Steve Winwood 4: Back In The High Life

In 1986, something happened for the first time in his career: Steve Winwood became a multi-million-dollar pop star, and under his own name. He was certainly an established artist after two decades of mostly solid work in bands and on sessions, but now he was accepted by people who may have found Peter Gabriel too quirky, or Phil Collins too short. Back In The High Life followed on from his last two solo albums, with the key difference that while he played lots of the instruments himself, ringers were brought in, so it became something of a star-studded affair.

He always opened his albums with the single, and “Higher Love” was this one’s. Once again working with lyricist Will Jennings, the sound has much less emphasis on traditional keyboards or even synthesizers, more on canned horns and a mix of live and programmed percussion, but most of all, those horns, which also turn out to be programmed. It was mildly danceable, and sported Chaka Khan on harmonies and in the video, which helped take it to #1 on the charts. Real horns and an organ drive “Take It As It Comes”, which now sounds like a prototype for “Roll With It” two years later. The best part is the guitar solo, which he plays himself, and we always forget how good he is on that instrument. “Freedom Overspill” got play on the more album-oriented radio stations, something of a rock-funk groove that stays on one chord except for that pre-chorus part and the bridge. We still suspect it was inspired by Richie Havens’ “Freedom” improv at Woodstock, but we can’t prove it. He reverts to near-one-man-band territory with “Back In The High Life Again”, a clear winner with its prominent mandolin, harmonies by James Taylor, and upbeat message.

That positivity pervades “The Finer Things”, which brings back the trusty Oberheim that drove his hits earlier in the decade. This time the backup singers include Dan Hartman and James Ingram. Despite its mystic Eastern intro and interlude, “Wake Me Up On Judgement Day” is fairly generic pop driven a lot of Nile Rodgers guitar. Joe Walsh contributes his own distinctive guitar and co-writing skills to “Split Decision”, the only real rocker on the album, and a welcome one. That would have been a terrific closer, but he chose instead to end with the low-key “My Love’s Leavin’”, co-written with old collaborator Vivian Stanshall, and apparently a personal preference, as the artiste was going through a divorce throughout the making of the album.

Those of us who treasured our Blind Faith and Traffic albums quickly tired of the ubiquitous singles off Back In The High Life, particularly with those oh-so-‘80s horn stabs dominating the radio for a full year. But there’s no denying the album’s appeal, and he deserved the accolades.

Steve Winwood Back In The High Life (1986)—3