How about this list of a musical “supergroup”: Leon Russell, Dave Mason, Gary Wright.
Mason, a famous singer-songwriter who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the band Traffic, is on tour that will take him to a performance at Cain’s Ballroom on Thursday, July 18. On Sept. 19, Mason will release his memoir, “Only You and I Know” — the first memoir written by a member of Traffic. Want to read the book before it’s released? Mason said you can buy a copy at the show at Cain’s Ballroom.
“I usually come by after all the shows and sign things,” he said.
Mason recounts in the book that a record label executive entertained the idea of a “supergroup” with Mason, Russell (a Tulsa-raised Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member) and one other artist. The other artist recruited was Wright, a former Spooky Tooth singer best known for his 1976 hits “Dream Weaver” and “Love is Alive.”
People also read…
The label head owned the song “Time Is on My Side” and another song (“Just Another Flash in Japan”) that he thought the group should record.
Mason wrote in the book: “The three of us didn’t really have any new material, so it was decided that Ed, Gary and I would move near Leon’s house in Hendersonville, Tennessee, where he had a recording studio, and start developing material for an album. … We cut the track for ‘Time Is On My Side,’ which I thought was a perfect song for Leon. His distinctive voice and piano playing gave it a very different interpretation than the Stones’ version.”
What happened to the project? Mason said in a recent phone interview that Russell “kind of dropped out” so the “supergroup” never came to fruition.
“We tried to come up with original material, but for some reason we came back empty-handed,” Mason wrote in the book. “Nobody was really keen on singing ‘Flash in Japan.’ It was a great idea to get the three of us together, but it never really worked out between us. I think that was partly because it was a constructed concept rather than something that was more organic from the start. For some reason, Mason, Russell and Wright disappeared into the annals of rock ‘n’ roll history.”
Mason said he has known Russell since Russell was one of the top session musicians who played on Mason’s first solo album, 1970’s Alone Together. To promote the album, Blue Thumb Records arranged for Mason to open for Delaney & Bonnie and Friends (and accompany the group on a few songs) at the Santa Civic Auditorium. Mason wrote that this was one of his first moments as a solo artist and that he was scared to death, but Russell, who accompanied him on piano, consoled him.
Now Mason is coming to Russell’s hometown with a show called Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam, because the gig will feature Traffic songs. You can count on the Mason-penned song “Feelin’ Alright” being included in the set. “Feelin’ Alright” wasn’t a hit for Traffic, but it has been covered by dozens of artists, including Joe Cocker, whose version was a hit. There’s a chapter in Mason’s book called “Feelin’ Alright.”
A book advertisement states: “In ‘Only You Know and I Know,’ Mason tells compelling stories from his remarkable rock ‘n’ roll journey, recounting the many extraordinary situations he found himself in during his illustrious career. From recording sessions with legendary artists such as the Rolling Stones for ‘Street Fighting Man’ and Paul McCartney for ‘Listen to What the Man Said’ to his time with Fleetwood Mac and beyond, Mason’s memoir is a treasure trove of stories and behind-the-scenes insight.”
Maybe the book will even feature an adventure with “The Outsiders” star Patrick Swayze.
Mason answered questions about the book and the Cain’s Ballroom show in a phone interview arranged before the tour stop in Tulsa.
Was that simply the right time in your life to write a book? Had you been resisting it for a long time?
“The fans have been asking me for a long time: Why don’t you write a book? And I thought to myself: uh, what is so important to me about a book? Then Chris Epting, my co-author of the book, came to a show and somehow got talking to my wife, and between the fans, my wife and Chris, I gave in.”
Was it difficult or easy to convince you?
“Basically, I’m a rather private person. Writing a book wasn’t at the top of my list.”
How did you feel when you did it?
“It was cool. I tried to write something that was more of a personal journey than something that was purely musically oriented. So it’s basically about my ups and downs, basically just my personal journey.”
Fans should be happy that you wrote the book because you’ve had all these great experiences and have great stories to tell about your life and the people you’ve met. If all that gets stuck in your head and no one knows about it, we all lose. Because you shared those stories, readers win.
“Looking back, I’ve been on a number of major records with some pretty great artists, so I guess that alone was the reason to record something.”
Have you had the same problem as many other book authors: you end up with twice as much material as you need and then someone asks you to halve it?
“Well, no. Basically, Chris was a great help to me, especially in terms of places, times and events. He would remind me of things and I would always think, ‘Oh yeah, I had forgotten that.'”
It’s great to have someone who can give you a good start on a project like this.
“I owe him a lot that this book was actually completed, because without him it would never have been finished.”
Now that you’ve done it, I assume you’re glad you did it.
Yeah. I mean, I’m happy with it. It lays it all out. I hope people like it. I hope people can maybe learn some things from it. For that reason alone, I think it was worth it.”
What would you like to say about the show you are bringing to Tulsa?
“I have a great band. We’re all real. There are no recordings. They’ve been in the band for different lengths of time. Johnne Sambataro has been with me for almost 40 years. Marty Fera is on drums. Ray Cardwell is on bass. Great singer. Johnne is a really great singer. And then Mark Stein, who was originally in Vanilla Fudge, has been in the band since last year and just sings his ass off. They’re on different songs and we do a mix of Traffic stuff. Some of it is my own arrangements. It’s not quite like the originals. And (we do) some of my solo stuff. We kind of mix it up.
Did we leave out something you wanted to say?
“I’m excited to come to Tulsa and play. Again, the band is just a good, great band, and hopefully everyone will come and check it out. And there’s a new album that’s probably only available on my website right now, davemasonmusic.com, but we have them at the shows too. It’s a blues album called ‘A Shade of Blues.’ A couple of things on there are me and Joe Bonamassa – a version of ‘Low Spark,’ a rearrangement of that song, and ‘Dear Mr. Fantasy.'”
The Tulsa World is where your story lives (tncms-asset)33f34dc2-3318-11ef-af02-0b938c394275(0)(/tncms-asset)
