Superwhat? Blind Faith--Blind Faith

When this album was released in 1969, it was touted as the first "supergroup". After all, the musical pedigrees of the players were impeccable. Eric Clapton came from the Yardbirds and Cream, and had a solid blues background. Ginger Baker was the drummer for Cream and believe me, you have to be a good drummer to carry a three-piece band. Steve Winwood broke onto the scene in the mid-1960's as the sixteen-year-old lead singer for the Spencer Davis Group, and he could play almost any instrument as well. I really can't say much about Rick Grech, I would guess that he was somehow tied in with Steve Winwood.

Sometimes the sum of the parts don't equal, or even make, a whole. I think this is the case with Blind Faith. The players must have realized it too-- this is their first, only and last album in this particular configuration. Listening to this album creates a sense of disorientation; it's not logical musically, is poorly mixed and produced and has no sense of direction. That is not to say that there are not some good performances on this album.

A list of the songs and a brief synopses of each is as follows:

1. Had To Cry Today--Written and sung by Steve Winwood, this is probably the song's only saving grace. His vocal range is incredible and his style is unique--as I listen to him today, I can see that he is like fine wine, he gets better with age. Clapton does nothing special in this tune, and being almost nine minutes long, I found myself wishing it was over long before it was.

2. Can't Find My Way Home--Good acoustic guitar work by Clapton and a lot of percussion by Baker. The vocal performance by Winwood is good, and the song works well for an acoustic-percussive tune.

3. Well All Right--A cover of a tune written by and performed by Buddy Holly and his Crickets. Blind Faith's treatment of the song is nothing special, and I find myself wondering why they even recorded it.

4. Presence Of The Lord--This is a spiritual tune written and sung by Eric Clapton. It has a pretty melody and a jumped-up solo with a lot of wah-wah on the electric guitar. Definitely Clapton's best work on the album, but overall, a pretty forgettable tune.

5. Sea Of Joy--The best song on the album. Winwood's vocals really make this tune, and it is a pretty unforgettable tune.

6. Do What You Like--Written by Ginger Baker, this song is "filler", pure and simple. Over fifteen minutes long, it is probably the most unstructured, aimless jam you will ever hear. The song was placed on the album just to get the project over with. It is really terrible.

It's plain that Blind Faith did the right thing by pulling the plug on the band after this album. The chemistry just wasn't there. All went on to other, successful projects, except for Rick Grech, who I just don't know about. I fervently hope that he hasn't been sentenced to listen to Do What You Like for 24 hours a day. That would be my conception of hell.