Blind Faith (Blind Faith album)

Blind Faith
Studio album by Blind Faith
Released	August 1969
Recorded	20 February – 24 June 1969
Studio	Olympic Studios and Morgan Studios, London, England
Genre	Rock
Length	42:12
Label	Polydor UK/Canada, Atco US
Producer	Jimmy Miller
Eric Clapton chronology
Goodbye by Cream (1969) Blind Faith (1969) On Tour with Eric Clapton by Delaney, Bonnie & Friends (1970)
Alternative cover
US cover

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	B[2]
Rolling Stone	(favourable)[3]

Blind Faith is the self-titled and only studio album by the English supergroup Blind Faith, originally released in 1969 on Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Europe and on Atlantic Records in the United States. It topped the album charts in the UK and Canada as well as the Billboard 200, even peaking at #40 on the Billboard Soul Albums chart, an impressive feat for an English rock quartet. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In addition, Rolling Stone published three reviews of the album in their 6 September 1969 issue, which were written by Ed Leimbacher, Lester Bangs, and John Morthland.

Background

A buzz built about the band, since it contained two-thirds of the immensely popular power trio Cream in Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton working in collaboration with British star Steve Winwood, who was still not as famous in North America as the other two. The fourth member was bassist Ric Grech. They began to work out songs early in 1969, and in February and March the group was in London at Morgan Studios, preparing for the beginnings of basic tracks for their album, although the first few almost finished songs didn't show up until they were at Olympic Studios in April and May under the direction of producer Jimmy Miller. The music community was already aware of the linkup, despite Clapton's claim that he was cutting an album of his own on which Winwood would play. The promoters and record companies got involved, pushing those concerned for an album and a tour.

The recording of their album was interrupted by a tour of Scandinavia, then a US tour from 11 July (Newport) to 24 August (Hawaii), supported by Free, Taste and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. Although a chart topper the LP was recorded hurriedly and side two consisted of just two songs, one of them a 15-minute jam entitled "Do What You Like". Nevertheless the band was able to produce two hits, Winwood's "Can't Find My Way Home" and Clapton's "Presence of the Lord".

Album cover controversy

The release of the album provoked controversy because the cover featured a topless pubescent girl, holding in her hands a silver winged object, which some perceived as phallic.^[4][5] The US record company issued it with an alternative cover (which showed a photograph of the band on the front) as well as the original cover.

The cover art was created by photographer Bob Seidemann, a personal friend and former flatmate of Clapton's who is primarily known for his photos of Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. In the mid-1990s, in an advertising circular intended to help sell lithographic reprints of the famous album cover, he explained his thinking behind the image.

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 space ship 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 space ship would be the fruit of the tree of knowledge and the girl, the fruit of the tree of life.

The space ship could be made by Mick Milligan, a jeweller at the Royal College of Art [sic]. 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?^[6]

Seidemann wrote that he approached a girl reported to be 14 years old on the London Tube about modelling for the cover, and eventually met with her parents, but that she proved 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] Mariora initially requested a horse as a fee but was instead paid £40.^[7][8]

Bizarre rumours both contributed to and were fuelled by the controversy, including that the girl was Baker's daughter or was a groupie kept as a slave by the band. The image, titled "Blind Faith" by Seidemann, 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." In fact, this had been done previously for The Rolling Stones' 1964 debut album, The Beatles' albums Rubber Soul in 1965 and Revolver in 1966, and Traffic's self-titled 1968 album.

In America, ATCO records made a cover based on elements from a flyer for the band's Hyde Park concert of 7 June 1969

Release history

On the original Polydor release for compact disc in 1986, two previously unreleased tracks were added, "Exchange and Mart" and "Spending All My Days". These were originally recorded for a never released solo album, and there is no proof that any other members of Blind Faith took part in the recording sessions.^[9]

An expanded, deluxe 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 box set for Clapton, Crossroads. The bonus disc of jams does not include bassist Grech, who had yet to join the band. Two live tracks from the 1969 Hyde Park concert not included here, again "Sleeping in the Ground" and a cover of "Under My Thumb" are also available on Winwood's four-disc retrospective The Finer Things.

Track listing

Norman Petty is listed as a writer for "Well All Right" incorrectly. See biographical article.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Had to Cry Today"	Steve Winwood	8:48
2.	"Can't Find My Way Home"	Winwood	3:16
3.	"Well... All Right"	Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Joe B. Mauldin	4:27
4.	"Presence of the Lord"	Eric Clapton	4:50

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Sea of Joy"	Winwood	5:22
6.	"Do What You Like"	Ginger Baker	15:20

Deluxe edition

2001 bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Sleeping in the Ground"	Sam Myers	2:49
8.	"Can't Find My Way Home" (Electric version)	Winwood	5:40
9.	"Acoustic Jam"	Winwood, Clapton, Baker, Ric Grech	15:50
10.	"Time Winds"	Winwood	3:15
11.	"Sleeping in the Ground" (Slow blues version)	Myers	4:44

2001 bonus disc
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Jam No.1: Very Long & Good Jam"	Winwood, Clapton, Baker	14:01
2.	"Jam No.2: Slow Jam No. 1"	Winwood, Clapton, Baker	15:06
3.	"Jam No.3: Change of Address Jam"	Winwood, Clapton, Baker	12:06
4.	"Jam No.4: Slow Jam No. 2"	Winwood, Clapton, Baker	16:06

Personnel

• Steve Winwood — keyboards, vocals, guitars, bass guitar on "Presence of the Lord"
• Eric Clapton — guitars, vocals on "Do What You Like"
• Ric Grech — bass guitar, violin on "Sea of Joy", vocals on "Do What You Like"
• Ginger Baker — drums, percussion, vocals on "Do What You Like"

Production personnel

• Jimmy Miller — producer
• George Chkiantz, Keith Harwood, Andy Johns, Alan O'Duffy — engineers
• Andy Johns, Jimmy Miller — mixing
• Stanley Miller, Bob Seidemann — cover design and photography
• Chris Blackwell, Robert Stigwood — executive producers
• Margaret Goldfarb — production co-ordination
• Bill Levenson — reissue supervision
• Suha Gur — remastering
• Vartan — reissue art direction

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (1969–2015) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] 2 Canadian Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[11] 1 scope="row" Croatian Foreign Albums (HDU)[12] 25 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[13] 1 scope="row" Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[14] 1 French Albums (IFOP)[15] 4 scope="row" German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 5 Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 88 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[18] 293 scope="row" Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 1 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[20] 49 scope="row" UK Albums (OCC)[21] 1 US Billboard 200[22] 1 US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)[23] 40

Year-end charts Chart (1969) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 53 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25] 20 UK Albums (OCC)[26] 35

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[27]	3× Platinum	210,000
Canada (Music Canada)[28]	Platinum	100,000
Croatia (HDU)[29]	Gold	7,500^*
Macao (IFPI Macao)[30]	Gold	15,000^*
Netherlands (NVPI)[31]	Platinum	100,000
Norway (IFPI Norway)[32]	Platinum	50,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[20]	Gold	50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[33]	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)[34]	Platinum	1,000,000
Summaries
Worldwide (IFPI)		8,000,000[35]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Blind Faith – Blind Faith | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
2. "Robert Christgau Reviews (Blind Faith)". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
3. Leimbacher, Ed (6 September 1969). "Blind Faith". Rolling Stone (San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.) (41): 27–28.
4. 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 1-84767-180-2.
5. Larkin, Colin (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. p. 268. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
6. "She's older than she looks...". Badcat Records. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
7. Thorgerson, Storm; Powell, Aubrey (1999). 100 Best Album Covers: The Stories Behind the Sleeves. Dorling Kindersley. p. 29. ISBN 0-7513-0706-8.
8. Barrell, Tony, "Cover Stories", Sunday Times (11 November 2007)
9. Steve Winwood Fans' Site: Collaborations & Sessions: Collaborations
10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: This reference gives Australian albums and singles information. It is used for chart peak positions as early materials were released before ARIA regulated the Australian charts itself (1989).
11. "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 12, No. 10". RPM Magazine. Library and Archives Canada. 25 October 1969. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
12. "Top Stranih [Top Foreign]" (in Croatian). Top Foreign Albums. Hrvatska diskografska udruga. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
13. "Blind Faith". Hitlisten (in Danish). Danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Blind Faith – Blind Faith" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
15. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste". Institut français d'opinion publique (in French). InfoDisc.fr. Retrieved 29 August 2015. Note: Select "BLIND FAITH", then press "OK" to see selected charting positions.
16. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
17. See the Irish Chart Tread 2005 for Reference at UKMIX.org. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
18. ブラインド・フェイスの売上ランキング | ORICON STYLE at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 August 2015). (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 August 2015.
19. "Norwegiancharts.com – Blind Faith – Blind Faith". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
20. LISTAS DE AFYVE: 1992 Albumes (1ª parte) at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 August 2015). (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 August 2015. Note: Search for Spanish album versions only to see the charting positions and selected certification awards.
21. "Blind Faith | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 29 August 2015.
22. "Blind Faith – Blind Faith | Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
23. "Blind Faith | Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
24. "Alben 1969 Deutschland | Album-Charts | Top 100 Auswertung". GfK Entertainment (in German). Chartsurfer.de. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
25. "Alben 1969 Norwegen | Album-Charts | Top 40 Auswertung". GfK Entertainment (in German). Chartsurfer.de. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
26. "Alben 1969 UK | Album-Charts | Top 75 Auswertung". GfK Entertainment (in German). Chartsurfer.de. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
27. "Australian Fun Countdowns: Accreditation Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Australian Fun Countdowns. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
28. "Blind Faith – Canadian Music Blog". Music Canada (MC) (Canadian Music Blog). Retrieved 29 August 2015.
29. "Tots Vijest". Hrvatska Diskografska Udruga (in Croatian). hdu-toplista.com. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
30. Macao Music Sales (2001-2009). Record Sales. Retrieved 8 February 2015. (Former link: recordsales.2xik.com/The-first-blog-b1/Macao-Music-Sales-2001-2009-b1-p1.htm).
31. Van Dijk, Daan (6 October 1969). "Nieuwe groep Eric Clapton is zeer succesvol" [Eric Clapton's new band is very successful]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch) (Amsterdam: Telegraaf Media Groep).
32. H., Marit (6 October 1969). "Nordmenn har blind tro" [Norwegians have got blind faith]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian) (Havnelageret: Venstre).
33. See BPI Certifications list on UKMIX.org for reference. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
34. "American album certifications – Blind Faith – Blind Faith". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 29 August 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
35. Eder, Bruce (2007). "Rovi Corporation". MTV Biographies – Blind Faith. United States: MTV Books. p. 2.

External links

• Blind Faith at Where's Eric!