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JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS

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Steve Winwood



Steve Winwood

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    As a solo artist, Steve Winwood is primarily associated with the highly polished blue-eyed soul-pop that made him a star in the '80s. Yet his turn as a slick, upscale mainstay of adult contemporary radio was simply the latest phase of a long and varied career, one that's seen the former teenage R&B shouter move through jazz, psychedelia, blues-rock, and progressive rock. Possessed of a powerful, utterly distinctive voice, Winwood was also an excellent keyboardist who remained an in-demand session musician for most of his career, even while busy with high-profile projects. That background wasn't necessarily apparent on his solo records, which established a viable commercial formula that was tremendously effective as long as it was executed with commitment.

    Stephen Lawrence Winwood was born May 12, 1948, in the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. First interested in swing and Dixieland jazz, he began playing drums, guitar, and piano as a child, and first performed with his father and older brother Muff in the Ron Atkinson Band at the age of eight. During the early '60s, Muff led a locally popular group called the Muff Woody Jazz Band, and allowed young Steve to join; eventually they began to add R&B numbers to their repertoire, and in 1963 the brothers chose to pursue that music full-time, joining guitarist Spencer Davis to form the Spencer Davis Group. Although he was only 15, Steve's vocals were astoundingly soulful and mature, and his skills at the piano were also advanced beyond his years. Within a year, he'd played with numerous American blues legends both in concert and in the studio; in 1965, he also recorded the solo single "Incense" as the Anglos, crediting himself as Stevie Anglo. Meanwhile, the Spencer Davis Group released a handful of classic R&B-styled singles, including "Keep on Running," "I'm a Man," and the monumental "Gimme Some Lovin'," which stood with any of the gritty hardcore soul music coming out of the American South.

    Winwood eventually tired of the tight pop-single format; by the mid-'60s, the cutting edge of rock & roll often involved stretching out instrumentally, and with his roots in jazz, Winwood wanted the same opportunity. Accordingly, he left the Spencer Davis Group in 1967 to form Traffic with guitarist Dave Mason, horn player Chris Wood, and drummer Jim Capaldi, all of whom had played on "Gimme Some Lovin'." The quartet retired to a small cottage in the Berkshire countryside, where they could work out their sound � a unique blend of R&B, Beatlesque pop, psychedelia, jazz, and British folk � and jam long into the night without angering neighbors. Traffic debuted in the U.K. with the single "Paper Sun" in May 1967, and soon issued their debut album Mr. Fantasy (retitled Heaven Is in Your Mind in the U.S.); it was followed by the jazzy psychedelic classic Traffic in 1968. However, conflicts had arisen between Winwood and Mason over the latter's tightly constructed folk-pop songs, which didn't fit into Winwood's expansive, jam-oriented conception of the band. Mason left, returned, and was fired again, and Winwood broke up the band at the beginning of 1969. Even so, by that time, he had become the unofficial in-house keyboardist for Traffic's label Island, playing at numerous recording sessions.

    Winwood subsequently hooked up with old friend Eric Clapton, who'd recently parted ways with Cream. The two began jamming and found that they enjoyed working together, and rumors of their collaboration spread like wildfire; the enormous anticipation only grew when ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker signed on, despite Clapton's misgivings over the expectations that would create. Concert promoters rushed to book the band before any material had been completed (hence the band's eventual name, Blind Faith), and offered too much money for them to refuse, despite their lack of rehearsal time. Their self-titled debut, released in the summer of 1969, was a hit, but the extreme pressure on the group led to their breakup even before the end of the year. Winwood joined Baker in a large, eclectic new supergroup called Ginger Baker's Air Force, but Winwood still had contract obligations to Island, and he left not long after Air Force's debut performance at the Royal Albert Hall in early 1970.

    Winwood began work on what was slated to be his first solo LP, but he gradually brought in more ex-Traffic members to help him out, to the point where the album simply became a band reunion. John Barleycorn Must Die was released later in 1970, showcasing the sort of jam-happy jazz-rock sound that Winwood had in mind for the group from the start. Several more albums in that vein followed, including 1971's The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, which brought Traffic to the peak of their commercial popularity in America. The run was briefly interrupted by Winwood's bout with peritonitis around 1972, but he'd recovered enough to play a major role in Eric Clapton's early-1973 comeback concerts at the Rainbow Theatre. Traffic broke up in 1974, but instead of going solo right away, an exhausted Winwood spent the next few years as a session musician, relaxing on his Gloucestershire farm during his spare time. He also featured prominently as a collaborator with Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamash'ta, appearing on his hit jazz fusion LP, Go, in 1976.

    When Winwood finally returned with his self-titled solo debut in 1977, Britain was in the midst of the punk revolution, and the music itself was somewhat disappointing even to Winwood himself. Dismayed, he returned to Gloucestershire and all but disappeared from music. He returned in late 1980 with the little-heralded Arc of a Diver, a much stronger effort on which he played every instrument himself. Modernizing Winwood's sound with more synthesizers and electronic percussion, Arc of a Diver was a platinum-selling hit in the U.S., helped by the hit single "While You See a Chance"; it received highly positive reviews as well, most hailing the freshness of Winwood's newly contemporary sound. The extremely similar 1982 follow-up Talking Back to the Night sounded rushed to some reviewers, and it wasn't nearly as big a hit, with none of its singles reaching the Top 40. Unhappy with the record, Winwood even considered retiring to become a producer (though his brother talked him out of it).

    Taking more time to craft his next album, Winwood didn't return until 1986, with an album of slickly crafted, sophisticated pop called Back in the High Life, which was his first '80s album to feature outside session musicians. It was a smash hit, selling over three-million copies and producing Winwood's first number one single in "Higher Love," which also won a Grammy for Record of the Year. In 1987, Virgin offered Winwood a substantial sum of money and successfully pried him away from Island; a remixed version of Talking Back to the Night's "Valerie," featured on the Island-greatest-hits compilation Chronicles, became a Top Ten hit later that year. Winwood's hot streak continued with his first album for Virgin, 1988's Roll With It. The title track became his second number one and his biggest hit ever, and the album topped the charts as well; plus, the smoky ballad "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" was featured in a prominent TV ad campaign. Winwood had by now established a large, mostly adult fan base, but that support began to slip with his next album, 1990's Refugees of the Heart. Refugees repeated the slick blue-eyed soul updates of its predecessor, but according to most reviewers it simply wasn't performed with the same passion, save for the lead single "One and Only Man," a collaboration with Traffic mate Jim Capaldi.

    Afterward, Winwood continued his pattern of following disappointments with periods of inactivity; he next resurfaced in 1994 as part of a Traffic reunion with Capaldi. Together they released the new album, Far From Home, and toured the world. Winwood subsequently returned to his solo career and spent two years working on Junction Seven, which finally appeared in 1997 and was co-produced by Narada Michael Walden. However, his momentum had stalled, and the album � which received mixed reviews � failed to sell well. The following year, Winwood toured with his new project Latin Crossings, a jazz group that also featured Tito Puente and Arturo Sandoval (though they never recorded). He subsequently parted ways with Virgin. The brilliant About Time appeared in 2003, followed in 2008 by Nine Lives.

    -- Steve Huey, All Music Guide

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Higher Love Live with Chaka KhanHigher Love Live with Chaka Khan
Back in the High Life AgainBack in the High Life Again LIVE
Roll With ItRoll With It


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LINKSYEARTITLE
1977Steve Winwood
1981Arc Of A Diver
1982Talking Back To The Night
1986Back In The High Life
1987Steve Winwood: Chronicles
1988Roll With It
1990Refugees Of The Heart
1997Junction Seven
2003About Time
2008Nine Lives
2009Live! From Madison Square Garden
2009Back In The High Life: Live!


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1977 Steve Winwood

01. Hold On
02. Time Is Running Out
03. Midland Maniac
04. Vacant Chair
05. Luck's In
06. Let Me Make Something In Your Life


1981 Arc Of A Diver

01. While You See A Chance
02. Arc Of A Diver
03. Second-Hand woman
04. Slowdown Sundown
05. Spanish Dancer
06. Night Train
07. Dust



1982 Talking Back To The Night

01. Valerie
02. Big Girls Walk Away
03. And I Go
04. While There's A Candle Burning
05. Still In The Game
06. It Was Happiness
07. Help Me Angel
08. Talking Back To The Night
09. There's A River



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1986 Back In The High Life

01. Higher Love
02. Take It As It Comes
03. Freedom Overspill
04. Back In The High Life Again
05. The Finer Things
06. Wake Me Up On Judgement Day
07. Split Decision
08. My Love's Leavin'


1987 Steve Winwood: Chronicles

01. Wake Me Up On Judgement Day
02. While You See A Chance
03. Vacant Chair
04. Help Me Angel
05. My Love's Leavin'
06. Valerie
07. Arc Of A Diver
08. Higher Love
09. Spanish Dancer
10. Talking Back To The Night


1988 Roll With It

01. Roll With It
02. Holding On
03. Morning Side
04. Put On Your Dancing Shoes
05. Don't You Know What The Night Can Do?
06. Heart's On Fire
07. One More Morning
08. Shining Sing


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1990 Refugees Of The Heart

01. You'll Keep On Searching
02. Every Day (oh Lord)
03. One And Only Man
04. I Will Be Here
05. Another Deal Goes Down
06. Running On
07. Come Out And Dance
08. In The Light Of Day


1997 Junction Seven

01. Spy In The House Of Love
02. Angel Of Mercy
03. Just Wanna Have Some Fun
04. Let Your Love Come Down
05. Real Love
06. Fill Me Up
07. Gotta Get Back To My Baby
08. Someone Like You
09. Family Affair
10. Plenty Lovin'
11. Lord Of The Street



2003 About Time

01. Different Light
02. Cigano (for the gypsies)
03. Take It To The Final Hour
04. Why Can't We Live Together
05. Domingo Morning
06. Now That You're Alive
07. Bully
08. Phoenix Rising
09. Horizon
10. Walking On
11. Sylvia (who is she?)



2008 Nine Lives

01. I'm Not Drowning
02. Fly
03. Raging Sea
04. Dirty City
05. We're All Looking
06. Hungry Man
07. Secrets
08. At Times We Do Forget
09. Other Shore



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2009 Live! From Madison Square Garden

01. Had To Cry Today
02. Low Down
03. Them Changes
04. Forever Man
05. Sleeping On The Ground
06. Presence Of The Lord
07. Glad
08. Well All Right
09. Double Trouble
10. Pearly Queen
11. Tell The Truth
12. No Face, No Name, No Number
13. After Midnight
14. Split Decision
15. Rambling On My Mind
16. Georgia On My Mind
17. Little Wing
18. Voodoo Child
19. Can't Find My Way Home
20. Dear Mr. Fantasy
21. Cocaine



2009 Back In The High Life: Live!

01. I'm A Man
02. Roll With It
03. Freedom Overspill
04. Spy In The House Of Love
05. Gotta Get Back To My Baby
06. Can't Find My Way Home
07. The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys
08. Glad
09. Family Affair
10. Just Wanna Have Some Fun
11. Higher Love
12. Back In The High Life Again
13. Gimme Some Lovin



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