Welcome to a new series entitled "Sounds from the Attic" in which I will attempt to conjure up the spirits of albums of the bygone past. These are albums that while, in some sense are classic, don't always get the recognition they deserve. They generally don't make most peoples top 100 list and quite often unknown by the younger music crowd, but should be.
My basic criteria is that the album is at least 20 years old; although I reserve judgment to highlight something a little newer, if it is more obscure. There should be some compelling reason to conjure up the spirit, if merely for my whim!
In this issue, I am pulling from the attic and dusting off John Barleycorn Must Die , the fourth effort from Traffic. This is an interesting album as, through an interesting twist of fate, it resurrected Traffic from insignificance and set them down the road to becoming future members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2004).
Traffic was formed in 1967 by former member of Spencer Davis Group Steve Winwood, Hellions members, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason, and Chris Wood. The later three were also reported to have done session work with the Spencer Davis Group. Influenced by the early work of The Band, they retreated to a country house in Berkshire England to write and develop new material prior to making their debut.
They had some minor hits in the U.K. during 1967, but none in the U.S. Tension was already surfacing between Winwood and Mason; the two primary songwriters at the time. Mason did not want to collaborate with Winwood and eventually and this lead to his leaving the band before the release of their first album Mr. Fantasy in 1967.
Mason rejoined Traffic in 1968 for the recording of their second album Traffic. From there, they toured and in 1969 their album Last Exit was released. It was during the tour that Mason was fired and Winwood declared the he was breaking up the band.
After spending less than a year with Blind Faith, what might be considered the first super-group with Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Rick Gretch, Winwood found him self in a contractual obligation to do a solo album. This is where John Barleycorn Must Die comes in.
At age 22, Winwood's original concept for this album was to be a solo album in which he plays all instruments and vocals. The record got as far as one backing track for "Stranger to Himself", before he broke down and called on the services of Jim Capaldi. After the two completed a second track, "Every Mother's Son", they brought in Chris Wood and Island Records chief Chris Blackwell to help with the production. Thus, Traffic was reborn.
Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
Traffic was a pretty good group but never seemed to make it off the B list to the A list. Maybe their music was too subtle to sell to an audience that wanted everything simple & loud? I dunno - as a kid, I had one album of theirs I bought in a cutout bin - I enjoyed it, but never bought another.
2 - T. Michael Testi
Thanks for the comments JC.
While every group wants people to like the music that they create, there are some groups that would rather make music in their own way and if it clicks fine, if doesn't they will either go on doing or do something else.
Neil Young is a perfect example. He has had some hits, but when you compare to the number of albums he has put out, the hit ratio is minuscule.
I guess my point of the review is that from a musicians stand point, Traffic was a group that should be examined for the change in style that they created at the time and the influence the made in the industry. From a music historians perspective, they were one of the groups that lead the way for groups like Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Rush, Kansas and Emerson, Lake and Palmer and if you want to follow a style, you have to examine the direction it came from.
T.
3 - JC Mosquito
Actually, I found at the public library one of those "Essential...." 2 CD sets of Traffic - pretty good overview of the band.
Yeah, influences......... fun to track down, but not always possible.
4 - d alper
Traffic was a big influence on my musical tastes growing up. They were important,at least to these ears, in that they brought rock into a more multi dimensional mode at the time of such British peers like Led Zep and the Who. Shootout at the Fantasy Factory was inspiring for its legendary studio jams with instruments like the congas and alto sax. Wow, rock never sounded so good without someone needing to belt out a primal scream!
5 - T. Michael Testi
While I liked the conventional music of the time, I found that I was constantly drawn to the more musically innovative music that was going on. The stuff not generally found on the radio.
Growing up just outside of Chicago, I listened to WXRT which at the time was listed as a "Progressive Rock Experiment" and only came on at night. It was great as we would tune in and they would play all of these groups that never made it on the regular radio.
So it was here that I would get exposed to Traffic, King Crimson, Eno, Gentle Giant etc. First thing I would do on Friday is run off to Hegewisch Records; a discount record store in a Chicago suburb, to get these albums. All records were $3.25. It was great!
T.
6 - ohiojerry
Traffic was one of the greatest '60s bands - check out Blind Faith as well if you love Traffic ... I NEVER get tired of this band's music, so much better than what Winwood has done in recent years.
So I guess Blind Faith is going to reform for one concert in Chicago this summer at Eric Clapton's Crossroads guitar fest - sold out, of course.