THE BLUE EYED SOUL BOY

STEVE WINWOOD talks about the Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, Traffic, Hendrix, Clapton, Viv Stanshall and an amazing 45-year career in music. Interview by Jonathan Wingate

Long before he became a multi-million selling solo star, Steve Winwood secured his place in musical history fronting the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith, yet he never stuck to the road most travelled. “Rock and roll was never quite where I came from, and I didn’t really have a name for where I was going either,” he tells.

He may be what we now call a living legend, one of the most innovative and influential rock stars to have emerged from the 60s, but you get the distinct impression that although people are constantly reminding him of his golden years, Steve Winwood has his sights set firmly on the future.

His new album, Nine Lives is only his second of the last decade, so all but his most loyal fans could be forgiven for wondering whether Winwood had stopped recording altogether. But while the breaks between albums have grown ever longer as the years have gone by, meeting him in the flesh, you are left in no doubt that age has not dampened his enthusiasm for music, or left its patina. He is 60, and apart from the odd wisp of grey hair, Steve Winwood looks pretty much the same as he has always done. The fact is that after years of record company interference, his main goal is to please himself these days.

He and his brother, Muff, spent much of their childhood …

by Jonathan Wingate
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