Dave Mason

Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood... and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group whose early singles were influenced by The Beatles, and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards like the Mellotron, reed instruments, and by incorporating jazz and improvisational techniques in their music. Their first three singles were "Paper Sun", "Hole in My Shoe", and "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush". After disbanding in 1969, during which time Winwood joined Blind Faith, Traffic reunited in 1970 to release the critically acclaimed album John Barleycorn Must Die. The band's line-up varied from this point until they disbanded again in 1975, although a partial reunion, with Winwood and Capaldi, took place in 1994. Traffic's singer, keyboardist and sometimes guitarist Steve Winwood was the frontman of the Spencer Davis Group at age 15. The Spencer Davis Group released four Top Ten singles and three Top Ten albums in the United Kingdom, as well as two Top Ten singles in the United States.
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Delaney & Bonnie – in ensemble called Delaney & Bonnie & Friends – was a rock/soul revue fronted by husband-and-wife... singer/songwriters Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. The pair's "Delaney & Bonnie & Friends" incarnation was particularly influential, drawing in and in many cases helping shape the direction of such musical luminaries as Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, and King Curtis. Delaney Bramlett learned the guitar in his youth, and migrated to Los Angeles in 1959. He became a session musician; his most notable early work was as a member of the Shindogs, the house band for the ABC-TV series Shindig! , which also featured guitarist/keyboardist Leon Russell.
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Blue Thumb Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by Bob Krasnow, along with former A&M Records executives Tommy LiPuma and Don Graham. Krasnow had been in the record business for a number of years, working as a promotion man for King Records and also working for Buddah/Kama Sutra... Records. Blue Thumb was originally intended to be the name of Captain Beefheart's band, but Bob didn't think the name was right for the group. However, he chose the name for his label. Acts that appeared on the label include Beefheart, The Crusaders, Hugh Masekela, Sam Lay, Robbie Basho, Tom Rapp, Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation , Modereko, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Jimmy Smith, Dave Mason, The Pointer Sisters, T-Rex , Ike & Tina Turner, Love, Gábor Szabó, Mark-Almond, and National Lampoon . Blue Thumb started out using independent distribution, but went to Capitol/EMI for distribution during late 1970 until mid 1971.
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Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has... its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical sources. Musically, rock has centered around the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with bass guitar and drums. Typically, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature utilizing a verse-chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse and common musical characteristics are difficult to define. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. The dominance of rock by white, male musicians has been seen as one of the key factors shaping the themes explored in rock music. Rock places a higher degree of emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and an ideology of authenticity than pop music.
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