“Steppin’ Out” (or sometimes “Stepping Out”) is a blues-instrumental composition recorded by American blues musician Memphis Slim in 1959. Eric Clapton recorded several versions of “Steppin’ Out” during his early career. In 1966, he recorded the song with three different bands: with Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse, recorded in March for the Elektra Records sampler What’s Shakin’; with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in April for the album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton; and with Cream in a live performance for broadcast on BBC Radio in November, eventually released on the BBC Sessions compilation in 2003. (More from Wikipedia)
To some extent at least, the formation of Cream grew out of an English all-star band called the Powerhouse that was assembled solely to provide music for a 1966 compilation album called What’s Shakin’ that announced the arrival of Elektra Records in Great Britain. Bandmembers included Eric Clapton (guitar); Jack Bruce (bass guitar) and Paul Jones (harmonica) from Manfred Mann; Stevie Winwood (lead vocals) and Pete York (drums) from the Spencer Davis Group; and Ben Palmer (piano), who had briefly been in a band with Clapton in 1965. Ginger Baker was originally slated to be the drummer for the group but was unavailable. This remarkable line-up included two members of Cream (and almost all three), plus two future members of Blind Faith (Clapton and Winwood). What’s more, Cream later recorded two of the only three songs ever made by this assemblage, Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” and an instrumental called “Steppin’ Out” that Eric Clapton had previously performed while in John Mayall & the Bluesmakers. The artist on these two songs was listed as Eric Clapton & the Powerhouse. The third song, “I Want to Know” was credited to MacLeod, an evident reference to Paul Jones’ wife Sheila MacLeod; Ten Years After included “I Want to Know” on their first album, Ten Years After that was released in late 1967.
(May 2014)
