He had a younger brother, and two half-sisters by his mother's second husband, an American GI He grew up in the village of Coppull, near Chorley in Lancashire and attended Baines Grammar School in Poulton-Le-Fylde.
His songs have been recorded by Tom Jones, Dalida, P. J. Proby, David Essex, The Drifters, Rod Stewart, Petula Clark, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Fortunes, Charles Aznavour, Tony Christie, Connie Francis, Mireille Mathieu, Barbra Streisand, The Dave Clark Five, Cliff Portwood, Malcolm Roberts and Our Kid.
"I met this boy called Tommy Bruce and I spent my last few pounds making a demo of him singing an old Fats Waller song, Ain't Misbehavin' – and he had a hit (No.3, UK, 1960).
His last chart topping song was "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes), for session group, Edison Lighthouse, in January 1970.
Mason enjoyed singing his catalogue of hits and in the early 70s often took a working vacation to Malta playing at various venues accompanied by his small band including pianist Norman Hale (The Tornados) and drummer Jon Werrell (The Mojos) He was the major songwriter for the English singer Declan Galbraith for his first album Declan (2002), including the hit "Tell Me Why" (No.