In Musical Memory - July 12th: Chris Wood (Traffic)

in music •  8 years ago 

1200px-Chris_Wood_-_Traffic_-_1974.jpg

As a lover of music I'm dedicating one post per day for the next year to some of the great passed away musicians who have given me so much joy over the years.

Starting today with Chris Wood, who died of Pneumonia aged just 39 this day in 1983.

He was the sax and flute player for one of my favourite bands, Traffic, fronted by the brilliant Steve winwood.

Chris was a brummie (someone from Birmingham) and spent his short life engaged in music. He is credited as one of the writers of arguably the best Traffic song, the luscious Dear Mr Fantasy, which drips with a strange psychedelic drawl. I used to love getting high to this track in my old flat in Sheffield.

So, raising a glass to Chris. And here for your delight is him with the band playing this amazing tune....

Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy:

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  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Argh, Chris didn't die of pneumonia, it was organ failure. I worked with the Chris Wood estate and in making the recent Evening Blue limited edition box set, one of the goals was to get the facts right about Chris, including all the mad stuff on Wikipedia. We've tried to alter it 18 times now, but a fan got it wrong on a another website, which Wikipedia have taken as gospel, its been set in stone as the truth, but it ain't.

Thanks @jaygould for setting this correct. Unfortunately, I took much of the info from Wikipedia, which although often a great source is occasionally full of incorrect material. Thanks mate.

Nice post

Cheers man. Music is one of my great loves. I play a lot of instruments and most of my old heroes have shuffled off to the great gig in the sky.

wow....such a rare gem. "one of the writers of arguably the best Traffic song", yet died at 39. I shall follow up your posts, hopefully I can pick up interest in music.

Cool. I once had what was the largest record collection of anyone I knew (over 6000 vinyl albums). Almost all of them were stolen. Long story. Then digital came along and whatever people think of Spotify, it's allowed me to reconnect with some great old music again.