Blind Faith

Blind Faith (Uni/Polygram ’69) Rating: B+
After Cream went bust and in between Traffic reunions there was Blind Faith, rock’s first supergroup. Hugely over-hyped, Blind Faith was widely seen as disappointing but in retrospect has aged well. Obviously possessing awesome talent (Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and Ginger Baker), the guys made the mistake of hitting the studio before they had coalesced into an actual band, and they compounded that mistake by not having written enough songs. To compensate, the band extended “Do What You Like” past fifteen pretentious minutes, with each member taking turns soloing. Winwood (on keyboards) and Clapton do just fine, but the deadly dull bass solo of Rick Grech (ex-Family) shows why nobody had heard of him, and Baker’s unimaginative solo likewise grows tedious (wasn't "Toad" enough?). The rest of the album is quite good, however, including their intense cover of Buddy Holly’s “Well All Right.” The band wisely let Winwood do all the lead singing, and he’s in excellent form, particularly on the haunting acoustic classic “Can’t Find My Way Home” and Clapton’s spiritual “Presence Of The Lord.” For his part, Clapton delivers some of his most expressive guitar playing, highlighting jam oriented songs such as the Winwood penned “Had To Cry Today” and “Sea Of Joy.” The latter song also features Grech’s most memorable moment via a violin solo, while Baker thunders throughout. Blind Faith the band was inevitably short-lived, as its members were unable to cope with the massive hype and expectations, not to mention their bandmates’ big egos. But even though Blind Faith didn’t quite meet expectations and is really an EP expanded to LP length, their lone album together nevertheless contained some enduring music.

send me an email

Back To Artist Index Home Page