Dave Mason

by Steve HueyAfter serving as road manager for the Spencer Davis Group and meeting Steve Winwood, singer/guitarist Dave Mason found fame as one of the founding members of the jazz/rock/pop fusion group Traffic. However, conflicts between Winwood and Mason over the groups direction led to the latters departure in 1969 after three albums. Mason moved to Los Angeles and joined Delaney & Bonnie before beginning his solo career. His 1970 solo debut, Alone Together, went gold and is, arguably, his best album. Mason next collaborated with Mama Cass Elliot for Dave Mason & Cass Elliot, but its reception was lukewarm at best. Mason settled permanently in America in 1973 and signed a long-term contract with CBS, recording a series of moderately successful, often inconsistent pop/rock albums featuring originals and a sprinkling of covers. Mason scored his biggest solo hit in 1977 with We Just Disagree, which reached number 12. New Mason material was scarce in the 1980s, except for a beer commercial. Mason continued to tour, though, and joined Fleetwood Mac in 1994; 1999 saw the release of Live: 40,000 Headmen Tour, which also featured Jim Capaldi. The re-release ofIts Like You Never Left followed a year later.