Dave Mason - ...and on guitar (1984)

David Thomas Mason was born on 10 May 1946 in Worcester, and was a professional musician by his teens, making his recording debut with 'Opus To Spring' in 1963 with the instrumental group the Jaguars. It was with this band that he first encountered drummer Jim Capaldi, and the two became members of the Hellions, who played around the U.K. and in Hamburg, West Germany, as well as cutting a few singles in 1964 and 1965. Mason quit the Hellions in the spring of 1965 to study music formally, while also sitting in occasionally with another band featuring Capaldi, Deep Feeling. In early 1966 he took a job as road manager for the Spencer Davis Group, where he met Steve Winwood, and when Winwood left The Spencer Davis Group in March 1967, he took Mason with him to form Traffic with Capaldi and flautist Chris Wood. After their first single 'Paper Sun' was a UK hit, they followed it with Mason's 'Hole in My Shoe', which hit number two in the U.K. Mason stayed in the band long enough to record Traffic's debut album 'Mr. Fantasy', but left just as it was being released, recording a solo single 'Little Woman' in early 1968. He then rejoined Traffic, staying with them until the band broke up in late 1968. After that he moved to Los Angeles and joined Delaney & Bonnie & Friends in 1969, and then in 1970 he signed a solo contract with Blue Thumb Records and released his debut solo album 'Alone Together', which reached number 22 and went gold in the U.S. Despite this success, he continued to work in group contexts, serving temporarily as second guitarist in Eric Clapton's band Derek And The Dominos, recording with George Harrison on 'All Things Must Pass', and forming a duo with Cass Elliot, releasing their album 'Dave Mason & Cass Elliot' in February 1971. During this time he was a busy session guitarist, starting almost as soon as Traffic ceased to exist, and as he was a friend of Jimi Hendrix he was invited to play 12-string acoustic guitar on his recording of 'All Along The Watchtower', as well as singing and playing on 'Crosstown Traffic'. In 1969/1970 he toured with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, and contributed a searing solo to their 'Comin' Home' single, as well as playing with Eric Clapton on Derek And The Dominos' single 'Tell The Truth'/'Roll It Over'. In the early 70's he was very much a part of the US West Coast singer/songwriter collective, not only with his own albums, but also featuring on records by Graham Nash, David Crosby, David Blue, Bobby Keys, and his old friend Jim Capaldi. In 1973 he was the guest guitarist on jazz pianist Dave Brubeck's 'Two Generations Of Brubeck' album, showing that he was as much at home with jazz as he was with rock. He also added his guitar to Wings' hit single 'Listen To What The Man Said', and helped out Stephen Stills, Ron Wood, and Donovan in the late 70's/early 80's. Although Mason is pretty much a household name for his work with Traffic and his solo career, I was surprised at just how much he'd spread himself around in the 70's, and so this is a fine celebration of his work from that period.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Crosstown Traffic (from 'Electric Ladyland' by Jimi Hendrix Experience 1968)
02 Sing To Me, Woman (from 'Thinking Back' by Gordon Jackson 1969)
03 Hello Little Girl (from 'Word Of Mouth' by Merryweather 1969)
04 Comin' Home (single by Delaney & Bonnie & Friends 1969)
05 Freedom (from 'Bobby Lester' by Bobby Lester 1970) 
06 Plug Me In (from 'All Things Must Pass' by George Harrison 1970)
07 Roll It Over (b-side of 'Tell The Truth' by Derek And The Dominos 1970)
08 All Life Is One (from 'Warm Waters' by Charles Lloyd 1971)
09 Military Madness (from 'Songs For Beginners' by Graham Nash 1971)
10 Don't Be A Hero (from 'Oh How We Danced' by Jim Capaldi 1972)
11 Steal From A King (from 'Bobby Keys' by Bobby Keys 1972)

Disc Two
01 Immigration Man (from 'Graham Nash - David Crosby' by Crosby & Nash 1972)
02 Outlaw Man (from 'Nice Baby And The Angel' by David Blue 1973)
03 Blue Rondo A La Turk (from 'Two Generations Of Brubeck' by Dave Brubeck 1973)
04 No Show Tonight (from 'Phoebe Snow' by Phoebe Snow 1974)
05 Ain't That Loving You (out-take from '461 Ocean Boulevard' by Eric Clapton 1974) 
06 Listen To What The Man Said (from 'Venus And Mars' by Wings 1975)
07 Hideaway From Love (from 'Black And White' by Mike Finnigan 1978)
08 You Can't Dance Alone (from 'Thoroughfare Gap' by Stephen Stills 1978)
09 F.U.C. Her (from 'Gimme Some Neck' by Ron Wood 1979)
19 Boy For Every Girl (from 'Lady Of The Stars' by Donovan 1984)

George Harrison - ...and on guitar (1975)

By 1969 George Harrison's songwriting had come on in leaps and bounds, culminating in him providing two of the most popular songs on The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' album. That same year he co-wrote 'Badge' with Eric Clapton, which was included on Cream's 'Goodbye' album, and on which Harrison played rhythm guitar, using the pseudonym L'Angelo Misterioso for contractual reasons. In May 1970 he played guitar on several songs during a recording session for Bob Dylan's album 'New Morning', and although none of them made the final cut for the album, some of them have appeared on one of Dylan's 'Bootleg Series' albums, including an alternate take of 'New Morning's 'Time Passes Slowly'. In 1971 he produced and played slide guitar on Badfinger's top ten hit 'Day After Day', and contributed dobro to Billy Preston's 'I Wrote a Simple Song', while in 1972 he added guitar to Harry Nilsson's 'You're Breakin' My Heart'. The following year he appeared on Cheech & Chong's 'Basketball Jones' from their 'Big Bambu' album, and 1973 also saw him add guitar to 'Waiting For The Band' from Nicky Hopkins' 'The Tin Man Was A Dreamer' under the name of George O'Hara, and 'If You've Got Love' from 'It's Like You Never Left' by Dave Mason under another of his pseudonyms, Son Of Harry. Lastly from 1973, Hari Georgeson helped out Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre on 'So Sad (No Love Of His Own)' from their 'On The Road To Freedom' album. 1974 was a bit quieter, with Harrison co-writing 'Far East Man' with Ronnie Wood, and both artists recording their own versions of the song, with Wood's coming out first on his 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' release. Also in 1974, two-man band Splinter released their debut, Harrison-produced album 'The Place I Love' on his Dark Horse label. It was actually the first record to be released on the label, and Harrison played guitar and keyboards on it as well, with the record spawning the hit single 'Costafinetown'. In 1975 Harrison expanded his horizons and added guitar to Tom Scott's jazz album 'New York Connection', rounding off nicely his extra-curricular activities from the first half on the 70's. Harrison then took a break while he released solo albums of his own, with his next guest appearances being in 1981 on an album from Mick Fleetwood and a single by Ringo Starr.   

Track listing

01 Badge (single by Cream 1969)

02 Time Passes Slowly (from the 'New Morning' sessions with Bob Dylan 1970)

03 I Wrote A Simple Song (from 'I Wrote A Simple Song' by Billy Preston 1971)

04 Day After Day (single by Badfinger 1971)

05 You're Breaking My Heart (from 'Nilsson Schmilsson' by Harry Nilsson 1972)

06 If You've Got Love (from 'It's Like You Never Left' by Dave Mason  1973) 

07 Waiting For The Band (from 'The Tin Man Was A Dreamer' by Nicky Hopkins 1973)  

08 Basketball Jones (from 'Big Bambu' by Cheech & Chong 1973)

09 So Sad (No Love Of His Own) (from 'On The Road To Freedom' by Alvin Lee 1973)  

10 Far East Man (from 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' by Ronnie Wood 1974)

11 Somebody's City (from 'The Place I Love' by Splinter 1974)

12 Appolonia (from 'New York Connection' by Tom Scott 1975)