Blind Faith
Band
Eric Clapton - Guitar
Ginger Baker - Percussion
Steve Winwood - Vocals, Piano
Rick Grech - Bass, Violin
Review:
Blind Faith was an odd matched supergroup that was destined to die from the begining, which can easily be infered. It was a combination of four talented and experienced musicians.
It included the fantastic Eric Clapton, who was famous for his Blues/Rock playing with John Mayall, The Yard Birds, and Cream. He also never managed to stay with those bands for a decent amount of time. Blind Faith also included the very intelligent drumming of Ginger Baker. Who was loved and praised for his technical polyrythm style, and his fabulos work with double bass playing, and his playing with odd cymbal patterns. Ginger gained the name of "Britian's best" through playing with Cream, along with Clapton, and being one of the key members in the Grahm Bond Organization. Steve Winwood got into the band through Eric Clapton, who he was great friends with. Steve was fresh out of Traffic, where he gained popularity, but nothing compared to Clapton or Baker. The band would gain much from Winwoods playing. Finally, The members of Blind Faith got Rick Grech to quit The Family and join.
Though the band only managed to stay together for seven months, the music they made will be charished forever.
Also, don't let the name desieve you. The band is nor athiest, or satanist. The music is actually very religious/gospel like. It actually sounds like you would here some of these songs in a church.
1. Had to Cry Today: In my opinion, this is the greatest B.F song, and the most reconizable. It opens with some catchy guitar playing, soon enough after, Ginger breaks in and match perfectly with some rolls. Though the vocals are my least favorite factor in this song, they are fair none the less. Off the bat, you can notice that this band is based around jamming, and that's is what most of this song is. The playing intenses greatly near the end, and then fades away. 5/5
2. Can't find my way Home: His song has song amazing finger picking, and vocals. The percussion fits perfect with them. Winwood really shows off how beautiful his voice is in this song. 4/5
3. Well all Right: This song opens with some, rather ennoying playing by all the instruments, but soon enough the vocals come in and everything changes. Ginger seems to switch his style of playing in this song. I'd say the chorus in this song is the highlight. 4/5
4. Presense of the Lord: This is a very beautiful song, that seems to go against the bands name. Though the band is not athiest nor are they satanist, or devil worshipers. The key element in this song is how the organ and the guitar blend so well. Around the middle of the song, the guitaring takes an odd turn and picks up a bit with an extremely intense solo. Ginger is playing some great rolls and beats to match it. Soon later, the songs gets a bit slower, but then picks up again. 4/5
5. Sea of Joy: This song is unlike any B.F song. For instance, the playing will be slow, but Winwood will be screaming, or the playing will be heavy, but Gingers playing slow beats, either way though, it's still a catchy song. If you listen closely you'll notice that , Winwood's organ playing is very similair to what you would here in Gospel music, rather than Rock n Roll. This song also has a violin solo by Grach, which adds to the song greatly. 3/5
6. Do what you Like: This song is a 15:18 jam, with some out of the ordinary organ, and guitar playing. It has a nice moderate organ solo. The whole song is very Jazz influenced. The greatest thing about this song is that it had a solo by each member. None of the solos are that intense, because it is not an intense song. Baker's solo is probably the most memorable, fill with many difficult polyrythms and beats. 5/5
I give this album a 5/5 for the reason that the band explores so many different genres and playing techniques in one album.
