Archive Review: Dave Mason’s Future’s Past (2014)

Dave Mason, the former Traffic co-founder and acclaimed solo artist delivers his first album in umpteen years (well, since 2008’s 26 Letters 12 Notes), Future’s Past a collection of old, and sometimes antique material from across the singer, songwriter, and guitarist’s five-decades-long (and counting) career. The thread that ties this disparate group of eight songs (only eight?) together is that Mason either had a hand in penning them (most with Traffic bandmates Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi) or wrote them himself, the lone stand-outs being the obligatory Robert Johnson song and a cover of “Good 2 U” by Common Sense’s Nick Hernandez that Mason recorded on his previous album as well. While Future’s Past isn’t going to set the charts on fire, it’s a pretty good album overall. Of course, some of this material has withstood the test of time, Mason’s reading of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” building upon the original – less busy, perhaps, but with a more soulful tint to the performance, less proggy and more of a deep groove, with Joe Bonamassa adding a bit of six-string texture.

Mason’s “World In Changes,” from his 1970 debut album, is provided a languid reggae rhythm to go with his stuttered vocals, while “As Sad and Deep As You” offers some beautiful, exotic Spanish guitar and a classic rock vibe wide enough to drive a semi through. Johnson’s “Come On In My Kitchen” is modernized somewhat, but the Delta-bred hoodoo still shines through, and Mason’s vocals and fretwork alike are joyfully spot-on, supported by Bob Corritore’s wailing harmonica. The album’s only new track, “That’s Freedom,” is a brilliant rocker, an old hippie’s lament if you will with clever pop culture references and a dark underlying message. Mason’s voice hasn’t changed much since the 1960s, and it’s still the warm instrument it’s always been throughout the songs on Future’s Past. It’s Mason’s guitar that speaks the loudest here – bluesy, complex, invigorating, and imaginative. His fretwork has always been Mason’s most overlooked attribute, coming up as he did in an era that can boast of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, et al. As shown by Future’s Past, Mason can still ride with the best of ‘em. Grade: B+ (Something Music, released May 13, 2014)

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Real Gone Releases Dave Mason Anthology

British singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dave Mason is one of those underrated artists whose best solo efforts definitely brightened up the decade of the 1970s. A founding member of ‘60s-era prog-rock trailblazers Traffic, Mason contributed to Traffic’s first two albums and would later tour with the band. After performing on recordings by Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and George Harrison, Mason launched his solo career in earnest with 1970s Alone Together album. After releasing a pair of albums, as well as a collaboration with singer “Mama” Cass Elliot, Mason signed with Columbia Records for 1973’s It’s Like You Never Left. Mason enjoyed a productive and commercially-successful tenure with the label, chalking up seven straight charting albums for Columbia between 1973 and 1980.

On March 11th, 2016 Real Gone Music will release Mason’s The Columbia Years – The Definitive Anthology, a two-disc set featuring 30 songs taken from the seven albums Mason recorded for the label. Mason’s critically-acclaimed Columbia albums included titles like the aforementioned It’s Like You Never Left, a self-titled 1974 recording, Split Coconut (1975), Certified Live (1976), Let It Flow (1977), Mariposa De Oro (1978), and Old Crest On A New Wave (1980). These albums yielded such FM radio staples as “We Just Disagree,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Let It Go, Let It Flow,” and “Headkeeper” as well as live versions of earlier Mason songs like “Feelin’ Alright” and “Only You Know and I Know.”

The anthology includes liner notes by writer Bill Kopp taken from an exclusive new interview with Mason, and the album was re-mastered by Maria Triana at Sony’s Battery Studios. The Columbia Years will place Mason’s career in proper perspective and offer fans a solid collection of some of the artist’s best solo work.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Dave Mason's The Columbia Years - The Definitive Anthology