Live At XM Radio

Album Review

This album chronicles a Dave Mason performance in Washington, D.C., in May 2003, backed by a full band and thus able to do justice to some of his greatest hits, including "Only You Know and I Know," "We Just Disagree," and "Feelin' Alright." At 59, Mason remains in good voice and has a certain perspective on his long career, though he marvels that "Feelin' Alright" has turned out to be such a perennial favorite. He has also taken to incorporating songs that he himself did not write or sing lead on originally, but that he had some involvement with, such as "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (he was a member of Traffic when the song was recorded) and "All Along the Watchtower" (he played guitar on Jimi Hendrix's cover version). For this "deluxe edition", Mason adds as bonus tracks another couple of such cover songs, including another Traffic number, "40,000 Headmen" (a studio recording made with Traffic alumnus Jim Capaldi shortly before Capaldi's death), and the Eagles' "Take It to the Limit" (to which he has no apparent connection, although it was recorded live in the Eagles' stomping grounds of Orange County, CA). An extra treat is a studio recording of a new Dave Mason song, "Deaf, Dumb and Blind," perhaps prefacing a long-overdue new studio album.