Steve Winwood: “By the spring of 1969 I had reached a kind of impasse with Traffic. I’d started jamming quite a bit with Eric Clapton at the Traffic cottage in Aston Tirrold and at his house in Surrey, Hurtwood. One night there was a knock at our door and there was Ginger Baker, who had got wind of a possible new group. I was all for having him in, and it wasn’t until I read Eric’s book years later that I realised he wasn’t so keen on that idea. That shows you how little we spoke about these serious situations.
“Anyhow, Blind Faith came into being. And there were immediate problems – with egos, with management and organisation. Those are all massive problems for a supergroup. The trouble is, when you start with the idea for a new group you have the whole of your life to figure out what you’re going to do, how to fine tune it and hone the act. Then, if it’s successful your next problem is: what do we do next? You get stuck for a follow-up. It’s all about timing. You have to move very quickly on to the next project and make sure it isn’t a pale imitation of the debut.
“I blame the industry in part, for putting pressure on supergroups, because you’re trying to present a product to the world at large and every minute you take is money lost as far the business is concerned. They’re so excited with their supergroup, they want more. The result of that pressure is you start making mistakes, because you can’t just throw something together.
Source: Max Bell / Classic Rock
Steve Winwood poses for a portrait in July 1969 outside Olympic Studios during recording session with Blind Faith in London, Great Britain. (Photo by David Gahr)
