Steve Winwood, Because With You I'm Stronger

Bass, tambourine, drum, then kick into an almost psychedelic organ, it sure didn't sound like most of the other stuff on the radio. But wait, let's get into the opening line... "HEY"

And that voice, I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I was instantly in love with it. The song was "Gimme Some Lovin" by the Spencer Davis Group, and the voice belonged to little "Stevie" Winwood, who was still a teenager at the time he first made his mark in music. His tenure with the Spencer Davis Group also included a song which would be a hit not only for himself, but for every garage band playing at that time. "I'm A Man," was later covered by Chicago for their first album The Chicago Transit Authority.

Next career step for Winwood was not too shabby. Along with Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Chris Wood, Winwood formed Traffic. Let's not even start on their vision and influence on rock music. Think "Feelin' Alright," or "Dear Mr. Fantasy," or "Pearly Queen," or the entirety of John Barleycorn Must Die and Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.

So where do you go from there? Well, I guess it's time to form a supergroup. Let's pull in some friends by the names of Ric Grech, Ginger Baker and oh, how about Eric Clapton, and see what happens. One album was what happened, the self-titled Blind Faith album. Without that album, we might never have heard "Can't Find My Way Home," and wouldn't our lives have been a bit less joyful, if we hadn't.

It was then time to take a break from the intensity of a major band, so Winwood did session work, got together with various incarnations of Traffic, even recording John Barleycorn during this period. Approaching the 1980s, Winwood went solo, not a bad career move at all. The timing could not have been better. First the Arc of a Diver album, followed by Talking Back to the Night and the extremely successful, Back in the High Life.

Steve Winwood was a boy when he began his professional music career. Today he turns 66.

Happy Birthday.

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