Tag Archives: Blind Faith

Music Monday: May 9, 2022

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

Music Monday

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today’s song is another one of those tracks that left an indelible mark on my soul. It is classic rock at its finest, a tune so exquisite it is as close to perfection as I have ever found. The songwriter and singer of this paragon celebrates birthday number 74 this week.

Steve Winwood was born May 12, 1948 in Birmingham, UK. His father was also a musician who schooled his son so well that the younger Winwood was in a band by age 14, The Spencer Davis Group. Next came his tenure with Traffic where he gave us gems like “Empty Pages”, “The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys” & “Dear Mr. Fantasy”. In 1969 he joined forces with future Traffic bassist Rick Grech and musical powerhouses Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton to form Blind Faith. And it is from this supergroup that we arrive at today’s pick.

It is a captivating performance by all involved, from Grech’s masterful bass line to Baker’s elaborate percussion to Clapton’s stunning acoustic guitar work to Winwood’s soulful vocal delivery of his moving, lonely & succinct lyrics. When I featured this track on Day 74 of my daily music posts during lockdown, I called it “a prayer for all of us who are lost that we may find our way home to wherever and whatever that is”. And I stand by that sentiment. I find this song so beautiful it hurts, the way a magnificent work of art should make you feel. And this is art at its very best.

So, happy birthday, Steve Winwood. Thank you so much for all your exceptional music but for today’s track most of all.

“Well I’m near the end
And I just ain’t got the time
And I’m wasted and  I
Can’t find my way home“.

Blind Faith

Blind Faith circa 1969 L-R:  Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton.  (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Blind Faith: “Can’t Find My Way Home” (1969, written by Stevie Winwood).

Stay safe & well.

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Let’s Take A Moment Day 306

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Shakespeare music

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

On January 13, 1973 Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert took place at the Rainbow Theater in London. The two all star shows were set up to put Clapton in front of an audience after an 18 month period in which he was in isolation fighting depression & drug addiction. The concerts were organized by Clapton’s friend Pete Townsend of The Who and featured two of Clapton’s Blind Faith bandmates Steve Winwood and Ric Grech, The Faces’ Ron Wood and Traffic’s Jim Capaldi and Rebop Kwaku Baah.

An album of the show’s highlights was released that fall and the whole experience put Clapton’s career back on track. He started working on a new record which was released a year later, 461 Ocean Boulevard. But a lot of the music he worked on was not used on the record and did not get released until 2013’s album, Give Me Strength: the ‘74/’75 studio Recordings. Today’s song was included on that record but it was also released on his 1988 boxed set “Crossroads“. It has been one of my favorite Clapton tracks since the first time I heard it.

“Someone like you
Could make me change my ways
Someone like you
Could turn the nights into days“.

Eric 1991

Eric Clapton circa 1991. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Eric Clapton: “Someone Like You” (1988, written by Arthur Louis).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 74

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Peanuts music

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are in a serious situation, but I need a break from the gloom, doom and bullying by way of hoarding. Music has always been my refuge and watching those beautiful Italians singing to each other from their balconies reaffirmed my belief that music is the answer. So until the old normal returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day.  And if this helps anyone else, even better.

When Steve Winwood released his 1986 album, “Back In The High Life”, he won a whole new audience thanks to his visibility on MTV.  The record’s first single, “Higher Love”, went to the top of the charts.  I for one was already a fan of this unbelievably talented man.  I discovered him thanks to FM radio where songs from his first three bands were in constant rotation:  “Gimme Some Lovin” from The Spencer Davis Group (a band he joined when he was only 14 years old); “Dear Mr. Fantasy” & “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” with Traffic and then Blind Faith which teamed him up with powerhouses Eric Clapton on guitar and Ginger Baker on percussion.  I also adored two of Winwood’s previous solo albums, “Arc Of A Diver” (with that fabulous title track and his first solo hit, “While You See A Chance”) and “Talking Back To The Night”.

Winwood was first introduced to music from his father, a semi-professional musician in his own right.  And a few years ago, Winwood’s very gifted daughter, Lilly, reworked “Higher Love” into a beautiful ballad that her father joined her on which was used in a really touching Hershey’s commercial.  Winwood is probably one of the earliest singers to incorporate blue-eyed soul into his music, which was a cross between rock, soul, R&B, jazz and pop.  I am a huge fan of his and really enjoy his music, but I am madly in love with today’s song.  It is profound and beautiful in so many ways. It’s a prayer for all of us who are lost that we may find our way home to wherever and whatever that is.

“And I ain’t done nothing wrong but I can’t find my way home“.

If Clapton is god, then Winwood is lord and saviour.

Blind_Faith_(1969)

Blind Faith circa 1969 L-R:  Steve Winwood, Ric Grech, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton.  (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Steve Winwood

 Steve Winwood circa 1986.  (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Blind Faith:  “Can’t Find My Way Home” (1969, written by Stevie Winwood).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.