Library Rock's Backpages

Steve Winwood: Scala, London

John L. Walters, The Guardian, 23 May 2008

A QUIET LEGEND before he was even out of his teens, Steve Winwood is one of a handful of musicians who shaped the way rock sounds. His hits with the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith repurposed blues and soul with pop tunes and structures; his influence can be heard in anything from Prince to Paul Weller. Yet unlike peers such as David Bowie, Eric Clapton, or Lou Reed, he has never been public property. Now 60, he just gets on with making music. His latest release, Nine Lives, is an album with the feel-good looseness of his 1960s heyday and the melodic appeal of his 1980s solo hits.

Total word count of piece: 298

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.