Dave Mason – Only You Know and I Know

I’ve heard this one since I was a kid, and I’ve always liked it. It just rolls right along.

The song itself grew out of Mason’s acoustic roots, written simply and deliberately, with the melody doing most of the heavy lifting. There was no attempt to modernize it for radio, which ironically is probably why it connected. When the song was released as a single in late 1970, it quickly became Mason’s breakthrough hit. It established him as more than “the guy who left Traffic.”

It was written and recorded by Dave Mason in 1970. It was on his album, Alone Together. The song was his first charting single, and it became a minor hit for him in the U.S. and Canada. Dave Mason played with Traffic; he also played on the Jimi Hendrix song All Along the Watchtower, Beggars Banquet by the Stones, and George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. The guy got around and was in demand from other artists.

Recording sessions for Alone Together were loose but purposeful. Mason brought in an all-star cast of friends and collaborators, including members of Delaney & Bonnie’s circle, Leon Russell, and Jim Gordon. No one overplayed, no one tried to steal the spotlight. It feels organic because it is, musicians listening to each other instead of competing for space.

The song peaked at #42 on the Billboard 100 in 1970. It was also recorded by  Delaney and Bonnie and peaked at #20 in 1971. I grew up hearing both versions of it.

Only You Know And I Know

Only you know and I know
All the lovin’ we’ve got to show
So don’t refuse to believe it
By reading too many meanings

‘Cause you know that I mean what I say
So don’t go, and never take me the wrong way
You know you can’t go on gettin’ your own way
‘Cause if you do, it’s gonna get you someday

We’re both here to be pleasin’
Oh, no, no, not deceivin’
But it’s hard to believe in
Ah yeah, when you’ve been so mistreated

‘Cause you know that I mean what I say
So don’t go, and never take me the wrong way
You know you can’t go on gettin’ your own way
‘Cause if you do, it’s gonna get you someday

If I seem to mislead you
It’s just my craziness comin’ through
But when it comes down to just two
Ah, I ain’t no crazier than you

‘Cause you know that I mean what I say
So don’t go, and never take me the wrong way
You know you can’t go on gettin’ your own way
‘Cause if you do, it’s gonna get you someday

Only you know and I know
Only you know and I know
Only you know and I know, oh yeah
Only you know and I know, oh yeah, get up

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

38 thoughts on “Dave Mason – Only You Know and I Know”

  1. I have the marbled vinyl version of the Dave Mason album. The people he was Alone Together with are a who’s who of players. I found “Delaney & Bonnie and Friends On Tour With Eric Clapton” in a cutout bin not long after it came out. I had no idea who they were, but they had some pretty cool friends so I bought it. Many years later, Bonnie Bramlett sang with Tracy Nelson, another favorite of mine.
    P.S. I love the intro to Mason’s version of this.

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    1. When you menioned marbled…I had to look that up…I never had one of those. I only had a picture disc of Sgt Pepper. The marbled LPs are pretty cool looking.

      I’m ashamed to say this but when you mentioned Tracy Nelson…I had to rethink for a second because there are two famous ones…I know who you are talking about…I did the same before when you mentioned her.

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      1. I always forget about the other one. I was going to say that, since the singer is from my home town, I have a better reason to remember her. But she has lived in Nashville for more than 50 years, so there goes your excuse. 😉

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      2. The reason the actress pops in my mind is because I’m a fan of Adam 12 and she was in it in a few episodes and of course she is the daughter of Ricky.
        Yep! There is no excuse! I’m listening to her right now and Dianne Davidson singing a song called An Arm And A Leg…so powerful! It’s a live version.

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    2. Tracy Nelson has an incredible voice. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know about her until maybe 5 years ago or so. I always loved Linda Ronstadt’s version of her song “Down So Low”, and finally got around to listening to the original. She also did an album with Irma Thomas and Marcia Ball. Really good.

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      1. Those trio recordings are great. I got to see her last summer with Marcia Ball, but not Irma Thomas, at a neighborhood festival. Since her parents lived here, she used to come home for Christmas (and her Dec 27 birthday) and do a show at a local bar while in town, so I saw her several times through the years. She still, at 81, has incredible vocal power. She gives me goosebumps.

        It takes guts to cover that song. Tracy owns it, but Linda certainly holds her own.

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      2. Wow, that’s great that you got to see her so often. She also did some backing vocals on Steve Young’s No Place To Fall album.

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  3. I love “Only You Know And I Know,” Max – well, that’s a shocker, right?😂

    That said, I needed to listen to the song before recognizing it, even though I included the song in one of my Sunday posts last August. To my ears, it sounds a bit like early Doobies, my favorite phase of that group.

    While I’m writing this clever comment I’ve been listening to a couple of additional tracks from side one of the album. Now I feel like checking out the rest of it as well – and queueing one of the tracks I haven’t covered yet for an upcoming Sunday feature! 🙂

    Long-winded way of saying, ‘thanks for posting this!’ 😆

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    1. LOL….I’m glad I could help Christian! I grew up with this song on the radio and I heard both versions a lot as well. The song just rolls…like it has wheels.
      I agree…it does sound some like the Doobies…I haven’t listened to the album so you got me there…only a few tracks and I liked what I heard.

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    2. Interesting. I’ve never been a big Doobies fan, except for Taking It To The Streets which I love. But I think by comparing the easy flow of Mason’s first album you have pin pointed the thing that is constant about the Doobies, that easy flow feeling of their music.

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    1. When I was growing up I heard both which that doesn’t happen anymore much. But yea I do favor the Mason version I have to admit. Another song in the early seventies that more than one artist did was Jesus Is Just Alright…I heard it by more than one…. The Byrds, Doobie Brothers, Gladys Knight….

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  7. Pingback: Dave Mason – Only You Know and I Know – MobsterTiger

  8. I don’t know this song well at all. It helps me appreciate it when you tell the story around it. Funny thing I wrote today’s post last night and the name Dave Mason showed up as covering the song. It turned out to be a singer from Scotland! But I ended up listening to one of this Dave Mason’s performances on Midnight Special. And here you are posting about it.

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  11. I actually loved seeing Mason enter the Fleetwood Mac universe for a short time along with Bekka Bramlett (talk about a Delaney and Bonnie connection) I know a lot of people didn’t, but the connections created some great music

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  13. Mrs. B and I got to see Dave in concert at the now-defunct Valley Forge Music Fair not far from my home many years ago. Very talented musician, and I think a wee bit underrated. I would encourage readers to check out his catalog of music. Nice to hear this one again, Max!

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