Steve Winwood - The Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, 17th September 1986 | Voodoo Wagon

Steve Winwood - The Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, 17th September 1986

an 

XRay 

Special

Steve Winwood 

The Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, 17th September 1986

Band:

Dony Wynn - drums

Carl James - bass/vocals

Paul Pesco - guitar

Carole Steele - percussion

James Hooker - keyboards

Danny Wolinski - keyboards/saxophone

Bob Leffert - trumpet

Dollette McDonald - vocals

Steve on Letterman 1986

One of the music highlights on Late Night: Steve Winwood's performances of "Higher Love" and "Gimme Some Lovin'." With Carol Steele on percussion and backup vocal and Dolette McDonald as second backup vocalist. Early in the show, Paul warned Dave how hard the songs were to learn, especially in so short a time, in particular the middle section in "Higher Love," where the time signature turns on a dime. And, despite their professionalism, the band didn't quite pull it off. The challenge with "Gimme Some Lovin'" was that Winwood had asked the band to play it not in its original key, G, but instead a half-step lower, in F-sharp, so that he could hit the high notes. Performing a song in F-sharp is no piece of cake, especially on the keyboard. But watching Will Lee and Dolette McDonald coordinating their spontaneous dance steps as well as Paul's awkward hug with Steve at the end illustrate the sheer love and enthusiasm the band had with this number.