Muff Winwood

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Muff Winwood
Muff Winwood (on left) playing bass guitar in Amsterdam, 1966
Muff Winwood (on left) playing bass guitar in Amsterdam, 1966
Background information
Birth nameMervyn Winwood
Born (1943-06-15) 15 June 1943 (age 78)
Erdington, Birmingham, England
GenresRock, pop
Associated actsSpencer Davis Group
Steve Winwood
Dire Straits

Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943, Erdington, Birmingham, England) is a British songwriter and record producer, and the older brother of Steve Winwood. Both were formerly members of the Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff Winwood played bass guitar.[1] Following his departure from the group he became an A&R man and record producer.

Early life[]

Winwood's father, Lawrence, was a foundryman by trade, who also played tenor saxophone in dance bands and had a collection of jazz and blues records. Winwood attended Cranbourne Road Primary School and the new Great Barr School (one of the first comprehensive schools) and was a choir boy at St John's Church in the Perry Barr neighborhood of Birmingham. He first became interested in the guitar, then the bass. He was nicknamed "Muff" after the popular 1950's children's TV character Muffin the Mule.[2]

His younger brother is Steve Winwood.

The Spencer Davis Group[]

Main article: The Spencer Davis Group

The Spencer Davis Group was formed after Davis saw the Winwood brothers at a Birmingham pub called the Golden Eagle, performing as the Muff Woody Jazz Band.[3] The Group made their debut at the Eagle and subsequently had a Monday-night residency there.[4]

Record producer[]

After leaving the Spencer Davis Group in 1967, Winwood moved within the music industry to a position as A&R man at Island Records.[1] He was there until 1978, when he became an executive at the British office of CBS Records (which later became Sony Music), where he remained until well into the 1990s.[5] As part of his A&R duties, Winwood signed Prefab Sprout, Terence Trent D'Arby, Sade, Shakin' Stevens and The Psychedelic Furs amongst others.[1]

He produced the first Dire Straits album, Dire Straits (1978).[1] Besides Dire Straits, Winwood had earlier produced the hit album, Kimono My House (1974), and accompanying hit singles, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" and "Amateur Hour" for Sparks.[1] He also produced their other 1974 album, Propaganda (which included the "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" single).

His other work included production with The Fabulous Poodles, Marianne Faithfull, Nirvana (the UK band), Sutherland Brothers ("Sailing"), Traffic, Mott the Hoople, Love Affair, Kevin Ayers, Patto, ,[6] After the Fire and The Noel Redding Band.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Kurutz, Steve. Biography of Muff Winwood at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  2. ^ "Steve Winwood Fans' Site: Mojo Magazine". Winwoodfans.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  3. ^ Lockley, Mike (17 July 2016). "Will legendary Spencer Davis Group reunite for one last gig in Birmingham?". birminghammail. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Spencer Davis Group / 1965 / Smallbrook Queensway". Havill & Travis. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  5. ^ Billboard - Google Books. 22 May 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  6. ^ Official site for Unicorn

External links[]

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