Blind Faith LP

Like? Don't like?

First pressing? Reissue? Which reissue?

This is one of the few things from my cutting-my-teeth-on-rock-music youth that I hadn't owned until now. I can't believe I waited so long to pick it up. It's lovelier and more complex than I remember it--we used to play it in my high school art class back in its day.

 

Love it. I have the reissued vinyl from late 70s, the West German CD with the 2 questionable bonus tracks and the deluxe 2 CD issue. I play it a few times a year and have since 1978.

Post number 5150 I guess I'm certifiable now.

 

I like the music, but I've never heard a very satisfactory version. Should I pay top dollar for the deluxe CD?

 

check out Fopp next time you're in London, they're selling all the Universal Deluxe 2CD packages for £10 at the moment.

 

The Simply Vinyl version is okay if you want the LP. I notice some slight mis-pressing issues, e.g., a little noise but it's passable for under $20.

 

I have both the Polydor UK and the ATCO US. I lean towards the Polydor 583 059 as my go to version. Matrix A//1V420, B//1V420.

 

The go to versions are:
Vinyl - Polydor 583059 gatefold.
CD - Mobile Fidelity - no contest.

 

I've been on the lookout for a decent copy of that gate-fold for some time. I'll grab it the next time I see one.

 

LP-wise I'm good with the original UK LP (Polydor). I like the DE for the bonus tracks, but when I want to hear the original version of the album I usually go with the MFSL CD.

 

Still loving it. Great album. Still embarrassed by the fact I bought a copy on second hand vinyl in the late 80's and took it back to the shop when I heard the "Jimmy Miller plays with the faders on Had To Cry Today when the band made a mistake" thinking it was a vinyl pressing error. I was young and you live and learn.

Deluxe 2cd edition is fine for me.

 

Never played the album, before - but I got an US LP for 50 cents about a month ago. It will eventually get some play time....sounds like I won't be disappointed.

 

Have first pressing on vinyl. Been hemming and hawing on buying the SHM SACD.

 

The HDtracks is quite good.

 

It is a fantastic album from a band that lasted for an unfortunately brief time. I believe the deluxe, double CD edition is now out of print; however, it does turn up in the used bins. You might be well-served to pass up the deluxe version and instead purchase the rarer and more expensive MFSL.

In 2009, Clapton and Winwood covered most of the Blind Faith album during their reunion tour. Those songs were the highlight of the concert for me.

 

LOVE IT, but the 2 disc version was highly disappointing. Really aimless jamming in my opinion. The electric Can't Find My Way home is good though.

 

Just a heads up, the Hyde Park DVD is worth checking out too. Pretty much the only other release we'll get.

 

They are playing again in Japan now.

 

Blind Faith on HDTracks? Link?

 

The longer version......

Blind Faith

The only Blind Faith album, a self-titled album, was released on July 21, 1969 by Atco in the U.S. (catalogue number 33-304) and on August 16, 1969 by Polydor in the U.K. (catalogue number 583059). There was a storm of protest over the original album cover, so it was decided to re-release the album with a revised cover Atco 33-304B in the U.S. (with the original cover Atco 33-304A then available only on special order).


The Polydor UK album had a gatefold cover with a naked girl externally and 2 different black and white photos (from the same photo shoot as the alternative cover) inside. The U.S. albums were not gatefolds, although Atco 33-304A included a lyric sheet insert, while 33-304B had the lyrics printed on the back cover.



Although this band was even more hyped than Cream, it is not now as widely known. This is disappointing, as the album is a combination of the virtuosity of Cream, with a more spiritual feel to the words, compared to the more abstract content of Cream lyrics. The long jam at the end of the original album (Do What You Like) has enough of the pyrotechnics of Cream to satisfy their more ardent fans.


The sound quality has varied with different releases:
1. On vinyl, U.K. Polydor 583059, the original UK release, is bright, clear and dynamic, while U.S. Atco 33-304 (either A or B) has a muddier treble. Both UK and US album covers included lyrics. A large number of the Polydor (or later on RSO) vinyl copies had Side 1 pressed markedly off centre, leading to wow (see below) that becomes more obvious towards the end of that side.
2. On CD, the first Polydor release (Polygram 825094-2) had 2 supposed Blind Faith tracks appended – Exchange And Mart and Spending All My Days – which were in fact left over tracks from an aborted Rick Grech solo album. It is unknown if any Blind Faith members, apart from Rick Grech, appear on those tracks, but it doesn’t sound like they do.
3. The second Polydor CD version (also Polygram 825094-2) – re-mastered by Dennis Drake - deletes the extra tracks, but improved the sound quality slightly. The CD insert uses the cover of Atco 33-304B as the outside and 33-304A as the inside. No lyrics are included, and the pictures are quite grainy, low resolution reproductions.
4. Mobile Fidelity then released a gold Ultradisc (UDCD 507) version of this album and it still remains the gold audio standard – much like the UK original in being bright, clear and dynamic and it is the only CD version to include the lyrics, even if the cover reproduction (of the naked girl) is pint-sized. Considering the cover photo, this actually may be a bonus. Beware with A/B comparisons, as it is “cut” at a lower average volume than the other releases, while its extremes of volume are greater (i.e. less compression has been applied). The remedy is to turn it up. In Steve Hoffman’s opinion, this one sounds closest to the master tape of all the released editions.
5. The Polydor Deluxe 2 CD version adds bonus tracks and jams from the album sessions – none of which are absolutely essential in my opinion. The sound quality is duller, louder and less dynamic than the Mobile Fidelity, but the reproduction of the U.K vinyl graphics and the extra notes are very clear and comprehensive (this may not be a bonus point for this album). The sound is much closer to Atco vinyl than Polydor. No lyrics are included.

Verdict: On CD, while the Mobile Fidelity is a clear winner for the best sound and the lyric sheet, the Deluxe Edition is required for the extra tracks (if you need them) and the very interesting new essay. On vinyl, go for the Polydor gatefold edition, but watch out for copies pressed off centre on side 1 only – watch side 1 of the record revolve on the turntable before purchase - as this can lead to a slow varying of the speed of the recorded sound (called “wow”).

 

For the WATN fans, here's a more recent photo of the girl on the cover:



I've always thought the cover was rather distasteful, but she apparently still loves it.

 

I don't think it's distasteful. I've seen far more offensive cover art with regard to treatment of women!

Why do you say she loves it?

 

We go through this every time this LP comes up. Here's the story from wiki and is verifiable.

The release of the album provoked controversy because the cover featured a topless pubescent girl, holding in her hands a silver space ship designed by Mick Milligan, a jeweller at the Royal College of Art. Some perceived the ship as a phallic symbol. The U.S. record company issued it with an alternative cover which showed a photograph of the band on the front.

The cover art was created by photographer Bob Seidemann, a personal friend and former flatmate of Clapton who is known primarily for his photos of Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. Rumours about the girl's relationship to the band fuelled the controversy; among them were that she was Baker's illegitimate daughter, and that she was a groupie kept as a slave by the band members. Actually, the young girl was a London suburbanite, who posed upon consent by her parents and for a fee, as described in Seidemann's mini essay about the origins of the Blind Faith album cover artwork.

 

Because she says so in the article where I found that picture.

I too have seen far more misogynistic covers, but at least the women depicted there weren't several years underage.

 

The John Winn book That Magic Feeling claims the tracks include Grech, Clapton, Winwood, George Harrison, Alan White and possibly Denny Laine. I don't know if it's true. In any case it is nowhere near their best work.

 

I have a japanese lp I like very much. Never heard any other version so that's not much help.