Blind Faith
Returning to the original break up, on leaving Cream, Clapton, Baker, and Bruce had agreed they wouldn’t pair up as duos, it would be all three or not at all. But soon after leaving the band, Clapton was having fun jamming with Steve Winwood from his brief Powerhouse days. Winwood was in the Spencer Davis Group and then Traffic. Baker dropped into the studio to play with them and despite Clapton's reservations, Winwood persuaded him to start a new band with him and Baker.
That was the start of Blind Faith with guitarist Ric Grech bassist with Family, making up the foursome slightly later. The formation of the band caused plenty of excitement, as a supergroup should. Their only album, self-titled Blind Faith, soared high selling around half a million copies in its first month, and was ranked platinum later. It topped the UK and US charts when released in July 1969.
The band had a summer tour making their debut concert appearance in front of a packed crowd in Hyde Park, London. Over 100,000 people saw them take the stage. There was one problem early on though. Although they had plenty of musical talent, there hadn’t been much time for new material. The album was just over 40 minutes long and that included a Buddy Holly cover. You need more to keep a crowd entertained at a live gig. So they added in some older blues numbers, some from Cream and Winwood’s Traffic to bolster the setlist.
It was plenty to keep the fans happy, but less so that band. Clapton, perhaps realizing this wasn’t for him, started drifting away. He was busy with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, a forerunner to his 1970 supergroup Derek And The Dominoes. Blind Faith drifted apart and disbanded after their only tour. Short-lived but still very potent. Have a listen to two classics from their album which stand the test of time, "Can't Find My Way Home" above and "Presence of the Lord".
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