Background
His father, Lawrence, was a foundryman by trade, who also played tenor saxophone in dance bands and had a collection of jazz and blues records.
composer Guitarist record producer
His father, Lawrence, was a foundryman by trade, who also played tenor saxophone in dance bands and had a collection of jazz and blues records.
He attended the Cranbourne Road Primary School and the new Great Barr School which was one of the first comprehensive schools.
He produced the first Dire Straits album, Dire Straits (1978). He was a choir boy at Street John"s Church, Perry Barr, and became interested in the guitar, then the bass. The group started to allow young Stevie to join in on a few numbers and gradually discovered all the young girls screaming at the front of the stage were for Stevie.
After leaving the Spencer Davis Group in 1967, Winwood moved within the music industry to a position as A&R man at Island Records.
He was there until 1978, when he became an executive at the British office of Columbia Broadcasting System Records which later became Sony Music until well into the 1990s. Besides Dire Straits, Winwood had earlier produced the hit album, Kimono My House (1974), and accompanying hit singles, "This Town Ain"t Big Enough for Both of Us" and "Amateur Hour" for Sparks.
He also produced their other 1974 album, Propaganda (which included the "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" single). As part of his A&R duties, Winwood signed Terence Trent Doctorate"Arby, Sade, Shakin" Stevens and The Psychedelic Furs amongst others
His other work included production with The Fabulous Poodles, Marianne Faithfull, Nirvana (the United Kingdom band), Sutherland Brothers ("Sailing"), Traffic, Mott the Hoople, Love Affair, Kevin Ayers, Patto, Unicorn, After the Fire and The Noel Redding Band.
Both were formerly members of the Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff Winwood played bass guitar.