The Finer Things is a box set of recordings by Steve Winwood. It includes songs from his early days with The Spencer Davis Group through Traffic, Blind Faith and into his solo career.
The Finer Things was compiled by Peter Levinson, who at the time of its release was manager of catalogue development for PolyGram Records. Levinson said that he modelled the box set after Eric Clapton's Crossroads, which had been released in 1988. Island Records vice-president of marketing Matt Stringer, upon the box set's release, said that
Winwood himself would take no part in the release or promotion of The Finer Things, with most of the liner notes based upon interviews with his Traffic-era producer Jimmy Miller. It is believed Winwood did approve of the project and that he spent the eight months before its release approving every step of its compiling.
Because the project was compiled before the release of Winwood's then-latest recording, Traffic's 1994 comeback album Far from Home, no songs from that album were included and the most recent recording dates from 1990. There were only a few rarities contained within the four discs of the box set â the most significant being two tracks from the "Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse" project from 1966.