| | Traffic CD Traffic Discography of CDs
 (4 Customer Reviews)
On their second album, the cottage dwellers from Berkshire refined their hippie pop into a looser and vastly more mature work: evocative tales of nonsense in the beautiful "40,000 Headmen," joyful malarkey with Mason's "You Can All Join In," and one of his finest songs, "Feelin Alright," which was a signpost to his imminent departure. Throughout the record Jim Capaldi's understated yet steady drums demonstrate just what a great rock drummer should do, and Chris Wood's sound is everywhere, with trills on flute and blasts on saxophone. TRAFFIC is a record that will always be meant for glorious sunny days.
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. [The 2001 reissue includes three bonus tracks: the "Mono Single Mixes" of "You Can All Join In" and "Feelin' Alright" and also the "Stereo Single Mix" of "Withering Tree."] ~ William Ruhlmann
Originally released on Island (9081).
Additional Tracks
Personnel: Dave Mason (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, organ, bass guitar, drums); Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, piano, harpsichord, organ, bass guitar); Jim Capaldi (vocals, drums, percussion); Chris Wood (flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, drums, percussion).
Liner Note Author: Jimmy Miller .
Photographer: Richard Polak.
Traffic: Dave Mason (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, piano, harpsichord, organ, bass); Jim Capldi (vocals, drums, percussion); Chris Wood (flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass, percussion, bells).
Engineers: Glyn Johns, Eddie Kramer, Brian Humphries.
Rolling Stone (3/4/04, p.68) - 4 stars out of 5 - "TRAFFIC is a triumph of earthy cohesion, a sparkling British twist on the rural-basement R&B of the Band's MUSIC FROM THE BIG PINK....[T]his is the best album [any Traffic] lineup ever made..."
Rolling Stone (1/4/69, p.28) - "...Dave Mason is a top-notch rock and roll composer and the Steve Winwood/Jim Capaldi team is equally good...coming up with material on a level with the Young Rascals' best work..."
Q (2/00, p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...lolloping funkiness - smeared all over 'Feelin' Alright' and 'Pearly Queen' - could only have come from such chilled-out environs [a rented cottage in Aston Tirrold, Bershire]..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/00, p.106) - "...a sweet parade of soulful prog that no one else could muster....shows that Traffic were capable of thoughtful, inventive and occasionally very beautiful music." Traffic Music | List Price | $9.95 (You save $3.40) | | Category | Rock Albums, Rock/Pop CDs, Art Rock, Psychedelic | | Label | Island | | Orig Year | 1968 | | All Time Sales Rank |  2396  | | CD Universe Part number | 1590898 | | Catalog number | 542852 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Feb 27, 2001 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Producer | Jimmy Miller | | Recording Time | 40 minutes | | Personnel | Dave Mason - vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, organ, bass guitar, drums
Steve Winwood - vocals, guitar, piano, harpsichord, organ, bass
Chris Wood - flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, drums, percussion
Jim Capaldi - vocals, drums, percussion
| | Additional Info | Bonus Tracks; Remastered |
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Purchase Traffic CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Traffic Heaven Is In Your Mind CD (1969) USA Version; Remastered
Traffic songs
 $10.89    (MP3 Available for Download)
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. This reissue contains the album as it appeared in the U.S. plus several bonus tracks.
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 pokes 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.
Originally released on Island (9061).
Additional Tracks
Recorded at Olympic Sound Studios, London, England between April and November 1967.
Personnel: Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, piano, harpsichord, organ, bass guitar, percussion); Chris Wood (vocals, flute, saxophone, organ, percussion); Jim Capaldi (vocals, drums, percussion).
Recording information: Olympic Studios, London, England (04/1967-11/1967).
Photographers: Michael Putland; Mike Sida.
Arranger: Steve Winwood.
Traffic: Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, piano, harpsichord, organ, bass, percussion); Dave Mason (vocals, guitar, sitar, tamboura, shakkai, Mellotron, bass); Chris Wood (vocals, flute, saxophone, organ); Jim Capaldi (vocals, drums, percussion).
Reissue producer: Bill Levenson.
| | Traffic Last Exit CD (1969) Remastered
Traffic album
$6.59 (MP3 Available for Download)
LAST EXIT is a collection of studio tracks and live tracks recorded at The Fillmore West, San Francisco, California.
Half live, half studio, LAST EXIT is a fitting testament to Traffic's strengths in both arenas. This 1969 release was the band's third album in two years, titled as such because it was to be their farewell. Upon disbanding, Steve Winwood joined the short-lived BLIND FAITH, only to reconvene Traffic a year later with their classic JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE. The catchy, playful pop of Dave Mason's "Just For You" and Winwood's "Medicated Goo" are classic Traffic, sounding of a piece with their debut, MR. FANTASY.
Though pared down to a trio at this point--Winwood (organ, vocals), Chris Wood (saxophone and flute), and Jim Capaldi (drums, vocals)--Traffic also performs well in the way of extended jams. Two long selections recorded live at the Fillmore West never falter. The band's version of Anthony Newley's "Feelin' Good" exalts at every turn, with Capaldi's drums springing out of Winwood's church-y Hammond like a percussive hallelujah chorus.
Originally released on Island (9097).
Additional Tracks
Traffic: Steve Winwood, Dave Mason, Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi.
Producer: Jimmy Miller.
Reissue producer: Bill Levenson.
Personnel: Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Dave Mason (vocals, guitar); Jim Capaldi (vocals, keyboards, drums); Chris Wood (wind).
Recording information: Fillmore West.
Photographers: Richard Polak; Ray Ross.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Jim Capaldi; Steve Winwood.
| | Traffic John Barleycorn Must Die CD (1970) Bonus Tracks; Remastered
Traffic CD music
$6.55  (MP3 Available for Download)
Although JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE was originally intended as Steve Winwood's post-Blind Faith solo debut, Winwood and producer/label head Chris Blackwell first drafted Jim Capaldi to provide lyrics, and then Chris Wood dropped by to add his familiar reeds, and almost by accident, Traffic was reborn.
This was a different, and better, Traffic than the ill-fated quartet lineup with Dave Mason, which never entirely settled on an artistic direction. The sound of JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE, on the other hand, remained the template for the rest of the reunited band's career--long, organically developed songs with a subtle jazz-rock feel, powered by Capaldi's percussion and Winwood's organ. "John Barleycorn," a traditional English folk song about the process of brewing ale (not, as the liner notes mistakenly claim, a call for temperance), here becomes a pastoral reverie carried along by flute and acoustic guitar, and proves to be the record's highlight. However, the quality of the other songs, particularly the instrumental opener, "Glad," and the outstanding ballad "Empty Pages," is nearly as high.
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 t
| | Traffic Welcome To The Canteen CD (1971) Remastered
Traffic MP3 Album
$6.59 (MP3 Available for Download)
If your familiarity with Traffic extends no further than the band's first two albums--1967's MR. FANTASY and 1968's TRAFFIC--you might not have thought about Traffic in terms of a performance entity. In fact, Traffic became quite a flexible live act, documented on half of LAST EXIT (1969), WELCOME TO THE CANTEEN (1971), and ON THE ROAD (1973).
By the time of CANTEEN, Dave Mason had left the band. Traffic expanded its rhythm section of founding member Jim Capaldi (drums) and newcomer Ric Grech (bass) with drummer Jim Gordon and percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah. Steve Winwood's playing and singing, along with Chris Wood's saxophones and flute, dance across this rhythmic field like young colts on a hillside. CANTEEN was recorded in London, and Dave Mason even shows up to guest on his own "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave."
;Replaces #Pol842417
Traffic: Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, electric piano, organ); Dave Mason (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Jim Capaldi (vocals, tambourine, percussion); Chris Wood (flute, saxophone, electric piano); Rick Grech (bass instrument); Jim Gordon (drums); Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion).
Liner Note Author: James McDermott.
| | Traffic Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys CD (1971) Bonus Tracks
Traffic music CDs
$6.59 (MP3 Available for Download)
THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH HEELED BOYS was a big change from the quiet, largely acoustic flavor of Traffic's reunion album JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE. Although the gentle opening track, "Hidden Treasure," and the meandering, mellow closer, "Rainmaker," were in keeping with the pastoral vibe of the previous record, sandwiched in between those are several increasingly aggressive and lyrically sour songs about that evergreen topic--life in a rock & roll band.
The venality of the business gets a workout in the 12-minute title track, a slow-building jazz-rock groove that starts with a sense of quiet menace and ends with a pealing, distorted guitar solo, with one of Steve Winwood's most impassioned and lengthy organ solos at the song's heart. "Rock & Roll Stew" and Jim Capaldi's sneering putdown "Light Up or Leave Me Alone" are even more forceful, with only the groovy ecological message of "Many a Mile to Freedom" lightening the mood. Even that song rocks harder than anything on JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE, though, and that extra hint of power is likely what helped make THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH HEELED BOYS Traffic's most commercially successful album in the United States.
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 (Rick Grech, Jim Gordon, and Reebop Kwaakuh) in the interim, though apparently the Low Spark of High Heeled Boys 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, Low Spark pointedly contained changes of pace from Winwood's usual contributions of mid-tempo, 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
| | Beta Band Three Eps CD (1998)
Traffic songs
$11.69  (MP3 Available for Download)
As the title suggests, this disc collects the first three UK releases by Scotland's Beta Band. Singer/guitarist Stephen Mason, bassist Richard Greentree, drummer Robin Jones, and DJ/tape manipulator John McLean demonstrate astonishingly febrile imaginations over the course of these 12 songs. They pick up and discard ideas with wicked glee and a contagious try-anything-once attitude.
Imagine Frank Zappa, Beck, and Robert Wyatt leading the Bonzo Dog Band! Another strong influence appears to be turn-of-the-'70s Pink Floyd, given the band's fondness for near-inaudible tape loops and Mason's astonishingly Roger Waters-like voice. Like such contemporaries as Gomez and Arnold, The Beta Band can leap from the Delta-blues influence of "Dry The Rain" or the mantra-like "She's The One" to the funky dub groove of "Monolith" and make the broad stylistic jumps look easy.
| | Bob Marley Wail'N Soul'm Singles CD (2005) (Import) Germany
Traffic album
$9.39
WAIL 'N SOUL'M SINGLES SELECTA brings together 23 favorites from the legendary reggae band produced for the Wail 'N Soul'm imprint.
Bob Marley is an icon. Over two decades after his death, his music continues to thrill those who hear it, whether they are new fans or long-time followers. His music speaks to the common man and celebrates life. Whether you prefer the early recordings from the '60s or his 'hit period' in the '70s, there's rarely a dull moment in his catalog. This album is from the JAD catalogue, which draws together the first flush of singles that Bob Marley & The 'Wailing' Wailers released on their Wail 'n Soul 'm imprint. Full of classic tracks like 'Stir It Up', 'Mellow Mood', 'Freedom Time' and 'Bend Down Low', Singles Selecta finds Bob, Peter, Bunny & Rita releasing one Rock Steady gem after another. 23 total tracks. Universal. 2005.
| | Moody Blues Lovely To See You: Live CDs (2005)
Traffic CD music
$13.89
This concert album contains several surprises, not the least of which is its existence -- it's the third issued by the Moody Blues since the late 1980s. But it's also unique, featuring the band by itself, unaccompanied; all of their concert recordings since the 1979 issue of Caught Live + 5 -- which contained a 1960s concert -- have offered the group backed up by orchestras of varying sizes, which made for impressive sonics but reduced the spontaneity and raw excitement that should be inherent in a rock concert. The group, now a core trio of guitarist/singer Justin Hayward, bassist/guitarist/singer John Lodge, and drummer/singer Graeme Edge, with second percussionist Gordon Marshall, keyboardist Paul Bliss, keyboard player/backing singer Bernie Barlow, and flautist Norda Mullen (replacing retired founding member Ray Thomas). It's nice to know that Hayward and Lodge still have powerful and expressive voices, and the band still has a good, cohesive pop/rock sound, which holds things together even when the newer material isn't quite as strong or as memorable as their older songs. So "Lean on Me (Tonight)" holds up, even in the company of pieces like "The Story in Your Eyes" and "Tuesday Afternoon." The other major treat for longtime fans will be the embrace of some songs going back as far as four decades which haven't been in their repertory in many years, including "The Actor" and "Are You Sitting Comfortably?"; Edge's "Higher and Higher" is nicely stretched out into something of a jam by the band, with some impressive guitar pyrotechnics, and "Ride My See-Saw" is also given a leaner, longer treatment than it has received in the past. The presence of this material makes up for the absence of "Legend of a Mind," which seems to have been dropped from their repertory with the departure of author Thomas -- indeed, "The Actor" is a highlight of this set, as one of the group's prettiest songs and one that Hayward embraces with a mix of passion and virtuosity, and gorgeous support from Mullen's flute; "Question" also gets a fresh and spirited treatment, though it's been a staple of their shows for so long that it's less notable. The leaner, punchier sound generated by the group also gives some freshness and a bracing immediacy of their harder rocking songs, such as "Steppin' in a Slide Zone"; Lodge's bass work on the latter is a treat, pushing the song hard and yet also subtly melodic beneath the more prominent guitar, keyboard, and flute parts. And "The Voice" gets a tense, spirited rendition as well, with a gorgeous solo by Hayward and the two drummers' work so closely interlocked that it's impossible to separate them. An additional new feature to their concerts is the rendition, by Hayward, Bliss, and Marshall, of Hayward's late-'70s hit "Forever Autumn" from Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds concept album -- this is the first time that a solo number by any of the bandmembers has turned up on one of their concert albums, and it's even more impressive thanks to the pleasingly dramatic rendition that Hayward gives the piece. He also deserves credit for being able to bring immediacy and involvement to "Nights in White Satin," for what must be something like the three- or four-thousandth time he's sung it. The audio qu
Audio Mixers: Danilo Madonia; Alberto Parodi.
Recording information: The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA (06/2005).
Authors: Justin Hayward; John Lodge; Graeme Edge.
The Moody Blues: Justin Hayward (acoustic 6-string guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar); Norda Mullen (flute); Graeme Edge, John Lodge, Bernie Barlow, Paul Bliss.
Personnel: Justin Hayward (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, background vocals); John Lodge (vocals, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, bass guitar, background vocals); Norda Mullen (vocals, flute, tambourine, background vocals); Bernie Barlow (vocals, keyboards, tambourine, background vocals); Graeme Edge (vocals, drums, tom tom, percussion); Paul Bliss (keyboards).
| | Richard Wilson Archipelago CD (2006) (Import)
Traffic MP3 Album
$11.15
The third solo album from South African musician Richard Wilson, ARCHIPELAGO is a collection of piano-based tracks written, arranged and produced by Richard Wilson and recorded onboard the luxury floating resort, The World, during an ocean voyage between Montreal, Canada and San Diego, USA in late 2005 and early 2006 and mastered in Cape Town, South Africa.Featuring Richard Wilson on concert grand piano, keyboards and synthesizers, Eric Sittner from Chicago on bass guitar and Anthony Coote from London on lead guitar, ARCHIPELAGO is a mix of up-tempo and laid-back tracks inspired by some of the people and places encountered on numerous ocean voyages.Although classically trained, Richard Wilson spent many years as keyboard player in numerous rock bands in South Africa involved in many recording projects released internationally before going it alone with his first solo album in the 80's.His style is a mix of classical rock and romance.
| | Henryk De Rewenda Friday Nite In The Big City CD (2007)
Traffic music CDs
$10.15
Henryk De Rewenda told us a story that we want to quote here. His words: I arrived in the U.S. on a gloomy Tuesday night in December, O'Hare, Chicago. It was an exciting time for me, so my memories are like a video, that can recall second-by-second, events of at least the first few weeks. Ever since I can remember, I was interested in America, specifically in the enormous African American contribution to its culture. I felt, I had arrived at the source, where everything I was interested in was happening. So, three nights later, I found myself on Halsted in a small but important club, called "Blues", where the honorable Muddy Waters was performing. It was a feast, simply unforgettable!I left the club at 2:00 a.m., decided not to spend my money on buses, so I walked home. It was about six miles, a cold December night in Chicago, no snow yet, but something people called "black ice", covering the asphalt surface of the street. It was reflecting street lights, neons and everything. It looked to me like the "Milky Way" and I was walking on it. There were many things that I observered that night, it was the life of the city. So when I got home, I scribbled a song. It started like this:"It's Friday nite in the big cityDon't know nobody, don't have no friends"Our first offering from Jowenda Records, "FRIDAY NITE IN THE BIG CITY", performed by Henryk De Rewenda, is a collection of songs, that expresses our direction in a creative process. Henryk, with his unique perspective and voice, deals in his songs with matters of everyday life, as if saying: "hear is what I think, what is your response?" Human life is after all about conversation. All of the songs on the CD use "blues idiom" as a starting point. Big bottom bass and drums are there to caress the hauting melodies and improvised musical lines. Everything's suspended in jazzy harmonies. And of course, Henryk's voice, bigger than life, sultry and sexy. You have to hear it for yourself to believe it!
| | Meantime Perfect CD (2007)
Traffic songs
$14.79
The third CD from The Meantime. Contains sixteen original tracks. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.
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