The short-lived Mason, Capaldi, Wood & Frog recorded at the BBC in February 1969.
With the sad news that Dave Mason, original co-founder of Traffic who went on to a legendary solo career, left us this past Sunday (April 19) – by all accounts; peaceful, serene, drifting off to sleep and not waking up. He leaves behind a legacy rich in iconic songs that helped define a generation and provided an indelible backdrop to the 1960s and 70s.
This particular session stands out because it was basically Traffic without Steve Winwood, who had left to help found Blind Faith with Eric Clapton, Ric Grech and Ginger Baker. Neither band lasted very long. At least Blind Faith managed to get one album in before packing up and heading off. Mason, Capaldi, Wood and Frog didn’t have that luxury. Instead, this one BBC session which has been preserved, digitized, bootlegged and passed around for decades. It’s the only example proving the band existed. Not complete, not perfect and far too short – it still makes for a historic chapter in the fascinating (and often frustrating) Magnum Opus on Music in the 60s.
Since Dave Mason drifted in and out of Traffic three times before going officially solo – when, after stints as producer (Family: Music In A Dolls House) as well as notable session work, he finally broke loose and came out with his first album, Alone Together, issued in the U.S. on the fledgling label Blue Thumb It featured Only You Know And I Know which quickly cemented his place as an artist in his own right which he continued all the way until 2024 when health issues slowed everything down, tours became sporadic and then announcing retirement from the road, but not from the studio.
It all came to an end this past Sunday.
So as a reminder, or an introduction to a somewhat overlooked period in the career of Dave Mason, here is that session from February 1969 from the BBC.
