Blind Faith - Debut and Touring

Debut and Touring

News of the group's formation created a buzz of excitement among the public and press, which even heralded the band as "super Cream". The group debuted at a free concert at London's Hyde Park on 7 June 1969. The performance was well received by fans there, but troubled Clapton, who thought that the band's playing was sub-par and that the adulation was undeserved and reminiscent of his Cream days when the crowds would applaud for nearly everything. Clapton, knowing the band had not rehearsed enough and was unprepared, was reluctant to tour and feared that the band would develop into a Cream repeat.

Because Steve Winwood was signed to Island Records, he had to be "leased" to Polydor Records (to whom Clapton and Baker were signed in the U.K.). Possibly as part of this deal, a promotional single was released by Island, although the promotion was for Island itself. It was a single announcing the fact that they were moving their offices. Titled "Change Of Address From 23 June 1969", the one-sided promo featured an instrumental jam by the group who were not mentioned at all on the label (the only other label info is the new address, phone number, and new cable address of Island). Recorded at Olympic, probably sometime between March and May 1969, it is thought that around 500 copies of the single were pressed, mostly sent to UK disc jockeys and other music industry insiders. The track was finally released widely when it appeared as a bonus track on the two-CD "Deluxe Edition" of the Blind Faith album in 2000 (titled "Change Of Address Jam").

The recording of their album continued, followed by a short tour of Scandinavia, where the band played smaller gigs and were able to rehearse their sound and prepare it for bigger audiences in the U.S. and the UK. After Scandinavia, the band toured the United States, making their debut at Madison Square Garden on 12 July for more than 20,000. The band toured for seven more weeks in the U.S., finishing their tour in Hawaii on 24 August 1969.

A major problem with the tour was that the band had only a few songs in their catalogue – barely enough to fill an hour. They were forced to play old Cream and Traffic songs, to the delight of a crowd which usually preferred their older, popular material to their new Blind Faith material. Clapton was now exactly where he didn't want to be – stuck in a "super Cream" that was causing riots during their live shows. They were playing the same material from his Cream days, to appease the audience and to fill the void left by the lack of adequate new material.

Opening acts for the band included the bands Free, Taste and an R&B-based rock act called Delaney & Bonnie. Clapton particularly liked the soulful, folksy-sounding blues of Delaney & Bonnie; he began spending most of his time with them instead of Blind Faith, letting Winwood take a more prominent role in the band.