Traffic | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1968 [1] | |||
Recorded | January–May 1968 | |||
Studio | Olympic, London; Record Plant, New York | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 40:24 | |||
Label | Island, United Artists | |||
Producer | Jimmy Miller | |||
Traffic chronology | ||||
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Singles from Traffic | ||||
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Traffic is the second studio album by the English rock band of the same name, released in 1968 on Island Records in the United Kingdom as ILPS 9081T (stereo), and United Artists in the United States, as UAS 6676 (stereo). The album peaked at number 9 in the UK Albums Chart [2] and at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. [3] It was the last album recorded by the group before their initial breakup.
In January 1968, after some initial success in Britain with their debut album Mr. Fantasy , Dave Mason had departed from the group. He produced the debut album by the group Family, containing in its ranks future Traffic bass player Ric Grech, while Traffic went on the road. [4] In May, the band had invited Mason back to begin recording the new album.
The album was somewhat of a departure from the psychedelia of Traffic's debut, featuring a more eclectic display of influences from blues to folk and jazz. Mason ended up writing and singing half of the songs on the album (including his biggest hit "Feelin' Alright?"), but making scant contribution to the songs written by Jim Capaldi and Steve Winwood. His flair for pop melody had always been at odds with the others' jazz ambitions, evidenced by the dichotomy seen for the songs on this album, and by October he was again out of the band. [5] He would return one more time for a tour and album in 1971 to run out the band's contract.
Traffic was reissued for compact disc in the UK on 11 January 2000, with five bonus tracks, two from the soundtrack to the United Artists film Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and three from Last Exit . In the US, the remastered reissue of 27 February 2001 included mono single mixes of "You Can All Join In" and "Feelin' Alright?," and the stereo single mix of "Withering Tree." The original album was produced by Jimmy Miller. The remasters were assisted in their production by Jim Capaldi.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [6] |
Rolling Stone | (positive) [7] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [8] |
AllMusic gave a positive retrospective review of the album, commenting that it achieved a strong balance between Dave Mason's simple and straightforward folk-rock songs and Steve Winwood's complex and often haunting rock jams. [6]
It was voted number 312 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [9] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [10]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Personnel | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "You Can All Join In" | Dave Mason | Personnel:
| 3:34 |
2. | "Pearly Queen" | Capaldi, Winwood | Personnel:
| 4:20 |
3. | "Don't Be Sad" | Mason | Personnel:
| 3:24 |
4. | "Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring" | Capaldi, Winwood, Wood [note 1] | Personnel:
| 3:11 |
5. | "Feelin' Alright?" | Mason | Personnel:
| 4:16 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Personnel | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
6. | "Vagabond Virgin" | Mason, Capaldi | Personnel:
| 5:21 |
7. | "Roamin' Thru' the Gloamin' with 40,000 Headmen" | Capaldi, Winwood | Personnel:
| 3:15 |
8. | "Cryin' to Be Heard" | Mason | Personnel:
| 5:14 |
9. | "No Time to Live" | Capaldi, Winwood | Personnel:
| 5:10 |
10. | "Means to an End" | Capaldi, Winwood | Personnel:
| 2:39 |
Total length: | 40:24 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Personnel | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" (from the film Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush ) | Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood | 2:45 | |
12. | "Am I What I Was or Am I What I Am" (from the film Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush) | Capaldi, Winwood, Wood | 2:36 | |
13. | "Withering Tree" (B-side to the single Feelin' Alright? - stereo single mix) | Capaldi, Winwood | Personnel:
| 2:57 |
14. | "Medicated Goo" (A-side of a UK 1968 single - stereo mix) | Winwood, Jimmy Miller | 3:39 | |
15. | "Shanghai Noodle Factory" (B-side of Medicated Goo - stereo mix) | Capaldi, Miller, Winwood, Wood, Larry Fallon | 5:03 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | "You Can All Join In" (mono single mix) | Mason | 3:45 |
12. | "Feelin' Alright?" (mono single mix) | Mason | 4:03 |
13. | "Withering Tree" (stereo single mix) | Capaldi, Winwood | 2:53 |
Traffic were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards, sitar, and various reed instruments, and by incorporating jazz and improvisational techniques in their music.
Stephen Lawrence Winwood is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his distinctive, soulful high tenor voice, Winwood plays other instruments proficiently, including drums, mandolin, bass, and saxophone.
Nicola James Capaldi was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he co-wrote the majority of the band's material. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Traffic's original lineup.
David Thomas Mason is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock musicians, including Paul McCartney, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steve Winwood, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell, and Cass Elliot. One of Mason's best known songs is "Feelin' Alright", recorded by Traffic in 1968 and later by many other performers, including Joe Cocker, whose version of the song was a hit in 1969. For Traffic, he also wrote "Hole in My Shoe", a psychedelic pop song that became a hit in its own right. "We Just Disagree", Mason's 1977 solo U.S. hit, written by Jim Krueger, has become a staple of U.S. classic hits and adult contemporary radio playlists.
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The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is the fifth studio album by English rock band Traffic, released in 1971. The album was Traffic's most successful in the United States, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and becoming their only platinum-certified album there, indicating sales in excess of one million. However, it failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The album features the minor hit "Rock & Roll Stew" and the title track, which received heavy FM airplay.
Mr. Fantasy is the debut album by English rock band Traffic, released in December 1967. The recording included group members Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason; Mason temporarily left the band shortly after the album was released. The album reached the number 16 position in the UK Albums Chart, and number 88 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the United States.
Christopher Gordon Blandford Wood was a British rock musician, best known as a founding member of the rock band Traffic, along with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason.
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Welcome to the Canteen is the first live album by English rock band Traffic. It was recorded live at Fairfield Halls, Croydon and the Oz Benefit Concert in the canteen of the Polytechnic of Central London London, on 3 July 1971 and released in September of that year. It was recorded during Dave Mason's third stint with the band, which lasted only six performances.
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Traffic Gold is a two-disc 2005 compilation album by the psychedelic rock band Traffic. It contains at least one song from each album except On the Road, Far from Home, and The Last Great Traffic Jam.
Best of Traffic is a compilation album by the band Traffic, released in 1969.
"Feelin' Alright?", also known as "Feeling Alright", is a song written by Dave Mason of the English rock band Traffic for their eponymous 1968 album Traffic. It was also released as a single, and failed to chart in both the UK and the US, but it did reach a bubbling under position of #123 on the Billboard Hot 100. Joe Cocker performed a more popular rendition of the song that did chart in the U.S. Both Traffic's and Cocker's versions appear in the 2012 movie Flight. The song had also been featured in the 2000 film Duets, sung by Huey Lewis.
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