Dave Mason will release his memoir, Only You Know and I Know, on Tuesday, and of course a portion of the book is devoted to his time in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Traffic, alongside Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood.
Mason had a rather disjointed tenure with Traffic, leaving after their 1967 debut album, Mr. Fantasy, only to rejoin them in 1968 and then get fired after a few months. But despite all the ups and downs, Mason tells ABC Audio he can still take something positive from his time with the group.
“I don’t forget, but at the same time, I’m not going to carry lingering resentment and hate and stuff. It’s not worth it,” he shares. “What transcends all those personal differences and bulls*** and whatever is the music.”
Mason says his firing was particularly hard because he enjoys the collaboration that comes with being in a band, but in the end, some musical personalities just don’t work well together.
“You know, differences combine to form beauty and so the differences are what made things great,” he says, “but the differences unfortunately drove it apart.”
Mason left Traffic for good after a brief return in 1971. Other than Mason, Winwood is the only surviving original member of the band. While Mason says he’d be open to a reunion, it’s not going to happen because of Winwood.
“It’s unfortunate that Steve Winwood can’t get together with me and go out and make one sort of last performance of Traffic,” he says, adding that despite their differences he’s more than willing to do it.
“I’m just open to doing it,” he says. “You know, we don’t even have to talk, you just have to get onstage for an hour and a half.”
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