Notes and Quotes: "In the Presence of the Lord"

Clapton plays his guitar through a Leslie speaker with some distortion to give it an organ effect while Winwood accompanies on piano. Again, the recording is devoid of studio tricks and excessive after production (the tapes would necessarily have to have been mixed and the vocals have reverberation applied). Clapton's guitar solo in the middle of the song utilizes a wah-wah pedal and the Miller adds phasing to create a surreal sound to the mix.

The late 60s religious sentiment of the song is echoed in other songs of the era. Indeed, it shares a key (C major) and part of a chord progression with a Paul McCartney song of the same year ("Let It Be") which also has an inspirational theme.

The verse and refrain fit together to create the familiar AABA structural organization. The verse is in two parts, each based around the same chord progression. The refrain begins with new material but reverts to the melodic and harmonic material of the verse and caps with material from the introduction. With the guitar solo on new material in the middle and a return to the verse-refrain afterwards, not only do we have AABA on a local level (the verse-refrain) but also at a global level (verse-refrain; verse-refrain; solo; verse-refrain). Were they conscious of this structure? Maybe, but it's relatively unimportant whether or not they were cognizant of the song's micro and macro structure. We can see that either by design or by intuition they have built consistency into the song.

Blind Faith at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit (1969)

Schedule

13 April, 2012