Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood , called Steve Winwood , also Stevie Winwood (born May 12, 1948 in Handsworth , Birmingham , England ) is a British multi-instrumentalist and singer .
Beginnings
Steve Winwood came into contact with music at a young age, supported by his parents Lillian and Lawrence. His father was proficient in a variety of instruments including clarinet, saxophone, mandolin, violin, and bass, and was also in a band that performed at weddings and various dance events over the weekend. Steve learned classical guitar and piano at school, and very soon he and his older brother Muff Winwood (born June 14, 1943) played in their father's band. In addition, Steve became a pianist with his brother's Muff Woody Jazz Band , which added blues and rhythm & blues elements to the band's music.
The Spencer Davis Group 1963-1967
During a performance by the Muff Woody Jazz Band at the Golden Eagle in Birmingham in 1963, the Winwood brothers met the guitarist Spencer Davis , a linguistics student at the University of Birmingham. He was deeply impressed by the brothers and suggested a collaboration, which, with the addition of Pete York (drums), the Spencer Davis Group was born. The band name is deceptive, because the musical head of the band was Steve Winwood, who was just 15 years old as lead singer, lead guitarist, pianist or organist and later as a songwriter. Shortly after the band was founded, they got a record deal from Chris Blackwell with his record label Island Records , to which Steve Winwood was loyal for years.
While the band quickly became known as an attractive live act beyond Birmingham, the first singles, including covers of John Lee Hooker's Dimples and Ed Cobbs Every Little Bit Hurts , did not make it into the charts. The breakthrough came with the number Keep On Running written by Jackie Edwards , which climbed to the top of the British charts at the beginning of 1966. The follow-up single Somebody Help Me , also by Jackie Edwards, also reached the top position shortly afterwards. Steve Winwood now also appeared as a songwriter on the singles Gimme Some Lovin ' , later a hit for the Blues Brothers , and I'm a Man , both singles becoming top ten hits both in the UK and for the first time in the US.
Traffic and Blind Faith 1967-1975
It was therefore all the more surprising in April 1967 that the announcement was made that he would leave the Spencer Davis Group in order to found the band Traffic together with Chris Wood , Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason . The first single Paper Sun developed into a top ten number, and the debut album Mr. Fantasy was also very successful. The follow-up album Traffic prolonged the success, even if Dave Mason had left the band shortly before the album was released in favor of a solo career. After a hugely successful tour of the United States, the group finally fell apart in early 1969.
The next project began as a loose collaboration - in the form of private jam sessions - between Winwood and Eric Clapton , whose band Cream had also just split up. With the addition of Ginger Baker , however, a new so-called supergroup was quickly born, and Ric Grech from Family on bass completed the Blind Faith line-up . The expectations of the band as the quasi-successor to Cream were enormous. On June 7, 1969 they made their debut at a free open-air concert in London's Hyde Park in front of over 100,000 spectators, and shortly afterwards the top-class album Blind Faith was released , which contains only six tracks, but because of the successful synthesis of Blues, rock and pop represents a milestone in progressive British blues-rock. Without enough time to develop as a band and with only one album in their luggage, Blind Faith found themselves headlining a major US tour, but focused on differences and different ideas about the future musical direction of Blind Faith among the four individualistic band members emerged. This led to the dissolution of Blind Faith after the tour ended in September 1969.
After a brief stint at Ginger Baker's Air Force , the recording sessions for Winwood's first solo album Mad Shadows began . In the course of these sessions, Capaldi and later Wood joined them, and what had started as a solo project ended with the Traffic album John Barleycorn Must Die . During the course of the following tour, Jim Gordon , Reebop Kwaku Baah and again Dave Mason joined Traffic (albeit briefly). After a few other very successful albums, When The Eagle Flies and the subsequent tour in 1975 temporarily ended the chapter Traffic.
Solo career
Steve Winwood then moved back to Gloucestershire for the next two years and worked there in his home studio , interrupted only by brief appearances as a session musician, including the GO project of the Japanese Stomu Yamashta . In 1977 the debut album Steve Winwood was finally released , which musically already pointed in the future direction, but was only moderately successful commercially. The breakthrough as a solo artist was only to come with the follow-up album Arc of a Diver in 1980. Winwood worked on this album in his home studio for over two years, recording all of the instruments and vocals himself. It stayed on the US Billboard charts for almost a year and reached number 3 as the best listing, and it also contained the first solo top ten hit with While You See a Chance . In 1982 the album Talking Back to the Night followed , again recorded and produced single-handedly, with all songs springing from the joint pen with Will Jennings , who was already involved in most of the songs of Arc of a Diver . The album established Winwood as a solo artist, but was unable to build on the huge success of its predecessor, neither commercially nor artistically.
For his next album, Steve Winwood changed the previous way of working, where he had done practically everything on his own. With Russ Titelman , an experienced producer was hired, and an illustrious group of musicians, including Chaka Khan , James Taylor , Joe Walsh of the Eagles and Randy Brecker , accompanied Winwood on Back in the Highlife , released in July 1986. The album climbed to number 7 of the US charts, the first single Higher Love was even more successful and reached number 1. Winwood received two Grammys for this song in the same year: Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male . In the wake of this success, the compilation Chronicles was published in 1987 , which contained a total of ten songs from the three previous albums . Valerie from the album Talking Back to the Night , represented here in a remix version, reached number nine in the US charts in 1987. The album Chronicles also marked Winwood's departure from the Island Records label, on which he had released since the beginning of his recording career.
In 1988 the album Roll With It was released by Virgin Records , which was much more oriented towards the soul of the 1960s, also recognizable by the participation of the Memphis Horns . Both the album and the single of the same name reached number 1 in the US charts, the follow-up single Don't You Know What the Night Can Do also made it into the top ten. The album also marked the end of an extremely successful phase, and with the following albums Steve Winwood was never able to continue these successes.
Recorded with a number of Nashville musicians followed in 1990 Refugees of the Heart , which was only able to place itself in the middle of the charts. For the single One and Only Man , Winwood worked with Jim Capaldi for the first time in a long time. This collaboration finally resulted in a brief reunion of Traffic (albeit without Chris Wood, who had died in 1983) and the album Far From Home in 1994. In 1997, the solo album Junction Seven was released in close cooperation with Narada Michael Walden , but that turned out to be quite disappointing for a long time and could not follow on from earlier successes. In general, it had become relatively quiet around him in the course of the 1990s, even if a number of guest appearances on albums by well-known artists testify to Winwood's high reputation and position in the music industry. Steve Winwood participated with a number of other music greats, including the sequel to the Blues Brothers Blues Brothers 2000 .
It was not until 2003 that Steve Winwood released a new solo album, About Time, on his own record label, Wincraft Music. Together with drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr. and guitarist José Pires de Almeida Neto , a Latin American -influenced jazz rock record was created , which is mainly supported by the sound of the Hammond organ (for example, there is no bass on the record). Although Winwood moved further away from his great hit parade times of the 1980s, on the other hand the record was received with great approval by fans from his time with Traffic. Better known, however, is his guest vocals appearance on the single Call On Me by Swedish DJ Eric Prydz , which dominated the charts for weeks in 2004 and is a remix version of Winwood's Valerie from the album Talking Back to the Night .
At the end of February 2008, Winwood and Eric Clapton toured again after exactly 40 years for three concerts in Madison Square Garden in New York City. The live recording was released on DVD in 2009. In 2009 Winwood came to Germany for four live concerts. In the same year, Winwood went on a European tour with Eric Clapton, playing hits from both artists' solo albums as well as from their short blind faith career together.
In 2008, Rolling Stone listed Winwood 33 of the 100 best singers of all time .
Studio musician
As a studio musician , Steve Winwood played among others with:
- Jimi Hendrix Experience : Electric Ladyland , Track: Voodoo Chile
- Jim Capaldi : Oh How We Danced, Some Come Running (1988)
- Eric Clapton : Back Home
- Phil Collins : ... But Seriously
- Marianne Faithfull : Broken English
- David Gilmour : About Face
- Billy Joel : The Bridge
- John Martyn : Solid Air, One World
- Mike Oldfield : Guilty
- Vivian Stanshall : Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
- Tina Turner : Break Every Rule
- Talk Talk : The Color of Spring
- Jade Warrior : Waves
- Howlin 'Wolf : London Sessions
- Zucchero : Blue Sugar
- Paul Weller : Stanley Road
- Christina Aguilera : Makes Me Wanna Pray
His other session activities can be found under the links provided.
Discography
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1977 | Steve Winwood | - | - | - |
UK12 (9 weeks) UK |
US22 (17 weeks) US |
First published: June 1977
|
1980 | Arc of a Diver |
DE26 (33 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK13 ![]() (20 weeks)UK |
US3 ![]() (43 weeks)US |
First published: December 30, 1980
|
1982 | Talking back to the night |
DE9 (19 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK6 (13 weeks) UK |
US28 (25 weeks) US |
First published: August 2, 1982
|
1986 | Back in the high life |
DE18 (16 weeks) DE |
- |
CH12 (11 weeks) CH |
UK8th ![]() (42 weeks)UK |
US3 ![]() × 3
(86 weeks)US |
First published: June 30, 1986
|
1988 | Roll with It |
DE7 (19 weeks) DE |
- |
CH4 (13 weeks) CH |
UK4th ![]() (16 weeks)UK |
US1 ![]() × 2
(45 weeks)US |
First published: June 21, 1988
|
1990 | Refugees of the Heart |
DE25 (17 weeks) DE |
- |
CH27 (7 weeks) CH |
UK26 (3 weeks) UK |
US27 ![]() (20 weeks)US |
First published: November 6, 1990
|
1997 | Junction Seven |
DE15 (11 weeks) DE |
- |
CH38 (3 weeks) CH |
UK32 (3 weeks) UK |
US123 (4 weeks) US |
First published: June 3, 1997
|
2003 | About time |
DE37 (5 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK97 (1 week) UK |
US126 (2 weeks) US |
First published: June 17, 2003
|
2008 | Nine lives |
DE22 (7 weeks) DE |
- |
CH74 (1 week) CH |
UK31 (1 week) UK |
US12 (8 weeks) US |
First published: April 29, 2008
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Compilations & live albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1971 | Winwood | - | - | - | - |
US93 (8 weeks) US |
First published: May 1971
compilation |
1987 | Chronicles | - | - | - |
UK12 ![]() (17 weeks)UK |
US26th ![]() (26 weeks)US |
First published: October 9, 1987
compilation |
2009 | Live from Madison Square Garden |
DE8th ![]() (33 weeks)DE |
AT25 (10 weeks) AT |
CH33 (7 weeks) CH |
UK40 (2 weeks) UK |
US14 (11 weeks) US |
First published: May 19, 2009
Live album with Eric Clapton |
2010 | Revolutions - The Very Best Of |
DE33 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK11 ![]() (7 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: June 8th 2010
compilation |
2017 | Winwood: Greatest Hits Live |
DE30 (3 weeks) DE |
AT42 (2 weeks) AT |
CH64 (1 week) CH |
UK34 (1 week) UK |
US62 (1 week) US |
First published: September 1, 2017
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
more publishments
- 1991: Keep On Running
- 1995: The Finer Things
- 2002: Best of
- 2003: Well All Right
Video albums
- 2009: Live from Madison Square Garden (DE:
gold, US:
platinum)
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1981 | While You See a Chance Arc of a Diver |
- | - | - |
UK45 (5 weeks) UK |
US7 (18 weeks) US |
First published: January 1981
|
Arc of a Diver Arc of a Diver |
- | - | - | - |
US48 (9 weeks) US |
First published: April 1981
|
|
1982 | Still in the Game Talking Back to the Night |
- | - | - | - |
US47 (10 weeks) US |
First published: July 1982
|
Valerie Talking Back to the Night |
- | - | - |
UK19 (12 weeks) UK |
US9 (24 weeks) US |
First published: September 1982
|
|
1986 |
Higher Love Back in the High Life |
DE49 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK13 ![]() (10 weeks)UK |
US1 (22 weeks) US |
First release: June 1986
feat. Chaka Khan |
Freedom Overspill Back in the High Life |
- | - | - |
UK69 (3 weeks) UK |
US20 (15 weeks) US |
First published: September 1986
|
|
Back in the High Life Again Back in the High Life |
- | - | - |
UK53 (4 weeks) UK |
US13 (21 weeks) US |
First published: December 1986
|
|
1987 | The Finer Things Back in the High Life |
- | - | - | - |
US8 (23 weeks) US |
First published: February 1987
|
1988 | Talking Back to the Night Chronicles |
- | - | - | - |
US57 (10 weeks) US |
First published: February 1988
|
Roll with It Roll With It |
DE53 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK53 (5 weeks) UK |
US1 (18 weeks) US |
First published: June 1988
|
|
Don't You Know What the Night Can Do? Roll With It |
- | - | - |
UK89 (2 weeks) UK |
US6 (18 weeks) US |
First published: August 1988
|
|
Holding On Roll With It |
- | - | - | - |
US11 (17 weeks) US |
First published: November 1988
|
|
1989 | Hearts on Fire Roll With It |
- | - | - | - |
US53 (9 weeks) US |
First published: February 1989
|
1990 | One and Only Man Refugees of the Heart |
DE70 (8 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK87 (1 week) UK |
US18 (15 weeks) US |
First published: October 1990
|
1997 | Spy in the House of Love Junction Seven |
DE86 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK82 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: May 1997
|
Gotta Get Back to My Baby Junction Seven |
DE89 (7 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First published: August 1997
|
Awards for music sales
|
|
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
Country / Region |
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Sales | swell |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
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- | - |
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140,000 | aria.com.au |
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- |
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- | 20,000 | ultratop.be |
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- |
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- | 275,000 | musikindustrie.de |
![]() |
- |
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- | 200,000 | snepmusique.com |
![]() |
- |
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440,000 | musiccanada.com |
![]() |
- |
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- | 37,500 | nztop40.co.nz |
![]() |
- |
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- | 10,000 | sverigetopplistan.se |
![]() |
- |
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- | 20,000 | hitparade.ch |
![]() |
- |
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8,100,000 | riaa.com |
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1,860,000 | bpi.co.uk |
All in all |
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See also
Web links
- Literature by and about Steve Winwood in the catalog of the German National Library
- Steve Winwood in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Information on sonybmg.de
- English official website
- German-speaking fansite
- American fansite
- Online scene magazine
- Sparks from the Fantasy Factory - Steve Winwood for his sixtieth. In: faz.net of May 12, 2008
Individual evidence
- ↑ 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 9, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Winwood, Steve |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Winwood, Stephen Lawrence; Winwood, Stevie |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English multi-instrumentalist and singer |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1948 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Handsworth , Birmingham , England |