Christopher Gordon Blandford Wood (24 June 1944 – 12 July 1983) was a British rock musician, best known as a founding member of the rock band Traffic, along with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason.
Early life
Chris Wood was born in 1944, in Quinton, Birmingham. Wood had an interest in music and painting from an early childhood. He was self-taught on flute and saxophone, which he began playing at the age of 15.
He attended the Stourbridge College of Art, then the Birmingham School of Art (Painting Dept.) In 1964, Wood played with Webb and Perfect in the band Shades of Blue. During this time, Wood was attending college and would on occasion perform with the band. He prematurely left college, and decided to pursue a career in music.
His younger sister Stephanie Wood designed clothes for the Spencer Davis Group, based in Birmingham, and it was through her that Wood was first introduced to fellow Birmingham native Steve Winwood. A well-known Birmingham club, the Elbow Room,
Traffic: 1967–1969
In 1967, in order to focus his fledgling band Traffic, Island Records' founder Chris Blackwell arranged for the four band members to retreat to an isolated farmhouse on the Berkshire Downs, near Aston Tirrold. Initially without electricity, telephone or running water, The Cottage (as it became universally known) was so remote that a generator had to be installed to power the group's equipment. A concrete outdoor stage was built with the band's stage equipment set up to overlook the surrounding fields. After six months honing their music, Traffic released their first single, "Paper Sun". His most notable contribution is as the co-writer (with Winwood and Capaldi), of "Dear Mr. Fantasy".
Session work: 1968–1970
Wood and Winwood played with Jimi Hendrix, and both appeared on the 1968 album Electric Ladyland (1968). During the album recording session, Wood met then-17-year-old Jeanette Jacobs (formerly of the 1960s girl group The Cake). Originally from New York, she had briefly come to London, accompanying Hendrix. Wood was then invited to perform in concert with the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Royal Albert Hall, in South Kensington, London, on 24 February 1969. The concert was filmed, with Wood appearing on the song "Room Full of Mirrors".
In 1969, Wood's talents appeared on a series of albums. On the eponymous 1969 self-titled second album of Free, he played the flute on "Mourning Sad Morning". For Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left 1969 debut album, Wood added flute on the song "Three Hours" accompanied by future Traffic member Rebop Kwaku Baah. The alternative version was previously unreleased, until 2017. Wood also applied his sax talents to Gordon Jackson's song "Snake & Ladders".
Wood, Mason and Capaldi & Frog: 1969
When Winwood temporarily formed supergroup Blind Faith in 1969, Wood, Mason and Capaldi joined Mick Weaver (otherwise known as Wynder K. Frog), to become Mason, Capaldi, Wood and Frog. After this stint, Wood travelled to the United States and went to tour with Dr. John (Malcolm John Rebennack), a New Orleans pianist. Wood was reunited with singer and future wife Jeanette Jacobs.
Traffic: 1970–1974
thumb|[[Traffic (band)|Traffic's poster advert for John Barleycorn Must Die (1970)]]
Wood remained with Traffic from the time of its reformation in 1970, until the group's breakup in 1974. In the recording sessions, Wood introduced the 17th-century traditional song "John Barleycorn" to the band after hearing it on The Watersons album Frost and Fire.
Personal life and health
Wood and Jeanette Jacobs married in November 1972, at Kensington Register Office, when he was 28 and she was 22. His wife was unfaithful while he was on tour with Traffic, leading to increased drinking, and to the culmination of liver disease. Wood eventually cut down on drinking, but his medication caused further complications.
Far from Home (1994)
Traffic recorded one additional studio album, Far from Home (1994), after Wood's death. The album was dedicated to him, and the central figure on the front cover is a stick figure of a man playing flute.
Evening Blue (2017)
In June 2013, on what would have been Wood's 69th birthday, the Chris Wood Estate (run by his sister, Stephanie) announced that a commemorative box set was being prepared – in collaboration with contemporary music archivists HiddenMasters, to properly honour Wood's life in music. Among other music, the set included the album Vulcan as Chris had originally sequenced it in 1978. The box set Evening Blue was finally released, three and a half years later, in early 2017. It was a special deluxe first edition, limited to 1,000 copies.
For the album booklet, Wood's own instruments were photographed. Jayne Gould, from HiddenMasters, was in charge of the photoshoot in Berkshire Downs, returning to the location of Traffic's cottage. While photographing Wood's flute on a fencepost by the barleycorn field, his flute "got up, stood on its edge, played a few notes about eight or nine, and went back down flat again. It all happened in two minutes." The following weekend, Gould visited a village fête and randomly met Steve Winwood. She recalled the spiritual incident with Wood's flute to him and Winwood confirmed, "Yeah, that would be Chris."