The Dave Mason Interview

I think we can all agree (and not disagree) that Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and Traffic co-founder Dave Mason’s place in rock and roll is well-deserved and assured. Known initially for writing the infectious 1968 song “Feelin’ Alright,” Mason spent the late 60s and early 70s in and out of Traffic, as well as in the company of such noble figures as Jimi Hendrix, Delaney and Bonnie, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Cass Elliot and George Harrison. His career as a solo artist began in earnest as he went on to win the public’s affections with radio fodder like “Only You Know and I Know” and “We Just Disagree.”

These days, Mason continues to record and tour regularly. Like so many of his contemporaries, he’s also come to regard his legacy with a mix of solemnity and honor, culminating with the release of Future’s Past. The nine-song disc features new versions of his most iconic songs, alongside more recent ones he’s chosen to revisit, and a brand-new track to finish it off. On the touring front, Mason’s Traffic Jam has dates set up all over the U.S. for 2014. The band not only pays tribute to Traffic, but also features a Dave Mason set that covers the solo years. I recently had the opportunity to chat briefly with Mason about Future’s Past, the Traffic Jam tour, and a few significant milestones in his prolific career. Soft-spoken and forthright, Mason filled me in with all the necessary details of his past, present and future.

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Let’s get into the new album, Future’s Past, which blends songs from your past with newer songs. How did you come up with the concept?

They’re just tracks that I have at home that I keep sort of noodling around the studio. You know you how you have stuff that’s just sitting here? We were starting this new Traffic Jam thing, and people representing me were sort of [saying], “Maybe we should put something together.” Initially just maybe an EP with like four or five songs. And I just had a number of songs. Some of them were things that I’d redone. They’d been redoing them. They were just great pieces of music. The songs mostly that are on there are just, song-wise, just as relevant now. Some of them I revisited — like “World in Changes,” for instance — just to screw around with some of my songs. I redid it in a sort of funk reggae version. And I just thought, “Well, you know what? This actually sounds kind of cool.” So I redid it in a whole different way. “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” I redid the chords and put it in a minor key. So, you know, there’s just some things in there, they just were great pieces, little formulaic pieces of music to me. They were really working and so I wanted a way to weave all this stuff together. It was a question, coming up with a, you know, it was like “Back to the Future” … it’s like, “Well, no, I can’t use that.” But that’s kind of what I want. I suddenly came up with Future’s Past — something simple, where the title sort of expresses what’s on there. To me, a good song is a good song, no matter what. I don’t care what period it is or anything. If it works, it works as a piece of music. So that’s kind of why I did it. I’m sort of already on my way to putting another release together. It’s for later in the year, but it’s gonna be mostly all original material.

So this is kind of a warm-up to that. I was going to say, the arrangements you did on “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “World in Changes” were radically different, whereas something like “You Can All Join In” is a little closer to the original, but it sounds like you’re blazing on the guitar even a little more in between the verses. I did want to tell you that the guitar playing is excellent on the whole record.

A lot of the guitar playing and the lead stuff, to be honest with you, is a kid who was part of the band who’s been out on tour but he recently got married and he’s no longer with the band. His name’s Jason Rowling. He’s pretty awesome — plays great mandolin too. So he’s playing a lot of the lead on the album, basically except for the guitar on “World in Changes,” “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “That’s Freedom.” Pretty much all the other stuff in there is him. To me, they’re just great little sounding tracks. And people like them or they don’t like them — I make music basically for me. I get them, and hey, I hope somebody else does. That’s the only way I can do it. It has to be fun.

Any special guests on the record?

Warren Hill is playing sax on “El Toro (Spanish Blues).” And that’s pretty much about it. Yeah, that’s pretty much it for these. I mean, I mostly did all of this stuff at home.

The cover of the album is from a photo taken by Graham Nash. He’s not on this record, right?

Graham is not on the record, no, no.

When was that picture taken?

Probably the 70s at his house in Kauai.

Along with this new record, of course, you are touring with Traffic Jam, which I understand comprises mostly Traffic songs.

The show’s about two hours long and it’s broken into two parts with a break in the middle. The first part of the show, the first hour, is stuff from basically the first three albums, Traffic albums. Then there’s a break and the second part is the Dave Mason material. So it’s a mix of all of it.

I would imagine a song like “Feelin’ Alright” is a permanent part of the set list.

Oh, of course.

A lot of people know that song through Joe Cocker. What was your first impression when you first heard him doing that song?

I thought it was fucking great. That’s the definitive version.

Have you ever performed that with him on stage?

Yeah, I have. We’ve done some shows together, so yes. And I also did it a couple of times with John Belushi doing Joe Cocker.

That’s awesome. I saw a version of Traffic with Steve Winwood and Joe Capaldi open for the Grateful Dead in 1994 and you were not part of that reunion. Was that because you were working with Fleetwood Mac at the time?

It was because I wasn’t asked.

Would you have accepted if you had been asked?

Oh, yeah. Of course, I would. If I had a dollar for everybody that ever asked me, “Do you think you and Traffic are gonna get back together?” My answer is just, “You’re asking the wrong guy.”

So it’s Steve Winwood who’s holding out?

You know, we should’ve gone out after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, is what we should have done. But … you know.

It’s not in the cards.

Well, it doesn’t seem to be unfortunately. It’s not because of me.

Going back even further in your history, you’ve had working relationships with a number of distinguished figures — some who are no longer with us. And of course I’m thinking of Jimi Hendrix, Cass Elliot and George Harrison. With regards to Hendrix, I’ve always been curious how you ended up playing 12-string guitar on “All Along the Watchtower.” How did that happen?

I kind of got to know him a little bit, we kind of hung out, hit some different places. We were at some woman’s apartment, having a small party — there was a few people there, some band members from a group called the Cookie Thins. They were big in England at the time. And some other people there, they were playing the new Bob Dylan album; they had just got a copy of it, John Wesley Harding. And that was the first time we heard it. That’s the first time we were listening to the album and we had just gotten through “Watchtower,” which is from that album. Jimi’s like, “Ah, that’s cool, that’s the coolest song. Let’s go do it. I’m gonna go and record it. You wanna come and do it with me?” And that’s how I finished up doing that.

So you were just at the right place at the right time, I guess.

Yeah.

You’re the fifth person I’ve spoken to who’s played on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. I understand you played on “Beware of Darkness” and “I Dig Love.” Were there any others you were on?

Oh, that’s good because I really don’t remember what I played on (laughs). There were a lot of musicians on that. I never really remember what the hell it was that I played on or didn’t play on. I always thought I was there mostly just for the lame chop down, so I wasn’t sure exactly what song that really was, because I wasn’t there till it was finished.

All associations aside, you really have an impressive body of work. There’s all these great songs: “Feelin’ Alright,” “Only You Know & I Know,” “Let It Go, Let It Flow,” “We Just Disagree.” These are the kind of songs you just don’t hear anymore. What’s your take on the state of the music world today?

I’ll give you the same answer as when somebody else asked me that question. I said, “When two robots get the album of the year award at the Grammys, I fear for the future.” Let’s put it that way (laughs).