Dave Mason

Few rock guitarists and songwriters have been more widely admired by their peers than Traffic founder Dave Mason, born on May 10, 1946, in Worcester, England. Apart from writing Traffic's most recognizable songs, he played and recorded with most of the era's biggest names, including Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and George Harrison. After founding Traffic in 1967, he quit the band after their first album Mr. Fantasy in 1967, but rejoined the following year, writing much of the material for their self-titled second album, including "Feelin' Alright." They drifted apart again, though Dave Mason did tour with them once more in 1971. He made guest appearances with numerous other artists (playing on the Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet and Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland albums), was briefly a member of Derek And The Dominos and produced Family's debut album. However, Dave Mason's solo career began in 1970 with Alone Together, the first of a dozen albums under his own name, achieving his biggest success with "We Just Disagree," a hit single in 1977, from the album Let It Flow. In the 1990s he briefly joined Fleetwood Mac playing on their Time album (1995), resuming his solo career with the 26 Letters - 12 Notes album in 2008. Over the following decades, the British musician continued performing live and recording, putting out well-received albums such as Future's Past (2014), Alone Together, Again (2020), and A Shade of Blues (2025), which featured contributions from Joe Bonamassa, Michael McDonald, and Mike Finnigan.