Wunderkid Stevie Winwood was only 18 when he recorded his most famous vocal section, song Gimme Some Lovin with Spencer Davis Group. He was only 20 when he recorded a masterpiece of pastoral British progressive rock (Traffic) with guitarist Dave Mason, drummer Jimmy Capaldi, and saxophonist Chris Wood. Even before the recording of this album begun, Dave Mason left the group just so that he would accept the invitation to come back right before the recording started. Then he left again. He returned again for the 1971 tour and then left for good.
The big part of the problem was in a fact that Mason was in love with pop music, while the rest of the group wanted to focus on sinister and progressive rock. But then he came with their biggest hit - Feelin' Alright that also turned out to be Joe Cocker's hit. Polarity commercial-progressive was the source of constant disagreements. On the other hand, internal competition did not let any of the sides create a bad song. The animosity between Mason and the rest of the group was well balanced, thanks to the producer Jimmy Miller whose work with Traffic will serve him as a reference to get a job with Rolling Stones.
Mason will gain his fame as an author and respected session-guitarist, while the rest of the group will find their niche in prog rock, with The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys being their best articulated idea of it. Mason and Winwood will distance from each other to the point that they will never collaborate again.
