Blind Faith

Blind Faith was a group formed in 1969 when Eric Clapton (ex-Cream) and Steve Winwood (ex-Traffic (band)) were at a loose end following the demise of their bands and began to spend time together, jamming and working on new material at Clapton's house in Surrey. At Winwood's instigation, they invited Cream's former drummer Ginger Baker along and spent some time in the recording studio. Rick Grech, bassist with Family was invited to join them (he left Family mid-tour). Record producer Jimmy Miller came in to assist recording of further material.

News of the formation of the group created a buzz of excitement among the public and a free concert was scheduled for London's Hyde Park on June 7 1969. Their small repertoire was reported by the music press as having disappointed the crowd of 100,000 who were also expecting to hear songs from the days of Cream and Traffic. Recording of their album continued, followed by a short tour of Scandinavia, then a US tour from July 11 (Newport) to August 24 (Hawaii) supported by Free and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.

Audience reaction in the USA was similar to that in the UK and the band were forced to appease them by playing a couple of Cream and Traffic songs. The management pressure to cash in on the hyperbole (the Press dubbed them a 'supergroup') and Baker's view that the group was a continuation of Cream soured feelings within the band and they disbanded immediately after completing the US tour.

They released only one album, "Blind Faith", with 6 tracks. This caused controversy at the time because the cover showed a naked 14-year girl. The US record company issued it in an alternative cover with a shot of the band on the front. An expanded edition of the album was released in 2001 with previously unreleased tracks and 'jams' included. 2 live tracks from the Hyde Park concert are also available on Winwood's 4-CD retrospective "The Finer Things".