Sound Chaser

Dave Mason, the British guitarist/vocalist who passed away at 79 on April 19, conceded that some of his best-known songs fared better with other people's voices. "I may not be the best interpreter of certain songs of mine," he told me during a phone interview in 2018, during a break from his tour with Steve Cropper (footnote 1). "For example, I feel like Cocker's got the definitive version of 'Feelin' Alright?'"

"Cocker," of course, is Joe Cocker, and "Feelin' Alright?" is the Mason-penned classic first heard on Traffic's self-titled second LP on Island Records (ILPS 9081T), released in 1968. Cocker loved the track and a year later made it the opening cut (without the question mark at the end) on his 1969 A&M debut LP With a Little Help from My Friends (Regal Zonophone SLRC 1006). Mason's original, with Traffic, dwells on the "not feelin' too good myself " kicker. Cocker's live version, on 1970's Mad Dogs & Englishmen (A&M Records AMLS 6002), is a rollicking good time that emphasizes the "feelin' alright" vibe. "Well, it's open to interpretation, isn't it?" Mason mused. "It's certainly become an adaptable song."

Mason put his own stamp on Jimi Hendrix's electrified reworking of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," on 1968's Electric Ladyland (Reprise Records 6307; footnote 2). It's said that Mason and Hendrix listened to Dylan's pastoral 1967 album John Wesley Harding together (Columbia CL 2804). Then Hendrix asked Mason to come to Olympic Studios in London to cover the song. On Jimi's recast "Watchtower," Mason plays 12-string guitar. Why 12-string? "It was the only acoustic guitar I had at the time," Mason told me, "and a 12-string has a fuller sound than a six-string.

"I was very aware of how big that record was going to become. It was obvious. I do my own version of 'Watchtower' now. I'm pretty good on guitar, but I'm not gonna tackle Hendrix!"

After he heard the Hendrix/Mason version of "Watchtower," Dylan began adapting his own live performances of the song to mirror theirs.

"Every Woman," the third track on side 1 of 1974's Dave Mason (Columbia PC 33096), is a testament to love and resilience. "I played on a session with Dylan way back, and I've run into him a couple of times since then," Mason recalled. "One time I ran into him somewhere in Malibu, and he said [affecting a Dylanesque voice], 'Man, you wrote one of the best love songs of all time.' And I'm like, 'Really, Bob?' 'Yeah, man—that song "Every Woman" is fantastic. I love it.' Can you believe hearing that from one of the best songwriters?"

Mason fans embraced its sentiments. Its handwritten lyrics are offered as an offset lithograph at davemasonmusic.com.

Almost a decade later another 12-string guitar would appear on a Dave Mason record, the 1977 hit single "We Just Disagree," (footnote 3) written by his guitar partner Jim Krueger. Mason continued to perform the song right through his final shows in 2024, when he reluctantly retired from the road. "I just do that song the way it is," he explained. "I didn't change it, because I stick with things that are timeless. I say, there aren't any 'old' songs—there are just good songs and bad songs."

"I just write the songs for me," Mason told me. "If I like it, then it's fine. But I could never tell which ones were going to be hits. And a lot of stuff never got finished because I would listen back and go, 'Nuh-uh.

I would never do that.' Other songs I wrote hoping that other artists would pick up on them and cover them."

Years later, "Only You Know and I Know" and "Look at You Look at Me" (footnote 4) became part of his solo jaunts and tours under the "Dave Mason's Traffic Jam" umbrella. 1967's "Hole in My Shoe," his earliest composition for Traffic (first released as a standalone single in the UK, Island Records IEP 7), became the inspiration for a children's book he wrote and released earlier this year, which comes with a download code for a rerecorded version of the song featuring John McFee of The Doobie Brothers on guitar. "That was my first attempt at songwriting," Mason said. "It was cute."

Collaborators have nothing but praise. "I love Dave, so I can only say good things about him," Cropper told me in 2018. "Like I told him in North Carolina last week, 'It's been too long coming.'"

"I loved playing with Dave," Vanilla Fudge vocalist/keyboardist Mark Stein told me by phone during a break in Dave Mason's Traffic Jam tour on April 26, 2024. During that run, Mason supported Stein's star turn on "You Keep Me Hangin' On," an update of the Fudge's 1967 alteration of the chart-topping 1966 pop/soul hit by The Supremes. "We do it in the encore, and people just love it," Stein said. "Dave lets me loose, and I wave my hand around like I'm conducting it. It's like an electric energy that goes through my body, and it's got to come out somewhere. That's the only way I can do it." Mason, ever the supporter, interpreter, and reworker, didn't mind at all.

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Footnote 1: Mason discussed his admiration for the late, great Steve Cropper in March 2026's "My Back Pages."

Footnote 2: Mason also sang background vocals on Electric Ladyland's "Crosstown Traffic."

Footnote 3: "We Just Disagree" appears on Mason's 1977 LP Let It Flow (Columbia). "Disagree" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Footnote 4: Both songs are on Mason's solo debut, 1970's Alone Together (Blue Thumb Records BTS 19).