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Let me open by offering apologies for last week-end. A couple of hours before Canteen time we had a massive freak storm here on the ridge with wind gusts to 75 and 80 mph. I lost power (along with most of WV, Ohio, VA and KY) for just over 4 days and had quite the adventure in living "off the grid" and I suppose a dress rehearsal for Armeggedon, but I missed ya much and felt bad that I couldn't get in touch with the Canteen or my fellow Dee-Jays. Even the cell service was sporadic for most of the weekend and I stayed busy trying to preserve frozen foods and walking the perimeter (armed of course), clearing downed trees, rebuilding my vinyard trellis and trying to save my corn which was laid low. All-in-all I'm not much worse for wear, I learned some important lessons about holes in my preps and disaster assistance as friends and neighbors pulled together. I got to use my propane camp stove and break-in my lanterns. By Sunday afternoon I had moved all my various freezers contents to my church in Ohio and had minimal spoilage. God blessed me once again buckaroos with yet another wake-up call and that is my testimony and I'm stickin' to it.

This week (Lord willin') I'm featuring a true icon in popular music although he's often overlooked. Since the early 60's he's be making his mark on multiple genres of music and before I'm done I hope everyone finds something they can cherish in his massive portfolio.

Stephen Lawrence "Stevie" Winwood was born 12 May 1948, in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. Stevie began as a choirboy at St John's Church in Perry Barr, England and it was there that he first encountered an organ and taught himself to play. At the age of eight he began performing with his father (Lawrence Winwood) and older brother Muff in the Ron Atkinson Band in pubs and music halls. From an early age he played drums, guitar and keyboards and excelled at each, but, it was his distinctive soulful vocal abilities that set him apart from his peers and led to a professional music career.

While he was still young, the family moved from Handsworth to the semi-rural suburb of Kingstanding at the northern edge of the city. Winwood was living on Atlantic Road in Great Barr, close to the Birmingham music halls where he was encouraged to play. Even as a pupil at the Great Barr School, before his teen-age years, Winwood was a part of the Birmingham rhythm and blues scene, playing the Hammond B-3 organ and guitar, backing blues singers and pop singers such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, Sonny Boy Williamson, Eddie Boyd, Otis Spann, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley on their United Kingdom tours. The custom at that time was for US singers to travel solo and hire pickup bands and this allowed young Steve to establish himself as a sought-after sideman despite his youth. Young Winwood modelled himself on his idol, Ray Charles, and despite his excellence on most any stringed or percussion instrument, it was that fat, soulful Hammond B-3 organ that became his stock-in-trade.

At the age of 14, Winwood joined the Spencer Davis Group, along with his older brother Muff, who later had success as a record producer. Steve's distinctive high tenor singing voice and vocal style drew comparisons to Ray Charles and Jackie Wilson and led the Spencer Davis Group to success. The first known recording of Steve is this James Bracken; John Lee Hooker cover which he sings and plays guitar on in early 1964:

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~ The Spencer Davis Group ~