The great Steve Winwood turned 76 a couple of days back on Sunday the 12th. That means he is in his 68th performing year. His first gig was at age 8, playing with his Father and brother Muff Winwood in the Ron Atkinson band. The piano would be turned with it’s back to the crowd to hide the fact that a child was performing in pubs. His next US gig will be in Charlotte, North Carolina in late July. In between, he’s had a long running solo career with a few huge years in the 80’s, fronted The Spencer Davis Group and the one-and-done Blind Faith.
And of course, there was Traffic.
From ’72, with an expanded lineup including Muscle Shoals members Roger Hawkins and David Hood. Shot at the Santa Monica Civic Center, the same stage as the legendary TAMI Show:
One Traffic album in particular stands out for me. It was originally a Steve Winwood solo album following Traffic’s ’68 break-up due to Dave Mason’s departure, and Winwood joining the supergroup Blind Faith in ’69. Steve’s solo album began with Guy Stevens producing, with the planned title Mad Shadows. Winwood recorded two tracks playing all parts, “Every Mother’s Son” and “Stranger to Himself,” but missed playing with other musicians. Capaldi and Wood would be invited to join in, and Guy Stevens would leave the project, eventually producing Mott the Hoople’s album Mad Shadows. The album would become 1970’s sublime John Barleycorn Must Die. My original copy, on United Artists (released on Island in the UK):
The album is largely jazz-like in its approach, with extended jam sections in several cuts, though folk music is honored with the title track. Despite the success of the band’s earliest years, the sound established on John Barleycorn Must Die would go on to be Traffic’s most identifiable sound, a progressive rock/jazz-fusion hybrid. One of Barleycorn‘s best tracks, performed here at the same show as above:
The title track is stunning, a traditional English tale personifying crops to explore human themes of life and rebirth, sacrificing, and the natural cycles of existence. Winwood solo in 2016:
In honor of Steve Winwood’s 78th birthday, and the great John Barleycorn Must Die, Today’s Playlist is a SomethingIsHappening compendium of John songs:
#SteveWinwood #Traffic #DaveMason #JimCapaldi #EricClapton #BlindFaith #GingerBaker #SpencerDavis #MuffWinwood
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