 | BLIND FAITH ~ LONDON HYDE PARK 1969
SANCTUARY 0090 (Barcode: 5050749500908) ~ UK ~ Classic Rock
Recorded: 1969 Released: 2005
Captured live in front of 100,000 (or more) people gathered in London’s Hyde Park, here is the world’s first “super group”, Blind FaithFind albums by this artist, playing their debut gig on June 7th, 1969. Surely a momentous occasion and a premiere piece of Rock’s history, this footage is seen here for the first time in its entirety. The group existed for just a very brief period of time and left as its legacy just one eponymous album, but its historical importance stretches way beyond that. Blind Faith was a proof that greatly talented musicians can work together, in spite of their different backgrounds and experiences, creating momentous music. The “super group” phenomenon would become ever so popular in the 1970s, but the pioneering effort that was Blind Faith would forever stay in our collective memory as one of Rock’s giant steps. The collective talents of guitarist Eric ClaptonFind albums by this artist, vocalist / keyboardist Steve WinwoodFind albums by this artist, bassist Rick GrechFind albums by this artist and drummer Ginger BakerFind albums by this artist represented the formative years and experiences of British Rock in the 1960s. They played in some of the most important bands of the 1960s: Spencer Davis GroupFind albums by this artist, Graham Bond OrganizationFind albums by this artist, CreamFind albums by this artist, TrafficFind albums by this artist and FamilyFind albums by this artist – all icons and remarkable Rock achievers. The music they created together in Blind Faith is (especially in retrospect) quite surprising and different that anything done before. Anticlimactic and relaxed, it allowed them to take a much-deserved break from the emotional (and physical) extremities they all experienced with their former groups. The change is most evident and personalized by Clapton, who left behind the high-volume, heavy, fuzz saturated guitar style he used with Cream and dramatically changed it into a subdued, relaxed and laid-back guitar playing, which was to be his new “thing”, as evident on his recordings from that moment on. He was still one of the best players around, but simply not trying to prove it any more. Winwood’s vocals, dramatic and soulful as always, were of course the group’s trademark and here he reached maturity (in spite of his young age) for the first time. Baker’s drumming is inventive, as always, but again the relaxed atmosphere allows for his incredibly melodic playing to he really heard. Grech is solid and supportive all the way, with his elegance and sensibility at their best. But of course not everything is perfect here – the gig was played in the midst of the recordings for the album and the material is obviously still being in the “working” phase, with charming imperfection and numerous glitches. Nevertheless it does work charmingly and listening to this stuff almost 40 years later still gives me the shivers. What a teat! Dolby Digital Stereo Sound, 73 minutes.
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