Customer Reviews

Definitive Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This excellent collection contains the bulk of dave mason's"blue thumb"recordings from the early 70's,gloriously remastered.At this time,Mason had just left Traffic and his songwriting would never quite reach such highs again.Tunes like"only you know and i know"and"shouldn't have took more than you gave"are now not only classics cuts,but more importantly,show that mason could balance his rocker mentality with more singer songwriter ambitions.A balance he later would have a hard time striking.His backing band on most of these recordings is the superb bonnie and delaney band which included leon russell and what was to become the rhythm section of derek and the dominos.The second half of the cd contains a prime live recording,from the troubadour(1971)in L.A.,where mason not only gives impressive renditions of his solo work but surprisingly tackles two old traffic tunes,"pearly queen"and"feeling alright".Sadly dave mason has been passed over in the annals of rock history but this cd proves that his early work is on par with anyone's of that era and is certainly a must have for any serious fan of classic rock.

I just want to say, if you like Dave Mason; you will enjoy this CD. His songs are when he was with traffic, but they also follow his solo year. It's hard to put more songs on just one CD. It's a must!!! P.S. I also enjoy Daves 2 DVD.

Way back in 1977, I'm in my early teens and I'm an incoming 2nd year high school student. On the first day of the class, our teacher told us to get a ¼ piece of paper and had to jot down our names and something about us. `Know what I did? I wrote my name as "Dave Mason Zappa". This refers to Dave Mason and Frank Zappa of course, because they are two of my earlier favorite and true rock heroes in foreign music. Until now my close friends in high school call me "Dave". You might ask why would I want to be called Dave when in fact my real name is "Dan". It's because he is one of the most essentially acclaimed musicians to date and a co-founder of rock super-group Traffic. He is a guitarist, singer and a songwriter.
Although I'm a Filipino, I grew up listening to foreign music and that includes Dave Mason. But that doesn't mean I don't listen to our very own music. I love them too! I can still recall that Traffic's albums and Dave Mason's albums are always being played at Sunday Rock Jam in DZRJ 780 khz (a rock station in Philippines a.k.a., The Rock Of Manila, during the 70s). Oh man, it reminds me of my teens!
Anyways, let's get back to the CD. It consist of 18 songs. All beautifully composed and written by Dave Mason except "All Along The Watchtower" which is composed by Bob Dylan and "Look At You, Look At Me" a collaboration between Dave and Jim Capaldi. The songs "Look At You, Look At Me", "World In Changes" and "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave" alone will thrill you and will love his songs. Actually, these particular songs are some of the many rock songs that I love and considers to be some of the best of all times.
Listen and you'll know why! Play it loud or play it louder!
For now buy the CD and you'll thank me in the end.

Once in a while there comes a definite collection worth of it's name , and this is one of them . Talented singer , guitar player , songwriter . You can hear he's best in this cd . Worth the wait ... Love It ...

Well, it's a good overview disc of Mr. Mason's earlier solo material, but it's hardly definitive. Plus, a good chunk of this disc is simply the bulk of the Alone Together album. If you have that one record you've duplicated almost half of this one. There are three songs from his days in Traffic but they seem selected more for their ability to fit on the disc than for their superiority in the canon. (not to say they aren't good songs- they are- but not the best.) If you don't have any Dave Mason recordings this is a fine place to discover him. There is lots to enjoy and ponder. If you are a musician some of this album is required listening. If you really dig it you should move on to some of his later records like Let It Flow. Dave Mason continued to make excellent records with hits on them after the time that this disc chronicles. If you just want a nice overview of the most likely Dave Mason songs to turn up on classic rock radio this is a great one.

What can I say...it's Dave Mason. Looks like Dave Mason, sounds like Dave Mason, perfect.

We had been looking for this CD a long time. It has exactly the collection we wanted.