Dave Mason

Career

In 1964, Mason joined The Hellions, a Worcester band that included drummer Jim Capaldi. Mason and Capaldi befriended Spencer Davis Group keyboardist Steve Winwood. After returning to England, The Hellions became a polished act in high demand, both on their own and as a backing band for singers such as Adam Faith and Dave Berry. By the end of 1964, they were the house band at London's Whisky-A-Go-Go Club.

Producer Kim Fowley and songwriter Jackie DeShannon spotted them, offered a song, and helped secure a recording contract with Piccadilly Records. In 1965, they released the DeShannon song "Daydreaming Of You" and the first Mason–Capaldi composition, "Shades of Blue"; neither succeeded, but the band toured the UK with P. J. Proby. Another single, "Hallelujah", also failed to chart. In 1966, the band returned to Worcester, where Mason played with local groups and worked as a roadie for the Spencer Davis Group.

Capaldi formed Deep Feeling, which recorded twelve unreleased songs; Sunbeam Records released them in 2008 as the album Pretty Colours. In 1967, the Spencer Davis Group disbanded, and Capaldi assembled Traffic with Winwood, Mason, and Chris Wood. They jammed in Birmingham, then moved to a Berkshire house. Their first single, "Paper Sun", became a top-five hit.

Traffic

Mason's first solo composition, "Hole In My Shoe", reached No. 3 on the UK charts and became a notable piece of British psychedelia. Traffic's debut album, Mr. Fantasy, was a major success, but Mason left the band soon after and moved to the United States. The group invited him back when they began recording their next album, a self-titled effort, in the spring of 1968. According to some sources, he was fired only six months later just after its release.

Traffic then broke up. For the album Traffic, Mason wrote the song "Feelin' Alright?" which was released in September 1968 as the album's only single, but failed to chart. In 1969, the song was covered by Joe Cocker for his album With a Little Help from My Friends. Cocker's version remains the definitive arrangement of the song to this day, which Mason freely acknowledged.

Session work

Mason did session work on Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland (September 1968), playing 12-string acoustic guitar on "All Along the Watchtower". He played the shehnai and bass drum on "Street Fighting Man" on the Rolling Stones' 1968 album Beggars Banquet. Mason appears on George Harrison's 1970 solo set All Things Must Pass. Also in 1970, he played on early studio sessions for Derek and the Dominos, including the Phil Spector production of "Tell the Truth", which was released on Eric Clapton's 1988 box set Crossroads.

Delaney and Bonnie

For Capaldi's 1971 album Oh How We Danced, he co-wrote "Big Thirst" and played harmonica on that track, plus the guitar solo on "Don't Be a Hero". In 1969, settled in Los Angeles, Mason released the single "Just for You". On the B-side, he was backed by the band Family on "Little Woman", following his production of Family's first album in 1968, Music in a Doll's House, which included the original Mason song "Never Like This". He also played lead guitar with a rock and soul ensemble fronted by Delaney and Bonnie.

Mason recorded his debut solo album, Alone Together, in 1970. It included the track "Look at You, Look at Me" and the hit tune "Only You Know and I Know", which reached No. 42 on the Billboard chart. When Delaney and Bonnie recorded it the following year, the song charted even higher, reaching No. 20. Also in 1970, Mason and Cass Elliot co-produced and recorded the album Dave Mason & Cass Elliot.

Cass Elliot

Mason wrote five of the songs and co-wrote two with Elliot. Two singles were released: "Something to Make You Happy" and "Too Much Truth, Too Much Love". The duo appeared on The Tonight Show and The Andy Williams Show, and performed two concerts, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and New York’s Fillmore East. The album peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in 1971.

In the mid-to-late 1970s, Mason toured and recorded with guitarist Jim Krueger, keyboardist Mike Finnigan, bassist Gerald Johnson and drummer Rick Jaeger. Mason followed up with the album, Let It Flow, released in April 1977. The album peaked at No. 37 but spent 49 weeks on the charts, and went platinum largely as a result of the success of the album single "We Just Disagree", which was written by Krueger. The single reached No. 12, and other album singles "So High (Rock Me Baby and Roll Me Away)" and "Let It Go, Let It Flow" also charted in the U.S. Mason's next album, Mariposa de Oro, was released the following year.

It featured then little-known Jerry Lynn Williams as Mason's chief songwriting collaborator. The album also contained a cover of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", which became a Top 40 single. The album itself reached No. 41 and would go on to achieve gold record certification. Mason played himself in the film Skatetown, U.S.A., the following year, performing two songs in a roller disco as well as writing and performing the film's theme song.

In 1980, he released Old Crest on a New Wave. The album reached No. 74, but had one single that briefly charted titled "Save Me." The failure of this album resulted in Mason leaving the label Columbia. Later that year, he appeared alongside the singer Bonnie Pointer as a co-presenter on the American Music Awards.

Mason struggled to attract another major label but continued to tour during the 1980's, often as an acoustic tandem with Jim Krueger. In 1987, he released two albums, Some Assembly Required, on the Canadian label Maze Records, and Two Hearts on MCA Records. The latter album featured the single "Dreams I Dream," a duet with Phoebe Snow that reached No. 11 on the adult contemporary charts. In 1993, Mason joined Fleetwood Mac.

He toured with the group over the course of 1994–95 while sharing the bill with Crosby, Stills & Nash, REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar. This extended tour featured many of the band's well-known 1970s songs but also incorporated tunes from Mason's time with Traffic, including "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Feelin' Alright?". Mason and vocalist Bekka Bramlett also performed a duet on "Only You Know and I Know".

Later years

In 2004, Mason started an electric guitar company with business partner and industrial designer Ravi Sawhney. That same year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic.

Philanthropy

Mason supported music education for children.

Did You Know?

• Mason's 1977 solo hit 'We Just Disagree' was written by his guitarist Jim Krueger, not by Mason himself.
• Mason co-founded RKS Guitars in 2004, which earned two Silver IDEA Awards from the Industrial Designers Society of America.