Blind Faith – Blind Poll

A few more spins have endeared its sloppiness to my ears. It's not quite Neil Young/Crazy Horse territory, but I do enjoy its relative 'grunginess'.

Sometimes I think Baker's approach to the drumset is so idiosyncratic that it might as well be a different instrument from the one played by e.g. Ringo or Watts or even Bonham. It's almost like someone saw a trumpet and said "what if I blow into the big end, instead of the small one?"

I don't love Baker's style, but I understand that he had a specific project, and pursued it doggedly.

I will not speak ill of Winwood.

The drums on this don't sound unusually muddy for a Jimmy Miller produced album.

oops don't

Not even sure it's the production! Part of my beef with Ginger is that if you're playing like he does - near-constant tom usage - you need to tune for it and have the right heads for it. I hear decent attack on "Sea of Joy," but no roundness. In other places there's low end, but little articulation. Of course the sound is notoriously uneven live, but that's to be expected.

Thought experiment: I wonder if you went back in time with a hygrometer, you'd be able to graph Ginger's drum sounds based on the ambient humidity of the spaces he was in. Correct for the age of the heads, and you could have a decently innovative physics dissertation.

If there's a weak link on this record, it's the vocals

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Presence of the Lord!

that's the answer I was looking for.

that winwood/clapton msg live thing from 10 years ago is pretty boring but winwood’s vocals on “presence of the lord” are heart wrenching

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Sea of Joy higher than Presence? Shame

Not as shameful as "Do What You Like" getting any votes at all.

After giving this album in spin back in June, it's really got its hooks into me. It's a shame Blind Faith didn't continue a bit longer.

The Blind Faith Hyde Park concert (available on YouTube) interests me. It looks like the 60s have turned into a grungy and unslinging heavy vibe, with everyone looking drab and depressed (the audience as well as the band).

*unswinging

In the concert footage there's a brief but really creepy shot of Kenneth Anger in the audience hissing and casting spells. What was he trying to do - inspire an Altamont?