![]() Unfortunately, those are the exceptions-on both Traffic and Mr. “40,000 Headmen” is decent in this regard, and if you add the tracks from the expanded release, “Medicated Goo” is pretty coherent. “Don’t Be Sad” is the worst offender, but really, the most stable compositions are the two Mason songs, “You Can All Join In” and “Feelin’ Alright.” Both are rather boring and predictable, but at least they have a recognizable structure and competent resolution. The songs on Traffic are largely a mess, lacking coherent themes and wandering aimlessly into musical cul-de-sacs with extremely poor resolution. Some of the lyrical songs contain one brilliant, unforgettable line before devolving into mush.īut the most important change to emerge from Barleycorn is the vast improvement in compositional skills. That’s not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to Traffic-Capaldi and Winwood were generally better at creating moods than stories or epic poetry, and as much as I love hearing his voice, Stevie Winwood (at this stage in his career) was still one of the most unintelligible singers ever. Even if he’d spent his time away from Traffic at Sinatra’s side and learned how to enunciate perfectly without losing the feel of a song, it wouldn’t have mattered all that much-the lyrics on Barleycorn (largely Capaldi efforts) aren’t much to write home about. I figured out you can fit all the lyrics to the five non-instrumental songs on two regular-sized MS Word pages using a Calibri 10-point font. The second thing you notice is that except for the title song, the album is comparatively sparse on the lyrical side. On the four full-band songs that appear on Barleycorn, Winwood, Capaldi and Wood sound relaxed and responsive to each other’s cues, and there’s not a moment on the record when I feel they’re getting sloppy. Some have argued that the interplay between Mason’s guitar and Winwood’s organ is the problem on that track, but it sounds to me like everyone in the band was out to lunch, on acid or too busy checking out the tits in the audience to bother. The Dave Mason version of Traffic never felt entirely in sync, and if you really want an obvious example of sync noise, listen to the live version of “Gimme Some Lovin'” on Welcome to the Canteen. By “sync noise,” I mean the uncomfortable sound of musicians who aren’t in sync with each other. The first thing you notice about John Barleycorn Must Die is how little “sync noise” you hear. Once those experiences had run their course, Winwood began working on a solo effort with Guy Stevens handling the production, but soon realized his work on Traffic was unfinished, and brought Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood back for a reunion. Spending time with Blind Faith and Ginger Baker’s Air Force was just the thing Winwood needed-especially the time spent with the disciplined Mr. Steve Winwood, on the other hand, had plenty of upside potential but needed to mature so he could rid himself of the expectations heaped on a teenage wonder and figure out how he wanted to apply his ample talent. He wrote pleasant and catchy little songs in the 60’s and would continue to do so throughout his recording career. The problem with Dave Mason in the context of Traffic was that he had zero upside potential. Once again, Mason split the scene, and after the patched-together Last Exit, it looked like Traffic was history. Incredibly, Winwood and Capaldi brought him back because they needed material to fill out the second Traffic album, the not-very-cleverly-titled Traffic. Fantasy, leaving his mates short of a full lineup when they hit the road in support of the album. Mason couldn’t even wait long enough to stay for the release of Mr. The collaboration with Dave Mason was starting to look like the rock equivalent of the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor romance, though Liz and Dick’s first marriage lasted a lot longer than any of Mason’s stints with Traffic. The best thing Traffic ever did was to take a break from being Traffic.
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