Derek and the Dominos – "Tell the Truth" (1970)

Hear what I say, ’cause every word is true

You know I wouldn’t tell you no lies

I’ve known for a long time that Dave Mason is a pretty big deal in the world of classic rock.

But it didn’t hit me until recently that Dave Mason’s a REALLY big deal in that world.

Dave Mason in 1970

Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake.

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Anyone who knows anything about the history of rock music knows that Dave Mason was a founding member of the sixties supergroup, Traffic.  He went on to have a successful solo career.  (Five of his solo albums went gold or platinum, and his 1977 single, “We Just Disagree,” was a big radio hit.)

But let’s see how much you really know about Dave Mason.

1.  True or false: Dave Mason was a close friend of Jimi Hendrix, and played 12-string guitar on “All Along the Watchtower” (which was Jimi’s highest-charting American single).

Dave Mason with Jimi Hendrix

2.  True or false: Dave Mason played the shehnai (an Indian reed instrument) on the Rolling Stones’ 1968 record, “Street Fighting Man.”

3.  True or false: Dave Mason and Eric Clapton toured with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, and performed on their classic live album, On Tour with Eric Clapton.

4.  True or false: Dave Mason recorded an album with Mama Cass Elliott that was released in 1971.

5.  True or false: Dave Mason played guitar (along with Eric Clapton and George Harrison) on “Beware of Darkness” – the best song on Harrison’s hugely popular solo album, All Things Must Pass.  

6.  True or false: Dave Mason wrote the song “Feelin’ Alright” for Traffic, which has been covered by (among others) Three Dog Night, the Jackson 5, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Grand Funk Railroad, Isaac Hayes, Lulu, Lou Rawls, Rare Earth, and – most famously – Joe Cocker.

7.  True or false: Dave Mason was an original member of Derek and the Dominoes.

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Time’s up, boys and girls – put those pencils down!

Here are the correct answers:

1. True

2. True

3. True

4. True

5. True

6. True

7. True

So how did you do?

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A few days ago, I saw the Dave Mason Band open for Hot Tuna at the Warner Theatre in downtown Washington, DC.

I had a great seat thanks to my friend Tony Patler, who has been Mason’s keyboards guy since 2009.  (Tony is an accomplished and versatile keyboard player who toured and/or recorded with Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, Michael McDonald, George Michael, and many others before hooking up with Mason.)

Dave Mason and Tony Patler

I’ve seen Mason’s band perform a couple of other times, but I had forgotten what a virtuoso guitarist Mason is.  I think of him mostly as a singer and songwriter, but you’ve got to be a pretty good guitar player if guys like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and George Harrison ask you to play on their records.

The only thing about the concert that was a bit off-putting was how old my fellow audience members were.

Many of them were not only old, but badly dressed:

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“Tell the Truth” is my favorite song from the one and only Derek and the Dominos album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.  

What you may not know is that the version of “Tell the Truth” that is included in that album isn’t the original Derek and the Dominos recording of that song.  

In June 1970, the band – which included Dave Mason – played “Tell the Truth” at its first concert, which took place in London.  A few days later, the song became the first one that Derek and Dominos ever recorded.  

The band was unhappy with that version of the song – which Phil Spector had produced – and decided to re-record “Tell the Truth” for the Layla album.  By then, Dave Mason was no longer part of Derek and the Dominoes.

The “Tell the Truth”single

But someone forgot to tell the band’s American record company, Atco Records, which released the original version as a single in the U.S. just two weeks after the new version was recorded.  (Atco quickly pulled the single.)

Click here to listen to the original Derek and the Dominos recording of “Tell the Truth,” which features Dave Mason on guitar. 

You can click below if you’d like to buy that version of the song from Amazon:

Dave Mason – "We Just Disagree" (1977)

There's only you and me

And we just disagree

We Americans disagree on a lot of things.

But it may surprise you to learn that one of the things we don’t really disagree on is whether statues of Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson and others who fought on the side of the Confederate States of America in the Civil War should be removed.

According to a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist University poll, 62% of Americans believe statues honoring leaders of the Confederacy should remain as historical symbols, while only 27% believe they should be removed because they are offensive to some people.  (The other 11% are unsure.)

That’s a very wide margin – better than two to one.

Contrary to what you might expect, the numbers are pretty much the same no matter how you slice and dice the poll respondents.

It doesn’t matter much whether you’re a man or a woman, you’re old or young, you live in the South or the Northeast, you make more or less than $50,000 a year, and you graduated from college or you didn’t: the odds are roughly two to one that you oppose the removal of Confederate statues.

According to the NPR/PBS poll, 63% of males, 61% of females, 66% of those aged 60 and older, 60% of those aged 18 to 29, 66% of Southerners, 53% of those who live in the Northeast, 65% of those whose annual income is less than $50,000, 57% of those whose annual income is more than $50,000, 68% of those who didn’t graduate from college, and 54% of those who are college graduates oppose the removal of Confederate statues.  

A mob in Durham, NC, vandalizing
a statue of a Confederate soldier

Only 26% of males, 28% of females, 23% of those aged 60 and older, 30% of those aged 18 to 29, 23% of Southerners, 33% of those who live in the Northeast, 24% of those whose annual income is less than $50,000, 32% of those whose annual income is more than $50,000, 22% of those who didn’t graduate from college, and 34% of those who are college graduates want to get rid of Confederate statues. 

Surprisingly, even a majority of African-Americans support keeping the statues where they are – albeit by a narrow margin (44% to 40%).  

What groups favor tearing down Confederate statues?  Only “strong” Democrats  and those who describe themselves as liberal or very liberal.  It’s no surprise that Republicans and conservatives feel just the opposite – but so do “soft” Democrats and independents and those who call themselves  “moderates.”  (Moderates oppose removal of the statues by an overwhelming 67% to 24% margin.)

Click here if you’d like to see all the poll numbers. 

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Given the broad public support for leaving statues honoring Confederate soldiers alone, why are they  disappearing faster than you can say “Jack Robinson”?

I can’t answer that question.  But the handwriting seems to be on the wall.  

Baltimore workers removing a statue
honoring Confederate women

The real question isn’t whether statues of Robert E. Lee, “Stonewall” Jackson, and other prominent Confederates are an endangered species – they clearly are – but where we draw the line between which  statues are hidden away and which statues are allowed to remain where they are.

2 or 3 lines is going to explore that question over the next week or two.  If you’ve already made up your mind and don’t want to be confused by the facts, feel free to avert your gaze from my wildly popular little blog until mid-September.

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“We Just Disagree” was the biggest single from Dave Mason’s Let It Flow album, which was released in 1977.  It reached #12 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

Here’s “We Just Disagree”:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

Dave Mason – "Shouldn't Have Took More than You Gave" (1970)

Shouldn't have took more than you gave

Then we wouldn't be in this mess today

I know we've all gone different ways

But the dues we’ve got to pay are still the same

A few weeks ago, 2 or 3 lines received the following e-mail from a young writer who had decided to follow Ralph Waldo Emerson's advice and “hitch his wagon to a star”:

Hi there,

As I'm sure you're busy, I'll try to be as brief as possible.  My name is Jason Gordon and I'm a young writer looking to make a name for myself.  I recently started a sports blog called USS Sports Machine with a group of like-minded (young aspiring writer) friends from college and am actively looking to grow my audience.

I think I can provide you with some great work at 2 or 3 lines and hope there is an opportunity for me to create some original work for you in a non-paid role.  I am always eager to expand my topical range and write about new things . . . .

I can write about absolutely anything and everything and would greatly appreciate the chance to work with you.

Jason Gordon

I am an extremely busy man, but I am never too busy to respond to someone who offers to provide free content for 2 or 3 lines.  (“Non-paid role” – how sweet the sound!)

Jason and I are obviously kindred spirits.  (I, too, believe that I can write about “absolutely anything and everything.”)  So I replied to his e-mail and invited him to pick a song, any song, and write something about it.

Click here to read Jason Gordon's blog

A few days later, Jason sent me his thoughts on my favorite Dave Mason song, “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave.”

Which was an odd coincidence . . . because I had spent the hour before I checked my e-mail and found Jason’s missive working on a post about a different Dave Mason song.

I was a little surprised that a young whippersnapper like Jason had picked such an old song to write about.

Jason Gordon

2 or 3 lines: “Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave" was released in 1970 -- long before you were born in 1992.  How do you even know about that song?

Jason:  My father was a huge Traffic fan, so I heard the song from him first.  I think Dave Mason is an incredible lyricist, and pay extra attention to songs he writes.

Dave Mason (wearing the hat) and Traffic

2 or 3 lines:  When my kids were younger, it never entered my mind that the music I listened to would have any influence on them.  But when my older son got married a few years ago, the song he chose for his first dance with his bride was “God Only Knows,” by the Beach Boys.  I listened to Pet Sounds a lot when he was growing up, and the songs from that album stuck with him.

Jason:  My earliest musical memory as a child was listening to the Grateful Dead and Phish while I was riding around in the back of my dad’s Saab convertible.  Both of my parents were musical, and had an extensive CD and record collection.  Maybe that’s why the music I listened to in high school – Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Pink Floyd, the Eagles – was definitely a little older than what my peers liked.  

2 or 3 lines: Do you play any instruments yourself?  

Jason:  I play drums, guitar, trumpet, and piano, and I like to think I have a knack for songwriting.  I never sang with any kind of organization because unfortunately I have a terrible voice.

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Dave Mason sacrificed grammar for meter when he wrote “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave,” which was released on Alone Together, his first solo album after leaving Traffic:

The "Alone Together" album cover

Here’s Jason Gordon’s take on that song: 

“Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave,” a song by Dave Mason – who is best known as one of the founders of the Hall of Fame sixties band, Traffic – is like an Aesop’s fable fed through a psychedelic filter.  

The composition is hazy, with progressive guitar licks dominating much of the track.  The drums are full-bodied and counterbalance the experimental sound of the guitar nicely.  Mason's singing possesses a hazy wonderment and tranquil aura that always puts me in a happy place.     

The song as a whole feels like an exercise in balancing long-standing morals about fairness while acknowledging the surreal nature of life.  Mason isn't delivering a diatribe to the listener; if it feels like he is, that impression is offset by the nimble guitar solos and groovy aesthetic that dominates the composition. 

It's a song that feels bound to Earth in terms of lyrical content, while simultaneously out-of-this-world in terms of instrumentation and musical arrangement.  However, it never feels like a tug-of-war, because Mason is able to pull off both elements.  

Listening, you feel bound to reality and understand the plight that he is talking about, but also are able to escape into the dreamy atmosphere he conjures up.  On repeated listens, the anticipation of the instrumental breakdowns makes for an even more satisfying experience; you really appreciate how much control Mason has over the whole affair.

Dave Mason then and now

Mason allots his words nicely, allowing for the impact of his lyricism to be felt rather than overstuffing the track with too many words and not enough meaning.  The opening lines [which are quoted at the beginning of this post] are the most powerful and set the tone of the song very well.

From the start, Mason is casting blame onto another person.  However, it's not entirely clear what the offense was.  This allows for different listeners to affix the meaning to different scenarios they themselves have gone through.  Mason also acknowledges how people take different routes in life, but ultimately, everyone has to follow the same general guidelines in life if we want to live together in harmony.

Many real-life lessons can be drawn from Mason's lyrics here.  If you stray off the beaten path, that is your absolute right.  However, too many people believe that the freedom to be unorthodox excuses you from responsibility.  You might think it's not cool to stay in school and choose to drop out.  However, by doing so, you may initiate a domino effect that will be detrimental to you and those around you.  Life is all about taking chances, but that comes with the understanding that if you take chances on certain things, it will likely come back to haunt you.

My favorite thing about “Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave” is that it imparts lessons without feeling like it is doing so.  It's like a wise friend who always has good advice, but who never delivers that advice in an overbearing manner.

Here’s “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave”:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

Dave Mason – "We Just Disagree" (1977)

There ain't no good guy

There ain't no bad guy

There's only you and me, and we just disagree

You learned from the previous 2 or 3 lines that I root for a small number of sports teams and root against a much larger number of teams.

If you think that’s irrational, you just don’t understand what it means to be a sports fan.

I’ve noticed over the years that the teams I root against tend to be remarkably lucky – they win many more games than they really should.  Mathematics tells us that while any single contest can be and often is decided by luck, no sports team can be consistently lucky.  But are you going to believe mathematics or are you going to believe me, especially when I’ve seen teams like the Red Sox and Redskins get lucky all the time with my own eyes?

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Two psychologists proved that being a sports fan does funny things to your brain way back in 1954. 

“They Saw a Game: A Case Study,” which published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, presents the findings of an experiment that was inspired by the 1951 football game between Dartmouth and the undefeated Princeton Tigers, whose star player was Dick Kazmeier, the last Ivy League football player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Dick Kazmaier, all-American

Before I tell you about that game and the psychological experiment it inspired, I want to tell you a little bit about the amazing Mr. Kazmaier.  

Dick Kazmaier was born in 1930 in Toledo, Ohio.  The 5-11, 155-pound Kazmaier lettered in football, basketball, baseball, track, and golf.  Devoting all that time and energy to sports hurt his classroom performance – he ranked only second in his graduating class.

Kazmaier was recruited by 23 colleges, eventually choosing Princeton.  He quarterbacked the Tigers to an undefeated season in 1951, leading the nation in rushing yards.  In addition to winning the Heisman Trophy, he was voted “Athlete of the Year” by the Associated Press.

Kazmaier was drafted by the Chicago Bears, but declined to play professionally.  Instead, he earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, spent three years in the Navy, and then founded an investment and financial consulting firm.  He chaired the President’s Council on Physical Fitness during the Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidencies, and later became the president of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

Kazmaier’s last college football game – the 1951 matchup with Dartmouth – was a very rough one.  He had to leave the game after he suffered a broken nose and a mild concussion in the second quarter.  (You know what a “mild” concussion is, don’t you?  It’s a concussion that someone else suffers.)  In the next quarter, the Dartmouth quarterback’s leg broken when he was tackled by Princeton. 

Kazmaier on the move

Each school’s student newspaper editorialized about dirty play by the other team, which inspired the psychologists to show a game film to groups of both Dartmouth and Princeton students.  

Are you surprised that the Princeton students who watched the film saw twice as many rules infractions by the Dartmouth team than the Princeton players?  By contrast, the Dartmouth students though both teams were guilty of about the same number of penalties.  (For what it’s worth, the referees called more penalties on Dartmouth than Princeton.)

Here’s how the psychologists interpreted their data:

Like any other complex social occurrence, a “football game” consists of a whole host of happenings.  Many different events are occurring simultaneously.  Furthermore, each happening is a link in a chain of happenings, so that one follows another in sequence.  The “football game,” as well as other complex social situations, consists of a whole matrix of events. . . .

In brief, the data here indicate that there is no such “thing” as a “game” existing “out there” in its own right which people merely “observe.” The “game” “exists” for a person and is experienced by him only in so far as certain happenings have significances in terms of his purpose.  Out of all the occurrences going on in the environment, a person selects those that have some significance for him from his own egocentric position in the total matrix.

In other words, a football game is actually many different games, each one of which is just as real to a particular observer as other versions are to other observers.

Kazmaier with his Heisman Trophy

That’s all well and good, but it still doesn’t explain why the Red Sox and Redskins and other teams I hate are so lucky.

Speaking of being lucky, Kazmaier – who died in 2013 – had six daughters.  

Click here to read “They Saw a Game: A Case Study” in its entirety.

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Dave Mason, who was one of the founders of Traffic, has recorded with Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie, Graham Nash, and many others.  

Mason, who is 70, is still touring.  He and his band (including my pal Tony Patler, Mason's fabulous keyboard player) are in Florida this week, and will be performing in France and the UK in February and March.

Here’s Mason’s solo hit “We Just Disagree,” which was released on the Let It Flow album in 1977.  It made it to #12 on the Billboard “Hot 100”

Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

Dave Mason -- "Feelin' Alright" (1968)

Don't get too lost in all I say

Though at the time I really felt that way

But that was then – now it's today

Dave Mason took the words right out of my mouth.  Actually, he didn't – but those lines sound like they could have been written about 2 or 3 lines.  

You should keep them in mind every time your read a post that is more than a day or two old.  At the time I wrote that post, I really felt that way.  But that was then – and now, of course, it's today.

Dave Mason in 1974

I wish I knew what Dave Mason had in mind when he wrote this song 40-plus years ago.  I guess I could have stood up in the middle of his recent show in Washington, DC, raised my hand, and asked him.

Or maybe I'll just ask my new friend Tony Patler – he's Mason's keyboard player – to ask ol' Dave what the lyrics mean.  Tony's the guy who comped me two free tickets to that Mason show.

I asked the hot (age-adjusted) French girlfriend to go to that show with me, but she let me down.  Comme c'est ça.  

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"Feelin' Alright" appeared on Traffic's eponymous second album, which was released in 1968.  Mason co-founded Traffic, but ended up becoming the odd man out.  

Dave Mason today

Traffic's first album, Mr. Fantasy, was somewhat schizophrenic.  It featured three songs written solely by Mason – he was the lead vocalist on all three – and half a dozen songs co-written by the band's other members (Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and – most of the time – Chris Wood).  Mason left the band after that album had been recorded.

He rejoined them in time to be part of Traffic's second album, The songwriting credits on that album were split almost evenly between Mason (who handled lead vocals on all of his songs) and Winwood-Capaldi – Winwood handled lead vocals on all those songs.  (Mason and Capaldi did team up to co-write one song.)  By the time that album hit the stores, Mason had left the group once more.

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"Feelin' Alright" is my favorite among the Mason songs on those two albums, and it has been covered a lot.  It was the first track on Three Dog Night's 1969 Suitable for Framing album, which I owned before I ever heard Traffic – so Three Dog Night's version is the one I first became familiar with.  (I played that album to death in high school.)

The 5th Dimension, Grand Funk Railroad, Lou Rawls, Rare Earth, the Ohio Players, and many others covered the song.  Click here to listen to a live version of "Feelin' Alright" on the soundtrack of the Jackson 5's TV special, Goin' Back to Indiana.

But the cover version that everyone remembers is Joe Cocker's.  Click here to see Cocker's performance of the song from the movie Mad Dogs and Englishman.  (He and Leon Russell make quite a pair.)

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Mason closed the live show I attended with "Feelin' Alright."  He made it clear that it was his song, not Joe Cocker's, although his band's arrangement of the song owed more to Cocker than to the original Traffic version.  (According to Mason, he wrote the song on the small Greek island of Hydra, where he lived on feta cheese and retsina for about ten days while visiting singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.)

The rest of the evening's performance was equally tight and satisfying.  Mason, Patler, et al., are old pros, and they know what they are doing when they take the stage.

Click here to listen to the original "Feelin' Alright."

Click here to buy a copy of that record from Amazon.