By: David Schultz

From the moment Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton took the stage together this past July at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago, Illinois, visions of a Blind Faith reunion started dancing like sugarplums in the heads of Baby Boomers everywhere. For those coming into the game a bit late, once upon a time (i.e. 1969), Clapton and Winwood partnered up with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Ric Grech to form Blind Faith, one of the first supergroups of the modern rock era. The post-Cream project burned brightly but quietly dissolved after a brief U.S. tour in support of their one self-titled album. Over the next 40 years, classic rock radio would help keep Blind Faith’s legacy alive and “Can’t Find My Way Home” and “Presence Of The Lord” would sporadically appear in various forms as part of Clapton and Winwood’s live shows.

Last week, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood headlined three shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, returning to the venue where Blind Faith made their first U.S. concert appearance on July 12, 1969. For those who fancy reunions, Winwood and Clapton faithfully played many of their old band’s songs, including a marvelous rendition of “Can’t Find My Way Home.” However, without Ginger Baker or Grech, who passed away in 1990, this wasn’t Blind Faith and neither Clapton nor Winwood seemed inclined to pass themselves off as such. To the contrary, these shows had the feel of two musicians, whose careers have crossed paths on many occasions, finding a reason to play some old songs for an appreciative audience and make a boatload of cash in the process. The dream team of Clapton and Winwood was hardly a bargain: even before the ticket scalpers . . . er, brokers got their hands on them, tickets were officially listed for as high as $254. Putting aside the debate as to whether any concert is worth such a steep price (e.g. Led Zeppelin reunion); in this case, Clapton and Winwood didn’t disappoint.

The three Madison Square Garden shows varied slightly from night to night and the fact that Clapton, Winwood, bassist Willie Weeks, drummer Ian Thomas and keyboardist Chris Stainton wore the same outfits each night might indicate that a video release of the event might be in the works. Their set list held few surprises with many of the songs from their recent Crossroads set and their performance at the 1973 Rainbow Concert finding their way onto the Garden stage. Undoubtedly, the music was solid and it’s hard to downplay the distinct thrill of seeing Winwood and Clapton join forces on songs like “Little Wing” and “Cocaine,” but in the whole their polished performance was more professional than inspired musicianship. Fortunately, when you are as accomplished as these two though, that can easily carry a show for nearly three hours.

Once the boy genius of the Spencer Davis Group, it’s easy to forget that Winwood, who turns 60 later this year, is only a couple years younger than Clapton. If you were unfamiliar with their pedigrees, the professorial looking Clapton and the slightly gaunt Winwood hardly looked like rock and roll royalty. If they didn’t dress the part, they offered subtle reminders of their significant contributions, touching upon all phases of both superstars’ lengthy careers. In addition to mining their respective solo efforts, they also delved into the songbooks of Derek & The Dominos (“Tell The Truth”), Traffic (“Glad,” “Pearly Queen”) and of course, the impetus for much of the evening’s excitement, Blind Faith.

Winwood spent nearly half the show playing the guitar. Despite considerable chops, he never challenged the mighty Slow Hand and the two traded complementary licks rather than engage in any clash of the classic rock titans. They enhanced each other’s 80s material to great effect. On “Forever Man,” Winwood filled out Clapton’s rocker, adding vocals and powerful organ fills and Clapton returned the favor on Winwood’s often overlooked track from Back In The High Life, “Split Decision,” with a couple expertly crafted guitar solos. It was when they stepped into their old roles as master purveyors of English blues, especially on Blind Faith’s “Had To Cry Today” and “Sleeping In The Ground,” that the music rose to another level. One of the night’s more inspired efforts was their cover of Jimi Hendrix’ “Voodoo Child.” During an extended run through the electric blues standard, Winwood and Clapton skillfully reverted back to their roots and offered revelatory interpretations of the blues.

On the Blind Faith numbers, Ian Thomas had the thankless role of trying to reproduce Ginger Baker’s mammoth drum bursts. Given Baker’s mythic stature, it’s unlikely there’s anything Thomas could’ve done to avoid coming up on the weak side of the unfair comparisons with the usually unintelligible drummer. Likewise, Chris Stainton left the heavy lifting on the keyboards to the star of the show, waiting until Winwood was playing guitar to make his presence felt.

If there was anything close to a star turn, it took place just past the halfway point of the show. On Thursday night’s show, Clapton took the stage alone with an acoustic guitar and slipped into his Robert Johnson master bluesman mode for an understated rendition of “Kind Hearted Woman.” In contrast, Winwood’s use of the Hammond B3 on his solo take on Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind,” overwhelmed the delicateness of the song while simultaneously giving it a magisterial aura.

Clapton’s presence altered Winwood’s customary delivery of Traffic songs that have long been part of his solo shows. “Glad,” which normally seesaws between Winwood’s jaunty melody and the jazzy response from the rest of the band, turned into a more communal effort. Before it segued into a gritty cover of Buddy Holly’s “Well . . . Alright,” Clapton offered a different take on the Traffic classic giving it a bluesier feel, leaving his own indelible mark on the song. The biggest difference occurred during their encore of “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” Winwood generally needs no assistance to blow the doors off any arena when he plays the tune but in deference to his esteemed colleague shared the guitar leads. The song is so intimately ingrained into Winwood’s psyche; it marked the only time during the evening that his guitar skills reigned supreme as even Clapton couldn’t surpass Winwood on this one song. It was a fine way to end the evening but knowing what it could have been, it felt somewhat incomplete.

At the present time, there aren’t any plans for Clapton and Winwood to take this show on the road or expand the lineup to include Ginger Baker. You never know though, sometimes Blind Faith gets rewarded.

Labels: Blind Faith, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood