Happy Birthday to Steve Winwood who celebrates his 73rd birthday today (May 12th)!!! Winwood recently teamed up with Santana for a cover of Procol Harum's “Whiter Shade Of Pale,” which will be featured on the band's upcoming album, Blessings And Miracle. Winwood will be on tour with Steely Dan throughout the summer of 2022.
Steve 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, and was often referred to as the “white” Ray Charles.
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.