Traffic: A Fantasy Our story begins in a magical place… past strawberry fields, by Penny Lane and Arnold Layne, by car and not by aeroplane, yet oddly on an Island. Stevie Winwood, in the service of Sir Spencer Davis, declared one day “I am a man” and off he went to find his fortune in…
This a treasure chest of psychedelic gems, produced with gleeful abandon by Jimmy Miller, with whom Winwood had worked in Spencer Davis. The material is startlingly fresh and varied, featuring psychedelic confections from Dave Mason (“House For Everyone”) and the rest of the band (“Berkshire Poppies,” “Coloured Rain”) alongside deeper numbers done in a progressive…
A psychedelic single with a little LSD and hash in its history.
Mason rejoins the band just in time to kick in half an album’s worth of great songs before leaving again.
A catch-all compilation to meet contractual obligations.
A good compilation of songs from the band’s first smiling phase featuring Dave Mason, including some nonalbum singles.
Probably the best album he’s ever done, this compares favorably to Clapton’s first.
Ginger’s afro-jazz experiment recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall with Graham Bond, Steve Winwood and Denny Laine.
The Traffic album that almost wasn’t became the best that ever was.
Dave Mason rejoins the band for a brief college tour, proving only that you canteen go home.
Kronomyth 8.0: SIX, SIX STICKS. The album cover notwithstanding, Traffic didn’t cut any corners on their followup to John Barleycorn. The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys follows the same design: six tracks that wrap psychedelic/rock/folk sounds together into a rich musical landscape. The difference is a saturation in sound versus the dry Barleycorn, possible…
Jim Capaldi’s first solo album owes as much to abdominal inflammation as inspiration. Steve Winwood had developed peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal lining, which effectively shelved the next Traffic project while he recuperated. In the interim, Chris Blackwell (never one to miss an opportunity to market Traffic) bankrolled a studio album by Traffic’s lyricist,…
Some people would have staged an intervention for Clapton. His friends staged a concert instead.
A hit-or-miss followup that lacks the creative spark of their last two records.
Maybe the prospect of a 15-minute “Glad” makes you, well, happy. But I would tell you that On The Road, at least in its double-elpee incarnation, is one of the lamest live albums I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard Welcome To The Canteen. The single-elpee version is less painful, as it presents the better half…