0:00:02 > 0:00:04# Keep on running
0:00:05 > 0:00:08# Running from my arms... #
0:00:08 > 0:00:10One of the true masters of British rock'n'roll,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14Steve Winwood scored his first number one as a teenage prodigy
0:00:14 > 0:00:17with the Spencer Davis Group.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21To see him singing the way he sang, seemed to me to be impossible.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22I was stunned.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26# Make me feel so bad... #
0:00:26 > 0:00:29It's wonderful. This guy sounds black!
0:00:29 > 0:00:30Everything I wanted!
0:00:31 > 0:00:33And wasn't achieving!
0:00:33 > 0:00:34# Keep on running... #
0:00:34 > 0:00:38By the time he was 20, Winwood turned his back on pop fame
0:00:38 > 0:00:39and formed Traffic,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43who famously got it together in the country.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46# Dear Mr Fantasy
0:00:46 > 0:00:49# Play us a tune... #
0:00:49 > 0:00:52I think living together - there's no substitute for that.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55You'll grow together as a musical group.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57When Steve stepped into Traffic,
0:00:57 > 0:00:58they took it to a new level.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Mind-expanding kind of lyrics.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02It was a great experience.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07# They've hired men with their sharp pitchforks... #
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Traffic defined the '70s rock album.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I love that thing with Traffic mixing all these different types of music.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18There was jazz, there was folk, there was rock and there was soul, R'n'B.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Very English sounding, I think.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22# Think about it... #
0:01:22 > 0:01:26In the '80s, Winwood became a chart-topping superstar
0:01:26 > 0:01:28more successful than ever.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30# ..in the stars above... #
0:01:30 > 0:01:34He jumped into the '80s and made his mark as a new pop star,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36recreating himself.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Now in his 60s, Winwood's come full circle,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46doing what he does best - playing and singing his heart out.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48# Every nation
0:01:48 > 0:01:51# But at times we do
0:01:52 > 0:01:55# Forget about them. #
0:02:00 > 0:02:02CHURCH ORGAN PLAYS
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I love the sound of the organ and the harmonies,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20the timbres of the pipes.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23CHURCH ORGAN PLAYS
0:02:23 > 0:02:28When I used to sneak a few plays at St John's Perry Bar
0:02:28 > 0:02:29when I was a choirboy,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32I think somehow that sort of got engrained.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37CHURCH ORGAN PLAYS
0:02:38 > 0:02:42I like to try and include elements like plainsong
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and older church melodies to make
0:02:46 > 0:02:48English soul music,
0:02:48 > 0:02:53whether it's Brit rock or ancient choral music.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54HE PLAYS FINAL NOTE AND STOPS
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I was born in Birmingham
0:03:03 > 0:03:04in Handsworth.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07My mother and father then moved right out
0:03:07 > 0:03:11to a suburb of Birmingham called Kingstanding,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13which was really Warwickshire at the time.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18It was right on the edge of the expansion of
0:03:18 > 0:03:20the '30s housing developments.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23At the back of where I lived were
0:03:23 > 0:03:25fields, farms,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28duck ponds and woods.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32We were just told to go outside and play.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37We would explore wonderful old farms
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and fields and quarries,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41all sorts of things.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Yeah. We used to have a good time.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49My father was a semi-professional musician.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52He'd left school at about 14.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55He was mainly a saxophone and clarinet player.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00And then he worked in the big heavy industry
0:04:00 > 0:04:03foundries and then
0:04:03 > 0:04:06worked as a musician as well.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08There were always instruments in the house
0:04:08 > 0:04:13so it was a very natural thing that I would be
0:04:13 > 0:04:16expected that I should be able to carry a bit of a tune.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19I was really motivated
0:04:19 > 0:04:20by my tiny brother,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23who I could immediately see
0:04:23 > 0:04:26had some fantastic musical intuition.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30So I thought, "I've got to get going here because
0:04:30 > 0:04:32"I've got to keep up with him."
0:04:32 > 0:04:35So I got involved in playing the guitar.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Of course, the minute he got a guitar I decided I wanted a guitar as well,
0:04:38 > 0:04:39like most little brothers.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42"If he's got one, I want one as well."
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Steve had never touched my guitar before
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and all of a sudden he said, "Hang on a minute.
0:04:47 > 0:04:48"Why don't you try it like this?"
0:04:48 > 0:04:51He picked up my guitar and he just did it.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53In no time at all,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57he'd overtaken me by miles.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYS
0:04:59 > 0:05:03The Winwood brothers often joined their father Lawrence's dance band
0:05:03 > 0:05:05and were given a showcase.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09As the '50s came in and young people would come,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12my dad used to get us along to play the rock.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16ROCK'N'ROLL MUSIC PLAYS
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Steve would play all the Duane Eddy kind of things
0:05:21 > 0:05:27and I'd back him up and, of course, they'd go down an absolute storm.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30This tiny little chap would stand up in this dance hall
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and play this great new rock'n'roll.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38When my brother was about 16 or 17,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41he had a band with friends at school
0:05:41 > 0:05:45that played this kind of Dixieland New Orleans jazz.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49I begged them to let me play with them.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Of course, 17-year-olds didn't really want an 11-year-old
0:05:52 > 0:05:56hanging around with them
0:05:56 > 0:05:59But they let me play and then, I think, probably when I played,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02they thought, "Well, he's not bad."
0:06:04 > 0:06:06# Georgia... #
0:06:06 > 0:06:09CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:06:09 > 0:06:10# Oh, Georgia... #
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Just about when Steve's voice was breaking,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16somebody somewhere played a Ray Charles record.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And that was the key for Steve.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Just at the moment when his voice changed.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28# Keeps Georgia on my mind... #
0:06:28 > 0:06:32He became my model. The minute I heard that,
0:06:32 > 0:06:34I wanted to try and sing as much like Ray Charles as I could.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38# I said Georgia, no, no
0:06:41 > 0:06:42# Georgia, yeah
0:06:51 > 0:06:52# A song for you
0:06:57 > 0:07:00# Comes as sweet and clear
0:07:00 > 0:07:04# As the moonlight through the pines... #
0:07:04 > 0:07:07The thing that always sticks about Steve is seeing him do
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Georgia On My Mind.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11To see him singing the way he sang,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13seemed to me to be impossible,
0:07:13 > 0:07:18with the amount of experience he would have had as a human being.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21And so... I was stunned.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24# Georgia on my mind... #
0:07:24 > 0:07:28This young white boy playing that with all the power that
0:07:28 > 0:07:30Ray Charles would bring to it
0:07:30 > 0:07:31was...
0:07:32 > 0:07:34..was awe-inspiring.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37# Keeps Geo-rgia
0:07:37 > 0:07:39# On my mind. #
0:07:39 > 0:07:41So now I had a little brother who
0:07:41 > 0:07:43could play the guitar better than any of us,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46he could play the piano better than any of us,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and now we had to bring him out the front cos he could sing
0:07:49 > 0:07:51better than any of us!
0:07:51 > 0:07:54So he became quiet useful, really!
0:07:54 > 0:07:56HE LAUGHS
0:07:58 > 0:08:01The vibrant Birmingham music scene
0:08:01 > 0:08:04was made up of young bands hooked on American rhythm and blues
0:08:04 > 0:08:06and soul music,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09all wanting to escape what life otherwise had in store for them.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Birmingham was a very different place back then.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15It was a very industrial city.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17And with pretty tough people.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21You were factory fodder.
0:08:21 > 0:08:22An amazing load of bands came out of that.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26It was a way out of going into a factory.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33I was making £15 a week - twice as much as my dad made in the factory.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42# I'm sitting here thinking
0:08:43 > 0:08:46# About nothing, baby on my mind... #
0:08:46 > 0:08:49We were probably playing somewhere near the Birmingham University,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53and Spencer Davis was in the audience.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56He was ten years older than Steve,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and five years older than me,
0:08:58 > 0:09:00so he was a real bloke.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02He'd been there and done it all.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04He sat in and played with us.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07# Just one, pick one good reason
0:09:07 > 0:09:11# You treat your daddy so unkind... #
0:09:11 > 0:09:15When we played together, we identified something in each other
0:09:15 > 0:09:17that would make
0:09:17 > 0:09:22the music that we were playing just that much more rich,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26a more urban, Chicago type of blues.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28# Oh, baby, baby
0:09:30 > 0:09:32# Don't you do that thing to me... #
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Spencer was the main singer, really.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38And Steve was the lead guitarist.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Spencer knew a very good drummer, Pete York.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45So I switched to bass and then, as we realised
0:09:45 > 0:09:48how good Steve was with his singing,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50he more and more took over as being the singer.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54I went to see him at a place called The Whiskey, in Birmingham.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55It was a blues club,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58which they did quite regularly then.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00I think he was 15 and I was blown away.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02# I love the way she walks
0:10:02 > 0:10:04# The way she walks
0:10:04 > 0:10:06# I love the way she talks... #
0:10:06 > 0:10:09We'd all heard about him.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11There was this black kid. He sounded black.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13He played like black.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15And he was a white kid from Birmingham.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16Where did that come from?
0:10:16 > 0:10:18There was something magical about him.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23The first time I got to see him live,
0:10:23 > 0:10:24having heard about him,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27was at The Twisted Wheel in Manchester.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29I made a bookmark in my head that one day
0:10:29 > 0:10:32I would love to play with him.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34# She never makes me cry
0:10:34 > 0:10:37# Yeah, yeah, yeah
0:10:37 > 0:10:38# She's my... #
0:10:38 > 0:10:41But Steve was still at school.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46Things weren't really going too well then with my school work.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48HE BLOWS WHISTLE
0:10:48 > 0:10:51People at school - teachers, headmaster -
0:10:51 > 0:10:52would read reviews
0:10:52 > 0:10:55and see where I was playing.
0:10:55 > 0:11:01And then teachers suggested to me that it would probably be
0:11:01 > 0:11:02just as well if I didn't come to school.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05From then on, I was a professional musician.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11In 1964, Chris Blackwell, future founder of Island Records,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Steve's label for the next 25 years,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17became the group's manager and got them a record deal.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I hadn't heard the Spencer Davis Group before.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22What a great band!
0:11:22 > 0:11:23And that kid!
0:11:23 > 0:11:25He is amazing!
0:11:25 > 0:11:27# You got dimples in your jaw
0:11:28 > 0:11:29# You got dimples in your jaw
0:11:31 > 0:11:32# You got dimples in your jaw
0:11:32 > 0:11:35# You're my babe I got my eyes on you... #
0:11:35 > 0:11:40I was staggered by his performance and his voice
0:11:40 > 0:11:41and his playing and everything.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Particularly his voice because at that young age,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49I just thought, "Oh dear, when he does get to London,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52"It's all over for a whole bunch of us!"
0:11:53 > 0:11:54# Oh, I'd love to see you switch
0:11:54 > 0:11:56# You're my baby... #
0:11:56 > 0:12:01This was mainly blues but I very quickly realised that
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I had to bring something else
0:12:04 > 0:12:07into the music Spencer Davis group were playing.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10We attempted to do that with Keep On Running.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13# Do, do, do, do-do, do-do... #
0:12:21 > 0:12:24They made great sounds. They had a great bass player, Muff Winwood.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31# Keep on running
0:12:33 > 0:12:35# Keep on hiding
0:12:36 > 0:12:39# One fine day I'm gonna be the one
0:12:39 > 0:12:41# To make you understand
0:12:41 > 0:12:43# Oh, yeah
0:12:43 > 0:12:44# I'm gonna be your man
0:12:44 > 0:12:45# Hey... #
0:12:45 > 0:12:47When we had our number one with Keep On Running,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Steve was a real pop star.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52The older blues fans were muscled out
0:12:52 > 0:12:55by a new wave of teenage girls screaming.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00Steve had this particular furry jacket on that he like to wear.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02To our horror, the girls in the audience
0:13:02 > 0:13:04all leaped on stage and started ripping chunks of the fur
0:13:04 > 0:13:06out of his coat.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10I don't think he was too impressed by being a teenybop idol.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11Hey! Come on!
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Keep On Running, a song written by Jamaican singer Jackie Edwards,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20knocked The Beatles' Day Tripper off the number one spot
0:13:20 > 0:13:22in January 1966.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Steve was just 17 years old.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32When we had our hit with Keep On Running,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35there was money to be spent on other things.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39So Steve bought his first Hammond organ.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Now, all of a sudden, he COULD be Ray Charles.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45You have to...
0:13:45 > 0:13:47ORGAN WHIRS
0:13:47 > 0:13:48That's everything turning over.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50It's not actually switched on yet.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51And then...
0:13:51 > 0:13:54You switch it on,
0:13:54 > 0:13:55and you let go...
0:13:55 > 0:13:56SWITCH CLICKS
0:13:56 > 0:13:58..of that and it should
0:13:58 > 0:14:00now be working.
0:14:00 > 0:14:01Let's see if it is.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05He then started to use the Hammond organ in spots
0:14:05 > 0:14:06with the Spencer Davis Group
0:14:06 > 0:14:10and we could have a far more interesting sound -
0:14:10 > 0:14:13that jazzy feel of things was coming through
0:14:13 > 0:14:16into our, kind of, R&B.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19HE PLAYS ORGAN
0:14:35 > 0:14:38# Well, my temperature is rising and my feet off the floor
0:14:38 > 0:14:42# Greedy people rocking cos they want some more
0:14:42 > 0:14:44# Let me in
0:14:44 > 0:14:46# Don't know what you got
0:14:46 > 0:14:47# But you better take it easy
0:14:47 > 0:14:50# Cos the place is on fire now
0:14:50 > 0:14:52# I'm so glad we made it
0:14:54 > 0:14:56# So glad we made it
0:14:58 > 0:14:59# Gimme some lovin'
0:15:02 > 0:15:03# Gimme some lovin'
0:15:05 > 0:15:06# Gimme some lovin'... #
0:15:08 > 0:15:10HE PLAYS "GIMME SOME LOVIN'"
0:15:26 > 0:15:28# The gh-gh-gh-gh-ghost
0:15:28 > 0:15:30# Goes gear! #
0:15:31 > 0:15:34We'd had two or three number one hit singles,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38and like you do, you get offers to do
0:15:38 > 0:15:39bits in movies and stuff.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50# I gave you my heart
0:15:51 > 0:15:54# Right from the start, yeah yeah
0:15:55 > 0:15:57# I gave you my heart
0:15:58 > 0:16:00# Now you're tearing it apart... #
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Nicholas Parsons was one of the er...
0:16:05 > 0:16:09was one of the great actors in that. He was fantastic, he was great fun.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11And I think he played our manager.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Come on, then. To the boat!
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Oof! Help... Aagh!
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Hey...
0:16:18 > 0:16:19Hey. Come on - to the boat!
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Who'd manage a group?!
0:16:21 > 0:16:23He was charming as he could be
0:16:24 > 0:16:26when we made the film, but...
0:16:26 > 0:16:28we shouldn't really have been making that film.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30I'll give you...
0:16:30 > 0:16:33I take a rather cynical view of it, and I think it's rather typical of
0:16:33 > 0:16:40the way music gets driven into some kind of commercial/popular way
0:16:40 > 0:16:43in order to generate revenue.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47And I mean to be honest, I've suffered a bit from that
0:16:47 > 0:16:50the whole of my career.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Going along with things like that, where
0:16:55 > 0:16:58had I been more on the ball,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00I would have not done it. You know.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05If anything was going to cause the break-up of The Spencer Davis Group -
0:17:05 > 0:17:08which we were beginning to talk about -
0:17:08 > 0:17:11this movie was the final nail in the coffin!
0:17:11 > 0:17:14There was that danger with Steve that maybe he'd...
0:17:14 > 0:17:18peaked at the age of 18, and nothing much more was going to happen.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22The Spencer Davis Group had just gone up a notch,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24just had two big hits in America,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27with Gimme Some Lovin' and I'm A Man,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and then...leaving.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32If you viewed it as a career
0:17:32 > 0:17:36with a revenue stream,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40you'd view it as some kind of ridiculous move.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43But if you look at the music,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46it was an obvious move.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Well, let's face it, folks - it had to end somewhere.
0:17:49 > 0:17:531282, take 1 - The End.
0:17:57 > 0:18:02# Ahhhh-ahhh
0:18:02 > 0:18:05# Ahhhh...
0:18:06 > 0:18:09# Do yourself a favour
0:18:09 > 0:18:11# Wake up to your mind... #
0:18:11 > 0:18:151966 saw huge changes in the music scene,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19with many bands breaking free from the tyranny of the pop charts
0:18:19 > 0:18:22to assert their creative independence.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30The cream of the emerging British rock'n'roll elite hung out together,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33and jammed in late-night London clubs
0:18:33 > 0:18:36like the Speakeasy and the Bag O'Nails.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Steve had recently moved to London.
0:18:43 > 0:18:49When I moved down to London, Eric was living in a flat in Soho
0:18:49 > 0:18:52and had a group of friends with him,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54and they used to listen to stuff and...
0:18:54 > 0:18:57introduced me, brought me into his fold.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06I remember having conversations with Steve about
0:19:06 > 0:19:08getting together one day.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13And I think, at the point where I was ready to leave John Mayall,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16he at that time was forming Traffic.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27# So you think you're having good times
0:19:27 > 0:19:30# With the boy that you just met... #
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Steve formed Traffic with three friends he had bonded with over jam sessions
0:19:36 > 0:19:39at an after-hours club back in Birmingham -
0:19:40 > 0:19:42flute and sax player Chris Wood,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45drummer Jim Capaldi,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48and guitarist and sitar player Dave Mason.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52# ..because it's just a paper sun... #
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Traffic was really about playing with his mates.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59I remember him telling me about the philosophy behind that,
0:19:59 > 0:20:04which was music being made in a very unskilled way.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08It was important that the music be made from feeling, not necessarily from technique.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14# Oh, paper sun... #
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Traffic's 1967 debut single, Paper Sun,
0:20:18 > 0:20:19was a top five hit.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22For all its psychedelic dreaminess,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25the song still conformed to pop's three-minute format.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28But this, and much else besides,
0:20:29 > 0:20:30was about to change.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35There was a definite change in Steve
0:20:35 > 0:20:39the moment that Traffic began.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42He really became a member of the sort of...
0:20:42 > 0:20:46'60s flower hippy generation.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53We felt that music was part of our lives,
0:20:53 > 0:20:58and that was what we wanted to do to the exclusion of everything else.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00It was more important that we lived together
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and made the music.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Traffic decided to live AND work as a collective.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10The band moved to a remote cottage in Berkshire,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14isolating themselves from the scene and the music business
0:21:14 > 0:21:16to get it together in the country.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20I've never been back here since I left in...
0:21:20 > 0:21:221969.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27These trees have grown up, I don't think they were even planted.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29Goodness me, it looks very...
0:21:30 > 0:21:34..tidy and fancy compared to what it used to be.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36There was nothing there.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It was just rolling downs as far as you could see,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43and this one brick house sitting out in the middle of nowhere.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49We just ate when we wanted to eat, we woke up when we wanted to wake up,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51and we played when we wanted to play.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54We built a big concrete stage out in the front of it,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and in summer we'd just set up there.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00You know - stack some Marshalls and shit, and PAs...
0:22:01 > 0:22:02Blast!
0:22:02 > 0:22:05MUSIC: Intro to "Heaven Is In Your Mind"
0:22:21 > 0:22:22# Ohhh... #
0:22:22 > 0:22:26It was derelict, and it was empty...
0:22:27 > 0:22:28So we painted it.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33It was just mattresses on the floor, really.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Probably you would say it was a bit squalid, yes.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40But I love the idea of that at a certain age -
0:22:40 > 0:22:41just four guys get together
0:22:41 > 0:22:44and all they do day and night is just play music.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Get stoned and play music. What else could be better, really?
0:22:47 > 0:22:54# I'm looking for a girl who has no face
0:22:55 > 0:22:59# She has no name
0:23:02 > 0:23:05# Or number... #
0:23:06 > 0:23:10There was many times when all they did all day was smoke dope.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14And that gave them a much different attitude.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19I used to smoke weed... and I probably smoked too much weed.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22In and out of a dope haze, I would say.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28Times out of it - I mean, out of a dope haze -
0:23:28 > 0:23:33and times IN a dope haze. Yes, probably drifting in and out.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39They said, "You must come down." Now, I'm a city boy,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and it was a...quite a revelation.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45And there it was. It was just fantastic. Just heaven.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47The middle of nowhere...
0:23:48 > 0:23:49Freedom.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51It was just a magical time.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55There was beautiful summers then as well, I don't know if it was acid or if they were...
0:23:55 > 0:23:57the sun was out a lot! You know.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59There was an awakening.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03That's really...
0:24:03 > 0:24:05We were all really young, very...
0:24:05 > 0:24:07naive, I suppose.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10And inexperienced. But it nevertheless was...
0:24:10 > 0:24:12I wish it was still like that.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14I really mean that.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Making music is really the memories that I have about this place.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23'We somehow felt that there was something
0:24:23 > 0:24:28'in the landscape that had some meaning to our music and...
0:24:28 > 0:24:30'that it contributed something.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34'And so after we would explore these landscapes,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38'we'd then go back and immediately play,
0:24:38 > 0:24:43'and find that in some way this was affecting us, and affecting our minds
0:24:43 > 0:24:45'and affecting the music we were playing.'
0:24:45 > 0:24:51# To feel free... #
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Chris was at art college,
0:24:53 > 0:24:58and I think he was also at the Royal Academy, so he was a very good artist.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00But he was passionate about music.
0:25:00 > 0:25:07He wanted to transfer from art to painting in music.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08He used to study
0:25:08 > 0:25:10maps and charts and...
0:25:10 > 0:25:12watch birds...
0:25:12 > 0:25:16He brought to us music that we'd never heard before,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20from Japanese classical music to obscure jazz,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Yorkshire folk songs...
0:25:23 > 0:25:28to actually help us to define the music we were making.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31In a way he was the kind of spiritual leader.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Along with that went,
0:25:35 > 0:25:37erm...
0:25:38 > 0:25:40..recreational drug-taking.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42JANGLING GUITARS
0:25:55 > 0:25:57GUITARS FADE INTO SITAR
0:26:07 > 0:26:11# He's thinking that work is all a big joke
0:26:11 > 0:26:16# While he looks in the gutter for something to smoke... #
0:26:17 > 0:26:19SITAR PLAYS
0:26:23 > 0:26:26# Day in the city Oh, what a pity
0:26:26 > 0:26:29# I could be in Berkshire where the poppies are so, so pretty
0:26:29 > 0:26:32# I could be in Berkshire where the poppies were so pretty
0:26:32 > 0:26:36# I wish that I was there
0:26:36 > 0:26:41# I wanna make it out of there. #
0:26:41 > 0:26:45We really had the notion that we could change the world,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49by what we did and what we thought and how we did it.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53And one of the things was to be open and be friendly to other people.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59You know - we all felt that it was good to give other people a good time.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02You know. Dear Mr Fantasy, sing me a song!
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Make everybody happy.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11# Dear Mr Fantasy, play us a tune
0:27:11 > 0:27:16# Something to make us all happy
0:27:17 > 0:27:22# Do anything, take us out of this gloom
0:27:22 > 0:27:25# Sing a song, play guitar
0:27:25 > 0:27:28# Make it snappy. #
0:27:29 > 0:27:32As part of Traffic's very free, collaborative methods,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Jim Capaldi, the group's drummer,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36wrote many of the band's lyrics.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Jim was half-gypsy, half-pirate
0:27:40 > 0:27:43from Worcestershire, from an Italian family.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Jim would jot a few words down on paper,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50we would go and play - jam -
0:27:50 > 0:27:55and I would stand these bits of paper up on top of the organ or in front of the guitar,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59and then whenever it felt that it was right, I would sing
0:27:59 > 0:28:02what was written down on the piece of paper.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05# Something to make us all happy... #
0:28:05 > 0:28:09He did a little sketch next to the words he wrote,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13and so we used that sketch for a character on the front of the album.
0:28:14 > 0:28:20ORIGINAL RECORD: # Dear Mr Fantasy, play us a tune... #
0:28:20 > 0:28:24# Something to make us all happy
0:28:27 > 0:28:29# Do anything
0:28:29 > 0:28:31# Take us out of this gloom
0:28:32 > 0:28:35# Sing a song, play guitar
0:28:35 > 0:28:38# Make it snappy. #
0:28:43 > 0:28:45These were my very good friends that I
0:28:46 > 0:28:48lived here with, you know...
0:28:48 > 0:28:52And they're all gone. You know. So of course it's er...
0:28:52 > 0:28:55it's a sort of bittersweet,
0:28:55 > 0:28:57you know, return to
0:28:57 > 0:29:03remembering all these good times with friends who are no longer with us.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08More bittersweet than I had... imagined it would be.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13# Mmmmm-mm...
0:29:14 > 0:29:17# Oh-oh, oh-oh, ohhh... #
0:29:24 > 0:29:28We kind of deliberately wanted to remove ourselves from
0:29:28 > 0:29:32anything that was pop. We really didn't want to be making pop music.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41But not everyone in the band believed as wholeheartedly as Steve
0:29:41 > 0:29:45in Traffic's organic and collaborative method of songwriting.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48I came up with this goofy song called Hole In My Shoe...
0:29:48 > 0:29:53# ..was looking at me, from a bubblegum tree... #
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Hole In My Shoe, Traffic's second single, reached number three.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01In Europe at least, it remains perhaps their best-known tune.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03# Letting in water... #
0:30:03 > 0:30:07Suddenly I'm writing the hit record, and I'm singing it.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11And now this is Traffic's big first hit, a big hit.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15But the other members of the group were far less enthusiastic.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17They hated it.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19And for me it was like,
0:30:19 > 0:30:24"Well, I understand it's not exactly the kind of song I want to keep writing either,
0:30:24 > 0:30:26"it's just my first attempt, guys."
0:30:26 > 0:30:31He was off on another road to us. Which was fine,
0:30:31 > 0:30:36but the fact remained, it wasn't the same route that we were going.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40It just became those three and me.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43He wanted to write completely alone,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47and get us as a band to play his composition,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52so, we wrestled with that, and then, really, kicked Dave out of the band,
0:30:52 > 0:30:57because it was completely opposite to what Traffic had ever wanted to do.
0:30:57 > 0:31:03# Seems I've got to have a change of scene... #
0:31:03 > 0:31:09Nonetheless, Dave returned for Traffic's self-titled second album.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14He came in, sort of as a guest to play a few songs,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17but he never really joined the group.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21No, Dave Mason, he was nothing more than an invited guest.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24I mean, that's how he captured me.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29We made the album, you know, what are we going to put out for a single?
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Well, we're going to put Feelin' Alright as the single.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33# You feelin' all right?
0:31:36 > 0:31:39# I'm not feelin' too good myself... #
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Now my songs were being picked as the singles again.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45I guess that created some animosity somewhere.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48The only thing I can think of is jealousy, but why?
0:31:48 > 0:31:51With guys so enormously talented, it's ridiculous.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53There was a band meeting, and,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56"OK, what's going on, guys?" "Well, basically, man,
0:31:56 > 0:32:00"we don't like the way you sing or play or write, or do anything.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02"We just want you out of the band."
0:32:02 > 0:32:05And that's how it ended.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12Now a trio, in 1968, Traffic embarked on their first US tour.
0:32:12 > 0:32:17We were three English lads from rural Worcestershire,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19just landing in San Francisco,
0:32:19 > 0:32:24and were met by The Grateful Dead, off the plane.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27I vaguely remember going to the airport, picking the guys up,
0:32:27 > 0:32:30bringing them back to our place in the city.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33You know, it was just sort of a welcome gesture, you know?
0:32:33 > 0:32:38"Here, have a little LSD, and let's wig out a little bit."
0:32:38 > 0:32:42And they were game, which we pretty much figured they would be.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45# See that girl barefooting along
0:32:45 > 0:32:48# Whistling and singing She's a-carrying on... #
0:32:48 > 0:32:52The Grateful Dead were spearheading the San Francisco acid underground.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55They also lived and played together,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58though, in their case, at 710 Ashbury,
0:32:58 > 0:33:02in the heart of the flowering Haight-Ashbury scene.
0:33:02 > 0:33:08It takes commitment to form a band like The Grateful Dead, or like Traffic.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12I think, living together, there's no substitute for that.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16They were an improvisational band, like The Grateful Dead were.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19They were kindred spirits, very much so.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Traffic was heading into sacred dimension land.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Traffic was playing from the heart, and from the gut.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34They were very inspirational to us as a band, as well,
0:33:34 > 0:33:39because we were accepted as part of that scene,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42and because of the way the trio was set up,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45it was very easy to improvise.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49So we went on without really knowing what we were going to play.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55There were so many doors you could go through musically in Traffic.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59They left a lot to the imagination, that's what made it a great band.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02It was the same thing when Ginger and Eric came over,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05you know, when Cream came over.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08That particular bubble had burst with Cream.
0:34:08 > 0:34:14Being based on virtuosity didn't work, because we all just ended up jamming on our own.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17And I thought again of Steve.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21This time, Eric was successful in luring Steve away from Traffic.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29It was felt by Jim and Chris that there was an element of disloyalty on my part.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31They're probably right,
0:34:31 > 0:34:39but I thought that I should be free to make music in whatever way I wanted to.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43I felt that was a right that I should have,
0:34:43 > 0:34:50so, leaving one band and going with another was just part of those freedoms at the time.
0:34:50 > 0:34:55I thought we could meet somewhere in the middle of what he'd been trying to do with Traffic,
0:34:55 > 0:35:01with the unskilled labour mates kind of experiment,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04and the virtuosity experiment that we'd tried with Cream.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06If we started with the two of us,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09then we could put a band around that.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14While we were doing that one night, there was a knock at the door, and there was Ginger.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16DRUM SOLO
0:35:16 > 0:35:20You know, and he just sort of came in, and made himself a cup of tea.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26I do remember feeling a sense of disappointment.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31I thought Ginger was a great player,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33but, obviously, he has a certain style.
0:35:33 > 0:35:39God bless him, I love Ginger dearly, but he did represent something that I was trying to leave behind.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43The group was completed with bassist Rick Gretch.
0:35:43 > 0:35:49Blind Faith, quite incredibly, gave their debut performance in front of 20,000 people,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52at a free concert in London's Hyde Park.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57It was a great idea. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, thousands of people there.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59APPLAUSE
0:36:16 > 0:36:24# It's already written that today will be one to remember
0:36:28 > 0:36:31# The feeling's the same
0:36:31 > 0:36:36# As being outside of the law... #
0:36:37 > 0:36:41It's very easy to make things bigger and louder,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45it's much harder, as the audiences get bigger,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47to try and make your music smaller,
0:36:47 > 0:36:48and draw the people in.
0:36:48 > 0:36:54It's much more tricky than just straight ahead rock blues,
0:36:54 > 0:36:57which a lot of the audiences who went to see us were actually looking for.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01# Had to cry today... #
0:37:05 > 0:37:09We were labelled as being the first supergroup, someone came up with that.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11# ..I missed you there... #
0:37:11 > 0:37:14I thought the music flew on its merit.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18It didn't have anything to do with hype, or personalities,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21and so, I thought supergroup was the absolute opposite of that.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26It's all based on everybody's individual fame and achievement up until that point,
0:37:26 > 0:37:32and I thought, "Well, here we are again. I'm in Cream, basically."
0:37:34 > 0:37:36And the problem then was,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39we were rushed into a situation we weren't ready for,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42a big world tour.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46I'd probably, emotionally, started to quit the band anyway.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49# Come down off your throne
0:37:49 > 0:37:52# And leave your body alone
0:37:52 > 0:37:56# Somebody hold the key... #
0:37:56 > 0:37:57I saw them once.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59They were very disappointing, yeah.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02For me, you know, considering who was up there.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06Blind Faith was a failure, in my estimation.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10It never became a band. It never got a group mind.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13It never became more than the individuals.
0:38:13 > 0:38:20# Cos I'm wasted and I can't find my way home... #
0:38:20 > 0:38:25We should have carried on. Steve and I needed more time.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Thank you.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36The one regret I would have is what effect it would have had on Steve,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40because I think he invested a lot of himself into that project,
0:38:40 > 0:38:45much more than I did. And, you know, there was a lot of pressure on him to be the front man,
0:38:45 > 0:38:47to be the writer,
0:38:47 > 0:38:54and I'm sad and ashamed to a certain extent that I walked away from it.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Picking himself up after Blind Faith,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12Steve delved deep into the soul of the English countryside.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19# There were three men
0:39:19 > 0:39:21# Came out of the west
0:39:23 > 0:39:27# Their fortunes for to try
0:39:30 > 0:39:36# And these three men made a solemn vow
0:39:37 > 0:39:41# John Barleycorn must die... #
0:39:44 > 0:39:47I felt I still had a lot of music in me.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50# ..harrowed him in... #
0:39:50 > 0:39:54I embarked on the beginnings of a solo record,
0:39:54 > 0:39:59but I still felt that what Traffic had began,
0:39:59 > 0:40:03trying to put together all these different musical elements,
0:40:03 > 0:40:04was still very important,
0:40:04 > 0:40:10and Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood were the people that could help me to do this,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14and it became the album, John Barleycorn.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17I love that thing with Traffic,
0:40:17 > 0:40:19mixing all these different types of music.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22There was jazz, there was folk, rock, soul, R&B,
0:40:22 > 0:40:27then kind of blending it all up, and I thought that was a really amazing thing, really.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30Very, very English-sounding, I think.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33You've also got his fantastic bluesy voice on top of it,
0:40:33 > 0:40:34which is a great blender.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Of course, the title track of John Barleycorn
0:40:37 > 0:40:41was an English folk song,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44which was sometimes called The Passion Of The Corn,
0:40:44 > 0:40:49and it's a parallel with the passion of Christ,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52and the rural cycle.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56The winter, the land being dormant,
0:40:56 > 0:41:01and then the corn growing, rising,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05being cut off, being ground between stones,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07and being mistreated...
0:41:08 > 0:41:11..eventually rising again,
0:41:11 > 0:41:16in the form of alcohol, or bread.
0:41:16 > 0:41:21And it was called, historically, The Passion Of The Corn.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26# The huntsman, he can't hunt the fox
0:41:26 > 0:41:31# Nor so loudly to blow his horn
0:41:33 > 0:41:38# The tinker, he can't mend kettle nor pots
0:41:40 > 0:41:47# Without a little barleycorn. #
0:41:49 > 0:41:51CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:41:54 > 0:41:56Through the early 1970s,
0:41:56 > 0:42:03Traffic made a series of LPs that put them at the heart of the newly-dominant rock album culture.
0:42:03 > 0:42:09# Sometimes I feel so uninspired
0:42:11 > 0:42:16# Sometimes I feel like giving up... #
0:42:18 > 0:42:22With Traffic's success in America now eclipsing their popularity at home,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25the band embarked on another long US tour.
0:42:25 > 0:42:30# Sometimes I feel like I've had enough
0:42:33 > 0:42:38# Sometimes you feel like you've been hired
0:42:41 > 0:42:45# Sometimes you feel like you've been bought... #
0:42:45 > 0:42:48I was ill during the tour,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51and.. But getting through it.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54But, yeah. And I kept visiting various doctors,
0:42:54 > 0:42:58who said I was just a bit run down, or something like that,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01and no-one could really diagnose it.
0:43:08 > 0:43:13Eventually, he was so ill he was sent back home from tour,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16and went to bed that night,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20and his appendix blew.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Dr Rowland, who still lives in the village here,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26he smiled slightly, and said,
0:43:26 > 0:43:30"Ah. What you've got is peritonitis.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35"I think we'll call this man in Cheltenham,
0:43:35 > 0:43:37"and we'll get you down to the hospital straight away."
0:43:37 > 0:43:41He was, you know, like a skeleton,
0:43:41 > 0:43:47and there was wires all over him, and machines all round him.
0:43:47 > 0:43:53I think that the time in hospital certainly made him reflect on what his life had been about,
0:43:53 > 0:43:58and how he was going to move onwards.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00I suppose it was growing up, really,
0:44:00 > 0:44:02albeit a bit late, growing up.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04A late developer.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10After the Traffic communal experiment had come to an end,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Steve had moved to rural Gloucestershire.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17'I then thought, "Well, it's time for me to start experiencing
0:44:17 > 0:44:21'"more of the world outside of music."'
0:44:21 > 0:44:25What you see here is pretty much all grassland,
0:44:25 > 0:44:28which is typical Cotswold country.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33We have cattle, sheep,
0:44:33 > 0:44:38erm, and we grow mainly wheat barley,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41and oilseed rape.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46'The countryside and rural events
0:44:46 > 0:44:52'were very much part of my discovering the world outside of music.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55I was actually getting to know people
0:44:55 > 0:44:59who had no idea who Steve Winwood the musician was,
0:44:59 > 0:45:02which was, in a way, very refreshing.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06I had never heard of Steve Winwood or Traffic.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10I'm not a rock lover, as such.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15Well, he's matured, shall I say, into a country squire.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18He's got, sort of, two, er, existences -
0:45:18 > 0:45:23music, when he plays to all the masses and that,
0:45:23 > 0:45:28and a lovely retreat, where he can walk his dogs.
0:45:30 > 0:45:31Traffic had split up
0:45:31 > 0:45:35and Steve's first solo LP sold disappointingly.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39The music world beyond Steve's estate was changing.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42Punk rock was emerging,
0:45:42 > 0:45:45which was directed
0:45:45 > 0:45:48right at the likes of me.
0:45:48 > 0:45:49And of course,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52I didn't realise how...
0:45:52 > 0:45:55cyclical music was going to be, then.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58I was thinking this was the end, you know.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00"I'm finished now."
0:46:00 > 0:46:05He had already lived two lifetimes by the time I met him.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08I'd sussed a little bit of what, you know, he was going through -
0:46:08 > 0:46:10a transformation.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Leaving one thing and going to another.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16Sort of new direction. And I could feel that, you know.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19We would go for long walks
0:46:19 > 0:46:21through the countryside.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23And then, just...
0:46:23 > 0:46:27The words started writing themselves out of the landscape.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30There was a lot at stake.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32You know, I was very aware that this was
0:46:32 > 0:46:37a bit of a make-or-break project with Will Jennings.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Stand up in a clear blue morning,
0:46:39 > 0:46:41until you see what can be.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45Alone in a cold day dawning.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48This affirmation - while you see a chance, take it,
0:46:48 > 0:46:50cos it's all on you,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53and everything lies before you.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56# Stand up in a clear blue morning
0:46:56 > 0:46:59# Until you see
0:46:59 > 0:47:01# What can be
0:47:01 > 0:47:04# Alone in a cold day dawning
0:47:04 > 0:47:06# Are you still free?
0:47:06 > 0:47:08# Can you be? #
0:47:08 > 0:47:12While You See A Chance was a real departure.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15I could feel Steve just going into the future.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17It's a lot of rebirth in that song.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23All but unrecognisable as the Steve Winwood of the '60s and '70s,
0:47:23 > 0:47:28While You See A Chance and the 1981 album Arc Of A Diver
0:47:28 > 0:47:30both went Top Ten.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36I was proud of Steve for doing that. I thought it was marvellous
0:47:36 > 0:47:38that he'd lifted himself out of that slough of despond
0:47:38 > 0:47:41of the late '70s, when things did look a bit gloomy
0:47:41 > 0:47:42and were going downhill.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45So it was marvellous that he jumped into the '80s
0:47:45 > 0:47:50and made his mark as a new pop star. He was recreating himself.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53# While you see a chance, take it
0:47:54 > 0:47:57# Find romance, fake it
0:47:58 > 0:48:01# Because it's all
0:48:01 > 0:48:02# On you. #
0:48:02 > 0:48:06Real change came about with Arc Of A Diver,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09because I played everything,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12wrote it, produced, engineered.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16I literally did everything on that record.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20The whole grammar of music was changing in the 1980s.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Steve's solo career was positioned
0:48:23 > 0:48:26to capture the emerging adult-orientated rock audience.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28To seal the deal,
0:48:28 > 0:48:30a top producer was brought in.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33The one thing I did ask him to do -
0:48:33 > 0:48:35"Let's make this record in New York,"
0:48:35 > 0:48:40to take Steve out of Gloucestershire and out of that comfortable...
0:48:40 > 0:48:42country-gentleman setting,
0:48:42 > 0:48:45and...and plop him down on the streets of New York.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Cos there's an energy that you get from the city.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52# Think about it
0:48:52 > 0:48:54# There must be higher love
0:48:55 > 0:48:59# Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above... #
0:48:59 > 0:49:02To promote the chart-topping single Higher Love,
0:49:02 > 0:49:04Steve, now in his late 30s,
0:49:04 > 0:49:09took steps he'd never have contemplated in his laid-back youth,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12not least embracing the new MTV video culture.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15- TREVOR BURTON:- I WAS surprised to see him dancing.
0:49:15 > 0:49:16TREVOR CHUCKLES
0:49:16 > 0:49:19He was wearing a suit,
0:49:19 > 0:49:21and just singing and dancing.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23I thought, "That was a one-off!"
0:49:25 > 0:49:31It was very much an '80s production sound on it.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35As far as the music's concerned, I was still combining
0:49:35 > 0:49:39bits of world music with jazz and rock and folk.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44MTV, to me, was a sort of necessity,
0:49:44 > 0:49:48you know, of the industry - so I was led to believe,
0:49:48 > 0:49:50and so I was constantly being told.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55So, that was... That was fine by me.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Well, I mean, I went along with it, I should say.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01I don't know how fine it was, but I went along with it.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03- MUFF WINWOOD:- I remember saying to him, you know,
0:50:03 > 0:50:06"You can't be a star unless you do these things.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09"You've got to do the TV shoots and the interviews."
0:50:09 > 0:50:10Hi! I'm Steve Winwood.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13I'm glad to be here on Top Pop
0:50:13 > 0:50:16and I hope you like my new single, Night Train.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20Steve Winwood of the '80s
0:50:20 > 0:50:22kind of fitted the '80s.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25Er, I'm not sure it fitted HIM.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29To me, it looked uncomfortable,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32cos I knew that he would be struggling with it.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36But it was a very lucrative period for him.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Going Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42the 1987 album Back In The High Life
0:50:42 > 0:50:45received no less than three Grammy awards.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48# It's so hard to just slow down
0:50:48 > 0:50:51# So don't be surprised to see me
0:50:51 > 0:50:54# Back in the bright part of town
0:50:54 > 0:50:59# I'll be back in the high life again
0:50:59 > 0:51:02# All the doors I closed one time
0:51:02 > 0:51:04# Will open up again... #
0:51:07 > 0:51:10But while Steve had made his own luck in the '80s,
0:51:10 > 0:51:13another of his Traffic cohorts had not fared so well.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21He always had a thing about Traffic and wanted it to be Traffic forever.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23So when Traffic actually did finish,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26it was quite a crushing blow to him.
0:51:26 > 0:51:27Er...
0:51:27 > 0:51:31And something from which he didn't appear to recover.
0:51:31 > 0:51:36In 1987, Chris Wood died of liver failure.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39I was very close to Chris,
0:51:39 > 0:51:42and I was very affected by his death,
0:51:42 > 0:51:44and, er, it was a very tragic loss
0:51:44 > 0:51:46and a great loss.
0:51:46 > 0:51:51This kind of music has always had a tie-up with heavy drug taking,
0:51:51 > 0:51:53and it, er...
0:51:53 > 0:51:54takes its toll.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Steve, and Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi,
0:52:07 > 0:52:11decided to go out on one last great Traffic jam.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14- Ready for the gig? - Yeah, we're ready.
0:52:14 > 0:52:15See you later.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23Traffic began to gain meaning, somehow,
0:52:23 > 0:52:24as time went on.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27It seemed to be getting MORE valuable.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30It was obvious that, you know,
0:52:30 > 0:52:35Jim Capaldi and I had this strong bond.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Suddenly thought, "Just you and me ARE Traffic now."
0:52:39 > 0:52:41"There's no longer Chris."
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Chris was really...
0:52:46 > 0:52:49He was... He was important in what he was as a person -
0:52:49 > 0:52:51he was pure...artist.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54# And the sound that you're hearing
0:52:54 > 0:52:56# Is only the sound
0:52:56 > 0:53:03# Of the low spark of high-heeled boys... #
0:53:03 > 0:53:04Great reunion.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06But kind of nostalgic.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10You know, and you can never get back 1967.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13They were slick in 1994,
0:53:13 > 0:53:17and in 1967 they were kind of...Traffic.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19# ..a new car
0:53:19 > 0:53:24# From the profit he's made on your dreams
0:53:24 > 0:53:26# But today you just read... #
0:53:26 > 0:53:30Traffic's enduring legacy was underlined in 2004,
0:53:30 > 0:53:34when the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36Even original member Dave Mason was invited.
0:53:36 > 0:53:43# ..was the low spark of high-heeled boys. #
0:53:43 > 0:53:48A few months later, Jim Capaldi succumbed to stomach cancer.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52I was very glad to have had that last...fling of Traffic.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57And it was great that it happened before Jim's untimely death.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59It was very fitting.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04Since that last great jam,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08Steve's music has increasingly recaptured the organic feel
0:54:08 > 0:54:10of Traffic's creative methods.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12Well, I made a decision
0:54:12 > 0:54:15to create a different kind of a band -
0:54:15 > 0:54:18a kind of band I'd never really had before.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25# Well, the world's
0:54:27 > 0:54:29# A perfect place... #
0:54:29 > 0:54:34It was based, really, on a kind of '60s organ trio,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38but then we added percussion and a horn player.
0:54:38 > 0:54:39# ..at times we do
0:54:40 > 0:54:43# Forget about them... #
0:54:43 > 0:54:46And the two albums we've made have been
0:54:46 > 0:54:53based on the live music that we've played together.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57It's been a very fulfilling time.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04But one big question mark has remained in Steve's career...
0:55:04 > 0:55:07last left hanging 30 years ago.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11It felt like we had never really resolved what we'd started.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14It just was waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting
0:55:14 > 0:55:16all down the years, until now.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19And me pulling out of Blind Faith
0:55:19 > 0:55:22was an act of infidelity, in a way.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25And over the years, you know, we've repaired that
0:55:25 > 0:55:27and we've become very good pals.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29Joining forces for a series of concerts,
0:55:29 > 0:55:33Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood's career-long attempts
0:55:33 > 0:55:36to form a partnership have finally found a home.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44# It's already written
0:55:44 > 0:55:50# That today will be one to remember... #
0:55:52 > 0:55:54The decision was made very early on
0:55:54 > 0:55:56it wasn't going to be a Blind Faith reunion.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00Eric, now, is a great singer and a great band leader.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04and he never did any of that in Blind Faith.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08- ERIC CLAPTON:- Still feels like it's fresh. It's very creative.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11And he's great to be around. He's great to play with.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16Oh, it was great to see Clapton and Winwood.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20You know, it's the dream team, you know.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Steve was shining bright and I was so proud of him.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24It was glorious.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27Eric had a... You know, he had to keep up.
0:56:27 > 0:56:28Yeah, no kidding.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40- CHRIS WELCH:- It sums up all that they wanted to do, all those years.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44Everything's floated away - all the problems, all the personalities,
0:56:44 > 0:56:46all the things that interfere with music making.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53It's a wonderful, heart-warming thing to see, I think,
0:56:53 > 0:56:55and it's made it all worthwhile.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04- ERIC CLAPTON:- There are very few of us left
0:57:04 > 0:57:06who were weaned in the same way.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09You know, that grew up making our bones in the clubs,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12seven days a week, learning how to play the hard way.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21You have to be a musician, in a way, to understand how important he is.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26When people look back at what's gone on over the last -
0:57:26 > 0:57:29you know - 50, 60 years,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32the people that will stand out will be people like Steve.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:57:37 > 0:57:40- TREVOR BURTON:- It wasn't that we looked up to him,
0:57:40 > 0:57:44but we admired him a lot, for being something special.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46He hasn't changed at all.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48No, he's just...the same Steve.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Bit older, bit wiser, as we all are, you know.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57But, er...we're still here, and that's the main thing.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01- MUFF WINWOOD:- There's no outside pressure any more -
0:58:01 > 0:58:04except paying the bills, I suppose -
0:58:04 > 0:58:08on how he runs his career any more.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12There might be a six-month period where he's doing nothing and, er,
0:58:12 > 0:58:14I phone him and where is he? In the studio.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17He's always, always playing.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21I am semi-retired,
0:58:21 > 0:58:25in as much as I've got the luxury
0:58:25 > 0:58:29of being able to pick and choose a bit what I do.
0:58:29 > 0:58:33But in terms of where I want to go musically,
0:58:33 > 0:58:37that, I think, is an ongoing quest,
0:58:37 > 0:58:41and it's something that will never really be resolved.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47Headless Horseman, you see.
0:58:47 > 0:58:49That's what Traffic used to call its sound.
0:58:50 > 0:58:52# Well, I turned around
0:58:52 > 0:58:57# And 40,000 headmen hit the dirt
0:58:57 > 0:59:00# Firing 20 shotguns each
0:59:00 > 0:59:03# And man, it really hurt
0:59:03 > 0:59:06# But luckily for me
0:59:06 > 0:59:09# They had to stop and then reload
0:59:09 > 0:59:13# And by the time they'd done that Heading down the road... #
0:59:14 > 0:59:17Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:17 > 0:59:20E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:59:21 > 0:59:23# Heading down the road. #