Old Enough to Forget

I'd never heard of Delaney and Bonnie until relatively recently. It was like they didn't exist, and then one day they did. Their names would pop up in articles and they would be name dropped by other musicians who were a big deal in the early '70s. It makes sense that they flew on the periphery of my musical radar as they were only active for a couple of years (1969 - 1970) and their recorded output actually outlived the band. I found a stained copy (I hope that's coffee) of the record in a box of records my buddy Paul was getting rid of. The vinyl was in surprisingly good shape. My gain, his loss. More than he knows. On Tour With Eric Clapton was recorded in 1969 in England, with at least one song recorded in Croydon, and by all accounts is the duo's crowning achievement, capturing them with an all-star cast of supporting musicians. Delaney & Bonnie had great friends. This would be their best selling album and it would be certified gold in the US. Who were the...

All I really knew about Dave Mason was that he’d been a member of Traffic, rode that association into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Class of 2004), and had a hit in ’77 with “We Just Disagree” - a song I liked, and still like. News about Dave's death showed up on various sites back in April, and honestly, I realized I’d had him confused for years. Never having been much of a Traffic fan - beyond the songs I’d heard on the radio - and only really knowing that one hit, Dave Mason was mostly just a name to me. Somewhere along the way I’d gotten my internal wires crossed and convinced myself he was Graham Parker ... and to make things worse, I’d somehow also thought Graham Parker was actually Gram Parsons. I'd like to say this is an example of The Mandela Effect, but honestly, it’s just kind of par for how my brain works. Over the years, I've been able to craft and populate whole histories based on a simple misconception that, over time, becomes a foundational support to an o...