Throughout his 60-year career, guitarist Dave Mason played on dozens of celebrated recordings and with many of classic rock’s biggest names. After getting his start in 1967 as a member of Traffic — alongside Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood — Mason pursued a solo career that saw him work on All Things Must Pass by George Harrison, with Paul McCartney and Wings on their first number one (“Listen to What the Man Said”), and in Fleetwood Mac, where he filled in from 1993 to 1995 as lead guitarist and vocalist during a post-Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks era.
Mason — who died on April 19, 2026, at the age of 79 — saw less fame on his own, despite his talents as a guitarist, singer and songwriter, but what success he had continues to shine through the years. His sole solo hit, 1977’s “We Just Disagree” (written by Jim Krueger), remains a favorite on classic rock radio.
For that matter, two of his songs became longstanding hits in the hands of other artists: “Only You Know and I Know” became a signature song for Delaney & Bonnie, while “Feelin’ Alright?” became a signature hit for Joe Cocker after it failed to catch fire for Traffic.
Indeed, Mason was something of a musical Zelig, using his myriad talents to accommodate the more famous artists in whose company he found himself. As a member of Delaney & Bonnie’s troupe in 1970, he found himself enlisted in the original incarnation of Derek and the Dominos, formed by Eric Clapton and other members of the Bramletts’ band. But after performing at the group’s debut gig, he declined to go any further due to drug use by both Clapton and drummer Jim Gordon.
“I knew all the guys and we worked well together. But unbeknownst to me, the problem was that Jim Gordon got Eric into heroin and things just bogged down,” he told Guitar Player in 2024. “That was the problem for me, so I just went, ‘You know, guys, I’m out.’
“I’ve never touched the stuff and I didn’t want to be around it. I was never into that laid-back junkie mentality, though it took me a long time and many people to understand what they were up to. My habit was the other way — stimulants. Like, ‘Let’s get going!’”
Mason was also in the room during the making of two Jimi Hendrix albums: Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland.
“I got to know Hendrix a bit when he was becoming a sensation in London,” Mason told Guitar Player. “You have to understand that in England in the ’60s, unlike America, everybody was all in one place: London.
I got to know Hendrix a bit when he was becoming a sensation in London. Everybody ran into everybody in a manner that would be hard to understand if you weren’t there.”
— Dave Mason
“There were just four or five studios where we all worked, and three or four after-hours clubs where we hung out. So everybody ran into everybody in a manner that would be hard to understand if you weren’t there.”
As Hendrix manager Chas Chandler told Guitar World in 1992, the guitarist began hanging out steadily with Mason around the time he recorded Axis: Bold as Love in 1967.
“Traffic guitarist Dave Mason came to a lot of our sessions,” Chandler recalled. “One time he brought a sitar, which Hendrix picked up to play. After trying a song, Hendrix put it down and said, ‘That’s the last goddamn time I play that instrument.’ He was awful.”
Mason showed up in Hendrix’s world again during the recording of “All Along the Watchtower,” from 1968’s Electric Ladyland. Mason seemed to be in his element as a behind-the-scenes helper. According to the 1992 Guitar World article, he even chauffeured second engineer Andy Johns to his flat in south London to retrieve the 12-string guitar used on the track.
Jimi kept screaming at him, ‘Get it right,’ because he couldn’t remember the changes.”
— Eddie Kramer
Mason played the 12-string on “All Along the Watchtower,” accompanied by Hendrix on a six-string acoustic and — as Mason reportedly said — “a pound of reverb.” Their accented rhythm pattern is the driving force behind the song, but engineer Eddie Kramer said it stymied Mason, who couldn’t determine when to change chords in the unusual rhythm pattern.
“Jimi kept screaming at him, ‘Get it right,’ because he couldn’t remember the changes,” Kramer told Guitar World in 1985.
Mason, ever helpful, stuck with Hendrix through the session.
“It took me 10 or 11 takes to get the timing on the intro right, and Jimi easily could have just done it,” he explained to Guitar Player. “I stayed and watched the whole session, with him putting bass and electric guitar on the track, and it was one of the most incredible, inspiring musical experiences I’ve ever had. Absolutely inspiring to watch him work.”
When bassist Noel Redding stormed out, exhausted by Hendrix’s perfectionist ways, Mason took over on bass, although Hendrix eventually overdubbed his own part.
Mason was content to play behind the scenes and remained clear-eyed and appreciative when it came to his role in music. “I’m kind of the Forrest Gump of rock,” Mason told USA Today in 2024.
The guitarist took a break from touring that year after the discovery of a serious but undisclosed heart ailment. His death was, reportedly, peaceful — Mason is said to have passed away in his chair after cooking dinner with his wife.
He wrote about his life and work in his memoir, Only You Know & I Know, and made the uncommon decision to include comments from his friends and collaborators — further evidence of his ability to work with others in pursuit of excellence.
“Originally I was going to let all the ex-wives say whatever they want. I thought that would have been fun,” Mason joked. “But then I thought the people who have been significant in my life, I wanted to get their take from another point of view.”
