Blind Faith
Left to right: Steve Winwood, Ric Grech, Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton
Background information
Origin	Surrey, England
Genre(s)	Blues-rock, Hard rock, British blues
Years active	1969
Label(s)	Polydor, Atlantic, RSO
Associated acts	Cream, Traffic, Family
Former members
Eric Clapton Steve Winwood Ginger Baker Rick Grech

Blind Faith were an English blues-rock band that consisted of Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, Cream), Ginger Baker (Graham Bond Organisation, Cream), Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group, Traffic) and Ric Grech (Family). England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945 is an English Blues-rock Guitarist, singer Songwriter and Composer The Yardbirds are an English rock band noted for starting the careers of three of rock's most famous Guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck Cream were a 1960s British rock band Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born 19 August 1939 Lewisham, South London) is an English Drummer. Graham John Clifton Bond ( 28 October, 1937 in Romford, East London, England &ndash 8 May, 1974 at Finsbury Cream were a 1960s British rock band Stephen Lawrence "Steve" or "Stevie" Winwood (born 12 May 1948 in Handsworth, Birmingham) is an English Singer-songwriter The Spencer Davis Group was a mid 1960s British Beat group from Birmingham, England, founded by Spencer Davis (born 17 July 1939 Traffic were an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. Richard Roman Grech ( 1 November 1946 – 17 March 1990) was an English musician This article is about the British rock band For other uses see Family (disambiguation. The band, which was one of the first so-called supergroups, only released one album, Blind Faith, in August 1969 (see 1969 in music). SuperGroup is a Reality show on the channel VH1. The show puts together five Heavy metal musicians packed into a large mansion that must play a show after Blind Faith is the Self-titled album by the British supergroup Blind Faith, which consisted of Eric Clapton ( The Yardbirds Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts They were stylistically similar to the bands in which Winwood, Baker, and Clapton had most recently participated (Traffic and Cream). Traffic were an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. Cream were a 1960s British rock band

Formation and early history

Blind Faith's beginnings date to mid-1968, with the breakup of Cream. Rock's original supergroup had become a financial powerhouse, selling millions of records within a few years and raising the group's (and each member's) repertoire to international popularity. Despite that success, the band was crumbling from within due to frequent animosity between Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, with Eric Clapton doing his best to mediate. John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce (born 14 May 1943 is a Scottish -born musician composer and Singer. Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born 19 August 1939 Lewisham, South London) is an English Drummer. Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945 is an English Blues-rock Guitarist, singer Songwriter and Composer Mediation, a form of Alternative dispute resolution (ADR or "appropriate Dispute resolution " aims to assist two (or more disputants in reaching In addition, Clapton had tired of being coerced into playing commercially driven blues, and hoped to move forward with a new, experimental, less strait-jacketed approach to the genre.

Steve Winwood was facing similar problems in The Spencer Davis Group, in which he had been the lead singer for three years. The Spencer Davis Group was a mid 1960s British Beat group from Birmingham, England, founded by Spencer Davis (born 17 July 1939 The lead vocalist (or lead singer) is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song Winwood wanted to experiment with the band's sound by infusing jazz elements, but left due to his musical differences, instead forming a new band -- Traffic -- in 1967. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Traffic were an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. The year 1967 was an important year for Psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles ( Sgt That band split temporarily in 1969, and Winwood started to jam with his good friend Eric in Clapton's basement in Surrey, England. Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. Winwood and Clapton had previously collaborated on the one-off "Powerhouse" project. Eric Clapton's Powerhouse (also referred to as (The Powerhouse or Eric Clapton and (the Powerhouse) was a one-off British Blues studio

Clapton was pleased with the jam sessions and looked seriously toward starting a trio with Winwood, but they needed a drummer. A jam session is a Musical act where Musicians gather and play (or "jam") without extensive preparation or predefined Arrangements Ginger Baker turned up to sit in with them in 1969, and the band took near-final form. But Clapton questioned letting Baker in the band, because he had promised Jack Bruce that, if they were to work with one another again, they would all three play. Moreover, Clapton didn't want to reunite with Cream barely nine weeks after the breakup, and also didn't want to deal with another "Cream-like" superstardom situation. Winwood ultimately persuaded Clapton to finalize Baker's inclusion in the lineup, arguing that Ginger Baker strengthened their musicianship and that it would be hard to find an equally talented drummer.

By May 1969, Ric Grech, bassist with Family, was invited to join them (leaving Family, mid-tour). Richard Roman Grech ( 1 November 1946 – 17 March 1990) was an English musician This article is about the British rock band For other uses see Family (disambiguation. They laid down most of their album at Olympic Studios under the supervision of producer Jimmy Miller. Olympic Studios is a commercial Recording studio located at 117 Church Road in the south-western suburb of Barnes in London, England. James 'Jimmy' Miller ( 23 March[[ 942]] - 22 October 1994) was a Brooklyn born Record producer, who produced albums for The Spencer Miller provided focus to the band, who often preferred jamming, over the standard commercial 3-5 minute track. By then the group was known collectively as Blind Faith, a slyly cynical reference by Clapton to his outlook on the new group.

Debut and touring

News of the group's formation created a buzz of excitement among the public and press, which even heralded the band as "super Cream". The group debuted at a free concert at London's Hyde Park on June 7, 1969. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Hyde Park is one of the largest Parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[1] The performance was well received by fans there but troubled Clapton, who thought that the band's playing was sub-par and that the adulation was undeserved and reminiscent of his Cream days when the crowds would applaud for nearly everything. Clapton, knowing the band had not rehearsed enough and was unprepared, was reluctant to tour and feared that the band would develop into a Cream repeat.

Blind Faith
From left to right: Steve Winwood, Ric Grech, Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton

The recording of their album continued, followed by a short tour of Scandinavia, where the band played smaller gigs and were able to rehearse their sound and prepare it for bigger audiences in America and England. Stephen Lawrence "Steve" or "Stevie" Winwood (born 12 May 1948 in Handsworth, Birmingham) is an English Singer-songwriter Richard Roman Grech ( 1 November 1946 – 17 March 1990) was an English musician Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born 19 August 1939 Lewisham, South London) is an English Drummer. Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945 is an English Blues-rock Guitarist, singer Songwriter and Composer Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well After Scandinavia, the band toured the United States, making their debut at Madison Square Garden on July 12th for more than 20,000. Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four Arenas in New York City. Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. During the performance a 30-minute-long riot occurred on stage. Involving police and concert goers, it led to Baker accidentally getting clubbed on the head by a police officer and Winwood's piano being destroyed. The band would tour for seven more weeks in America, finishing their tour in Hawaii on August 24, 1969. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[2]

A major problem with the tour was that the band had only a few songs in their catalog — barely enough to fill an hour. They were forced to play old Cream and Traffic songs, to the delight of a crowd which usually preferred their older, popular material to their new Blind Faith material. Clapton was now exactly where he didn't want to be — stuck in a "super Cream" that was causing riots during their live shows (Cream hadn't even reached the status to create riots). They were playing the same material from his Cream days, to appease the audience and to fill the void left by the lack of adequate new material.

Opening acts for the band included the band Free and a blues-based rock act called Delaney & Bonnie. Free were an English Rock band, formed in London in 1968 and best known for their popular song " All Right Now " Delaney & Bonnie and Friends was a rock / Soul revue fronted by husband-and-wife singer/songwriters Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. Clapton particularly liked the soulful, folksy-sounding blues of Delaney & Bonnie; he began spending most of his time with them instead of Blind Faith, letting Winwood take a more prominent role in the band.

Album release and controversy

Upon its release, Blind Faith topped Billboard's charts at the No. Blind Faith is the Self-titled album by the British supergroup Blind Faith, which consisted of Eric Clapton ( The Yardbirds The Billboard charts are music sales airplay and digital ranking reports distributed to the general public by Billboard magazine #1 spot for Pop Album in both America and the United Kingdom, and peaked at #40 on the Black Albums chart — an impressive feat for a British rock quartet. The album sold more than half a million copies within the first month of its release and was a huge profit-making device for both Atlantic Records and Eric Clapton (Blind Faith sales were helping to stimulate demand for Cream albums as well). Atlantic Records ( Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American Record label best known for its many recordings of Rhythm & blues, Rock

The release of the album provoked controversy because the cover featured a topless pubescent girl ^[3], holding in her hands a silver space ship designed by Mick Milligan, a jeweller at the Royal College of Art. A spacecraft is a Vehicle or machine designed for Spaceflight. ^[4] Some perceived the ship as phallic^[5] The U. The word phallus can refer to an erect Penis, or to an object shaped like a penis S. record company issued it with an alternative cover which showed a photograph of the band on the front. ^[6]

The cover art was created by photographer Bob Seidemann, a personal friend and former flatmate of Clapton who is known primarily for his photos of Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. Bob Seidemann is an American graphic artist and photographer best known for the creation of several Album covers and portraits of musicians in the 1960s and 1970s Janis Lyn Joplin ( January 19, 1943  – October 4, 1970) was an American singer songwriter and music arranger from The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bizarre rumours both fuelled and were fuelled by the controversy, among them that the young girl was Baker's illegitimate daughter or, alternatively as a fantasy, was a groupie kept in the meadowlands as a slave by the band members. In Common law, legitimacy is the status of a Child that is born to parents who are legally married to one another or that is born shortly after the A groupie is a person who seeks sexual and/or emotional Intimacy with a Celebrity. Actually, the young lass was a London suburbanite, who posed upon consent by her parents and for a handsome fee, as described in Seidemann's mini essay about the origins of the Blind Faith album cover artwork (Re: Blind Faith (album)). Blind Faith is the Self-titled album by the British supergroup Blind Faith, which consisted of Eric Clapton ( The Yardbirds ^[7] Also see "Origins of BF's Album Artwork" referenced web link below.

One other interesting note about the cover is that it was nameless — only the wrapping paper told the buyer who the artist was and the name of the album. Though initially banned in some parts of the USA and other countries, the original artwork was quite popular and collectible. It also became available later in the 1970s on the RSO label worldwide, and in the USA as an import item. Under licensing agreement during the mid- 1980s, the Blind Faith album was remastered to high definition vinyl and gold compact disc by Mobile fidelity Sound Labs. During 2001 the entire album was remastered and re-released as a deluxe edition release from Polydor International that includes alternates, outtakes and studio rehearsal versions of the bands music created during the early months of 1969.

Dissolution and separate paths

After the tour finished in August, the band returned to England surrounded by rumours of breakup or a possible UK tour. By October, the band had effectively dissolved within a year of its creation, and it did not produce another studio or live album — though several live tracks from the band can be found on Steve Winwood's 1995 retrospective album The Finer Things. The Finer Things is a Compilation album of recordings by Steve Winwood. Outtakes and other live recordings were included in the "Deluxe Edition" of the album, released in 2001.

Thereafter, Clapton stepped out of the spotlight, first to sit in with the Plastic Ono Band and then to tour as a sideman for Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, with whom he had become good friends during the U. Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945 is an English Blues-rock Guitarist, singer Songwriter and Composer The Plastic Ono Band was a conceptual supergroup formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 before the dissolution of The Beatles. A sideman is a professional Musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he is not a regular member Delaney & Bonnie and Friends was a rock / Soul revue fronted by husband-and-wife singer/songwriters Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. S. tour. This freed him of the limelight that he had considered a plague to both Cream and Blind Faith. After his sideman stint, he took several members from Delaney & Bonnie to form a new supergroup, Derek and the Dominos. SuperGroup is a Reality show on the channel VH1. The show puts together five Heavy metal musicians packed into a large mansion that must play a show after Derek and the Dominos were a Blues-rock supergroup formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock Clapton never dropped his Blind Faith repertoire completely, as "Presence of the Lord" and "Can't Find My Way Home" have been performed occasionally throughout his solo career.

Unlike Clapton, Ginger Baker had enjoyed his Blind Faith experience and looked to carry on an offshoot of the band in the form of Ginger Baker's Air Force with both Grech and Winwood. Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born 19 August 1939 Lewisham, South London) is an English Drummer. Ginger Baker's Air Force was a jazz-rock fusion band comprising Ginger Baker on drums Steve Winwood on organ and vocals Ric Grech on violin After a few shows together, Winwood left with Grech and went to Island Records to reunite and reform Traffic (Grech is featured on bass on the Traffic album The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys and Welcome To The Canteen). Island Records is a Record label that was founded by British record producers in Jamaica. Traffic were an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. Winwood would later go on to have a successful solo career and Grech was a member of various groups before his death in 1990 due to a brain hemorrhage. ^[8]

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood both appeared on the movie Blues Brothers 2000. Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945 is an English Blues-rock Guitarist, singer Songwriter and Composer Stephen Lawrence "Steve" or "Stevie" Winwood (born 12 May 1948 in Handsworth, Birmingham) is an English Singer-songwriter Blues Brothers 2000 is a 1998 musical / Comedy Film and Sequel to the 1980 film The Blues Brothers

Clapton and Winwood would later look favorably on their work in the band and featured several Blind Faith songs in the Clapton (Crossroads) and Winwood collections and catalogs. Crossroads is a music collection Box set by Eric Clapton. The set includes his work with the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Blues Breakers

In July of 2007, old friends Clapton and Winwood reunited for a performance at the Crossroads 2 concert in Chicago, where the duo performed a number of Blind Faith songs as part of their set. Their inspired performance led the two to announce plans to perform three reunion concerts at Madison Square Garden, that took place on February 25, 26, and 28, 2008. Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four Arenas in New York City. It was not an official Blind Faith reunion; rather "Winwood and Clapton. " They performed primarily Blind Faith songs as well as some selections from Traffic, Derek and the Dominos, Clapton's solo career and some Jimi Hendrix covers. James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix) (November 27 1942 – September 18 1970 was an American Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter Their band consisted of Willie Weeks on bass, Ian Thomas on drums and Chris Stainton on keyboards. Willie Weeks (born 1947 is an American Bassist. Career Weeks was born in Salemburg North Carolina, and began playing the electric Christopher 'Chris' Stainton (born 22 March 1944, in Woodseats, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England) is a keyboard

Members

• Eric Clapton - guitar, vocals
• Steve Winwood - organ, bass, guitar, piano, keyboard, vocals
• Ginger Baker - percussion, drums
• Ric Grech - bass, violin, vocals

Discography

• Blind Faith August 1969 #1 (US)

Chart positions

Blind Faith on the Billboard (North America):

References

External links

• Blind Faith Reference Web Site
• Official Eric Clapton Web Site
• Official Steve Winwood Web Site
• Steve Winwood historical time line