28 Facts About Jim Capaldi

Nicola James Capaldi was an English singer-songwriter and drummer.

Jim Capaldi co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he co-wrote the majority of the band's material.

Jim Capaldi was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Traffic's original lineup.

Jim Capaldi's father was born Nicola Capaldi in 1913 in Evesham to Italian parents.

In 1963 he formed the Hellions, with Mason on guitar and Gordon Jackson on rhythm guitar, while Jim Capaldi himself switched to drums.

Later that year John "Poli" Palmer joined the band on drums and Jim Capaldi became the lead vocalist.

Jim Capaldi replaced Mason with Luther Grosvenor and renamed the band Deep Feeling.

Jim Capaldi wrote the lyrics for Traffic's first single "Paper Sun", which appeared in the UK singles chart at number 5 in summer 1967.

Jim Capaldi formed another band with Mason, Wood, and Mick Weaver but the creative tensions that had caused Mason to leave Traffic remained and the resulting quartet lasted only until March 1969.

Jim Capaldi began work on his third solo album, Short Cut Draw Blood, alongside recording When the Eagle Flies with Traffic.

Traffic disbanded after the tour, leaving Jim Capaldi to focus all his efforts on his solo career.

Jim Capaldi embarked on a very brief acting career, appearing in the rarely seen 30-minute short film Short Ends, which was directed by Esther Anderson and co-starred Judy Geeson and Hilary Baker.

However, events would conspire to prevent Jim Capaldi from consolidating his solo stardom.

Jim Capaldi began working on his next album, Play it by Ear, alongside serving as a major collaborator on Steve Winwood's first solo album.

At the encouragement of his new label, RSO Records, Jim Capaldi began venturing into disco.

In 1990 "One and Only Man", a Steve Winwood song for which Jim Capaldi wrote the lyrics, reached the Top 20 in the US.

Jim Capaldi numbered Bob Marley among his friends, and they travelled together while Marley was writing the Catch A Fire album.

Jim Capaldi was noted for the extent of his collaborations with other musicians.

Jim Capaldi collaborated with Robert Calvert of Hawkwind on his critically acclaimed 1974 solo album Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters, contributing as a vocal actor on the concept album's theatrical sections between songs.

Jim Capaldi married Brazilian-born Aninha E S Campos in 1975 in All Saints Church, Marlow and in 1976 toured with his band Space Cadets before moving to Brazil in 1977.

Jim Capaldi had two daughters, Tabitha born in 1976 and Tallulah born in 1979.

Jim Capaldi was a friend and supporter of the London School of Samba and played with the bateria on at least one occasion.

Jim Capaldi did a lot of charitable work for organisations in Brazil, such as the Associacao Beneficiente Sao Martinho street children's charity in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, which the LSS supported between 1994 and 2001.

Jim Capaldi's wife was the Porta Bandeira of the LSS in the 1994 and 1995 Notting Hill Carnival parades.

Outside his music and environmental activism, Jim Capaldi assisted his wife in her work with Jubilee Action to help Brazilian street children.

Jim Capaldi remained professionally active until his final illness prevented him from working on plans for a 2005 reunion tour of Traffic.

Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer in Westminster, London, on 28 January 2005, aged 60.

The second such tribute, Dear Mr Fantasy: The Jim Capaldi Story, is a four-disc boxed set released in July 2011.