Feelin' Alright No More - Remembering Dave Mason
In this heartfelt tribute episode, The Trout dives deep into the life and music of rock legend **Dave Mason**, the co-founder of Traffic who passed away on April 19, 2026 at age 79. From his early days writing classics like “Feelin’ Alright” and “Hole in My Shoe” to his massive solo hit “We Just Disagree,” Mason’s career spanned decades of unforgettable rock ‘n’ roll.
The episode explores how Dave Mason performed with many famous musicians, including playing acoustic guitar on Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower,” contributing to the Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man,” adding lead guitar to Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Listen to What the Man Said,” and appearing on George Harrison’s *All Things Must Pass*. The show also covers his collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, and many more.
Blending biggest hits, wild stories, personal struggles, his eco-friendly guitar venture, and veteran charity work, this episode paints a complete portrait of a true unsung hero of classic rock. Perfect for longtime fans and new listeners alike, it’s a must-hear celebration of a musician whose songs still fill the airwaves today.
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Feelin’ Alright No More - Remembering Dave Mason
Hey everybody, this is the Trout once again here with an episode of Vinyl or Viral here on the Trout Show. You're going to put your thinking caps on early right here at the beginning of the show because I'm going to play you four different songs from four different artists and your job is to figure out what they all have in common. It's not going to be easy, especially if you're under the age of, I would say, maybe 55 or 60.
But if you think hard, you'll get them. And that quiz is coming up next on the Trout Show. Okay, are you ready? I'm ready.
Four different songs from four different artists. All of them have one thing in common. So here we go.
Everywhere I hear the sound of the Trout, I hear the sound of the Trout. Okay, there you go. Four different songs from four different artists that have all one thing in common.
Well, the first thing you probably think, well, they were all famous musicians like Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney. They're all mega stars in their time. But that's not the thread I'm looking for.
Because the thread is, one musician performed on all four of those songs that became huge popular hits. You're saying to yourself, who could that be? Who is that guy that did all this and helped write these songs or whatever? Well, his name, Dave Mason. Unfortunately, Dave just passed away.
And his history is something that a lot of people don't know about. Because the fact that he was so famous in the 70s and 60s, people may not even know why he was famous. Great songs he wrote.
He was in a band called Traffic, which was a very big, important band in the 60s and the 70s. They had albums like John Barleycorn Must Die. He wrote some wonderfully famous tunes that other people made famous, like Joe Cocker, when he did a remake of Feeling Alright.
Now, I have to admit that I didn't follow Dave Mason's career that much, but I knew about his history. And as I said, if you're a baby boomer, you probably remember the songs that Dave wrote and what he was involved in. I think it's up to me to tell you why it's important that we should remember a great artist like Dave.
Now, if you're not a baby boomer, you probably don't even know who Dave Mason was and may not even care. But we know because we remember his songs that he performed. He was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist who was born in 1946 and just recently passed away.
He co-founded the legendary band Traffic in 1967 with some other fine and talented artists like Steve Wynwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood. He left Traffic in 1969 for a solo career in the U.S. where he garnered a few gold albums. Now, us baby boomers know what a gold record is, but it was a big deal back then.
They don't have them anymore. And in 1977, he had his biggest hit, which was We Just Disagree. And as I said earlier, he played acoustic guitar, well, I didn't tell you this, but he played acoustic guitar on Jimi Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower and worked with other artists like the Stones, Harrison, and McCartney.
The song We Just Disagree peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and I remember this became a classic radio staple. I mean, it was on all the time because it was such a great tune. Other solo tracks that he did was Let It Go, Let It Flow, Only You Know, and I Know.
I love that tune, by the way, Only You Know, and I Know, and Show Me Some Affection. With Traffic, he wrote and sang Feeling Alright, which Joe Cocker turned it into an even bigger anthem, and I want to tell you, if you've not heard the version of Feeling Alright with Tedeschi Trucks and Dave Mason singing it live, it's killer. Go to YouTube after you get through listening to this episode and find it, and believe me, you will not be disappointed.
What a great tune. You know, Dave had some wild collaborations with other artists. He was briefly an early member of Derek and the Dominoes with Eric Clapton.
He recorded a full album with Mama Cass Elliot, you know, the mamas and papas. Stevie Wonder played harmonic on Mason's track The Lonely One after they met in the studio hallway. That's the way things work in the music world.
Michael Jackson sang backup on one of Mason's solo tracks called Save Me, and during the pandemic, he put together a star-studded remote version of Feeling Alright with Mick Fleetwood, Sammy Hagar, and members of the Doobie Brothers. In 2003, Dave teamed up with a company called RKS Design to create RKS Guitars, which was the first truly sustainable electric guitar. They used injection-molded shells from echo-friendly materials instead of rare woods.
Dave helped design it so it would sound great, felt comfortable, and you could even swap out the body shells to change the look. In 2015, Dave co-founded Rock Our Vets with his friend Ted Knapp, a 100% volunteer nonprofit that helps homeless vets with food, clothing, laptops for schools or jobs, wheelchairs, music therapy programs, and suicide prevention. They also support families of fallen first responders.
Dave was married four times, divorced three, went bankrupt twice, and unfortunately had the tragic loss of his son to drugs. He was very open about it, and he talked about it in his memoir called Only You Know and I Know in 2024. Dave passed away peacefully on April 19, 2026, at the age of 79 in his Nevada home.
According to his family, he had just cooked an amazing dinner with his beloved wife, Winifred, then napped in his favorite chair with his Maldives dog at his feet and just fell asleep. Some people would describe that as a storybook ending. That's a little bit about Dave Mason.
He's another great artist that we've lost to time, but we've got his music to remember him by. Dave Mason, rest in peace my friend. Well, that's it for this episode of The Trout Show.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed listening about the life and times of Mr. Dave Mason, a tremendously great talent, and we thank him for leaving us with a catalog of music that I will never forget. For more information about The Trout Show, just go to my website, thetroutshow.com. You can find everything you need there, including all my music podcasts and everything.
So until next time, people, you know what I always say. It's only rock and roll, but I love it. See ya.
Thank you for listening www.TheTroutShow.com
