There is really no rhyme or reason for the way these things go, but lately I’ve noticed a very definite increase in the amount of people who are discovering, or rediscovering, Traffic. Maybe it’s the dearth of great music, maybe it’s just their time, but in the last few months I’ve had a number of people tell me how great Traffic was, as if it were a revelation.
First of all, when you think back on it, nearly everything that Steve Winwood has been involved in for the last 40 plus years has had something to recommend it. Whether it was his start as a 15 year-old in the Spencer Davis Group, his playing on the classic Jimi Hendrix album Electric Ladyland, his brief stint in Blind Faith, his solo career, or right up to his recent tour with Eric Clapton, the guy has been, and is, a paragon of musical virtue. But throughout all the years, it was with Traffic that he had his finest moments. I would make the argument that Traffic’s music stands up better today than that of nearly any other band of the era.
By 1973, Traffic was a very different band than the one that had gotten together in 1967. Gone for the third time was founding member Dave Mason, and original drummer Jim Capaldi had begun a solo career, though he plays percussion on Shoot Out. Gone too were Jim Gordon and Ric Grech who had joined the band in 1971. They were replaced by Roger Hawkins and David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio house band. Together with sax/flute player Chris Wood, and percussionist Rebop, the reconfigured band set about to record their sixth studio album in Jamaica. It was the followup to 1971’s Top Ten U.S. hit The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys. A short time later, after releasing one last album, Traffic was gone for good. (more…)
This story I’m telling, it starts in the middle. But this is a story that loops and circles in on itself, like a cloverleaf roadway; you’ve got to start where you are, and go forward to the beginning.