Play us a tune.
Something to make us all feel happy.
Do anything, take us out of this gloom.
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy.
A few random goodies.
I Want You.
Traffic. I love that Stevie Winwood started as very talented, very young (only fifteen when he joined the Spencer Davis Group!) "child prodigy". Though, by the time Traffic was founded in 1967, he certainly did not sound like a child. Steve Winwood may be the name and the voice people know most, but Traffic was also an insanely good musical band. Not that Stevie didn't contribute to that as well! Jim Capaldi became an accomplished musician in his own right, playing with everyone from Jimi Hendrix to George Harrison. He also had a solo career, and played at Eric Clapton's comeback "Rainbow" concert. Which, by the way, is an awesome live album. (He is featured in the Concert for George as well, where I first discovered him.) Dave Mason is just an amazing guitar player and all around multi-instrumentalist. (His credits for the first Traffic album are as follows: guitar, mellotrone, sitar, tambura, shakkai, bass guitar, vocals) Another random Dave Mason fact: Jimi Hendrix first heard "All Along the Watchtower" at a party Dave had invited him to, then decided to record his own version. So Jimi headed down to Olympic Studios, with Dave Mason in tow, and they cut a track. Dave is playing acoustic guitar, and perhaps even bass. Apparently, Noel Redding got fed up and Dave took over. Though according to some accounts, Jimi ended up playing bass on the final track. Another version of the story is that Jimi brought some tapes of Bob to Olympic that he had been given by a friend of Albert Grossman's, and that Dave Mason randomly showed up at the session. I much prefer the first story. Anyway, Dave Mason played on everything from Beggar's Banquet (uncredited) to All Things Must Pass, and was even supposed to be a member of Derek and the Dominos, but bailed. He has a solo career, and even briefly joined Fleetwood Mac in the 90's. Chris Wood was unsurprisingly also a badass. He played on albums by Jimi Hendrix, the Small Faces, among others, and even toured with Dr John! (Where he met Jeanette Jacobs of the Cake and wed her!) Sadly, both Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood are have passed away. Stevie Winwood and Dave Mason both have remained relatively active in music.
David Gilmour and then-wife Ginger Gilmour. I am slightly in love with this photo. I can just imagine that being the girl at David Gilmour's side cannot be too bad at all. Especially when things go as follows: "After every gig, he would set up a little chair by the amplifiers, and I'd sit there. David would leave the stage, and we'd be kissing. We never stopped kissing." Goodness. I also watched the interview segments from Live at Pompeii tonight, which just ultimately fueled my newfound David Gilmour obsession. Plus, he is fluent in French! Unfortunately, he now looks slightly Asian. If David Gilmour didn't seem totally happy with his current wife (who is nearly twenty years his junior, go David!), I may entertain the idea of being slightly attracted to him now. Alas, he is so I'm not. As for Ginger, she is now an artist and kept the surname.
Essential Watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5DOq03t3OU-- Slightly scruffy, but speaking French!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J08mjAl-yw-- Part 1/3 of Live at Pompeii interviews. Long, but worth it. Also includes snippets of them recording Dark Side of the Moon. Thrillling.
And finally, a damn treasure of a photo. Keith, Tina, David. I don't have too much to say about this one..
