“I Enjoy Silence!”: Michael Rother's 13 Favourite Albums | Page 6 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

5. CreamDisraeli Gears

A lot changes when you’re 16. A lot of changes take place in your mind. I remember being with friends at a public bath, we had a transistor radio and music was playing from it and then the song ‘I Feel Free’ by Cream started. I was hypnotised immediately. I couldn’t understand how they did it, the intro before Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker took off from nothing to top speed within less than a second. Afterwards I listened to quite a lot of Cream music. It was individual tracks that fascinated me, and ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’ was definitely one of them, and ‘White Room’. Being a solo guitar player at the time, Eric Clapton was a strong influence on my thinking about how to play guitar. Of course when Jimi Hendrix came around, everything was different all over again…

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Saxon, Phish, George Clinton, Ginger Baker, Geddy Lee
PreviousNext Record

Don’t Miss The Quietus Digest

Start each weekend with our free email newsletter.

Help Support The Quietus in 2025

If you’ve read something you love on our site today, please consider becoming a tQ subscriber – our journalism is mostly funded this way. We’ve got some bonus perks waiting for you too.

Subscribe Now