Amidst all the ballyhoo about the release of Christopher Nolan’s new sword-and-sandals blockbuster, I started to hum to myself that fine song TALES OF BRAVE ULLYSES. My thoughts turned to November 1967 and the release of Cream’s Disraeli Gears on which it appeared. Cream were at the peak of their popularity and owning that album was sure proof that I had my finger on the pulse of the British Blues Boom.
The music was written by Clapton and the lyrics were by Aussie poet and illustrator Martin Sharp. (I’d always presumed they were by Pete Brown who co-wrote with Jack Bruce). Sharp also did the artwork for the album and Wheels of Fire. I’d not heard of him but I understand that he went on to become something of a national treasure in Australia. He was one of the founders of weird and wacky OZ magazine, the bible of the Underground scene and made a great contribution to its visual appeal.
If you read Oz you were definitely “on the bus”. It was dripping with exotic sex, strange drugs and alternative rock n roll. Few newsagents would touch it. I bought my copies at a dodgy greengrocer’s in Wealdstone.
