Traffic - "John Barleycorn Must Die" (1970)

When the album was recorded, Traffic had been disbanded for two years, and initially this would be Steve Winwood's first solo record. But during the first stage of the recording, he felt that he wanted some help from other musicians and invited his two old bandmates Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi, and suddenly Traffic was in existence again and the album became a joint commitment.

I found the album in a local secondhand store for 2-3 dollars, which felt like a bargain. It's a groovy album. Pretty good tempo in the songs, some sort of rock-jazz fusion, some add progressive as well, and I do get some Genesis vibes at times. The guys spread out a bit more than on previous records, and most songs clock in at 6-7 minutes, the total playing time is no more than 35 minutes, though. One of the best tracks of the album is the opening song Glad, which is also the only instrumental on the record. A song that makes you quite glad. I have no major issues with the length of the songs, it's such a good tempo that they rarely get boring. And the band avoids long jams without clear structure or goals, that sometimes is the case in long songs with talented musicians who play fusion rock.

The title track is the one that stands out a bit, as Traffic here enters the folk landscape. The song John Barleycorn Must Die is an old English traditional song, the tempo is calmer, and the soundscape more scaled down. Acoustic guitar and flute complement the singing. A beautiful song, which of course gives some Fairport Convention vibes. But nothing wrong with that. And as a new, striving flutist, I have to like all the songs that give the flute a prominent role. It should be more like that in modern music, a tip for all producers. Just listen to the song Freedom Rider, a song I could have found a bit boring, if it wasn't for that crazy flute, lifting the whole song a number of levels.

Steve Winwood, who is the main creator of the music, was only 22 years old when it was recorded. Then he had already played with Spence Davis Group, Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Air Force in addition to Traffic. Impressive resume and impressive to create an album like today's in that age. The only song I'm not really friends with is the closing number Every Mother's Son, which I think is a bit boring. But overall a groovy, uptempo album with qualitative songs. A good album to listen to when you clean the house, as it creates joy to balance the boredom of cleaning.

Traffic continued to exist as a band until 1974, and had a short comeback in 1994.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Happy 6:59
2. Freedom Rider 6:20
3. Empty Pages 4:47

Side B
1. Stranger to Himself 4:02
2. John Barleycorn (Must Die) 6:20
3. Every Mother's Son 7:05