Spencer Davis, founder of mid-’60s British Invasion band the Spencer Davis Group, died of a heart attack today at the age of 81. And now Steve Winwood, who played guitar and sang in the Spencer ...

Spencer Davis ... The band — Davis on guitar, Winwood on vocals, keyboards and guitar, Muff Winwood on bass, and Pete York on drums — played their first gig at the Golden Eagle pub in Birmingham.

When it comes to Spencer Davis, the man, Birk offered this story in his statement to NPR: "Many years ago, a guitar of mine was ... it to me [and] asked me to play it. I played it.

Davis co-wrote many of the songs for The Spencer Davis Group, for which he played rhythm guitar and occasionally sang lead vocals. He went on to work as an A&R executive at Island Records.