From Wiki:
Winwood joined the Spencer Davis Group at age 14,[8] along with his older brother, Muff, who later had success as a record producer. Steve's distinctive high tenor, singing voice and vocal style drew comparisons to Ray Charles.[9] At the end of 1965 the group had their first number one single with "Keep On Running"[10] and the money from this success allowed Winwood to buy his own Hammond B-3 organ.[6]
During this time Winwood joined forces with guitarist Eric Clapton as part of the one-off group Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Songs were recorded for the Elektra label, but only three tracks made the compilation album, What's Shakin'.
Winwood co-wrote and recorded the hits "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man" before leaving the Spencer Davis Group. Winwood met drummer Jim Capaldi, guitarist Dave Mason, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Wood when they jammed together at The Elbow Room, a club in Aston, Birmingham.[11] After Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group in April 1967, the quartet formed Traffic.[12] Soon thereafter, they rented a cottage near the rural village of Aston Tirrold, Berkshire to write and rehearse new music.[11] The period at the cottage proved important in the band's development.[13]
Early in Traffic's formation, Winwood and Capaldi formed a songwriting partnership, with Winwood writing music to match Capaldi's lyrics. This partnership was the source of most of Traffic's material, including popular songs such as "Paper Sun" and "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys", and outlived the band, producing several songs for Winwood and Capaldi's solo albums. Winwood's performance role in Traffic varied from album to album and song to song; he might perform lead vocal and guitar on one track, and piano and bass on the next. Over the band's history, however, he played the majority of their lead vocals, keyboard instruments, and guitars. He also frequently played bass and percussion up to and including the recording sessions for their fourth album.
Blind Faith and Traffic
Winwood with Traffic Photo: Dina Regine
Winwood formed the supergroup Blind Faith in 1969 with Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech.[14] The band was short-lived owing to Clapton's greater interest in Blind Faith's opening act Delaney & Bonnie & Friends—Clapton left the band at tour's end. However, Baker, Winwood and Grech stayed together to form Ginger Baker's Air Force. The lineup consisted of 3/4 of Blind Faith (without Clapton, who was replaced by Denny Laine), 2/3 of Traffic (Winwood and Chris Wood, minus Jim Capaldi) plus musicians who interacted with Baker in his early days, including Phil Seamen, Harold McNair, John Blood and Graham Bond. However, the project turned out to be just another short-lived one. Winwood soon went into the studio to begin work on a new solo album, tentatively titled Mad Shadows. However, Winwood ended up calling in Wood and Capaldi to help with session work, which prompted Traffic's comeback album John Barleycorn Must Die.
