While we were driving home from shopping today, I heard the sad news on a Sirius station that Dave Mason had passed away. I'm not going to pretend that I knew more than a handful of his songs (a couple from Traffic, a couple of hits he wrote for others), but his one solo hit, "We Just Disagree" (featured way back when in Vol. CLVI), was one of those songs that I didn't care for at first but as time wore on it became one of my all-time faves. And that was reinforced when I heard it today as it was played in memoriam for a life in rock and roll--just gets better and better every time I hear it.
His family's announcement of his death said it was as beautiful as his life, and I'm not sure one could ask for more than that.
I've vowed to memorialize those I've featured here when they go to that great rock and roll concert in the sky (I'm sure I've missed one or two), and that's why I'm here now, saying my thanks for the joy his music has brought me.
I'd been working for Camelot Music about five months when this week's tune came out--all I remember of it at the time was that I didn't like it much. Fast forward a few years and it came on the radio as I was driving to work one morning, and I remember thinking to myself."Why in the hell didn't I like this song? This is a great song!" And my epiphany would become the first of many through the years.
While most of us were playing with our toys and watching TV when we were in grade school, Steve Winwood was backing blues musicians such as B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters on their U.K. tours playing organ and guitar. He joined his first band, the Spencer Davis Group, when he was fourteen, and the band had a number one hit in the U.K. by the time Winwood was 17. He left shortly thereafter for the seminal sixties band Traffic, and then after several albums left them to help form Blind Faith (with among others, Eric Clapton). In the late seventies Winwood finally got around to pursuing a solo career (at the ripe old age of 29), and it was there he had his greatest commercial success. For his solo career, Winwood has released nine studio albums, with three top tens in the U.K. and three top fives in the U.S. (including one number one). He has also released 25 singles, with six top ten hits in the U.S., including two #1's (for whatever odd reason, Winwood did not have nearly the single chart success in the U.K.). Winwood has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic, but surprisingly has not been inducted as a solo artist. Though Winwood has not released a new album since 2008, he continues to tour regularly
"While You See a Chance" was the first single released from Winwood's second solo album, Arc of a Diver in 1981. The song reached #7 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and the LP hit #3 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: Winwood is a multi-instrumentalist, and played all of the instruments on Arc of a Diver, as well as the release that followed, Back in the High Life.
"While You See a Chance" is a carpe diem song, with Winwood exhorting us to take our best shot at both love and life. Winwood's organ (synthesizer?) playing drives the song throughout, giving Winwood's exhortation an invigorating backdrop. But in the end, it's Winwood's vocals (blue-eyed soul, an emaycee fave) that takes the song to another level. Winwood has said his singing style was patterned after Ray Charles, and while he's not quite as gifted vocally as Charles, it's easy to see the similarities, especially the guttural, from the heart soul that resonates from the tips of your toes to the ends of your fingers. Just another dazzling piece of pop music.
Lyric Sheet: "Stand up in a clear blue morning/Until you see what can be..."
Enjoy:
It Was an Insurrection--the Blood of Those Killed on January 6th Is on Republican Hands
I remember reading a Rolling Stone interview with Bob Dylan the year this week's tune came out, and at one point Dylan was asked if there were any songs he was currently hearing that he liked. Dylan begged off somewhat, saying that he didn't listen to too much music because he didn't want his own work to be influenced by what he was hearing--but he did mention "We Just Disagree" as a song that he particularly liked (he'd also play it on his 1980 tour). And I remember thinking, "All the great music that's coming out and that's the song he likes?" Somewhere many years down the road I heard it anew and had one of my "Holy Shit" moments, where I realize a song is much better than I had originally thought.
Dave Mason has somewhat quietly put together a hell of a career resume. Starting with his work with Traffic (with which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004), Mason has through the years done session work with Jimi Hendrix (played acoustic 12 string guitar on "All Along the Watchtower"), George Harrison (All Things Must Pass), the Rolling Stones (Beggars Banquet), had duets with Phoebe Snow and Michael Jackson, and also was briefly a member of Fleetwood Mac. That's in addition to the thirteen solo albums he's released, the last of which came out in 2014. He's still playing about a hundred shows a year, and is involved in charities that encourage kids playing music as well as foundations helping those with substance abuse problems and veterans. Another in a long line of FNJ vets who have made the most out of a modicum of success....
Released in 1977 on his Let It Flow album, "We Just Disagree" was the only solo hit of Mason's career (as was the album, which peaked at #37 on the Billboard 200), as it reached #12 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Jim Krueger who also did the backing vocals as well as playing 12 string guitar on the single, the song has, much like last week's tune by the Marshall Tucker Band, remained a staple of Classic Rock radio for forty years now.
"We Just Disagree" tells the tale of a couple meeting up some time after their breakup, with the male half registering some concern for her but also realizing they went their separate ways for a reason and that it's best to just let it all go. In some ways, it's an adult version of the brokenhearted break up song--the protagonist acknowledges there were no good or bad guys in their break up, but rather was just the two of them and they just didn't see eye to eye. The song opens with a delightful guitar that jangles its way into Mason's vocals, where he's quickly joined by Krueger to form some harmonies that are just this side of gospel tinged. There's some nice oh-oh-oh's that convey a little of the pain, and it closes almost abruptly--but like a good short story, you realize its told you just enough. It's certainly not your standard fare for a top 40 hit, but therein lies the beauty of pop music--there's always another surprise just around the corner.
Liner notes: "There ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy/There's only you and me and we just disagree..."
The average American gets paid just enough so he doesn't quit his job, and works just hard enough so he doesn't get fired.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Source unknown
Uncle emaycee Wants You For the Coming Class War! Enlist today....
Capitalism: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can exploit his labor, become filthy rich, and keep the poor bastard living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of his life.
