Its Steve Winwood‘s 69th birthday. Winwood has been a working musician nearly all of his life having joined the Spencer Davis Group band in 1963 at the age of 15. Two years later the band released their debut album, titled Their First LP. Though Spencer Davis led the band, Winwood was the group’s unmistakable star, and hits like “Gimme Some Lovin’” and “I’m A Man” established Winwood, then called “Little Stevie Winwood,” as one of the most popular singers in Britain. In 1967, he quit the Spencer Davis Group to form the more experimental Traffic with former Spencer Davis Group roadie Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood. The group released two albums before breaking up. Winwood then hooked up with former Cream members Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, as well as former Family member Rick Gretch, to form the short-lived supergroup Blind Faith. That band lasted less than a year, after which Winwood reformed Traffic. By 1977, Traffic had split again and Winwood kicked off a more pop-oriented solo career, racking up numerous hits over the next decade, with such songs as “While You See A Chance,” “Talking Back To The Night,” “Back In The High Life,” “Higher Love,” “The Finer Things,” “Valerie,” “Freedom Overspill” and “Roll With It,” among others. Happy birthday Steve Winwood and thank you for all the years of music.
