Steve Winwood

Stephen Lawrence Winwood, called Steve ( Stevie ) Winwood ( born May 12 1948 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England ) is an English multi-instrumentalist and singer.

From a young age came Steve Winwood, supported by his parents Lillian and Lawrence, in touch with music. His father spoke a number of instruments including clarinet, saxophone, mandolin, violin and bass, and was also in a band to perform on weekends at weddings and various dance events. Steve learned classical guitar and piano in school and very soon he played and his older brother Muff Winwood ( born June 14, 1943) in the band with her ​​father. In addition, pianist Steve was his brother's band, which were incorporated additional blues and rhythm and blues elements in the band's music in the Muff Woody Jazz.

Spencer Davis Group 1963-1967

As part of a presentation of the Muff Woody Jazz Band at the Golden Eagle in Birmingham in 1963 it came to a meeting of the Winwood brothers with guitarist Spencer Davis, linguistics student at the University of Birmingham. This was deeply impressed by the brothers and suggested a collaboration, which with the addition of Pete York ( drums), the Spencer Davis Group was born. The band's name is deceptive, because the musical leader of the band was just 15 - year-old Steve Winwood as lead singer, lead guitarist, pianist and organist and later as a songwriter. Shortly after the formation of the band they got from Chris Blackwell signed a contract with the record label Iceland Records, which Steve Winwood remained loyal for many years.

While the band quickly became known as an attractive live act over Birmingham addition, the first singles, including cover versions of John Lee Hooker's Dimples and Ed Cobbs Every Little Bit Hurts did not succeed in the charts. The breakthrough came with the written by Jackie Edwards number Keep On Running, which climbed at the beginning of 1966 to the top of the British charts. The follow-up single Somebody Help Me, also by Jackie Edwards, also reached the top position shortly thereafter. In the singles Gimme Some Lovin ', later a hit for the Blues Brothers, and I'm a Man Steve Winwood now also joined as a songwriter in appearance, both singles were Top Ten hits in both the UK and for the first time in the USA.

Traffic and Blind Faith 1967-1975

All the more surprising, therefore, came the announcement to leave the Spencer Davis Group to set up along with Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason, the band Traffic in April 1967. Already the first single Paper Sun developed into a top ten number and also the debut album Mr. Fantasy was very successful. The follow-up album Traffic prolonged success, even if Dave Mason had left the band shortly before the release of the album in favor of a solo career. After a very successful tour of the United States, the group finally fell apart at the beginning of 1969.

The next project initially began as a loose collaboration - in the form of private jam sessions - between Winwood and Eric Clapton, whose band Cream had also just dissolved. With the addition of Ginger Baker, however, a new so-called supergroup was quickly born and Ric Grech of Family on bass completed the line-up of Blind Faith. The expectations in the band as a quasi- successor of Cream were enormous. On 7 June 1969 she gave her debut as - enter free - open-air concert in London's Hyde Park in front of over 100 000 spectators, and shortly afterwards appeared the high-profile album Blind Faith, which in principle contains only six tracks, but due to the successful synthesis of blues, rock and pop is a milestone of British progressive blues-rock. Without enough time to develop as a band, and with only one album in hand to Blind Faith were headlining a major U.S. tour, in which however focused differences and different ideas about the future musical direction of Blind Faith among the four individualistic band members came to light. This resulted after the conclusion of the tour in September 1969 to the dissolution of Blind Faith.

After a short stint with Ginger Baker 's Air Force, the recording sessions began to Winwood's first solo album, Mad Shadows. In the course of these sessions came first Capaldi and later Wood added, and what had started as a solo project, finally ended with the Traffic album John Barleycorn Must Die. During the following tour, Jim Gordon, Kwaku Baah Reebop and again Dave Mason met ( albeit briefly ) to traffic. After a few more very successful albums with When The Eagle Flies and subsequent tour ended in 1975 provisionally chapter traffic.

Solo career

Then Steve Winwood drew the next two years back to Gloucestershire, where he worked in his home studio, interrupted only by brief appearances as a session musician, including the GO project of the Japanese Stomu Yamashta. In 1977 finally released their debut album, Steve Winwood, which had already musically in the future direction, but was only moderately successful commercially. The breakthrough as a solo artist should only be made with the follow-up album Arc of a Diver 1980. Over two years, Winwood was working in his home studio on this album, in which he recorded all the instruments and vocals himself. It remained for nearly a year in the U.S. Billboard charts and reached the best quotation Platz 3, also it contained with While You See a Chance also the first solo Top Ten hit. In 1982 the album Talking Back to the Night, recorded once again alone and produced, with all the songs of the common spring with Will Jennings sprang, who was already involved in most songs of Arc of a Diver. The album established Winwood While as a solo artist, but was neither commercially nor artistically build on the huge success of its predecessor.

For his next album Steve Winwood changed the previous operation, in which he had practically done everything alone. With Russ Titelman an experienced producer was hired, and an illustrious musicians round, including Chaka Khan, James Taylor, Joe Walsh of the Eagles or even Randy Brecker, Winwood accompanied on Back in the High Life, released in July 1986. The album climbed to number 7 on the U.S. charts, the first single Higher Love was even more successful, reaching number 1 for this song Winwood received in the same year two Grammys: Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male. In the wake of this success was released the compilation Chronicles in 1987, which contained a total of ten songs of the three previous albums. Valerie from the album Talking Back to the Night, represented here in a remixed version in 1987 reached number nine in the U.S. charts. The album also marked Chronicles same Winwood's departure from Iceland Records label, which he had published since the beginning of his recording career.

In 1988 the album Roll With It Virgin Records, which was based much more on the Soul of the 1960s, also evident in the participation of the Memphis Horns. Both the album and the single of the same reached # 1 on the U.S. charts, the follow-up single Do not You Know What the Night Can Do it managed also among the top ten. The album marked but simultaneously also the end of a very successful stage and with his following albums Steve Winwood could never connect to these successes.

Recorded with a number of Nashville musicians followed in 1990 Refugees of the Heart, which could be placed only on the middle reaches of the charts. For the Single One and Only One Winwood it worked the first time after a long time together with Jim Capaldi. This collaboration culminated in a brief reunion of Traffic (albeit without Chris Wood, who died in 1983 ) and the album Far From Home in 1994. In 1997, appeared in close cooperation with Narada Michael Walden 's solo album Junction Seven, but that turned out pretty disappointing over long distances and could not connect to earlier successes. In fact it was during the 1990s been relatively quiet around him, though a number of guest appearances testify in the music industry on albums of famous artists from the high prestige and rank Winwood. So Steve Winwood involved with a number of other music greats including those belonging to the continuation of the Blues Brothers Blues Brothers 2000.

It was only in 2003 appeared with About Time, a new solo album by Steve Winwood on his own record label, Wincraft Music. Together with drummer Walfredo Reyes, Jr. and guitarist José Pires de Almeida Neto was a Latin American-inspired jazz-rock plate which is supported primarily by the sound of the Hammond organ (there are, for example, on the plate no bass ). While Winwood thus further away from its large time charts of the 1980s, on the other hand, the plate was but just picked up by fans from his days with Traffic with great approval. However acquaintance probably Vocals guest appearance on the single Call On Me from the Swedish DJ Eric Prydz be a week long dominated the charts in 2004 and is a remix version of Winwood's Valerie from the album Talking Back to the Night.

End of February 2008 he performed with Eric Clapton after exactly 40 years back together for three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The live recording was released in 2009 on DVD. In 2009, Winwood came to four live concerts in Germany. In the same year, Winwood went along with Eric Clapton on tour in Europe, while they played each of the solo albums by both artists hits as well as from their common short Blind Faith career.

Studio musicians

As a studio musician Steve Winwood played among others:

His other session activities can be found using the links provided.

Discography as a solo artist

Studio albums

Live albums

  • 2009: Live from Madison Square Garden ( with Eric Clapton )

Compilations

Singing Island Records Chris Wood (rock musician) Traffic (Band) Cream (band) Family (Band) Hyde Park, London Jim Gordon (musician) Homerecording Jade Warrior (band) Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse Integrated Authority File
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