Chris Wood
June 24, 1944 – July 12, 1983
Chris Wood was not only a founding member of English rock band, Traffic, he was good enough to play alongside the great Jimi Hendrix, appearing on 1968’s Electric Ladyland. A multi-instrumentalist, Wood was known for his skills on the flute, keyboards and saxophone. He also co-wrote several of Traffic’s songs and sang back up for them. Throughout the late ’60s and ’70s, Wood lent his talents to such artists as Dr. John, Ginger Baker, Free, the Faces and John Martyn. Wood suffered from drug and alcohol abuse throughout his career but would die of pneumonia on July 12, 1983 while working on a solo album.
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In 1968, Paul Kossoff with Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke formed the band Free. By 1970, Free were touring the world on the success of their third album and its hit “It’s Alright Now.” Just two years after forming, the band called it quits. While Rodgers and Kirke went on to greater fame with Bad Company, Kossoff kicked around releasing solo albums and doing session work. Kossoff never quite got over the break up of Free which likely contributed to his addiction to drugs. Kossoff died on a flight from New York to Los Angeles at just 25 years of age. The cause was ruled drug related heart problems.
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