Song:Higher Love
Album:Revolutions: The Very Best Of Steve Winwood
As a solo artist, Steve Winwood had his biggest success with the 1986 number one hit Higher Love. But most music fans know that he had been around since the 60s with groups like Spencer Davis Group and Traffic. He was born May 12, 1948 in Birmingham, England. He was in a jazz band with his older brother Muff. By 1963, the two decided to become full time musicians and Winwood was lead singer for Spencer Davis Group and had hits like Gimme Some Lovin' But by 1967, Winwood got tired of the pop single format of the group. He left and formed Traffic with Dave Mason, Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi. Their psychedelic jazz sound was very successful. Of course there were personality conflicts and they split up in 1969. Winwood started jamming with Eric Clapton after Cream split up and this led to the formation of the short lived group Blind Faith. When they split up, Winwood briefly joined Ginger Baker's Air Force and then planned to record his first solo album in 1970. Instead he reformed Traffic for John Barleycorn Must Die and they had a lot of success until their 1974 split. Winwood finally recorded his first solo album Steve Winwood in 1977. But it didn't do well in the midst of the punk movement. So he disappeared for a couple of years and returned with the 1980 album Arc Of A Diver. The album went Platinum based on the top ten hit When You See A Chance. When his 1982 album Talking Back to the Night didn't do as well, Winwood considered retirement to become a producer. He wasn't happy with the album either. He returned with the 1986 album Back In The High Life and Higher Love was his first number one hit. Winwood wrote Higher Love and most of the other songs on the album with veteran songwriter Will Jennings. Martin Gore of Depeche Mode got credit as well. Then he left Island Records for Virgin and had another number one hit with Roll With It in 1988. But his 1990 album Refugees of the Heart did not do well. Winwood and Capaldi reunited Traffic for a 1994 tour. This single CD comp is a great introduction to Winwood's music as it covers his whole career. Winwood's latest CD Nine Lives was released by Columbia in 2008. It did pretty well especially the single Dirty Water with Eric Clapton. I'm sure we'll see new music from him in the near future. Steve Winwood has spanned generations with his music. Here's the video for Higher Love by Steve Winwood featuring Chaka Khan.
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