Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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BLIND FAITH

Archetypal '60s supergroup, born and died '69: Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Stevie Winwood and Rick Grech. In earlier times contractual exclusivity had been strictly observed (Billie Holiday and Count Basie '37--8, Holiday and Artie Shaw '39 toured but could not record together); influential rock albums in the '60s had appeared with uncredited contributions by contemporary talent: Beatles' 'White Album', Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet; musicians wanted to be free from the confines of the music business. Blind Faith was formed on dissolution of Cream, Traffic and Family, but the supergroup idea resulted in unrealistic public and critical expectations and worse pressure than ever. The group made a debut before 100,000 in Hyde Park, London; set off on tour of US stadia where Cream had made their reputation; single LP Blind Faith showed promise: incl. Clapton's 'In The Presence Of The Lord', Winwood's 'Can't Find My Way Home', effective reworking of Buddy Holly's 'Well All Right'. There was potential but they split up: Clapton was soured by the experience, formed low-key Derek and the Dominoes; Winwood went back to re-formed Traffic; Grech played in Traffic, later with Gram Parsons; Baker founded cumbersome Air Force.