debated; Bill Levenson, who oversaw Cream's 1997 box set, argued the band's live versions consistently ran to roughly that length. Clapton himself remained unsure, admitting he could not remember whether the band had got lost at that point.

The solo

Eric Clapton takes two long solo breaks, playing a Gibson through a Marshall stack for the full, singing tone Louder describes; Songfacts identifies the guitar as his psychedelic-painted Gibson SG known as "The Fool". Rather than copying Johnson's slide, he applies the electric phrasing of B.B. King and Albert King to a hard-driving twelve-bar shuffle. The first break spans two choruses that build gradually from the lower register; after a sung verse, the second stretches over three more choruses at doubled intensity, packed with rapid pentatonic runs, stinging bends and repeated motifs. Jack Bruce roams the bass neck and Ginger Baker adds busy fills, so the trio improvises almost like a jazz group while never letting the riff lose momentum. Clapton later insisted he came in on the wrong beat during the third chorus, a flaw most listeners never notice.

Legacy

The recording is widely regarded as one of the defining live guitar performances in rock. Rolling Stone ranked Cream's version third on its 2008 list of the greatest guitar songs, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included both Johnson's original and Cream's version among its 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Clapton himself has repeatedly downplayed it, admitting in 2004 he had almost no patience for it. Even so, he named his 1988 career box set Crossroads and later gave the same name to his Antigua rehab centre.

Top 10 facts about Crossroads

The Wheels of Fire version was recorded on 10 March 1968 at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, during the first of two Cream shows that evening.
Songfacts
Although the live disc was labelled as coming from the Fillmore, only 'Toad' was actually recorded there.
Songfacts
Clapton first recorded the song in 1966 with an ad hoc studio band called Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse, which featured Steve Winwood.
Wikipedia
Cream's arrangement mixes Johnson's 'Cross Road Blues' with a verse from his 'Traveling Riverside Blues'.
Wikipedia
Clapton replaced Johnson's slide playing and irregular bar lengths with a standard 12-bar form and a riff-driven rock arrangement using an Elmore James-style shuffle bass line.
Wikipedia
Clapton has said he believes he landed on the wrong beat in the middle of his solo and that the trio's time got disjointed.
Louder
Rolling Stone ranked Cream's 'Crossroads' No. 3 on its 2008 list of the greatest guitar songs of all time.
Wikipedia
At the end of the recording Jack Bruce announces Clapton's name over the applause.
Songfacts
Lynyrd Skynyrd played the song as an encore on early tours before 'Free Bird' took over that slot.
Wikipedia
Clapton later named his 1988 box set and his Antigua addiction treatment centre Crossroads.
Songfacts

Live versions

Farewell Concert, Royal Albert Hall (1968) Cream's final show on 26 November 1968, filmed for the 1977 Farewell Concert release.
Derek and the Dominos: Live at the Fillmore (1970) Clapton's looser, post-Cream reading with his next band.
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1981) Charity performance pairing Clapton with Jeff Beck.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction (1993) Cream reunited briefly to play it at their own induction.
Royal Albert Hall reunion (2005) Cream's reunion concerts in London revisited the song almost four decades on.

Notable covers

Lynyrd Skynyrd (1976) Southern rock version on the live album One More from the Road.
Rush (2004) Energetic cover on the Feedback EP.
John Mayer (2009) Included on the album Battle Studies.
The Allman Joys Early, raw version by Duane and Gregg Allman's pre-Allman Brothers group.

In our lists

The 25 Greatest Blues Rock Guitar Solos — #4
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #9
The Pioneers: 1950s & 60s — #3
Greatest Live Solos — #1
Best of Eric Clapton — #2
SGs & Telecasters — #2
Most Agreed-Upon — #14
Critics' Picks — #18
Fans' Picks — #15

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Crossroads?

Eric Clapton played the solo on Cream's Crossroads (1968).

What guitar was used on the Crossroads solo?

A gibson sg (the fool) through a Marshall amp, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Crossroads rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#14 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 31 of them.

Who wrote Crossroads?

Robert Johnson wrote and recorded the original 'Cross Road Blues' in the 1930s; Cream's version is Eric Clapton's electric rearrangement of it.

Where was Cream's Crossroads recorded?

Live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on 10 March 1968, despite the album implying the Fillmore.

What guitar did Clapton play on Crossroads?

He played a Gibson through Marshall amplification; Songfacts identifies it as his psychedelic SG nicknamed 'The Fool'.

What album is Cream's Crossroads on?

The live half of Cream's 1968 double album Wheels of Fire.

Does Clapton like his Crossroads solo?

No. He has said he thinks he came in on the wrong beat and has little patience for the recording.