Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive bass riff he developed after attending a Jimi Hendrix concert.

Guitarist Eric Clapton and lyricist Pete Brown later contributed to the song and drummer Ginger Baker plays a distinctive tom-tom drum rhythm.

Cream performed "Sunshine of Your Love" regularly in concert and several live recordings have been issued, including on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 reunion album and video.

Their December 1966 debut album, Fresh Cream, was a mix of updated blues numbers and pop-oriented rock songs.

[5] Inspired by recent developments in rock music, the group began pursuing a more overtly psychedelic direction.

[6][7] "Sunshine of Your Love" began as a bass phrase or riff developed by Cream bassist Jack Bruce.

[8] Cream guitarist Eric Clapton elaborated in a 1988 Rolling Stone magazine interview: He [Hendrix] played this gig that was blinding.

[10] After an all-night session, Bruce played it on a standup bass while lyricist Pete Brown was staring out the window.

Robert Stigwood, the group's manager, booked them for a Murray the K package show at the RKO Manhattan Theatre from 25 March to 2 April 1967.

's) and Otis Redding (both whose Stax recordings at the time were distributed by Atco parent Atlantic) gave "Sunshine of Your Love" their wholehearted approval.

For his guitar solo, Clapton used a sound known as the "woman tone",[19] which is described as "smooth, dark, singing, sustaining", by author Mitch Gallagher.

[19][24][e] It is one of the best-known examples of the woman tone and quotes the melody from the perennial pop standard "Blue Moon".

[28] Baker plays much of the song on the tom-toms,[29] described as sounding African (Schumacher)[10] and Native American (Shapiro).

[30] However, in December 1967, the label issued an edited version of the song as the second single from the album, backed with "SWLABR"[a] (the running time was trimmed from 4:08 to 3:03).

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the single gold on 26 September 1968, signifying sales in excess of 1,000,000 copies.

[46] Ertegun later admitted that, while his tastes ran more to Robert Johnson (Clapton had recorded Johnson's "Ramblin' on My Mind" with John Mayall, "Crossroads" with the Powerhouse, and "Four Until Late" with Cream), Cream's and Pappalardi's vision resulted in songs which had a much larger impact on the rock audiences of the time.

[37] After Cream announced their breakup, Hendrix often performed it in concert as a tribute to the group, apparently unaware that they had dedicated the song to him.

[51] As their performance of "Sunshine of Your Love" ran into the time allotted for Lulu's closing number, the show's producer and staff were frantically signalling for the Experience to stop.