Traffic
Traffic were formed by Winwood, Wood, Capaldi and Mason in 1967 shortly after Winwood had left the Spencer Davis Group. He had played with Eric Clapton in a short-lived studio band called Powerhouse, which contributed some tracks to the Elektra sampler "What's Shaking". Winwood had also jammed with Wood, Capaldi and Mason in clubs around the Birmingham area prior to leaving the Spencer Davis Group. The four of them resided at a cottage in Aston Tirrold in Berkshire for six months in order to - as the saying went - get it together in the country. They introduced themselves with the single "Paper Sun", which reached No. 5 in Britain. That and its sequel, "Hole In My Shoe", encapsulated the summer of 1967 as accurately as any overt flower-power anthem. The debut album "Mr. Fantasy", was a successful vehicle of the talents of the entire group, and served notice that Traffic would be more than merely a backing band for Winwood. However, Mason's flair for light melody was straightaway at odds with the more jazz-oriented ambitions of the other members, and he departed in December of 1967.