Saturday, December 15, 2018

Dear Mr. Fantasy



Because this is an uplifting family blog, here's Mr. Fantasy. Good work, Traffic. My dad, rest in peace, used to call Winwood "Stevie Boy," and got him to help out with the Mass music from time to time. Quite a thing in a small church in 'Nam; that'd be Cheltenham, obviously.

I visited "Stevie Boy's" recording studio in the Cotswolds, it was like a spaceship. No kidding.

BTW, Arc of a Diver is rubbish. Sorry.

Rollright,

LSP

6 comments:

RHT447 said...

Do tell. He is one of my favorite artists. Not everything he has done, but I really like "The Finer Things" and "Don't you know what the night can do?", among others.

LSP said...

It's an interesting story, RHT. My dad, who was an Anglican priest in England at the time, held a requiem for Brian Jones(!) and invited all kinds of musicians. Winwood or "Stevie Boy" was one of the people who turned up and they struck up a friendship.

Winwood would visit the vicarage, he didn't live that far away, and went on to play the organ a few time at Mass. It was neat and I got to visit his studio, which seemed incredibly space age to me.

I was a theology student in London at the time and wanted to be a rock star. Winwood told a friend that he was jealous and wished he was studying theology. Of course I never became a rock star and Winwood isn't a theologian, but I like to reflect on the curiousness of it all.

The last time my dad met him was at a concert in Dallas about a decade ago; Winwood was backed up by Tom Petty. The Old Man didn't think much of that and told "Stevie" backstage that he was much better than "that other singer"!

So there it is. I wish now that I'd been more mature and gotten to know him, but I was an idiot kid...

Anonymous said...

"Of course I never became a rock star and Winwood isn't a theologian,..."

I think that some of us don't necessarily get to go where we think we want. However, we seem to wind up where we are needed. Therein lies the blessing, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time.

Here is one of my favorite artists telling a funny backstage story--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2KoIWEAdaM

A younger Leo. Enjoy--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEWH2Sc39FI

LSP said...

What great links, Anon! And of course you're right, therein lies the blessing and I'm not complaining.

RHT447 said...

Apologies if I forgot to ID myself. Anon above is me.

LSP said...

I thought it might be. No worries.