“It took me 10 or 11 takes to get the timing on the intro right. Jimi easily could have just done it”: The life and times of Dave Mason, the former Traffic guitarist who made a habit of playing on iconic tracks

Dave Mason wears a white jacket and plays a red Strat onstage.

The six-decade career of Dave Mason – who died on 19 April, just a few weeks off his 80th birthday – was equal parts fantastical and frustrating, but never dull.

For many, his defining work came in the late-’60s progressive-rock group Traffic, though you could also point to his serendipitous thumbprints on the albums of Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac.