Blind Faith - Blind Faith

The short-lived classic-rock supergroup Blind Faith's sole album has aged remarkably well. In 1969, Blind Faith fused the psychedelic blues of Eric Clapton and the soulful vocals and keyboards of Steve Winwood with the polyrhythmic, Afrocentric leanings of drummer Ginger Baker. "Can't Find My Way Home" is one of the hippie era's most lyrically poignant, sonically subtle tunes. The record has a lot of surprises; "Presence of the Lord" is rousing and melancholy at the same time, while the way the bass and guitar double-team on the introductory melodic line to "Had to Cry Today" makes a hard-rock cliché fresh again. The 10-minute drum solo on "Do What You Like" is pretty good as 10-minute drum solos go. This 2000 reissue of the album omits the unreleased jams and mixes that fill the second disc of the deluxe reissue that appeared earlier in the year. --Mike McGonigal Amazon.com

A bit overrated

Blind Faith's first and last album, more than 30 years old and counting, remains one of the jewels of the Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and Ginger Baker catalogs, despite the crash-and-burn history of the band itself, which scarcely lasted six months. As much a follow-up to Traffic's self-titled second album as it is to Cream's final output, it merges the soulful blues of the former with the heavy riffing and outsized song lengths of the latter for a very compelling sound unique to this band. Not all of it works -- between the virtuoso electric blues of "Had to Cry Today," the acoustic-textured "Can't Find My Way Home," the soaring "Presence of the Lord" (Eric Clapton's one contribution here as a songwriter, and the first great song he ever authored) and "Sea of Joy," the band doesn't do much with the Buddy Holly song "Well All Right"; and Ginger Baker's "Do What You Like" was a little weak to take up 15 minutes of space on an LP that might have been better used for a shorter drum solo and more songs. Unfortunately, the group was never that together as a band and evidently had just the 42 minutes of new music here ready to tour behind.
June 12, 2008

Great Recording, but Ginger Overrated

This is one of the greatest rock recordings of all time. I know it, critics know it, history has proven it. Listen to it and you will know it, too. As for the person who agrees with Clapton that Ginger Baker is the best drummer of all time, sorry. Baker is good, not great. Clapton said that in agreement with Baker (who does have the greatest ego of all time), because he was working with him at the time. Anyone who seriously thinks Baker is the best has apparently never heard Buddy Rich, Keith Moon, Ray Fean, or at least a hundred others. May 27, 2008

Blind Faith CD

We have the original album, but it nice to have it on CD to preserve the old album. Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton! It just doesn't get much better than that! A timeless classic for any rockers collection. May 5, 2008

Are "Supergroups" Really All That Super?

Blind Faith is hailed as THE "supergroup" of the era. The performances on this record are excellent and the tunes are certainly above average, especially "Can't Find My Way Home" and "The Presence of The Lord". Naturally, one is want to compare this record to anything released by Cream, Traffic or Family. Unfortunately, this record is not greater than the combined value of the aforementioned, but rather an adequate compromise. The players are first-rate, but the LP simply doesn't live-up to the hype that has surrounded it since its release. The band itself fell apart under that weight. Still, this record has more to offer on the basis of the participants than many records by obscure artists. I guess it's all relative to notoriety. March 26, 2008

Worth owning

I recently lost about 400 CDs, 200 LPs, and countless cassettes and MP3s in a recent fire in my home. This was one of the very first CDs I just had to have to start my collection over again. I originally had this LP from probably the late 70s or early 80s when it was rereleased back then as I was only 4 years old when it first came out, unlike some of you old timers. I am proud to say it is still a great cornerstone to any music collection, even for us young whipper snappers. February 24, 2008

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