Saturday, October 12, 2024

Traffic - Traffic (1968 uk, folk psych rock masterpiece, 2018 remaster and expanded)



An album that became a Top 10 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in America cannot be described with that overused phrase “underrated”, but Traffic‘s self-titled album is a low-key addition to the classic records of 1968, a year when a sense of place distinguished the latest releases from the UK’s premier league bands.

After following the Beatles down the psychedelic rabbit hole in 1967, the Rolling Stones re-established their critical standing with Beggars Banquet, a record firmly rooted in Americana. The Kinks, banned from touring in America since 1965, were now the quintessentially English Village Green Preservation Society. While it cannot be seriously argued that The Beatles (White Album) had a sense of place, 19 of its 30 tracks had been written while they were on retreat in India. During the recording of Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix could just as well have been beaming his guitar by satellite from outer space.

Traffic, meanwhile, came from Birmingham. For much of the 20th century, Birmingham was England’s unofficial second city. Its musical identity would come to be defined by heavy metal upon the surfacing of Black Sabbath. Beneath the radar, it had boasted of a music scene that had flourished in the wake of rock ‘n’ roll, reputedly with more working bands than in Liverpool. Still, by the middle of the 1960s, it had not established the national profile of Liverpool or London.

In 1968, there was a handful of noteworthy album releases by Birmingham-based groups, including the Moody Blues, the Move, and Traffic. All three shared some psychedelic common ground, as per fashion circa 1967, but only in so far as psychedelia equated to pushing boundaries, and the bands would sooner differentiate their musical identities than did the Merseybeat and London blues bands. So, while the Move took their cue from Sgt. Pepper‘s era art-pop and the Moody Blues worked orchestral textures into their proto-prog, Traffic, whose line-up emphasized keyboards and horns, with guitars often pushed back into a supporting role, gradually distinguished themselves as a premier jazz-rock band.

Traffic occupied a plum position on rock’s family tree. Steve Winwood had sung and played keyboards as a teen prodigy with the Spencer Davis Group (and he was only 19 years old when Traffic’s debut record was released in 1967). From that group, he brought along Jimmy Miller, a producer who had “got that art of being able to put music into words” and would start work that same year with the Rolling Stones, working with them through their much-vaunted golden period until 1973. Many Traffic members would feature on Electric Ladyland, and all four would play with Jimi Hendrix at one time or another. Winwood would go on to collaborate with Eric Clapton in Blind Faith, while Clapton would also cross paths with Dave Mason as part of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, a coterie of blue-eyed soul musicians.

Yet still, the competition Traffic faced was massive. In a music industry flush with the Beatles’ success, the array of new, established, and emerging talent in the UK at this time was dizzying. The year 1968 saw significant debut records in blues-rock (Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull), folk-rock (Fairport Convention, Pentangle), heavy rock (Deep Purple, the Jeff Beck Group), and progressive rock (Soft Machine, the Nice). What was more remarkable still was how so many of these acts could distinguish themselves. 

What somewhat improbably helped the most talented artists to make their mark was that, amidst this wave of talent, there remained a vital element of purism, where only the most prominent names, like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, were mixing genres freely. Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac was the most expressive British blues guitarist, but his band was still playing many Chicago blues covers and originals based on the rhythms and tonality of the blues. Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention would sing stirringly both on her original songs and on Fairport’s many Bob Dylan covers, but would also be influential on the group’s future decision to record only covers of British folk standards. Rod Stewart, too, was a fervent singer, but there were no gentle moments within the blues-derived proto-metal of the Jeff Beck Group.

Traffic were relatively less constrained. Winwood, Capaldi, and Wood liked to jam. With Wood’s distinctive array of horns and Capaldi’s exciting, meticulous drumming, this dimension formed their reputation as a 1970s jazz-rock band. They would later fit neatly in with the American jam-band aesthetic and were galvanized by the American “underground” scene of the time, where “all the groups just live for their music, and jam sessions are a pretty regular thing, with everyone getting up on stage to have a blow”. Dave Mason, however, wrote concise songs. Traffic, the album, is therefore split roughly between two distinct sides of their character, with Dave Mason’s songs typically delivered in a relaxed, amiable manner and the Steve Winwood/Jim Capaldi collaborations reaching into more progressive territory. However, Winwood’s remarkable talent and soulfulness as a vocalist, organist, and guitar player unites all of the material. 

Among the self-contained rock bands of the period, only the Jimi Hendrix Experience were as soulful as Traffic. Hendrix’s firsthand experience of playing with the Isley Brother aside, his pioneering work in psychedelic soul was aiming for the stars. In the Small Faces, Steve Marriott was another powerhouse vocalist, and the band had mod pedigree, but on Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, they would dilute their soulfulness with English whimsy. Traffic is shot through with down-to-earth soulfulness, with each song covering new ground and side one of the original vinyl record, especially being one winner after another. It’s a post-psychedelic record that retains the adventurous spirit of its predecessor, Mr Fantasy, while reconnecting with the roots of rock & roll. “Drugs show you the door, but they don’t open it, they don’t take you there. Music is getting honest, real, and natural,” said Winwood in an interview with his American counterpart, Al Kooper. Unlike many other groups of the time, Traffic did not see their record as a conceptual piece, with Winwood seeing it as “really ten songs rather than the concept of an album. They’re compositions. Or exercises, if you like.”

The Mason-written album opener, “You Can All Join In”, is an up-tempo rocker in which Winwood’s flowing call-and-response guitar licks meet Mason’s vocal melody. Contemporary music critics heard some country-rock flavor in the guitar, in the vein of Duane Allman, then a session guitar ace at Muscle Shoals studios, and later of the Allman Brothers Band. 

“Pearly Queen”, written by Winwood and Capaldi, could be Traffic‘s most rock-orientated piece, but features a rousing, soul-inflected vocal melody, punctuated by Winwood’s stinging rhythm guitar, ala Steve Cropper of Booker T & the MGs, and vast, echoing production on the instrumental sections, giving the piece a strong Atlantic Records vibe.

“Don’t Be Sad” is a wistful, gentle ballad written by Mason, in which Mason and Winwood take turns to sing verses and harmonise on the bridge, further enriched by Mason’s harmonica and Chris Wood’s saxophone accompaniment. “Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring”, written by Winwood and Capaldi, is the funkiest cut on the record, driven by Winwood’s organ, which continuously pushes and pulls against Capaldi’s drums with an elastic groove in the manner of a soul-jazz organist like Jimmy Smith. 

“Feelin’ Alright”, written by Mason, became the LP’s most well-known song, covered many times by soul and rock performers, and is bolstered by Winwood’s lolling piano, drawing on the New Orleans R&B of Allen Toussaint and the Meters, with some fantastic tenor sax soloing by Wood.

Starting side two of Traffic, “Vagabond Virgin” and “Roamin’ Thru’ the Gloamin’ with 40,000 Headmen” diverge from the overall character of the record, both tracks harkening back to the whimsical acid-folk of Traffic’s debut, although they are both worthy compositions. “Vagabond Virgin” is the album’s story song, telling the well-worn tale of a London groupie based on a Latin American rhythm and has Capaldi playing claves.

“Cryin’ to be Heard”, written by Mason, has powerful dynamic shifts and multi-part vocal harmonies, deepened by Winwood on organ and harpsichord, which brings a gospel flavor to the record. “No Time to Live”, written by Winwood and Capaldi, intensifies the melancholy of Cryin’ to be Heard, with Winwood’s vocals yearning and pleading over a desolate backdrop dominated by piano, spare ornamental saxophone, and Capaldi on the tympani. “Means to an End”, written by Winwood and Capaldi and featuring only the two performers, closes the Traffic in the most straightforward manner, with a rock ‘n’ roll rave-up. Capaldi plays drums on this track, while Winwood overdubs all the guitar and keyboard parts.
References
Welch, C. (1968) “Traffic: Traffic (Island)”. Melody Maker.
Altham, K. (1968) “Traffic: Traffic Without Dave”. New Musical Express.
Boltwood, D. (1968) “Traffic and the US Underground”. Record Mirror.
Kooper, A. (1968) “Traffic: Stevie Winwood, A Calm, Shy Superfreak”. Rolling Stone.
Nelson, P. (1969) “Into Traffic with Steve Winwood”. Hullabaloo.
Tracks
1. You Can All Join In (Dave Mason) - 3:39
2. Pearly Queen (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood) - 4:21
3. Don't Be Sad (Dave Mason) - 3:22
4. Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood) - 3:14
5. Feelin' Alright? (Dave Mason) - 4:18
6. Vagabond Virgin (Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason) - 5:23
7. (Roamin' Thro' the Gloamin' With) 40.000 Headman (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood) - 3:15
8. Cryin' To Be Heard (Dave Mason) - 5:33
9. No Time To Live (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood) - 5:02
10.Means To an End (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood) - 2:37
11.Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood) - 2:46
12.Am I What Was or Am I What I Am (Jim Capaldi, Muff Winwood, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood) - 2:37
13.Withering Tree (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood) - 2:57
14.Medicated Goo (Jimmy Miller, Steve Winwood) - 3:40
15.Shanghai Noodle Factory (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood) - 5:06

Traffic
*Jim Capaldi - Drums, Percussion, Lead Vocal 
*Dave Mason - Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Harmonica, Bass Guitar, Organ 
*Steve Winwood - Lead Vocal, Organ, Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Piano, Harpsichord 
*Chris Wood - Tenor, Soprano Sax, Flute, Coke Tin, Sleigh Bells, Bass Guitar, Percussion, Vocals

1969  Traffic - Last Exit (SHM remaster)
1970  Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die (japan SHM and 2011 deluxe double disc edition)
1971  Traffic - Welcome To The Canteen (SHM remaster)
1973  Traffic - On The Road (SHM remaster)
Related Acts
1965  The Spencer Davis Group - Their First LP 
1966  The Spencer Davis Group - The Second Album
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