‘Working stiff’ Dave Mason stays on the road after a lifetime in rock
Dave Mason's career stretches back to the 1960s, when he was a member of the band Traffic.
Dave Mason will be at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg Friday.
Dave Mason is considered one of rock's premier guitarists.
Photo by Chris Jensen
Dave Mason鈥檚 biggest hit came in 1977, with 鈥淲e Just Disagree.鈥�
In a 2020 interview with Rock Cellar Magazine, Dave Mason said, 鈥淚鈥檓 not a rock star鈥 never wanted to be. I just wanted to write some great music, make some money and have some fun.鈥�
In a more recent conversation, Mason expands on the point, saying that he and most of his fellow musicians are 鈥渨orking stiffs.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a small little pocket of superstar entertainers, and the rest of us are all just working stiffs,鈥� Mason explained over the phone last month from his home in Nevada. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working musicians.鈥�
Now 77, few would dispute Mason鈥檚 work ethic over a career that extends back to the 1960s and has included rubbing shoulders with some of rock鈥檚 most celebrated figures. The native of Worcester, England, first broke through as a member of Traffic, penning the song 鈥淔eelin鈥� Alright,鈥� which went on to become a hit for Joe Cocker and has been covered by numerous other artists. The guitarist stayed with the band through three albums, and released his first solo album, 鈥淎lone Together,鈥� in 1970. Mason was also briefly a member of Eric Clapton鈥檚 Derek and the Dominos and, in the mid-1990s, was in a lineup of Fleetwood Mac.
Mason鈥檚 high-water mark as a solo artist came in 1977, when he just missed the Billboard Top 10 with the country-flavored 鈥淲e Just Disagree.鈥� The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has continued to release new music sporadically in the years since, and has a blues album in the works that he has been recording at his house, which he says is in 鈥渁 big valley with a lot of cattle and horses.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 been on and off over the last couple of years,鈥� Mason said of the album, which will be called 鈥淎 Shade of Blues.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 been something I wanted to try to put together.鈥�
The album is set to include remakes of the Traffic hits 鈥淟ow Spark of High-Heeled Boys鈥� and 鈥淒ear Mr. Fantasy,鈥� both of which will have guitarist Joe Bonamassa making a guest appearance.
Another Mason project looming over the horizon is the publication of his autobiography, 鈥淥nly You Know and I Know.鈥� It had been due to reach stores this month, but Mason鈥檚 publisher decided, in his words, 鈥渨e鈥檙e not in the book business anymore.鈥� When it is released, Mason鈥檚 volume will be joining a flood of memoirs by classic rockers, and he admitted that if it had been up to him he probably would not have gone ahead with it, but 鈥淚 got badgered into it by fans and my wife.鈥�
It will undoubtedly contain some interesting stories. A friend of Jimi Hendrix, Mason was among the backing vocalists on Hendrix鈥檚 鈥淐rosstown Traffic,鈥� and played acoustic guitar on the Hendrix version of 鈥淎ll Along the Watchtower.鈥� Mason also played on the Rolling Stones鈥� 鈥淪treet Fighting Man,鈥� was part of the legion of guests on George Harrison鈥檚 post-Beatles debut 鈥淎ll Things Must Pass,鈥� and played guitar on Paul McCartney鈥檚 1975 No. 1 hit 鈥淟isten to What the Man Said.鈥�
Mason explained that he can remember moments like those, but 鈥渢he stuff in between鈥� can be hard to recall. For his book, he hired a co-writer to do 鈥渁 lot of the digging up and research, the times and places.鈥�
Before the book and album reach the public, though, Mason will be doing what has consumed much of his professional life in recent years, which is playing live. He will be at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg Friday at 8 p.m., on what he is calling the 鈥淓ndangered Species Tour.鈥�
Thanks to music royalties drying up as a result of streaming, Mason said that 鈥渓ive is all that鈥檚 left.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e just getting ripped off,鈥� he added. 鈥淪potify and the others don鈥檛 pay the proper royalties. And that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happened. Nobody鈥檚 buying records. And the only thing we have left is going out live. Songwriters are screwed. And the public doesn鈥檛 really care. 鈥� It鈥檚 decimated the business of making music. This is our job. This is what we do.鈥�
Any advice he鈥檇 like to offer to young musicians just getting started?
鈥淗ave a Plan B,鈥� he laughed.
Nevertheless, Mason said he has no plans to hang up his guitar, despite being a stone鈥檚 throw from 80.
鈥淚鈥檒l probably just keep going until I can鈥檛. I don鈥檛 golf and I really don鈥檛 have too many hobbies. I love playing. It鈥檚 getting a little hard traveling because of my age, but I love playing.鈥�
Additional information on the Palace Theatre concert can be found at the palacetheatre.org.