AFTER HITTING IT BIG as a teenager in 1967 with "Gimme Some Lovin', " Steve Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group to form Traffic and, soon after, Blind Faith with Eric Clapton. What followed was a successful solo career as Winwood's blue-eyed soul voice and organ swells propelled him through a chart-topping '80s. And earlier this year he and Clapton returned to the stage in New York City for a collaboration that yielded the No. 1 hit "Dirty City" from Winwood's new "Nine Lives" CD (Columbia).

Winwood is now on tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, a show that includes some onstage cross-pollination between the two bands.

AP (ENLARGE)
Steve Winwood, warming up for Tom Petty on this tour, says he won't always play the favorites, or he might 'reinvent' some.
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Q: Some might say Tom Petty should open for you. Has anyone ever opened for you that you thought you should be opening for them?

A: Little Feat, Cat Stevens, Free and J.J. Cale.

Q: Do you feel obligated to play certain songs from your catalog?

A: I kind of do, but playing with Tom Petty, my show is even shorter and I do have a lot of material. For instance I haven't played "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" now for a while, and for a while I didn't play "Dear Mr. Fantasy." ... Last night we didn't play "Gimme Some Lovin'" ... Some stuff from the '80's — "Higher Love" and "Back in the High Life" — we kind of reinvent those to make them fit more with our kind of world music/jazz kind of fusion set-up that we have now, and they work very well.

Q: Was the music created in the '60s and early '70s more special than the music now?

A: I think there was definitely a period in ... the '80s, that was a bit of a troubled time for music because there was huge amount of corporate involvement and massive amounts of money being made and big record deals. Of course that's all gone now. And I think that is, or will be, to the advantage of music. I think that what made music great in the '60s and '70s was the freedom ... from any corporate influence. I think that it's coming back because there are so many ways now that artists have to get their music heard without going through major record companies ...

• THE 411: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Steve Winwood. July 9, 8 p.m. $35-$125. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, 2200 Encore Parkway, Alpharetta. 404-733-5010, 404-249-6400, www.vzwamp.com.