<P> When (first meeting Sharp) he 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 (sic) 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". </P> <P> The song uses a "C / B flat / F chord pattern", which Greenwald describes as "simple but effective". Jack Bruce, on bass, also provides the vocal, and Ginger Baker is on drums . </P> <P> Cream recorded the song at Atlantic Studios in New York City in May 1967, during the sessions for Disraeli Gears . Atlantic brought in engineer Tom Dowd and producer Felix Pappalardi to work with Cream on their next album . For the recording, Clapton used a wah - wah pedal guitar effects unit for the first time . </P> <P> Cream performed the song in concert and a 10 March 1968 recording from Winterland in San Francisco is included on Live Cream Volume II . In May 1968, the group were filmed performing it for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour television programme . "Tales of Brave Ulysses" was later overshadowed by "White Room", which utilised the chord progression and wah - wah to create one of Cream's biggest hits . </P>

Lyrics to tales of brave ulysses by cream