It began under the radar, just a few rock-star friends looking for kicks.

They gathered to jam at Eric Clapton's house in Surrey on a February afternoon in 1969, and judging from tapes made shortly afterward, the union that came to be called Blind Faith was magic. Steve Winwood, stuck too long in Traffic, was there. So was Clapton and his longtime compatriot in the curdled power-trio Cream, drummer Ginger Baker. In a few weeks, bassist Rick Grech, of the hot UK act the Family, would be invited in.

Stephen Lawrence Winwood was born May 12, 1948 in Birmingham, England into a musical family. His dad was an enthusiastic multi-instrumentalist who played with wedding and dance bands on weekends. He encouraged his son, and by age 9, Steve was picking out tunes on both the piano and guitar. Using a tape recorder built from scratch by an eccentric uncle, Steve and his older brother Muff would record nightly broadcasts from Radio Luxembourg and Voice of America. Through hearing artists such as Buddy Holly, Fats Domino and Ray Charles ("He changed my life," Winwood says)m Steve was smitten with R & B and rock 'n' roll.