FTV: Feelin’ Alright?

 

     Dave Mason was feeling anything but ‘alright’ in December of 1968.  He was summoned to ‘another band meeting of Traffic’, the band he had cofounded with Steve Winwood, Chris Wood, and Jim Capaldi.  The meeting was held at the home of their manager Chris Blackwell who was also the head of their record label, Island Records.  Mason had penned the band’s biggest hit so far (Hole in My Shoe which had reached #2 on the charts) but he confessed that he didn’t know what the meeting was all about:  “It had to be something good I thought – maybe an upcoming American tour or something related to the release of our second album.”  Maybe Blackwell had some good news to share about the release of their next single, the Mason penned Feelin’ Alright?.  He would soon find out he was wrong on all accounts.

     The band Traffic was formed in a rather untypical fashion for the time.  They weren’t doing pub gigs or any of the usual things bands did when seeking a wider audience and a record contract.  They got together and jammed without a real plan.  Steve Winwood was the most high profile musician of the lot from his time with the Spencer Davis Group (he joined the SDG at the young age of fifteen).  With his soulful singing and deft touch on the organ, he had helped that group notch hits with Somebody Help Me, Gimme Some Lovin’, and I’m a Man.  He grew tired of being pigeon-holed as ‘the white Ray Charles’ and when he announced he was leaving, Spencer Davis was one unhappy drummer.

     Dave Mason’s mother knew he was fascinated by music and started his journey soon after she and Dave had returned from visiting his older sister in San Diego, California in 1958.  She bought him a Mayfair guitar which he used to start mimicking his first guitar idol, Hank Marvin of the Shadows.  There were no lessons involved, just young Dave trying to sort things out.  He listened to music constantly and even took to bringing his guitar to school.  Figuring out guitar parts was a bit easier with a turntable that could be slowed down from 33 RPM to 16 RPM.  Eventually, bands like The Ventures, The Hunters, The Outlaws, Johnny and the Hurricanes, and guitarist Duane Eddy would enter the picture.  As Dave says in his book Only You Know and I Know (Dave Mason & Chris Epting, 2024, DTM Entertainment), “I had found my passion, and I was going to let it flow through me like a river.”

     The inevitable first band the sixteen year old Mason began was The Jaguars.  “We were actually good enough to score paying gigs, which, as a young teenager in Worcester, meant we played weddings and a lot of pub dates,” he recalled.  He would have been content to remain an instrumental guitar player but to keep getting gigs, it became necessary to recreate the current hits and by the 1960s.  That meant singing, not just surf music needed to be on their set list.  Mason continued, “I never intended to be front-and-center on stage.  I just wanted to play my guitar and jam with my friends.  None of us could really sing, but we learned as we went along.”

     The band fizzled after a year or so but Mason was all in on his future.  He and Jim Capaldi, the drummer and lead singer for The Sapphires became friends.  Dave landed a Saturday gig at the Gaumont Theater, the local venue where he had seen the Rolling Stones and The Beatles perform.  He would DJ for the kids, a movie would play, and then the day would end with a live band.  With friends Gordon Jackson on guitar and David Meredith on bass, Mason and Capaldi formed The Hellions.  They played locally but made a few trips to London where they landed a management deal with Morris King.  King’s connections got them even better gigs.  Mason counts himself lucky to have spent his formative years as an artist in ‘swinging London’.

     Hanging out at a popular club called the Elbow Room, Capaldi and Mason got to know Steve Winwood and his friend, flutist Chris Wood.  When The Hellions ran out of steam, Dave played for Don Covey for a while and when work with him got sparse, he signed on as a roadie with the Spencer Davis Group.  He surprised himself at a gig outside London when Winwood was a no show and Spencer Davis talked Dave into singing and playing in place of Winwood.  At first, Dave was reluctant, but Davis insisted, telling him, “Come on, I know you can do it.”  With that bit of confidence propping him up, he did the show:  “I got up on stage.  I sang the hits, and it was incredibly fun and hugely empowering.  Once I got started, the music took over;  it carried me.  I learned the truth of the magic of music that night and have never taken it for granted since.  It was a tremendous turning point in my life.  At some point you have to take action to pursue your dreams,  You can’t just wish things into existence.”

     It wasn’t long after Mason played this fill in gig and did some background vocals on the SDG’s three biggest hits.  The Dave, Jim, Steve and Chris club continued chumming around The Elbow Room and got together to jam a bit.  Though they hadn’t played anywhere, Capaldi came up with the name for the band when he and Mason stepped out of an afternoon movie matinee. When they saw all the cars going by, he said, “Traffic,” and that was it.  They caught an unintended break when they went to see The Who at the Malvern Winter Gardens outside of Worcester in March of 1967.  It was a full house, the band’s equipment was set up, but The Who didn’t show.  The crowd was getting restless so one of the roadies suggested Mason and Capaldi take the stage.  Dave described the scene:  “With Jim on Keith Moon’s drums and me on Pete Townsend’s guitar, all we were missing was a bass.  I announced to the crowd that The Who weren’t coming and asked if anybody played a bass guitar.  Sure enough, somebody took me up on my offer and climbed on stage.  We played a few songs and, in tribute to the missing Who, smashed Townsend’s guitar and, with the help from the crew, kicked Keith Moon’s drums all over the stage.”

     Steve Winwood was already a known commodity and had close ties with Chris Blackwell and Island Records.  Blackwell found them a run down place outside of London called Berkshire Cottage where they set about discovering what kind of band they would be.  With no electricity, indoor toilet, or hot water, it was a rustic setting in a beautiful scenic area of Aston Tirrold very near some ancient Stone Age and Bronze Age monuments.  With the aid of a 100 watt generator, they began making serious music.  Capaldi supplied lyrics and Winwood set them to music.  As Mason tells it, “Winwood was the magnet that drew us together and the glue that kept us together – at least for a time.”  

     During this formative phase, Mason also began taking a stab at writing songs.  From spring to summer of 1967, there were rumors that something was going on and that Steve Winwood was involved.  With Traffic not yet in the public eye, the air of mystery about this new band grew.  It is doubtful any advertising campaign could have broken the band more effectively than having them NOT be hyped before they had music on vinyl.

     Traffic had a terrific coming out party with their debut album, 1967s Dear Mr. Fantasy.  The rock star life was just about everything one hears about bands on the road.  Mason posts quite a bit about his family on Facebook so I am not going to dwell on that here.   Mason says he is a private person by nature, but the foreword to his book connects some of the dots:  “I’ve been married four times and divorced three.  I’ve been bankrupt twice.  I’ve outlived my son, gone through three earthquakes, and – two weeks after moving to St. Thomas – was hit by Hurricane Hugo.  I’ve also overcome years of substance abuse and have definitely been overserved.”  

     Setting off on his own in 1968 took him down many more paths than he could have imagined.  It wasn’t, however, the first time he had been without a band.  Right after their first album was released, he decided the private part of him wasn’t ready for ‘fame’.  Mason did the unthinkable – he walked away from Traffic.  After causing his bandmates some anxiety and making headlines in the music and popular press (fame seemed to have found him anyway), he went to a Greek island alone.  

     It was during this period he penned his most well known song, Feelin’ Alright?  The ‘?’ was intentional because he wasn’t feeling that way.  Dave (and apparently most of the rock stars in London) were head over heels for the same woman (purportedly the subject matter for the Stones Ruby Tuesday).  When he got over her and got his head together, he called the Island Records office to see if they could buy his empty pocketbook a plane fare.  Back in England, he collected enough royalties to make his way to New York where he found his former bandmates short of songs for their second album.  “I have five ready to go,” he told them – one of which was Feelin’ Alright?   The album and single soon climbed the charts and then the meeting where he was fired took place.

     About that meeting at Chris Blackwell’s home in 1968, Dave was gob-smacked.   Capaldi, Wood, and Winwood were seated on three chairs with Blackwell standing to the side and Mason’s seat opposite the three.  Capaldi and Wood gazed at their shoes when Dave asked, “What’s going on guys?   Winwood spoke up, “Dave, I don’t like the way you write, I don’t like the way you sing, I don’t like the way you play.  And . . .we don’t want you in the band anymore.”  With that, the discussion ended and he got back into his car and drove home.  The shock of the moment wore off and made Mason more determined than ever to stubbornly continue making music:  “Had I just been fired?  Or liberated?”  Checking out his discography, I would have to say it was the latter.

         Freedom from Traffic allowed Mason to get acquainted with alot of other musicians, like Jimi Hendrix.  He became a good friend of Jimi’s and played on Electric Ladyland tracks All Along the Watchtower and Crosstown Traffic.  He toured with Fleetwood Mac after the departure of Lindsay Buckingham but says it wasn’t a comfortable fit as it took three guitarists to replace the genius of Buckingham’s work.  Mason also toured with Delany and Bonnie and was a member of Derek and the Dominos ‘for about twenty minutes’.  When the offer of a solo record contract proved too good to pass up, we left Derek and the Ds behind.  Check the boxes of other musicians Dave worked with and you will find George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Cass Elliot, Eric Clapton, David Crosby, and Graham Nash among many others.  The long list of his solo and collaboration credits far outshines his time with Traffic.

     How are the prospects for a reunion with his old Traffic band mates?  Jim Capaldi died in 2005 and Chris Wood  has been gone since 1983 after battling drink, drugs, depression before finally succumbing to pneumonia.  That would leave Steve Winwood as the only choice for Traffic to take to the stage in any original form.  After a Winwood show in 2017, Mason and Steve met backstage and with a hug, the past animosity seemed to melt away.  During conversation, Dave suggested they give the fans a treat and recruit a few other musicians (like Dave Matthews who had inducted Traffic to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2004) and take the music of Traffic on the road.  Steve confirmed that on his deathbed, Jim Capaldi had asked Winwood to never tour as Traffic again – and he had agreed.  Winwood seemed intrigued by the idea of calling such an outing ‘Traffic Jam’ or some such, but it was left as unfinished business.

     Mason says he never really understood why Capaldi would ask Winwood to not use the Traffic name anymore.  If anything, it is the fans who miss out on an opportunity:  “It’s true that hearing music from original members holds a magic on its own,  Yet, as much as it’s about people, it’s about the music, if not more so.  The moment we unleashed our songs into the world, we surrendered ownership in the more mystical interpretations of the word – and Traffic was all about mystery.”  He goes on to say he was hesitant about even mentioning the,  “You promised Capaldi” episode, but concluded, “I am choosing to include it because I don’t want to go to my grave with a heart hardened by disappointment.  I choose, rather, to want all of us to be feeling alright, no question mark in sight.”

     Ironically, Dave Mason was set to go out on what was billed as the ‘Traffic Jam Tour’ this fall.  It was touted as being a show that would contain many deep cuts from his career, but no mention was made of Winwood taking part.  Unfortunately, doctors discovered Mason has a serious heart ailment and recommended he not go on the road.   There has been no word about the surgery he was scheduled to undergo, but he assured fans it is a treatable ailment and he will be back on the road in 2025.

     The same year Traffic was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Mason and his partner, Ravi Sawhney founded a new electric guitar company known as RKS Guitars.  Sawhney is an interesting fellow in his own right and wears many hats (musician, producer, collaborator, guitarist) and might make a good future FTV subject.  The guitars themselves have raised a few eyebrows with none other than Keith Richards exclaiming, “A (expletive deleted) device, old boy.  It sounds great!! Ronnie Wood’s rocking too!!”  The RKS website states the company was founded on, “Reinventing the electric guitar to drive sustainability and increase usability for the optimal playing experience.”  

     The RKS designer’s friendship with Dave Mason seems to fit in with his other collaborations with charitable groups and environmental causes.  The ‘sustainability’ part of their mission is to use composite materials to remove the need for exotic tonewoods used for many high end guitars.  The RKS website goes on to explain, “[Use of exotic woods] is responsible for much of the deforestation [particularly in areas like the Amazon] by collaborating initially with Eastman Plastics and later Weyerhaeuser to utilize there Tenite, a material made from the wood pulp of farmed cottonwood treas and scrap wood bi-products.”  Dave Mason isn’t ‘just a guitar player’ as he first aspired to be.  Perhaps the best way to describe his life is simply to call him ‘a Renaissance Man’.

     Dave Mason translocated to the United States in 1971.  In his time in America, he has donated his time and talents to many philanthropic endeavors.  IN 2005, he became an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and lessons to children in American schools.  He is also a founding member of Yoga Blue, another non-profit that supports those recovering from substance abuse and other self-destructive disorders.

     Mason and Ted Knapp founded Rock Our Vets, an all-volunteer 501(c)3 charity also supported by many other musicians.  ROV helps military veterans and the families of law enforcement and firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty.  The charity provides food and clothing to homeless veterans, laptop computers for veterans who wish to continue their education, as well as suicide prevention efforts.”  As I said, ‘Renaissance Man’ fits Dave Mason to a ‘T’.  We wish him well as he recovers from his heart issues and look forward to him being on the road again in 2025.  Maybe he will make a return trip to the Calumet Theater (a previous show I unfortunately had to miss).  Knowing what I know from his book, it surely would be an interesting show.

Top Piece Video:  Dave Mason fronting the large post induction jam at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame – he was going to skip the even when Steve Winwood’s management stiff armed him from joining his former bandmates at the show, but Paul Schaffer reminded him about the big jam – “We plan on playing ‘Feelin’ Alright’ was all it took.  This was the same jam where Prince stole the show soloing during While My Guitar Gently Weeps.