TRAFFIC : Discography (1967-1974) RM | Series of 10 Traffic mini LP replica SHM-CD (2008) Rock Legend Series, SHM-CDオリジナル・アルバム紙ジャケット・シリーズ：Traffic – 1·10 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Though it ultimately must be considered an interim vehicle for singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist Steve Winwood, Traffic was a successful group that followed its own individual course through the rock music scene of the late '60s and early '70s. Beginning in the psychedelic year of 1967 and influenced by the Beatles, the band turned out eclectic pop singles in its native Great Britain, though by the end of its first year of existence it had developed a pop/rock hybrid tied to its unusual instrumentation: At a time when electric guitars ruled rock, Traffic emphasized Winwood's organ and the reed instruments played by Chris Wood, especially flute. After Dave Mason, who had provided the band with an alternate folk-pop sound, departed for good, Traffic leaned toward extended songs that gave its players room to improvise in a jazz-like manner, even as the rhythms maintained a rock structure. The result was international success that ended only when Winwood finally decided he was ready to strike out on his own.

Steve Winwood (born May 12, 1948) first attracted attention when, at the age of 15, he and his older brother Muff formed a band in their native Birmingham, England, with Spencer Davis and Pete York, eventually called the Spencer Davis Group. They were signed by record executive Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, and began recording in 1964. As the band's vocalist, Winwood received the lion's share of attention. By the time he and his brother quit the group in April 1967, the Spencer Davis Group had amassed four Top Ten singles and three Top Ten albums in the U.K., two of those singles also reaching the Top Ten in the U.S.

Still not yet 19 years old, Winwood formed Traffic with three 22-year-old friends who had played in lesser-known bands: drummer/singer Jim Capaldi (August 24, 1944 - January 28, 2005), singer/guitarist Mason (born May 10, 1944), and Wood (June 24, 1944 - July 12, 1983). In the spirit of the times (and despite Winwood's prominence), the group was intended to be a cooperative, with the members living together in a country cottage in Berkshire and collaborating on their songs. Blackwell quickly signed them and released their debut single, "Paper Sun," which peaked in the U.K. Top Five in July 1967 and also spent several weeks in the lower reaches of the charts in America, where Blackwell licensed it to United Artists, as he had the Spencer Davis Group's recordings. William Ruhlmann

Traffic – Mr Fantasy (1967)

Since Traffic's debut album, Mr. Fantasy, has been issued in different configurations over the years, a history of those differences is in order. In 1967, the British record industry considered albums and singles separate entities; thus, Mr. Fantasy did not contain the group's three previous Top Ten U.K. hits. Just as the album was being released in the U.K., Traffic split from Dave Mason. The album was changed drastically for U.S. release, both because American custom was that singles ought to appear on albums, and because the group sought to diminish Mason's presence; on the first pressing only, the title was changed to Heaven Is in Your Mind. In 2000, Island reissued Mr. Fantasy in its mono mix with the U.K. song list and five mono singles sides as bonus tracks; it also released Heaven Is in Your Mind, the American lineup in stereo with four bonus tracks. Naturally, the mono sound is punchier and more compressed, but it isn't ideal for the album, because Traffic was fashioned as an unusual rock band. Steve Winwood's primary instrument was organ, though he also played guitar; Chris Wood was a reed player, spending most of his time on flute; Mason played guitar, but he was also known to pick up the sitar, among other instruments. As such a mixture suggests, the band's musical approach was eclectic, combining their background in British pop with a taste for the comic and dance hall styles of Sgt. Pepper, Indian music, and blues-rock jamming. Songs in the last category have proven the most distinctive and long-lasting, but Mason's more pop-oriented contributions remain winning, as do more light-hearted efforts. Interest in the mono mix is likely to be restricted to longtime fans; anyone wishing to hear Traffic's first album for the first time is directed to Heaven Is in Your Mind. William Ruhlmann 
Tracklist :
1 Heaven Is In Your Mind
2 Berkshire Poppies
3 House For Everyone
4 No Face, No Name And No Number
5 Dear Mr Fantasy
6 Dealer
7 Utterly Simple
8 Coloured Rain
9 Hope I Never Find Me There
10 Giving To You
11 Paper Sun
12 Giving To You
13 Hole In My Shoe
14 Smiling Phases
15 Here We Go 'Round The Mulberry Bush
Credits:
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Jim Capaldi
Flute, Saxophone, Organ, Vocals – Chris Wood
Guitar, Mellotron [Meletron], Sitar, Tambura, Performer [Shakkai], Bass Guitar, Vocals – Dave Mason
Organ, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano, Harpsichord, Percussion, Vocals – Steve Winwood
Notas
Tracks 1-10: Mr. Fantasy, Island Records ILP 961 (Mono), December 1967
Tracks 11 & 12: Island single WIP 6002, May 1967
Tracks 13 & 14: Island single WIP 6017, August 1968
Track 15 (with b-side Coloured Rain) Island Single WIP 6025, November 1967

Traffic – Traffic (1968)

After dispensing with his services in December 1967, the remaining members of Traffic reinstated Dave Mason in the group in the spring of 1968 as they struggled to write enough material for their impending second album. The result was a disc evenly divided between Mason's catchy folk-rock compositions and Steve Winwood's compelling rock jams. Mason's material was the most appealing both initially and eventually: the lead-off track, a jaunty effort called "You Can All Join In," became a European hit, and "Feelin' Alright?" turned out to be the only real standard to emerge from the album after it started earning cover versions from Joe Cocker and others in the 1970s. Winwood's efforts, with their haunting keyboard-based melodies augmented by Chris Wood's reed work and Jim Capaldi's exotic rhythms, work better as musical efforts than lyrical ones. Primary lyricist Capaldi's words tend to be impressionistic reveries or vague psychological reflections; the most satisfying is the shaggy-dog story "Forty Thousand Headmen," which doesn't really make any sense as anything other than a dream. But the lyrics to Winwood/Capaldi compositions take a back seat to the playing and Winwood's soulful voice. As Mason's simpler, more direct performances alternate with the more complex Winwood tunes, the album is well-balanced. It's too bad that the musicians were not able to maintain that balance in person; for the second time in two albums, Mason found himself dismissed from the group just as an LP to which he'd made a major contribution hit the stores. Only a few months after that, the band itself split up, but not before scoring their second consecutive Top Ten ranking in the U.K.; the album also reached the Top 20 in the U.S., breaking the temporarily defunct group stateside. William Ruhlmann  
Tracklist :
1 You Can All Join In 3:38
2 Pearly Queen 4:19
3 Don't Be Sad 3:23
4 Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring 3:13
5 Feelin' Alright? 4:19
6 Vagabond Virgin 5:22
7 (Roamin' Thru The Gloamin' With) 40,000 Headmen 3:14
8 Cryin' To Be Heard 5:32
9 No Time To Live 5:02
10 Means To An End 2:40
Bonus Tracks
11 You Can All Join In (Mono Single Mix)
12 Feelin' Alright? (Mono Single Mix)
13 Withering Tree
Credits :
Bass, Flute, Saxophone [Tenor, Soprano] – Chris Wood
Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals – Dave Mason
Organ, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals – Steve Winwood
Percussion, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals – Jim Capaldi

Traffic – Heaven Is In Your Mind (1969)

Rehearsed and written at a cottage in the Berkshire countryside, Traffic's debut was former child prodigy Steve Winwood's first foray into headier territory after a stint playing R&B-fueled rock & roll with the Spencer Davis Group. Rounded out by drummer Jim Capaldi and multi-instrumentalists Chris Wood and Dave Mason, Traffic's 1967 debut, Mr. Fantasy, was originally released in the U.S. under the title Heaven Is in Your Mind.
The record includes experimentation with vaudeville-inspired numbers ("Berkshire Poppies"), flamenco-flavored fantasy ("Dealer"), and sitar-drenched meditations ("Utterly Simple"). Winwood's inspired organ playing and soulful singing poke out on cuts like "Coloured Rain." In keeping with the band's unorthodox approach to composition and arrangement, "Giving to You" offers a funky groove sandwiched between tidbits of an overheard conversation about the relative merits of jazz. Rovi Staff
Tracklist :
1 Paper Sun
2 Dealer
3 Coloured Rain
4 Hole In My Shoe
5 No Face, No Name And No Number
6 Heaven Is In Your Mind
7 House For Everyone
8 Berkshire Poppies
9 Giving To You
10 Smiling Phrases
11 Dear Mr. Fantasy
12 We're A Fade, You Missed This
Bonus Tracks
13 Utterly Simple
14 Hope I Never Find Me There
15 Here We Go 'Round The Mulberry Bush
16 Am I What I Was Or Am I What I Am

Traffic – Last Exit (1969)

Since Traffic originally planned its self-titled second album as a double LP, the group had extra material left over, some of which saw release before the end of 1968 (there was a new, one-off single released in December, "Medicated Goo"/"Shanghai Noodle Factory"). In January 1969, Steve Winwood announced the group's breakup. That left Island Records, the band's label, in the lurch, since Traffic had built up a considerable following. As far as Island was concerned, it was no time to stop, and the label quickly set about assembling a new album. The non-LP B-side "Withering Tree," "Medicated Goo," and "Shanghai Noodle Factory" were pressed into service, along with "Just for You," the B-side of a solo single by on-again, off-again member Dave Mason that had been released originally in February 1968 and happened to feature the rest of the members of Traffic as sidemen; a short, previously unreleased instrumental; and two extended jams on cover songs from a 1968 live appearance at the Fillmore West. It all added up to more than half an hour of music, and that was enough to package it as the posthumous Traffic album Last Exit. Actually, Last Exit isn't bad as profit-taking products go. "Just for You" is one of Mason's elegant folk-pop songs, including attractive Indian percussion. "Medicated Goo" has proven to be one of Traffic's more memorable jam tunes, despite its nonsense lyrics, and the equally appealing "Shanghai Noodle Factory" is hard not to interpret as Winwood's explanation of the band's split. And while the cover material seems unlikely, the songs are used as platforms for the band to jam cohesively. So, Traffic's third album, thought at the time of its release to be the final one, has its isolated pleasures, even if it doesn't measure up to its two predecessors. William Ruhlmann  
Tracklist :
1 Just For You 2:18
2 Shanghai Noodle Factory 5:06
3 Something's Got A Hold Of My Toe 2:15
4 Withering Tree 3:05
5 Medicated Goo 3:37
Recorded Live At The Filllmore West
6 Feelin' Good 10:40
7 Blind Men 7:06

Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die (1970)

At only 22 years old, Steve Winwood sat down in early 1970 to fulfill a contractual commitment by making his first solo album, on which he intended to play all the instruments himself. The record got as far as one backing track produced by Guy Stevens, "Stranger to Himself," before Winwood called his erstwhile partner from Traffic, Jim Capaldi, in to help out. The two completed a second track, "Every Mother's Son," then, with Winwood and Island Records chief Chris Blackwell moving to the production chores, brought in a third Traffic member, Chris Wood, to work on the sessions. Thus, Traffic, dead and buried for more than a year, was reborn. The band's new approach was closer to what it perhaps should have been back in 1967, basically a showcase for Winwood's voice and instrumental work, with Wood adding reed parts and Capaldi drumming and occasionally singing harmony vocals. If the original Traffic bowed to the perceived commercial necessity of crafting hit singles, the new Traffic was more interested in stretching out. Heretofore, no studio recording had run longer than the five-and-a-half minutes of "Dear Mr. Fantasy," but four of the six selections on John Barleycorn Must Die exceeded six minutes. Winwood and company used the time to play extended instrumental variations on compelling folk- and jazz-derived riffs. Five of the six songs had lyrics, and their tone of disaffection was typical of earlier Capaldi sentiments. But the vocal sections of the songs merely served as excuses for Winwood to exercise his expressive voice as punctuation to the extended instrumental sections. As such, John Barleycorn Must Die moved beyond the jamming that had characterized some of Traffic's 1968 work to approach the emerging field of jazz-rock. And that helped the band to achieve its commercial potential; this became Traffic's first gold album. William Ruhlmann  
Tracklist :
1 Glad 7:00
Drums, Percussion – Jim Capaldi
Organ, Piano, Percussion – Steve Winwood
Saxophone, Flute, Saxophone [Electric], Percussion – Chris Wood 
Written-By – Winwood 
2 Freedom Rider 5:30
Drums, Percussion – J.C. 
Organ, Piano, Vocals, Percussion – S.W. 
Saxophone, Flute, Saxophone [Electric], Percussion – C.W. 
Written-By – Capaldi, Winwood
3 Empty Pages 4:35
Drums, Percussion – J.C.
Organ – C.W.
Organ, Bass Guitar, Electric Piano, Vocals – S.W.
Written-By – Capaldi, Winwood
4 I Just Want You To Know 1:31
5 Stranger To Himself 3:57
Producer – Guy Stevens
Vocals – J.C.
Vocals, Instruments [All] – S.W.
Written-By – Capaldi, Winwood
6 John Barleycorn 6:27
Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Vocals – S.W.
Arranged By – Winwood
Flute, Percussion – C.W.
Tambourine, Vocals – J.C.
Written-By – Trad.
7 Every Mother's Son 7:08
Drums – J.C.
Instruments [All Other] – S.W.
Producer – Guy Stevens
Written-By – Capaldi, Winwood
8 Sittin' Here Thinkin' Of My Love 3:33
9 Backstage & Introduction 1:50
10 Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring (Live) 6:56
11 Glad (Live) 11:30

Traffic – Welcome To The Canteen (1971)

Following the success of John Barleycorn Must Die, Traffic planned a concert album for the fall of 1970, and it got as far as a test pressing before being canceled. A recording was necessary to satisfy the terms of British label Island records' licensing deal with American label United Artists, which had provided for five albums, of which four had been delivered. With Island starting to release its own albums in the U.S., the UA contract had to be completed, and hopefully not with the potentially lucrative studio follow-up to John Barleycorn Must Die. Thus, Traffic tried again to come up with a live album by recording shows on a British tour in July 1971. Joining for six dates of the tour was twice-dismissed Traffic singer/guitarist Dave Mason, who had subsequently scored a solo success with his Alone Together album. The resulting collection, Welcome to the Canteen (which was technically credited to the seven individual musicians, not to Traffic), proved how good a contractual obligation album could be. Sound quality was not the best, with the vocals under-recorded and stray sounds honing in, but the playing was exemplary, and the set list was an excellent mixture of old Traffic songs and recent Mason favorites. "Dear Mr. Fantasy" got an extended workout, and the capper was a rearranged version of Steve Winwood's old Spencer Davis Group hit "Gimme Some Lovin'." Welcome to the Canteen's status as only a semi-legitimate offering was emphasized by the release, after a mere two months, of a new Traffic studio album on Island (The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys) that undercut its sales. But that doesn't make it any less appealing as a summing up of the Winwood/Mason/Traffic musical world. William Ruhlmann 
Tracklist :
1 Medicated Goo 3:34
2 Sad And Deep As You 3:48
3 40,000 Headmen 6:18
4 Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave 5:37
5 Dear Mr. Fantasy 10:53
6 Gimme Some Lovin' 9:00
Credits:
Bass – Rick Grech
Drums – Jim Gordon
Saxophone, Flute, Electric Piano, Organ – Chris Wood (2)
Vocals, Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Dave Mason
Vocals, Organ, Electric Piano, Guitar – Steve Winwood
Vocals, Tambourine, Percussion – Jim Capaldi
Congas, Timbales, Bongos – "Reebop" Kwaku Baah

Traffic – The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys (1971)

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys marked the commercial and artistic apex of the second coming of Traffic, which had commenced in 1970 with John Barleycorn Must Die. The trio that made that album had been augmented by three others (Ric Grech, Jim Gordon, and "Reebop" Kwaku Baah) in the interim, though apparently the Low Spark sessions featured varying combinations of these musicians, plus some guests. But where their previous album had grown out of sessions for a Steve Winwood solo album and retained that focus, Low Spark pointedly contained changes of pace from his usual contributions of midtempo, introspective jam tunes. "Rock & Roll Stew" was an uptempo treatise on life on the road, while Jim Capaldi's "Light up or Leave Me Alone" was another more aggressive number with an unusually emphatic Capaldi vocal that perked things up on side two. The other four tracks were Winwood/Capaldi compositions more in the band's familiar style. "Hidden Treasure" and "Rainmaker" bookended the disc with acoustic treatments of nature themes that were particularly concerned with water, and "Many a Mile to Freedom" also employed water imagery. But the standout was the 12-minute title track, with its distinctive piano riff and its lyrics of weary disillusionment with the music business. The band had only just fulfilled a contractual commitment by releasing the live album Welcome to the Canteen, and they had in their past the embarrassing Last Exit album thrown together as a commercial stopgap during a temporary breakup in 1969. But that anger had proven inspirational, and "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" was one of Traffic's greatest songs as well as its longest so far. The result was an album that quickly went gold (and eventually platinum) in the U.S., where the group toured frequently. William Ruhlmann 
Tracklist :
1 Hidden Treasure 4:12
Written-By – Capaldi, Winwood
2 The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys 11:44
Written-By – Capaldi, Winwood
3 Light Up Or Leave Me Alone 4:50
4 Rock And Roll Stew 4:27
5 Many A Mile To Freedom 7:18
6 Rainmaker 7:53
Bonus Track
7 Rock & Roll Stew parts 1 & 2 (Single Version) 6:09
Credits:
Bass – Rick Grech
Drums – Jim Gordon
Drums, Keyboards, Vocals – Jim Capaldi
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Steve Winwood
Percussion – Rebop Kwaku Baah
Saxophone, Flute – Chris Woods

 Traffic – Shoot out at the Fantasy Factory (1973)

After two exemplary releases, Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory marked a fall-off in quality for Traffic. The problems lay in both composition and performance. Beginning with the title track, based on a guitar riff reminiscent of the recent Deep Purple hit "Smoke on the Water," and continuing through the lengthy "Roll Right Stones," the folkish ballad "Evening Blue," reed player Chris Wood's instrumental "Tragic Magic," and the uncertain self-help song "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired," the material was far from the group's best. Lyricist Jim Capaldi was co-credited with Steve Winwood as the album's producer, and he may have contributed to the cleaner mix that made his words easier to understand. Easier, that is, in the technical sense, since the musing about a sort of minor-league Stonehenge "Roll Right Stones" didn't do much with the image, and, though it struggled for a more positive outlook, "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired" seemed to come out on the side of despair. Winwood's music seemed to recycle his own ideas when it didn't borrow from others. Meanwhile, the rhythm section had been replaced by Muscle Shoals studio aces David Hood and Roger Hawkins, who proved proficient but not as kinetic as their predecessors, so that the playing often seemed mechanical. Capaldi sang no songs here, and Wood's flute and saxophone, so often the flavoring of Traffic songs, were largely absent. What was left was a competent, if perfunctory effort in the band's familiar style. They had built up enough of a following through touring that the album was a commercial success, but it sounds like an imitation of earlier triumphs. William Ruhlmann  

Tracklist :
1 Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory 6:08
2 Roll Right Stones 13:47
3 Evening Blue 5:20
4 Tragic Magic 6:44
5 (Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired 7:32
Credits :
Bass – David Hood
Drums – Roger Hawkins
Drums, Vocals, Keyboards – Jim Capaldi
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Steve Winwood
Percussion – Rebop Kwaku Baah
Saxophone, Flute – Chris Wood

Traffic – On The Road (1973)

Reportedly released as an effort to undercut bootleggers following a world tour, Traffic: On the Road was the band's second live album in three years. The album chronicled a late edition of the band in which original members Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood were augmented not only by percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah, but also by a trio of session musicians from the famed Muscle Shoals studio, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, and Barry Beckett. The studio pros lent a tightness and proficiency to their characteristic free-form jams, and though they sometimes sounded like they couldn't wait to get the songs over with, the tunes went on and on, four clocking in at over ten minutes. That might have been okay if the choice of material had been more balanced across the band's career, but 1971's Welcome To the Canteen had treated earlier efforts, and the 1973 tour was promoting Shoot Out At the Fantasy Factory, from which three of the six selections were drawn. Unfortunately, that album was not one of Traffic's best, and the live versions of its songs were no more impressive than the studio ones had been. Traffic: On the Road featured plenty of room for soloing by some good musicians, but it was the logical extreme of the band's forays into extended performance, with single tunes taking up entire sides on the original LPs. It's not surprising that, after this, Traffic shrunk in size and returned to shorter songs. [Though best known in its two-LP version, Traffic: On the Road was initially released in the U.S. as a single LP containing only four tracks.] William Ruhlmann  

Tracklist :
1 Glad / Freedom Rider

2 Tragic Magic

3 (Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired

4 Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory

5 Light Up Or Leave Me Alone

6 Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys

Credits :

Bass – David Hood

Drums – Roger Hawkins

Keyboards – Barry Beckett

Percussion – Rebop Kwaku Baah

Saxophone, Flute – Chris Wood (2)

Vocals, Guitar, Piano – Steve Winwood

Vocals, Percussion, Drums – Jim Capaldi

Written-By – Chris Wood (tracks: 2), Capaldi (tracks: 1, 3 to 6), Winwood (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6)

Traffic – When The Eagle Flies (1974)

In its second manifestation, Traffic displayed an affection for jazz-like improvisation over shuffling rhythms, and that tendency was never more indulged than on When the Eagle Flies. Having dispensed with the trio of session musicians who had accompanied them on tour, the remaining band members, led by Steve Winwood, jammed over long-lined musical structures. Still, this was nominally a rock album, with lyrics and vocals, and Winwood often seemed to be improvising his melodies over the music, paying little heed to the meaning of the words, especially on the title track. Jim Capaldi's lyrics touched on the ups and downs of romance and the vicissitudes of capitalism and politics, and warning of apocalypse. But he sounded most assured reflecting on his past and future in "Memories of a Rock 'n Rolla." The most intriguing lyric was a blank-verse effort from the Bonzo Dog Band's Vivian Stanshall, "Dream Gerrard," which took off from 19th-century French poet Gérard de Nerval's speculations about the relationship between dreams and reality. But Winwood treated the words and his singing as another musical element rather than fashioning the songs to emphasize them, so that When the Eagle Flies, not unlike previous Traffic albums, was really a mostly instrumental collection that happened to have vocals. That wouldn't have mattered if the music had been more compelling and effectively played, but rather than seeming like a fresh start for the band, the album was listless and remote. Although it became Traffic's fourth consecutive studio album to reach the Top Ten and go gold in the U.S., the group broke up following the American promotional tour in the fall of 1974. William Ruhlmann  

Tracklist :
1 Something New 3:15
2 Dream Gerrard 11:03
3 Graveyard People 6:05
4 Walking In The Wind 6:48
5 Memories Of A Rock N' Rolla 4:50
6 Love 3:20
7 When The Eagle Flies 4:24
Credits :
Bass – Rosko Gee
Drums, Keyboards, Vocals – Jim Capaldi
Flute, Saxophone – Chris Wood
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Steve Winwood