Muff Winwood

Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. The elder brother of Steve Winwood, both were members of The Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff played bass guitar. Following his departure from the group he became an A&R executive and record producer.

Winwood's father, Lawrence, was a foundryman by trade, who also played tenor saxophone in dance bands and had a collection of jazz and blues records. Winwood attended Cranbourne Road Primary School and the new Great Barr School (one of the first comprehensive schools) and was a choir boy at St John's Church in the Perry Barr neighborhood of Birmingham. He first became interested in the guitar, then the bass. He was nicknamed "Muff" after the popular 1950s children's TV character Muffin the Mule.

The Spencer Davis Group was formed after Davis saw the Winwood brothers (Muff and Steve) at a Birmingham pub called the Golden Eagle, performing as the Muff Woody Jazz Band. The Group made their debut at the Eagle and subsequently had a Monday-night residency there. The Spencer Davis Group had hits such as "Gimme Some Lovin'", "Keep On Running", and "I'm a Man". Steve Winwood left in 1967, and Muff soon followed.

After leaving the Spencer Davis Group in 1967, Winwood moved within the music industry to a position as A&R executive at Island Records. He was there until 1978, when he became an executive at the British office of CBS Records (which later became Sony Music), where he remained until well into the 1990s. As part of his A&R duties, Winwood signed Prefab Sprout, Terence Trent D'Arby, Sade, Shakin' Stevens and The Psychedelic Furs amongst others.

In 1974, Winwood produced the Sparks hit album, Kimono My House along with its hit singles, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" and "Amateur Hour". He also produced their other 1974 album, Propaganda (which included the "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" single). Later, he produced the first Dire Straits album (1978).

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.