Tales of Brave Ulysses - Martin Sharp & Eric Clapton 1967
Cream: Meet Me in the Bottom | Tales of Brave Ulysses | The Fool Gibson SG | Wheels of Fire 1968
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| Herbert James Draper, Ulysses and the Sirens, 1909, oil on canvas, 69 x 84 inches. Collection: Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull, England. |
The erotic myth of Ulysses and the Sirens has inspired countless artists over the millennia, giving rise to spoken word, paintings and prints, music and text. One such example is the song written by an Australian artist and put to music by an English musician in 1967. The song went on to become a psychedelic rock classic, due to the treatment given it by the musician's band Cream. The following blog presents the lyrics of the song, some comments on its origins, and links to original performances between 1967-8 and in 2005.
Tales of Brave Ulysses
Lyrics by Martin Sharp
Music by Eric Clapton
You thought the leaden winter / Would bring you down forever / But you rode upon a steamer / To the violence of the sun
And the colours of the sea / Bind your eyes with trembling mermaids / And you touch the distant beaches / With tales of brave Ulysses / How his naked ears were tortured / By the sirens sweetly singing / For the sparkling waves are calling you / To kiss their white laced lips
And you see a girl's brown body / Dancing through the turquoise / And her footprints make you follow / Where the sky loves the sea / And when your fingers find her / She drowns you in her body / Carving deep blue ripples / In the tissues of your mind
Tiny purple fishes / Run laughing through your fingers / And you want to take her with you / To the hard land of the winter
Her name is Aphrodite / And she rides a crimson shell / And you know you cannot leave her / For you touched the distant sands / With tales of brave Ulysses / How his naked ears were tortured / By the sirens sweetly singing
Tiny purple fishes / Run laughing through your fingers / And you want to take her with you / To the hard land of the winter
Tales of Brave Ulysses was recorded in New York between 8-16 May 1967. The lyrics were by Australian artist Martin Sharp (1942-2013), and the music by English guitarist Eric Clapton (b.1945). The song was originally sung by bassist Jack Bruce (1943-2014) and backed on studio and live recordings by drummer Ginger Baker (1939-2019). It should be noted that this was Eric Clapton's first use of the wah-wah pedal in the studio, and one of the earliest rock songs to feature that device. The use of the wah wah added an appropriate watery effect to the guitar sound. The song was initially issued along with Strange Brew in June 1967 as the "B" side of the group's third single, and on the LP Disraeli Gears the following November.
In 2003 Sharp recalled the song's origins within an interview for Classic Rock magazine:
I just started chatting to Eric. I told him I had written a poem. He,
in turn, told me he'd written some music. So I gave him my poem. Two
weeks later, he turned up with it on the B-side of a 45 record. (Classic Rock, #56, August 2003)
Sharp: You know, when I first met Eric I didn't know who he was. I'd never heard their music. It just happened, you know.
Clapton: I was in the Speakeasy one night, just hanging out.
Sharp: Not many people were there, and I certainly - I recognized Charlotte, this girl who I met.
Clapton: I was dating this girl, Charlotte Martin. Very, very beautiful French lady and she - I think she knew Martin. I don't know how they knew one other, but she introduced me to him and we started talking and we hit it off. I liked him a lot. And he was a designer and an artist. He worked, he painted and drew pictures for a magazine called OZ at the time.
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| Martin Sharp, Tales of Brave Ulysses, OZ magazine, London, June 1967. |
Sharp: And I said, "Oh, I've just written this song, you know", and he said "I've just written this music". So I wrote down the lyrics on the serviette and sort of gave them to one of guys, and my address.
[You thought the leaden winter
Would bring you down forever
But you rode upon a steamer
To the violence of the sun]
Sharp: It's just amazing that the lyrics would suit the music he'd written. Fate I suppose. Destiny.
[And the colours of the sea
Bind your eyes with trembling mermaids
And you touch the distant beaches
With tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing
For the sparkling waves are calling you
To kiss their white laced lips]
Sharp: I'd been to the Belaric islands of Ibiza and Formentara, and someone there had told me, he said, "These are the islands where the sirens sang to Ulysses." The experiences of being on those islands, and then coming back to England, missing the sun, the summer of Sydney, the summer of Ibiza and Formentara, and I started to write these words down, really to the melody of Suzanne by Leonard Cohen, which was actually Judy Collins' version - I love that song.
Clapton: Literally, Martin had written [the lyrics] down on a sheet of paper, and Jack found a way to sing them, over this riff.
[Clapton plays the riff]
Clapton: Summer in the City had probably came out about a year before that. I mean, Lovin' Spoonful were a big influence on us, and me especially. And Zal Yanovski was the guitar player. And that riff was straight out of it.
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In 2007 Clapton described his initial meeting with Sharp as follows, wherein the idea of working together was discussed and the lyrics forthcoming:
When [Martin] heard that I was a musician, he told me he had written a poem that he thought would make good lyrics for a song. As it happens, I had in my mind at that moment an idea inspired by a favorite song of mine by the Lovin' Spoonful called "Summer in the City," so I asked him to show me the words. He wrote them down on a napkin and gave them to me... These became the lyrics of the song "Tales of Brave Ulysses." (Eric Clapton, Clapton: The Autobiography, Broadway Books, 2007)
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Chronology - Recordings and Performances
1967
* April to early May 1967 - Martin Sharp and Eric Clapton meet for the first time in the Speakeasy Club, London. Sharp passes on the words to his poem Tales of Brave Ulysses to Clapton, who then applies a musical backing and takes it to his band mates Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker for refinement. Clapton would later move into The Pheasantry, Kings Road, London, where Sharp and a host of other artists and writers were residing.
* 8 to 19 May 1967 - recording of Tales of Brave Ulysses at the Atlantic Studios, New York, along with other tracks. Engineered by Tom Dowd and produced by Felix Pappalardi. Duration: 2.46 minutes. Cream return to England following this and subsequently run through performances of their new repertoire.
* 23 May 1967 - Marquee Club, London. Duration: 3.06 minutes. This is one of Cream's earliest gigs after returning from recording in the United States. It is possible that Clapton sings the first four lines on this version. Bruce gets a lot of the lines mixed up on this occasion. After ending the song, Clapton say: Thank you. That was a humble rendition of our new single. It's called Tales of Brave Ulysses.
* 9 June 1967 - the Cream single Strange Brew / Tales of Brave Ulysses is released in the UK on the Reaction label as the first single arising from the New York sessions.
* June 1967 - BBC live studio concert recording, with audience (out-take), June 1967. Duration: 3.50 minutes. Starts at 14.29 minutes on the recording.
* 14 July 1967 - BBC live studio recording for Joe Loss, including introductory comments by Eric Clapton. Duration: 3.39 minutes.
* 4 September 1967 - live recording at the Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles. Duration: 4.09 minutes.
* September 1967 - Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston. Duration: 4.20 minutes. Starts at 51.20 minutes. Low quality audience bootleg. It appears that Clapton did not use a wah wah on this version of a song which is notable as the first significant released recording by a major rock band to feature a wah pedal.
* 15 October 1967 - live recording at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit. Duration: 4.25 minutes.
* October 1967 - live recording in Stockholm. Duration: 4.35 minutes. Extended wah wah solo. Audio of a television performance.
* November 1967 - Cream's Disraeli Gears album is released in the UK and US. The Martin Sharp / Eric Clapton song Tales of Brave Ulysses is included, whilst the front and rear cover artwork is by Sharp in collaboration with Australian photographer Robert Whitaker.
* November 1967 - live filmed performance of Tales of Brave Ulysses at the Revolution Club, London, November 1967. Duration: 3.55 minutes. This film was produced for the French Bouton Rouge television show.
* 10 March 1968 - live recording at the Winterland, San Francisco. Issued on Live Cream Volume 2 (March 1972). Duration: 4.44 minutes. Definitive live version in regards to the quality of the recording.
* 23 March 1968 - live recording at Brandais University, Waltham, United States. Duration: 4.53 minutes.
* May 1968 - filmed performance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour television show. No copy available online.
* 25 May 1968 - live audience recording at the Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California. Incredible singing from Jack Bruce. Duration: 4.35 minutes.
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Cream played its last concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 26 November 1968, following a brief US tour. No recordings of Tales of Brave Ulysses exists from this latter period of the band.
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2005
During the Cream reunion of 2005 they did not play Tales of Brave Ulysses at any of the four the Royal Albert Hall concerts in May, but did later that year at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 26 October 2005. This was to be their last performance together.
Cream, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Madison Square Gardens, New York, 26 October 2005, 3.52 minutes.
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Covers and music videos
* 1967 - recorded cover by US garage band The Daggs. Duration: 2.56 minutes. Competant version, without the lead guitar work of Clapton, though featuring the wah wah and with organ backing.
* 1968 - recorded cover by the US band Inside Experience. Duration: 2.50 minutes. Authorship attributed to Erick Clatton. Features a laughter track at the end.
* 1969 - a truly awful recorded version by the US band Armageddon - not the similarly named British band featuring former Yardbirds member Keith Relf. No use of the wah wah, excruciating vocal and lame lead guitar.
* 1969 - recorded cover by the US folk / jazz group Rotary Connection, featuring acapella and vocals by Minnie Ripperton, with lead work by flute, piano and guitar. Duration: 4.33 minutes.
* 1984 - recorded cover by heavy metal band Trouble. Duration: 3.57 minutes. This appears to have been the first of many such versions.
* 1987 - live Los Angeles radio studio recording of cover by punk band Screaming Trees. Duration: 2.47 minutes. Wild, very energetic version.
* 1987 - recorded cover by heavy metal band Outskirts of Infinity, from the album Lord of the Dark Skies., plus live version from 1989. Duration: 4.07 minutes.
* 1988 - recorded cover by the new wave duo Algebra Suicide, from the album Still Life. Duration: 2.45 minutes. Features the spoken word of Lydia Tomkiw and music by Don Hedeker.
* 1991 - recorded cover by heavy metal band Trouble, on their album Psalm 9. Duration: 4.00 minutes. Thrash metal with evil, screaming vocals. Truly scary transformation of the original mythically romantic song into a horror story.
* 1993 - recorded cover by German rock band The Crap. Duration: 3.20 minutes.
* 1994 - live cover by Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Gary Moore during a concert in Dublin. Duration: 6.09 minutes.
* 1998 - clip from the television show Buffy, episode Band Candy (episode 6 season 3) in which Giles and Joyce chill out with some reefers whilst they listen to Tales of Brave Ulysses on the record player.
* 2007 - band practice live video by Three Jokers. Duration: 4.36 minutes.
* 2009 - surf video featuring the original Tales of Brave Ulysses. Duration: 2.45 minutes. The song appeared in many surfing films from the late 1960s onward.
* 2010 - live video cover by US band Slowhand Graffiti. Duration: 3.21 minutes.
* 2011 - recorded instrumental cover by All In. Duration: 2.35 minutes.
* 2012 - live video of cover by a young garage band Somderisland. Duration: 3.41 minutes. Nice work by Jeff Blakeman on guitar.
* 2013 - live video cover by Russian band The Lazybbones. Duration: 3.13 minutes. Recorded at a China Town cafe in Moscow.
* 2013 - recorded cover by The Mourning Reign of California, from their Satisfaction Guaranteed album. Featuring lead psychedelic guitar and kazoo on rhythm. Duration: 2.46 minutes.
* 2013 - Rome II music video. Duration: 2.44 minutes. Digital animation of the song lyrics.
* 2013 - live video cover by Austrian Cream Revival Band. Duration: 4.03 minutes.
* 2013 - recorded cover by Cary Grace. Duration: 5.48 minutes. Grace plays guitar and synthesizers.
* 2014 - live video acoustic cover by duo Infrared Ulysses. Duration: 3.12 minutes.* 2014 - live video cover by Poul Halberg Powertrio. Duration: 3.55 minutes.
* 2014 - recorded cover by Geoff Eustace. Duration: 3.42 minutes. Wah wah drenched solo production.* 2015 - live video of cover by Cream covers band Tales of Cream. Duration: 3.47 minutes. Close to original version.
* 2016 - art installation and cover of the song by Australian artist Greg Manning and musicians Peter B and Francis Kneebone. Duration: 4.44 minutes. Associated with the State Library of Queensland Peace and Quiet poster and art exhibition.
* 2016 - live video cover by Australian punk band ATO Tax Department. Duration: 3.54 minutes.
* 2016 - live video cover by Spanish band NSU. Duration: 3.55 minutes.* 2017 - recorded cover by National Razor. Duration: 3.29 minutes. Alternate electronic version.
* 2017 - live video cover by Australian Eric Clapton covers band Crossroads, with Jak Housden on guitar. Duration: 4.08 minutes.
* 2017 - live video cover by the English Ian Parker Band. Duration: 5.55 minutes. Nice, energetic version which is true to the original.
* 2019 - recorded cover by Black Cat Bone. Duration: 4.00 minutes. Great musicianship by the band.
* 2019 - blog posting by Rosamond Press: Tales of Brave Ulysses.
* 2019 - live video cover by Joe Wahl and the Apex Players. Duration: 3.46 minutes.
* 2019 - live video cover by Dutch band Wandre Guitars. Duration: 5.14 minutes.
* 2019 & 2020 - live video covers by Japanese band Creap Live 51st. Duration: 6.08 minutes. Note in the first clip the guitarist is using a copy of the famous painted "Fool" Gibson SG guitar used by Eric Clapton at the time the original song was recorded back in May 1967.
* 2020 - cover by US guitarist Brad Wilson. Duration: 3.05 minutes. Nice guitar work, but the aggressive vocals do not really work with Sharp's romantic and mystical lyrics.
* 2020 - recorded instrumental cover by guitarist Derek Corder. Duration: 2.42 minutes. Interesting copyright claim, though the music is almost identical to the original work by Clapton and Cream.
* 2021 - live video cover by the band Fresh Cream, from the Bultefestival. Duration: 3.10 minutes. Nice guitar work.
* 2021 - guitar instrumental by Allesandro Romanello. Duration: 4.34 minutes.
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Tutorials
* Jon MacLennan, Tales of Brave Ulysses, 6 July 2021, duration: 14 minutes.
* James James, Tales of Brave Ulysses, YouTube, 18 August 2015, duration: 2.53 minutes. Guitar only plus Cream backing track, Gibson SG. Good in regard to lead section.
* laz7, Tales of Brave Ulysses, tutorial, Youtube, 7 February 2017, duration: 2.46 minutes. Guitar only lesson on a Les Paul with a Marshall amp and wah wah pedal. Good in regard to basic rhythm section.
* World Music Tablature, Tales of Brave Ulysses, YouTube, 7 September 2016, duration: 3.65 minutes. Tablature only, with auto generated piano sound and no effects.
References
* Clapton, Eric, Clapton: The Autobiography, Broadway Books, 2007.
* Greenwald, Matthew, Cream: Tales of Brave Ulysses - Song Review, AllMusic [website], 2016.
Quote: One of a few overtly psychedelic songs to have aged gracefully, "Tales of Brave Ulysses" is indeed a Cream classic. Based on a simple but effective C/B flat/F chord pattern (which was later utilized for "White Room"), the song has a powerful, unrelenting mid-tempo groove that defined Cream's finest songs of the period. Lyrically, it's a relatively factual and colorful rendering of the great Greek tragedy Ulysses. Taking a classic tale like this to the psychedelic audience was a stroke of genius, and this song is indeed one of the band's most lasting efforts. Aside from the definitive studio version (Disraeli Gears), a fabulous live version also appears on Live Cream, Vol. 2.
* Pemberton, Pat, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Rolling Stone, 13 June 2012.
Quote: After visiting islands made famous by Homer's Odyssey, artist Martin Sharp (who would go on to do the cover art for Cream's Disraeli Gears) wrote this poetic tune to the melody of "Suzanne," specifically, Judy Collins' cover of Leonard Cohen's song. Through a mutual acquaintance, Sharp got the lyrics to Eric Clapton, who worked them into a guitar riff inspired by the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City." The song marked Clapton's first use of the wah-wah guitar effect. "I always liked that song," said Jack Bruce, who sang it. "I think it was the wah-wah that did it for me. I'm a sucker for wah-wah."
* Tales of Brave Ulysses, The Eric Clapton Lyric Archive [website], accessed 25 June 2021.
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Last updated: 14 July 2021
Michael Organ, Australia
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