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Winwood’s Sounding ‘Finer’ With Boxed Set

Paul Verna Billboard

One of the most gifted and mercurial artists in pop music, Steve Winwood, has had his share of accolades in his 30-year career, but until now he had never been honored with that distinction bestowed on so many other musicians of his caliber: a boxed set.

All that changes this week, when Island Records - the label for the bulk of Winwood’s work - releases a four-disc retrospective titled “The Finer Things,” after Winwood’s 1988 hit.

The set spans the entirety of the British artist’s career, from his prodigious beginnings as keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter for the Spencer Davis Group, through his groundbreaking work with Blind Faith and Traffic, to his fusion experiments with Stomu Yamastha’s Go and Winwood/Kabaka/Amao and culminating in his successful solo work.

“We evaluate our catalog on a periodic basis to identify anything that is legitimately of value to the consumer and can be presented in a new or impressive or significant way, and this was certainly one of the projects that deserved to exist,” says Island vice president of marketing Matt Stringer.

The 63-track anthology was compiled by PolyGram Group Distribution vice president of catalog development Peter Levenson, who also produced the Grammy-winning Eric Clapton “Crossroads” boxed set. In fact, Levenson says “Crossroads” laid the groundwork for “The Finer Things.”

“In many ways, ‘Crossroads’ was the first draft for the Winwood (project),” he says. “If you look at the two artists side by side, the pacing is so similar, it’s frightening sometimes. One has Yardbirds, one has Spencer Davis. One has (John) Mayall and Cream, one has Traffic - and then they’re together in Blind Faith. So as I was working on (‘The Finer Things’), I felt, ‘We’ve sort of done this before, haven’t we?’ And that helped a bit.”

The connections between Winwood and Clapton - and their respective boxed sets - are so deep, the rendition of the blues standard “Crossroads” that appears on “The Finer Things” was originally prepared for the Clapton collection but shelved until now, says Levenson. It was recorded in 1966 by Eric Clapton & the Powerhouse, featuring Winwood on vocals, and is arranged much like the version Clapton later made famous with Cream.

Generously illustrated with photos of every stage of Winwood’s career, “The Finer Things” is annotated by John McDermott, author of a recent book on Jimi Hendrix. Levenson says McDermott was fortunate to interview late Winwood producer Jimmy Miller and Miller protege Eddie Kramer - both of whom furnished the writer with vital session information for the liner notes.

While the Winwood set does not feature as many previously unreleased selections as other compilations of this nature, it does offer some rarities, including an electric version of the Blind Faith classic “Can’t Find My Way Home.”

Despite a strong interest in Winwood’s music, Island’s efforts are hampered by the artist’s lack of participation in the promotion of the project or by a current album or tour to ignite sales.