TAKE TWO: STEVE WINWOOD

Much like many of his peers, Steve Winwood was inspired by the American blues and soul music that invaded Britain in the 1960’s. He took those sounds and filtered it out to create his own brand of bluesy rock. This gifted artist has not only been a successful solo performer but also has collaborated with many important musicians throughout his career.

As a young boy in Birmingham, music had always been an important part of his life as his father was a semi-professional musician who performed after his day job. At the age of four, Steve started to play the piano.  He eventually joined his father and older brother, Mervyn or “Muff”, who picked up the bass and they all played together with local jazz bands by the time he was eight.

In 1963, a fourteen year-old Steve joined the Spencer Davis Group along with his brother. This British r&b band first reached the top of the U.K. pop chart with "Keep On Running" in 1965. They had more hits including "Somebody Help Me", "I'm a Man" and "Gimme Some Lovin'" which reached the top-ten in the U.S. before the Winwood brothers left the group in 1967 over creative differences.

With "Muff" moving in to A&R at Island Records (and eventually becoming a successful producer), Steve (after a brief stint with an early band with Eric Clapton) went on to form his own band, Traffic that featured a psychedelic rock sound. Despite developing a cult following, Traffic was short-lived and disbanded by 1969.

Winwood quickly went on to form another band called Blind Faith which he joined forces with Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech. As established and respected British musicians together in one band, they were considered one of the first super-groups. But this blues-rock fusion outfit only lasted a year with a self-titled album and a U.S. tour to show for their time together.

Unsure of what direction to go in, Winwood briefly reformed Traffic and became a session player for a number of years before his record label encouraged him to become a solo artist. He released his self-tilted debut in 1977 and his follow-up album, "Arc of a Diver" featured his first solo hit, "While You See a Chance" in 1980.

But it was his fourth album in 1986, "Back In the High Life" that became Winwood's major breakthrough and biggest commercial hit of his career. The title track, "The Finer Things", "Freedom Overspill" and the number one smash, "Higher Love" helped the album sell over five million copies and win Winwood three Grammy Awards including Best Pop Male Vocal Performance and Record of The Year.

Winwood had another number one hit on the U.S. pop chart with "Roll With It" in 1988 but soon his subsequent albums failed to get much attention with "Nine Lives" in 2003 as his last studio record to date.  However, the now seventy year old musician is hardly idle as he continues to perform live and currently on a Greatest Hits Live tour to support the album he released last year. Enjoy two of my favorite songs from Steve Winwood:





And as a bonus, here is a very young Steve Winwood during his time with Spencer Davis Group in a promotional clip for their biggest hit, "Gimme Some Lovin'". It's hilarious to watch the expressionless Winwood lip-sync the high-energy vocals of the song: