SDE (I won’t post a link to avoid AW technical grief) has details of Traffic: The Studio Albums 1967-1974 vinyl box set.
6 albums (no Last Exit), out 17th May.
That’s another 120 notes gone…
Traffic klaxon
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CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
Some nice Floyd Cramer-ish jangle in the main riff there.
If the sax was better it could almost be something from Blue Note.
I got this lot for £5 from the tax dodgers on CD, and vey good it is, too. I liked vinyl for the covers and the useful foot-square ‘work surface’ (muscle memory twitches despite probably not done that since mid 80s), but i am not about to buy all my albums again. Besides i’m so deaf now, sound quality is moot however formatted.
I listend to the self-titled album and John Barleycorn Must Die as part of the 1001 albums project. I bought them both:
Traffic – “From start to finish I was pleasantly suprised by this album. The first song was pretty cool with some nice country-guitar licks, and the final track reminded me of Paul Weller, so it’s nice to see where he got his influences from. I’d listen to this again.”
John Barleycorn Must Die – “(This is) t’s one of these ‘recommended classics’ that I’ve never knowingly heard but finally we’ve reached it in the book. Having enjoyed the previous album by Google’s least favourite band, I am glad to tell you (me) that this was even better.”
These albums used to be very plentiful in the bargain bins. Think I got a few of these for a dollar or two each. The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys being a favourite.
Sounds great. I’ve got most of them so not investing. Live – On The Road is a personal favourite. That version of “Freedom rider”. In fact look what’s on YouTube. Winwood et al with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Sensational.
Bought all the albums as soon as they were released, Mr Fantasy being my very first LP ever. Auspicious start in psychedelic ’67, stabilised as a trio (-ish) in ’70, expanded to a loose(-ish) collective to meet the live demand in the States, still making decent records until 1974. Bits and bobs much later were okay. Those old pink Island editions were so well manufactured though. Still a fan.
Key tracks: Paper Sun, Heaven Is In Your Mind, Dear Mr Fantasy, John Barleycorn, Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory. I won’t be needing the set, then, but if you have a gap in your collection, go for it. Bit pricey though but.
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is one of the best songs ever.
A fact.
Loved that period when they were expanded by the Muscle Shoals guys.
And Viv Stanshall’s mate ont’ congas. Hurrah!
Ah…one of my favourite bands, and Steve Winwood did a great ‘Low Spark’ on the recent tour, which was worth the ticket price on its own. My original ‘Traffic’ LP with the wonderful cover still brings me out in goosebumps.
1994’s reunion ‘Far From Home’ is surprisingly good too….these things are usually disappointing, but I often return to it.
It’s great: the track with Davy Spillane guesting on uillean pipes is Winwood heaven central.
This one:
I love the wacky pop psychedelia of their debut but never really got into anything else they did so I’ll pass on this one.
Speaking of what’s on SDE, the upcoming Rory Gallagher set looks good – lots of unreleased goodies!
The omission of Last Exit is strange. The SDE site refers to it as a collection of “odds ‘n sods”, but I recall it being released as a Traffic album proper, albeit in the wake of a split. It has some decent stuff on it too, including Medicated Goo.
The absence of Welcome To The Canteen is another puzzler. Strictly not a Traffic album, being a pre-reformation recording of an Oz benefit gig credited to the musicians rather than the band itself, it is nonetheless Traffic music and led to the reformation (without Dave Mason) of the line up that recorded the Low Spark… and Shoot Out… albums. Notably the rear sleeve shows a ketchup bottle with the Traffic logo on the label. It is one of my favourite live albums.
Here’s Gimme Some Lovin’ (if you have nine minutes to spare).
Last Exit was Island Records’ attempt to squeeze an albums worth out of a group in turmoil at the time: Mason had left and rejoined a couple of times, Winwood was having his head turned with the short-lived Blind Faith project. The remaining three formed Mason, Capaldi, Wood & Frog (some gigs, no album) and Winwood started solo recordings for what would eventually become the Barleycorn album, with Wood and Capaldi rejoining. At the time though, the record company saw their hit act slipping through their fingers.
It’s not a bad album at all, although the trio live stuff making up side 2 is instrumentally somewhat thin. Medicated Goo/ Chinese Noodle Factory was
a repackaging of their latest single, included as you say, Carl. Odds ‘n’ sods is a perspective from 50 years later and doesn’t really cover it but the scene at the time was rather promiscuous. So, fair to say it wasn’t really an intended album.
That track was “Shanghai Noodle Factory,” the b-side of a flop 45 and, rather splendidly, my fave Traffic song.
Not too much of a surprise as my fave Kinks’ song is “This Is Where I Belong,” a b-side of a European mainland only 45.
Obscure-tastic!
Both Goo and SNF turn up on the 1970 Best of Traffic which, although overly dominated by Mr Fantasy tracks, must have been very useful at the time gathering together the singles on one tremendous album. I got it on CD in a 4 for £20 in 1995. Yiss!
There’s an ace live Goo on Welcome to the Canteen, not a moment too long and SW sings the crap out of it.
Shanghai!
Duh..
While we’re talking Traffic B-sides, this my favourite. A slightly different version to the “Dear Mr. Fantasy” album track.
(Giving To You)
“Traffic: The Studio Albums 1967-1974”
As to why these albums aren’t included, the clue is in the title of the collection…
AW T-shirt:
“While we’re talking Traffic b-sides …”
Last Exit was half a studio album, so at leat a side of it should be there.
I’m curious – What would the AW technical grief consist of? I wasn’t aware of issues with posting links
Links to SDE from AW can (used to?) create an error message.