Blind Faith (Blind Faith album)

Last updated

I could not get my hands on the image until out of the mist a concept began to emerge. To symbolize the achievement of human creativity and its expression through technology a spaceship was the material object. To carry this new spore into the universe, innocence would be the ideal bearer, a young girl, a girl as young as Shakespeare's Juliet. The spaceship would be the fruit of the tree of knowledge and the girl, the fruit of the tree of life. The spaceship could be made by Mick Milligan, a jeweller at the Royal College of Art. The girl was another matter. If she were too old it would be cheesecake, too young and it would be nothing. The beginning of the transition from girl to woman, that is what I was after. That temporal point, that singular flare of radiant innocence. Where is that girl? [11]

Seidemann wrote that he approached a girl, reported to be 14 years old, on the London Underground, asking her to model for the cover. He eventually met her parents, but she proved to be too old for the effect he wanted. Instead, the model he used was her younger sister, Mariora Goschen, who was reported to be 11 years old. [7] Goschen recalled that she was coerced into posing for the picture. "My sister said, 'They’ll give you a young horse. Do it!'" She was instead paid £40. [7] [12]

The image, which Seidemann titled "Blind Faith", became the inspiration for the name of the band itself, which had been unnamed when the artwork was commissioned. According to Seidemann: "It was Eric who elected to not print the name of the band on the cover. The name was instead printed on the wrapper, when the wrapper came off, so did the type." That had been done previously for several other albums.

In America, Atco Records used a cover based on elements from a flyer for the band's Hyde Park concert of 7 June 1969.

Release history

The album was released on vinyl in 1969 on Polydor Records in the UK and Europe, and on Atco Records in the US. Polydor released a compact disc in 1986, adding two previously unreleased tracks, "Exchange and Mart" and "Spending All My Days", recorded by Ric Grech for an unfinished solo album, supported by George Harrison, Denny Laine, and Trevor Burton. [13]

An expanded edition of the album was released on 9 January 2001, with previously unreleased tracks and 'jams' included. The studio electric version of "Sleeping in the Ground" had previously been released on the four-disc boxed set for Clapton, Crossroads (released 1988, recorded 1963–1987, including several previously unreleased live or alternate studio recordings). The bonus disc of jams does not include bassist Grech, who had yet to join the band, but includes a guest percussionist, Guy Warner. Two live tracks from the 1969 Hyde Park concert not included here, "Sleeping in the Ground" and a cover of "Under My Thumb", are also available on Winwood's four-disc retrospective The Finer Things .

Reception

Blind Faith
BlindFaithBlindFaith.jpg
Studio album by
Blind Faith
Released9 August 1969 (US) [1]
22 August 1969 (UK) [2]
Recorded20 February – 28 June 1969
Studio
Genre
Length42:01
Label Polydor
Producer Jimmy Miller
Eric Clapton chronology
Best of Cream
(1969)		Blind Faith
(1969)		 On Tour with Eric Clapton
(1970)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
The Great Rock Discography 7/10 [16]
Louder Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [17]
MusicHound Rock 3.5/5 [18]
Music Story Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [19]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [20]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [21]
The Village Voice B [22]

Commercially, Blind Faith charted at number one in both the US [23] and the UK. [24]

The album met with a mixed response from critics. Reviewing in August 1969 for The Village Voice , Robert Christgau found none of the songs exceptional and said, "I'm almost sure that when I'm through writing this I'll put the album away and only play it for guests. Unless I want to hear Clapton—he is at his best here because he is kept in check by the excesses of Winwood, who is rapidly turning into the greatest wasted talent in music. There. I said it and I'm glad." [22] In Rolling Stone , Ed Leimbacher said of the quality, "not as much as I'd hoped, yet better than I'd expected." His colleagues at the magazine—Lester Bangs and John Morthland—were more impressed, especially Bangs in his appraisal of Clapton: "[With] Blind Faith, Clapton appears to have found his groove at last. Every solo is a model of economy, well- thought-out and well-executed with a good deal more subtlety and feeling than we have come to expect from Clapton." [25]

Retrospective appraisals have been positive. According to Stereo Review in 1988, "for 20 years this has been a cornerstone in any basic rock library." [26] AllMusic's Bruce Eder regarded the album as "one of the jewels of the Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and Ginger Baker catalogs". [14] In 2016, Blind Faith was ranked 14th on Rolling Stone's list of "The 40 Greatest One Album Wonders", which described "Can't Find My Way Home" and "Presence of the Lord" as "incredible". [27]

Track listing

Side one [28]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Had to Cry Today" Steve Winwood 8:48
2."Can't Find My Way Home"Winwood3:16
3."Well All Right" Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Joe B. Mauldin, Norman Petty 4:27
4."Presence of the Lord" Eric Clapton 4:50
Side two [28]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Sea of Joy"Winwood5:22
6."Do What You Like" Ginger Baker 15:18
1986 CD bonus tracks [29]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Exchange and Mart" Ric Grech 4:18
8."Spending All My Days"Grech3:03

Deluxe edition

2001 bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Sleeping in the Ground" Sam Myers 2:49
8."Can't Find My Way Home" (Electric version)Winwood5:40
9."Acoustic Jam"Winwood, Clapton, Baker, Grech15:50
10."Time Winds"Winwood3:15
11."Sleeping in the Ground" (Slow blues version)Myers4:44
2001 bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Jam No. 1: Very Long & Good Jam"Winwood, Clapton, Baker14:01
2."Jam No. 2: Slow Jam No. 1"Winwood, Clapton, Baker15:06
3."Jam No. 3: Change of Address Jam"Winwood, Clapton, Baker12:06
4."Jam No. 4: Slow Jam No. 2"Winwood, Clapton, Baker16:06

Personnel

Blind Faith

Guest

Production personnel

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Blind Faith
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [46] 3× Platinum150,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [47] Gold50,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [41] Gold50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [48] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [49] Platinum1,000,000^
Summaries
Worldwide (IFPI)—8,000,000 [50]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 9 August 1969. p. 42. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Melody Maker. 23 August 1969. p. 18. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. ↑ uDiscover Team (11 February 2020). "Blind Faith". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "The Top 30 British Blues Rock Albums Of All Time". Classic Rock . 23 March 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  5. 1 2 Black, Johnny (June 1996). "Born Under A Bad Sign". Mojo. pp. 47–52.
  6. ↑ Welch, Chris (2016). Clapton – Updated Edition: The Ultimate Illustrated History. Voyageur Press. pp. 132–141. ISBN   978-0-760-35019-5.
  7. 1 2 3 Thorgerson, Storm; Powell, Aubrey (1999). 100 Best Album Covers: The Stories Behind the Sleeves. Dorling Kindersley. p. 29. ISBN   0-7513-0706-8.
  8. ↑ "Blind Faith: The Prop Aircraft Model Used On The Controversial Album Cover, Blind Faith". Bonhams . 10 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Doggett, Peter (2008). There's a Riot Going On: Revolutionaries, Rock Stars, and the Rise and Fall of the '60s . Canongate Books. pp.  280–281. ISBN   978-1-84767-180-6.
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  11. ↑ "She's older than she looks..." Badcat Records. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
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  13. ↑ Simon Leng (2003). The Music of George Harrison: While My Guitar Gently Weeps. SAF Publishing Ltd. p. 43. ISBN   9780946719501.
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  21. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide . New York: Fireside Books. p. 84. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8 . Retrieved 20 February 2024– via Internet Archive.
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  23. ↑ "Blind Faith – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard . Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
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  27. ↑ "40 Greatest One-Album Wonders". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  28. 1 2 "Blind Faith". discogs.com. 1969.
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  41. 1 2 Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN   84-8048-639-2.
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  47. ↑ "Cash Box Canada" (PDF).
  48. ↑ See BPI Certifications list on UKMIX.org for reference. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  49. ↑ "American album certifications – Blind Faith – Blind Faith". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  50. ↑ Eder, Bruce (2007). "Rovi Corporation". MTV Biographies – Blind Faith. United States: MTV Books. p. 2.
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