When Blind Faith's eponymous 1969 album Blind Faith went straight to the top of the charts in the US, the UK and Canada, it said more about the cult of the supergroup than it did about the music.
Forty-three years on from the band's year-long stint, it's heartening to detect a rich seam of genuine inspiration running through its sole official release.
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood believed they owed it to themselves to at least attempt to find the fulfilment that had been denied them in their careers to that point. With Clapton's Cream spiralling towards dissolution at the tail-end of 1968, and Winwood similarly heading towards calling a temporary halt in Traffic, the two began jamming together in an effort to loosen up the blues-rock form.
Clapton, wary of leaping from frying pan to fire, at first resisted the inclusion of Cream-mate Ginger Baker on drums but caved on Winwood's insistence that they needed Baker's adventurous stick-work.
To complete the line-up, they shoulder-tapped bassman Ric Grech, of prog-rock outfit Family.
The Blind Faith album points to what might have been possible had the perils of being stupidly famous not manifested in riotous live shows and unrestrained media hype, and had the band taken more time to build a repertoire before unleashing on an audience that still worshipped at the altar of Cream and Traffic.
Winwood in particular is at his beseeching, soulful best, especially on Sea Of Joy, also notable for Grech's contemplative violin work, and the Clapton-penned gospel gem Presence Of The Lord. Clapton, meanwhile, revels in the moments of restraint that were missing with Cream, contrasting colourful melodic threads that run through the album's quieter moments with soaring, evocative lead breaks.
Being an album of its time, Blind Faith also rocks with a dog-let-loose abandon that captures the spirit of experimentation that brought the players together and, ultimately, sent them on different paths.
