# Dave Mason fans? Little help? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 6, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337 "2024-08-06T14:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/1 "2024-08-06T14:03:23Z")
There is a tapas bar we sometimes stop at that has great food and a decent beer menu. We’ve told friends about it, it’s so good.\* I stopped yesterday after doing an errand for my gf and had a beer (on her!). The name of the place is **Headkeepers** , which I always thought was strange. Yesterday I noticed among the other decorations on the walls there were many Dave Mason albums, pictures, etc. Turns out I’ve never been a Dave Mason fan. I recognize the name, but that’s it. Can someone edumacate me? - > **Summary** > > I told my brother in law and his wife about the place a few years ago. Told them it was a great tapas bar. His wife texted me one night that she and a coworker went to the Headhunters (sic) place and they did not like it, _the portions were so small!_ I texted my BIL and asked told him what his wife had said, curious about whether she was joking. She isn’t the brightest, but we love her. He responded that she wasn’t joking and he explained to her the concept of tapas. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/2 "2024-08-06T15:16:21Z")
Headkeepers was an album by Dave Mason, a British guitarist and singer probably best known as a member of Traffic with Steve Winwood. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/3 "2024-08-06T15:18:28Z")
Was it his best, most memorable album? ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/4 "2024-08-06T15:21:25Z")
I’m not sure. I mostly remember him from his work with Traffic, he wrote or co-wrote a few of their best known songs. Of course, it you’re in a band with someone like Steve Winwood, you are almost bound to be second-fiddle… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/5 "2024-08-06T15:39:55Z")
I’ve known of Mason for years, the songs Only You Know and I Know and We Just Disagree. He has always been on my list of guitarists I would like to see. He wrote the song Feelin’ Alright which was recorded by Traffic but later became a huge hit for Joe Cocker. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/6 "2024-08-06T15:50:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Was it his best, most memorable album? The most memorable for me is his first, [Alone Together](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alone_Together_(Dave_Mason_album)). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/7 "2024-08-06T15:54:21Z")
He’s still touring. I’m going to see him later this year. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/8 "2024-08-06T16:11:38Z")
As others have noted, Mason is today mostly known, at least here in the U.S., as being a member of Traffic, and for writing a couple of songs (“Feeling Alright,” “Only You Know and I Know”) which were hits for other people. “We Just Disagree” is one of my favorite songs, and it was his only top 40 hit in the U.S., though his 1970s solo albums all charted. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/9 "2024-08-06T16:11:41Z")
He’ll be playing Warren, Ohio in a couple weeks, but it’s a two hour drive. I’ll try to stop at HeadKeepers to see if the owner is going. This has been an interesting couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/10 "2024-08-09T00:26:05Z")
Some great stuff on that album. I didn’t have the marbled version but when you put in on the turntable and watched it spin it was trippy, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![opiewan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/opiewan/32/3566_2.png) [@opiewan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/opiewan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/11 "2024-08-09T00:28:01Z")
Dave Mason also played the acoustic guitar track on Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “All Along The Watchtower”. That’s pretty much the entirety of the Dave Mason knowledge I have to share. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/12 "2024-08-09T21:53:59Z")
And maybe not particularly related but Traffic had a song often called ‘40,000 Headmen’ on an early album. Headmen, Headkeeper… ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/13 "2024-08-09T21:58:29Z")
At one point he made a record with Mama Cass Elliot. I’ve never heard it, but it gets pretty good reviews. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/14 "2024-08-10T00:24:33Z")
As others have mentioned, Mason was with Traffic and wrote their first two UK hits, “Paper Sun” and “Hole in My Shoe.” He left the group before their first album was released in the US; American versions of _Dear Mr. Fantasy_ gave him song credits, but did not list him as a member. He returned for their second album and contributed “Feelin’ Alright?” which at one point was the most covered song in rock, with a new version recorded every three weeks at its peak. Mason left Traffic;; their next album, _Last Exit_ was made up of unreleased tracks and a live performance. Mason went solo and recorded _Alone Together_, a truly great effort. He also toured as one of Delany and Bonnie’s friends, but was overshadowed by Eric Clapton. He rejoined his friends from Traffic for a shout tour that was released as _Welcome to the Canteen._ Mason was willing to reconstitute Traffic, but Steve Winwood nixed it. Mason Continued as a solo artist, with a couple of minor hits. His album with Mama Cass seemed a strange combination. It’s not bad, but not exciting. The royalties from “Feelin’ Alright?” are probably bringing a lot of money even today. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/15 "2024-08-10T00:30:03Z")
I’ve always Dave’s version of “Watchtower.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-5VC23TeUWU/maxresdefault.jpg "All Along the Watchtower - Dave Mason | The Midnight Special") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5VC23TeUWU) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/16 "2024-08-10T02:28:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Mason went solo and recorded _Alone Together_, a truly great effort. It’s not my favorite album, but it’s the one that’s often sitting on my turntable… [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Dave_Mason_-_Alone_Together_LP%2C_featuring_marble_vinyl_disc.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Dave_Mason_-_Alone_Together_LP%2C_featuring_marble_vinyl_disc.png) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dave-mason-fans-little-help/1005337/17 "2024-08-10T12:38:05Z")
fascinating that he still had time to pick up drumming and tour with Pink Floyd 😉