Al Kooper, by rights, should be regarded as one of the giants of '60s rock, not far behind the likes of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon in importance. In addition to co-writing one classic mid-'60s pop-rock song, "This Diamond Ring" (though it was written as an R&B number), he was a very audible sessionman on some of the most important records of... [+] Read More

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After serving as road manager for the Spencer Davis Group and meeting Steve Winwood, singer/guitarist Dave Mason found fame as one of the founding members of the jazz/rock/pop fusion group Traffic. However, conflicts between Winwood and Mason over the group's direction led to the latter's departure in 1969 after three albums. Mason moved to Los... [+] Read More

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The husband-and-wife duo of Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett created some of the most distinctive and unique music of the early 1970s, but their alchemical sound -- equal parts blue-eyed soul, blues, country, and gospel -- was often marginalized by the attention instead paid to the contributions of their famous "friends," including rock icons like Eric... [+] Read More

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While most bands undergo a number of changes over the course of their careers, few groups experienced such radical stylistic changes as Fleetwood Mac. Initially conceived as a hard-edged British blues combo in the late '60s, the band gradually evolved into a polished pop/rock act over the course of a decade. Throughout all of their incarnations,... [+] Read More

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Jefferson Airplane was the first of the San Francisco psychedelic rock groups of the 1960s to achieve national recognition. Although the Grateful Dead ultimately proved more long-lived and popular, Jefferson Airplane defined the San Francisco sound in the 1960s, with the acid rock guitar playing of Jorma Kaukonen and the soaring twin vocals of... [+] Read More

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British drummer, singer, and songwriter Jim Capaldi was a member of Traffic in their two incarnations, from 1967 to 1968 and from 1970 to 1974. He frequently collaborated with bandmember Steve Winwood, writing the lyrics to many of Traffic's best-known songs. Capaldi recorded his debut solo album, Oh! How We Danced, during a hiatus in the group... [+] Read More

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The elder statesman of British blues, it is Mayall's lot to be more renowned as a bandleader and mentor than as a performer in his own right. Throughout the '60s, his band, the Bluesbreakers, acted as a finishing school for the leading British blues-rock musicians of the era. Guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor joined his band... [+] Read More

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The scion of a wealthy South African family, Manfred Lubowitz recognized while still a teenager that his real interests lay far from Johannesburg and its white-dominated culture -- rather, he wanted to play jazz and blues. To do this, he ultimately had to leave South Africa for England, where he picked up a new stage name, Manfred Manne (the... [+] Read More

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With the emergence of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience during the late '60s, the path was cleared for other hard-rockin' "trios." Arguably, the finest to emerge from the subsequent American crop was the James Gang. Despite penning a few of classic rock radio's most enduring songs, the James Gang ultimately failed to deliver on their initial... [+] Read More

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His ferocious soul-drenched vocals belying his tender teenage years, Stevie Winwood powered the Spencer Davis Group's three biggest U.S. hits during their brief life span as one of the British Invasion's most convincing R&B-based combos.

Guitarist Davis formed the band with Winwood on organ, his brother Muff Winwood on bass, and... [+] Read More

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