Steve Winwood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Steve Winwood | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Stephen Lawrence Winwood | |
| Born | May 12, 1948 Great Barr, West Midlands, England |
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| Genre(s) | Blue-Eyed Soul Pop Rock |
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| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Guitar, Bass guitar, Piano/Keyboards/Organ, Synthesizer, Drums | |
| Label(s) | Island Records Virgin Records |
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| Associated acts |
Spencer Davis Group Traffic Blind Faith |
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Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born May 12, 1948 in Great Barr, West Midlands) is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who, in addition to his solo career, was a member of the bands the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith.
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[edit] Career
Winwood was a part of the Birmingham rhythm and blues scene from a young age, playing the Hammond B-3 Organ and guitar, backing blues singers like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Eddie Boyd, Otis Spann, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley on their United Kingdom tours (the norm at that time being for US singers to travel solo and be backed by 'pick-up' bands).
Winwood became a member of the Spencer Davis Group at 15 with his older brother 'Muff' (who later had much success as a record producer), and had hit singles with "Keep On Runnin'"and 1987's"Valerie". Steve co-wrote and recorded "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm A Man" before leaving to form Traffic with Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason.
During the late-1960s, Winwood and Mason became close friends of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix first heard "All Along the Watchtower" at a party he was invited to by Mason, they recorded the Hendrix version later that night in a London recording studio. Winwood played often with Hendrix, featuring prominently on Electric Ladyland. Notably, he contributed the powerful Hammond organ riffs on "Voodoo Chile".
In 1969, Winwood once again gave a powerful organ performance on Joe Cocker's "With A Little Help From My Friends", he later played keyboards on albums as diverse as Toots & The Maytals Reggae Got Soul and Howlin' Wolf's The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions.
He formed Blind Faith in 1969 with Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. The band was short-lived, due to Clapton's greater interest in Blind Faith's opening act Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Clapton left the band after the tour had ended. However, Baker, Winwood, and Grech stayed together to form Ginger Baker's Air Force. The lineup consisted of basically 3/4 of Blind Faith (sans Clapton, replaced by Denny Laine), 2/3 of Traffic (Winwood and Chris Wood, minus Jim Capaldi), plus musicians who interacted with Baker in his early days, including Phil Seamen, Harold McNair, and Graham Bond. But this supergroup turned out to be just another short-lived project. Winwood soon went into the studio to begin work on a new solo album, tentatively titled Mad Shadows. However, Winwood ended up calling Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi in to help with session work, which instead prompted Traffic's comeback album John Barleycorn Must Die. Winwood has always said that the sound of John Barleycorn Must Die really reflects what Winwood intended Traffic to be.
Constant artistic differences and personnel changes led to Traffic's final break-up and Winwood's release of his eponymous first solo album in 1977. This was followed by his 1980 hit Arc Of A Diver and Talking Back To The Night in 1982 (both albums recorded at his home in Gloucestershire with Winwood playing all instruments). He enlisted the help of a coterie of stars to record Back in the High Life (1986) in the US, and again he was rewarded with a hit album. All were released on Island Records. In 1986, he topped the Billboard Hot 100 with "Higher Love".
At the peak of his commercial success, Winwood moved to Virgin Records and released Roll With It and Refugees Of The Heart. Both the album Roll With It and the title track hit #1, respectively, on both the album and singles chart in the summer of 1988. He recorded another album with Jim Capaldi released under the Traffic name, Far From Home, then resumed his solo career with his final Virgin album Junction Seven.
In 1995 and 1996, Winwood reached #1 on the U.S. singles charts was "Reach for the Light (Theme from Balto)".
In 1997, Winwood sang with James Taylor at the VH-1 Honors.[1]
In 2003, Winwood released a new studio album, About Time on his new record label, Wincraft Music. 2004 saw his 1982 song "Valerie" used by DJ Eric Prydz, in a song called "Call On Me". It spent five weeks at number 1 on the UK singles chart. Winwood heard an early version of Prydz' remix and liked it so much, he not only gave permission to use the song, he re-recorded the samples for Prydz to use.
In 2005, the Soundstage Performances DVD was released, featuring his recent work from the album About Time along with his classic hits including "Higher Love" and "Back in the High Life". Winwood also performs hits from his days with Traffic (recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) as well as current recordings that represent a tapestry of tastes woven after 40 years in music.
He is currently working on his new studio album slated for release in 2006, and is preparing a live album from his American 2005 tour. Steve also recently announced his 2006 tour.
Additionally, Christina Aguilera features Winwood on one of her songs from her upcoming record Back to Basics, called "Makes Me Wanna Pray".
[edit] Trivia
- In his hit song "While You See A Chance", in a stanza where he sings "And that old gray wind is blowing and there’s nothing left worth knowing," Winwood accidentally overdubs "nothing left..." with "no one left..." The entire track was thrown together in a relatively quick fashion, and at one point Winwood accidentally deleted the drum track introduction in preparation for vocals. (see Punching in) The keyboard introduction that he composed on the spot to replace it is now iconic.
- Prior to forming Blind Faith with Eric Clapton, the two collaborated on a record as "Powerhouse"
- "Gimme Some Lovin'" was featured in the Crime Story episode "The Brothel Wars."
- He has been mistaken for American actor Michael Beck, whom he resembles.
- Is a fan of Cheltenham Town FC.
- The song "Roll With It" was the last #1 song on the American Top 40 radio show under its original host Casey Kasem - and the first #1 under Kasem's successor, Shadoe Stevens.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- With Traffic
- Mr. Fantasy (1967) #88 US
- Traffic (1968) #17 US
- Last Exit (1969) #19 US
- John Barleycorn Must Die (1970) #5 US: Gold
- Welcome to the Canteen (1971) #26 US
- The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971) #7 US: Platinum
- Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory (1973) #6 US: Gold
- On the Road (1973) #29 US
- When the Eagle Flies (1974) #9 US: Gold
- Far from Home (1994) #33 US
- The Last Great Traffic Jam (2005)
- With Blind Faith
- Blind Faith (1969) #1 US: Platinum
- Solo
- Steve Winwood (1977) #22 US
- Arc of a Diver (1980) #3 US: Platinum
- Talking Back to the Night (1982) #28 US: Platinum
- Back in the High Life (1986) #7 US: 3x Platinum
- Roll with It (1988) #1 (1 week) US: 2x Platinum
- Refugees of the Heart (1990) #13 US: Gold
- Junction Seven (1997) #123 US
- About Time (2003) #126 US
[edit] Compilations
- Chronicles (1987) #26 US US sales: Gold
- The Finer Things (box set) (1995)
- Keep on Running (1996)
- 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Steve Winwood (1999)
- Classic Steve Winwood (2001)
- Best of Steve Winwood (2002)
- Winwood (1972) UA Records, Inc. An excellent double LP compilation of his work to this time. Feaatures work with SD Group, Powerhouse, Traffic & Blind Faith.
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| Hot 100 | Mainstream Rock | Hot AC | UK | |||
| 1966 | "Keep on Running" (w/ Spencer Davis Group) | #76 | - | - | #1 | Single |
| 1966 | "Somebody Help Me" (w/ Spencer Davis Group) | #47 | - | - | #1 | Single |
| 1966 | "When I Come Home" (w/ Spencer Davis Group) | - | - | - | #12 | Single |
| 1966 | "Gimme Some Lovin'" (w/ Spencer Davis Group) | #7 | - | - | #2 | Single |
| 1967 | "I'm A Man" (w/ Spencer Davis Group) | #10 | - | - | #9 | Single |
| 1967 | "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (w/ Traffic) | - | - | - | - | Mr. Fantasy |
| 1967 | "Paper Sun" (w/ Traffic) | #94 | - | - | #5 | Mr. Fantasy |
| 1967 | "Hole in My Shoe" (w/ Traffic) | - | - | - | #2 | Mr. Fantasy |
| 1967 | "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" (w/ Traffic) | - | - | - | #8 | Mr. Fantasy |
| 1968 | "No Face No Name No Number" (w/ Traffic) | - | - | - | #40 | Mr. Fantasy |
| 1968 | "Medicated Goo" (w/ Traffic) | - | - | - | - | Last Exit |
| 1970 | "Empty Pages" (w/ Traffic) | #74 | - | - | - | John Barleycorn Must Die |
| 1971 | "Gimme Some Lovin' (Part One, Live)" (w/ Traffic) | #68 | - | - | - | Welcome to the Canteen |
| 1971 | "Rock & Roll Stew (Part One)" (w/ Traffic) | #93 | - | - | - | The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys |
| 1977 | "Hold On" | - | - | - | - | Steve Winwood |
| 1981 | "Arc of a Diver" | #48 | #11 | - | - | Arc of a Diver |
| 1981 | "While You See a Chance" | #7 | #2 | - | - | Arc of a Diver |
| 1982 | "Still in the Game" | #47 | #8 | - | - | Talking Back to the Night |
| 1982 | "Valerie" | #70 | #13 | - | - | Talking Back to the Night |
| 1982 | "Talking Back to the Night" | - | - | - | - | Talking Back to the Night |
| 1986 | "Higher Love" | #1 (1 week) | #1 | #7 | #13 | Back in the High Life |
| 1986 | "Freedom Overspill" | #20 | #4 | - | - | Back in the High Life |
| 1986 | "Split Decision" | - | #3 | - | - | Back in the High Life |
| 1986 | "Take It as It Comes" | - | #33 | - | - | Back in the High Life |
| 1986 | "Back in the High Life Again" | #13 | #19 | #1 | - | Back in the High Life |
| 1987 | "The Finer Things" | #8 | #5 | #1 | - | Back in the High Life |
| 1987 | "Valerie" | #9 | #13 | #2 | #19 | Re-release of single |
| 1988 | "Talking Back to the Night" | #57 | #17 | - | - | Re-release of single |
| 1988 | "Roll with It" | #1 (4 weeks) | #1 | #1 | - | Roll with It |
| 1988 | "Put on Your Dancing Shoes" | - | #25 | - | - | Roll with It |
| 1988 | "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" | #6 | #1 | #2 | - | Roll with It |
| 1988 | "Holding on" | #11 | #1 | #1 | - | Roll with It |
| 1989 | "Hearts on Fire" | #53 | #22 | #22 | - | Roll with It |
| 1990 | "One and Only Man" | #18 | #1 | #9 | - | Refugees of the Heart |
| 1991 | "Another Deal Goes Down" | - | #10 | - | - | Refugees of the Heart |
| 1994 | "Here Comes a Man" (w/ Traffic) | - | #10 | - | - | Far from Home |
| - | 2003 | Different Light | ||||
| - | Why Can't We Live Together | |||||
[edit] Session work
- David Gilmour - About Face
- Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances
- Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
- Lou Reed - Berlin
- Toots and the Maytals - "Reggae Got Soul"
