Customer Reviews

Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My first exposure to Traffic was in college when I heard John Barleycorn Must Die. I especially enjoyed the title track and became an instant life-long fan. I bought every album through 1974's When the Eagle Flies and even picked up their first two albums from 1968--Mr. Fantasy and Traffic. When it came time to update my Traffic collection on CD I opted for the 2-CD Smiling Phases (now sadly out of print) that came out in 1991. Now almost a decade later Island updates(?) that anthology with the single disc Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic. This new release is a case of good news, bad news depending on what kind of fan you are.

If you're a casual fan, this collection gives you the band's UK singles: "Paper Sun" (#5)and "Hole in My Shoe" (#2), but omits "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" (#8). [The closest thing Traffic had to a single in the US was when "Empty Pages," from John Barlecorn Must Die, reached #74 in 1970.] You also get key album tracks like the slightly trippy "Dear Mr. Fantasy," the jazzy "Forty Thousand Headmen" and Dave Mason's more pop-oriented fare like "You Can All Join In" and "Feelin' Alright." You also get four of Barlecorn's six tracks--including the folky title track and the funky instrumental "Glad." Traffic's post-Barleycorn output is skimpy, only two songs--both from Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. You get the nearly 12-minute title track, plus "Rock and Roll Stew." [I would have preferred Jim Capaldi's "Light Up or Leave Me Alone."] All told, this is a lot of music (77 minutes) for the price.

Sadly, for the more serious fan this disc only scratches the surface. (Which is the only reason I couldn't bring myself to give this five stars.) There's only one track from Last Exit, and 1973's Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory and 1974's When the Eagle Flies are not represented at all! So it becomes a matter of economics. Do you settle for a single-disc collection? Or do you pass and go after key albums like Mr. Fantasy, Traffic, John Barleycorn Must Die? [Note: This collection contains four songs each from those three albums--that's 12 songs from three albums and another three songs from the remaining four albums.]

The music is all first-rate, but for my money this new release went the wrong direction. It should have added a disc to Smiling Phases, not deleted one. RECOMMENDED (For casual fans and/or those on a tight budget.)

The definitive Traffic anthology was released about a decade ago. The 2 disc set Smiling Phases focused on both the key album tracks from the band's albums as well as a number of harder to find items (like the b side Giving To You which has quite a few differences from the album version). This single disc anthology only touches the surface and doesn't include any rarities or previously unissued tracks (these are available on the individual CDs). Overlooking the shortcomings, Feelin' Alright (like its UK counterpart Heaven Is In Your Mind -- not to be confused with the US album of the same name which is really the reconfigured Mr. Fantasy in stereo)is a pretty good look at a band that accomplished quite a bit in a very short time.

The original foursome consisted of Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, (the late) Chris Wood and Dave Mason. Mason was an infrequent member of the band. He left shortly after completion of the band's first album. Wisely the compilers of this disc chose material from the second Traffic album. Mason returned to the fold with some of his strongest material. The only quibble is the exclusion of the live version of Sad and Deep As You from Welcome To The Canteen and Just For You (from Last Exit which was originally issued as a solo single. Mason was fronting Traffic though).

The Winwood-Capaldi (and Wood) songs selected are among their strongest. You can't please everyone but including the searing dirge Whithering Tree (which features one of Winwood's finest vocals), Coloured Rain and Smiling Phases and Every Mother's Son would have made the collection just about complete. The latter song from John Barleycorn Must Die has a performance by Winwood that, again, ranks among his finest. When Winwood connects with Capaldi's impressionistic/surreal lyrics the song manages to come alive. Although Far From Home (the 1994 reunion effort featuring Winwood and Capaldi) isn't Traffic's strongest effort, there are a number of fine songs that would have made this collection more complete.

The booklet is informative (and from what I remember missing the occasionally hilarious typos that are evident in the booklet for the Mr. Fantasy US and UK editions). Supervising producer Bill Levenson has once again delivered one of the finest sounding reissues. Despite the fact that this single disc effort is missing key tracks, the sound quality is a huge step up from Smiling Phases. Now that Levenson has overseen the reissues of Mr Fantasy, Heaven Is In Your Mind, Traffic and Last Exit, perhaps he will work his magic on Low Spark and the underrated live album Welcome To The Canteen.

If this is the reason SMILING PHASES, Traffic's previous 2-disc retrospective, was taken off the market, that was a bad, bad, BAD move! Using this as a barometer, you'd never know that Traffic's 1974 album, WHEN THE EAGLE FLIES, even existed, and that had some primo music that should've made it here! If Island had to do another best-of, why couldn't it have been of Traffic material that DIDN'T make it onto SMILING PHASES? This CD is a functional intro to Traffic at best, but that's about it.

Of the bands Steve Winwood's associated with, there's Traffic, formed after his departure from the Spencer Davis Group, in which he temporarily departed during his sojourns with Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Airforce. He reformed the group, which stayed together till 1975. This is also the group associated with Dave Mason, who left and rejoined several times before embarking on a mostly unsuccessful solo career and a brief stint with Fleetwood Mac in the 90's. Traffic itself contributed to the British psychedelic scene, replete with organs, flute, saxophones, sitars, and harpsichords, as well as other instruments, showing how they embraced Indian sounds, the neo-Bachian music by Procol Harum, and the like, and they're all here on this greatest hits compilation.

Some live performance clips of Traffic made their way to MTV's closet classics. Three of those were from John Barleycorn Must Die, the album where Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood reformed after Winwood's temporary split. "Freedom Rider" featuring a moody sax and fluttering flute along with Winwood's usual psychedelic organ, showed that a two year absence hadn't done the group any harm. The near-seven minute instrumental jam "Glad" was my favourite, demonstrating Chris Wood melding saxophones, flute, and percussion together, with Winwood's piano, wavering from left-hand keys to right, with the slow walking rhythm of the piano towards the end. The sobering guitar and flute title track to John Barleycorn was a tale of the struggle against alcohol as personified by the title, with the growing of barley as an analogy to John growing up. Beer, ale, whisky... we get that from barley, yeah?

From their debut Mr. Fantasy, the dreamy title track with heavy guitars merged with psychedelic organs, a plea to the title character to cheer them up with a tune, is one of their signature tunes and the way Winwood wanted the band to go. The first two singles from that album are the UK Top 5 "Paper Sun," a bright psychedelic piece that mirrors the sound Floyd had with their debut, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. A sitar introduces and later continues on their UK #2 hit, "Hole In My Shoe" lyrically "I walked through a field that just wasn't real with 100 tin soldiers" and musically like "Strawberry Fields." Oh, and Neil of the Young Ones covered this on his Heavy Concept Album.

Dave Mason's contributions from the second album include "You Can All Join In" with its skippy rhythm and bluesy guitar. He also did what I consider to be another signature tune, the well-paced rockin' jam "Feelin' Alright." Winwood steps towards blues in the upbeat "Pearly Queen," also from the same album.

By the time "Rock and Roll Stew" and the Low Spark of The High Heeled Boys came out, Traffic had added Rick Grech (ex-Blind Faith) on bass and Jim Gordon (ex-Derek and the Dominos") and they were more accessible on FM radio. The near 12-minute title track was an intricate composition hinting more towards jazz/rock as evidenced by the extended piano and sax bits.

Nothing from their last three albums, Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory, On The Road, and Where The Eagle Flies are here, but what is here is the best during their formative years, mostly with the original four members.

If one were to take Smiling Phases and boil this down to one CD, you would have this one. Considering the quantity of Traffic gems to choose from and the limits of one disc, this fits the bill about as perfectly as can be done.

There are a number of superb songs here: Paper Sun, Dear Mr. Fantasy, Heaven Is In Your Mind, and the four gems from the John Barleycorn album. It stops at Low Spark, which is wise, since this was Traffic's last masterpiece.

It does miss alot of gems as well: Coloured Rain, Smiling Phases, Medicated Goo, No Face, No Name, No Number. However these were the a or b-sides of singles that are on this CD.

An avid Traffic fan may want to have Smiling Phases (the 2 CD anthology) but this CD contains the superb remastering that was introduced on Steve Winwood's box set (the song John Barleycorn is completely devoid of any hiss).

For that, and the excellent booklet, it deserves a five star rating.

About ten years ago, Traffic released a double disk anthology album entitled "Smiling Phases" that contained just about every great Traffic song, 26 of 'em in all. Compared to that collection, this one is good, but sorely deficient. "Medicated Goo," "Vagabon Virgin," "40,000 Headmen" and "Walking in the Wind" are just some of the classics this collection is missing. Apparently, "Smiling Phases" is out of print, but I would strongly suggest searching for a used copy. It is close to being the perfect anthology album.

After Steve Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group, he formed Traffic, a group that recorded several fine albums between 1967 and 1975. There was a brief disbandment, during which period Steve joined Blind Faith. The original Traffic albums generally sound more cohesive than any compilations, but everybody has to begin somewhere. A compilation allows you to identify which of the original albums is likely to appeal most to you.

Traffic had three top ten hits and one minor hit in the UK although they made little impact on the American singles charts. Their music is somewhat different from the Spencer Davis Group, which was a British R+B band. While R+B is one of the ingredients of Traffic's music, there is also some rock, jazz, psychedelia and traditional folk in the mix.

As far as the UK hits are concerned, Paper sun made the top five, Hole in my shoe made number two, Here we go round the mulberry bush (from the similarly-titled movie) made the top ten and their chart history ends with the minor hit, No face no name no number. Of these songs, a cover of Hole in my shoe (recorded for charity) made number two in the eighties, thus matching Traffic's original achievement.

Two of those UK hits (Paper sun, Hole in my shoe) are here, together with some interesting album tracks, among them the title tracks to three of their albums (Dear Mr Fantasy, John Barleycorn must die, Low spark of high-heeled boys).

Buy this to get a feel for what Traffic is all about, but if you really enjoy at least some of the tracks, identify the albums which your favorite tracks originally appeared, then buy them. Their original albums were Mr Fantasy (1967), Traffic (1968), Last exit (1969 - recorded just before their temporary disbandment and it shows), John Barleycorn must die (1970), Welcome to the canteen (1971), Low spark of high-heeled boys (1971), Shoot out at the fantasy factory (1972), On the road (1973) and When the eagle flies (1974).

This compilation serves as a great introduction to Traffic's music but can't do them full justice. Only the original albums (except Last exit) can do that.

For a single disc, this adequately covers most of Traffic's best work. If you don't know the band, they started out with short-form pop music in a 60's psychedelic mode and expanded both their musical palette and the length of their songs (occasionally to the usual '70s degree of excess.) Steve Winwood had (and has) a true musicality beyond that of just about any of his contemporaries and a great (for rock, at least), expressive voice (whatever the merit of the Ray Charles comparisons). The other group members added interesting color, particularly Chris Wood's flute, and serviceable lyrics. The combination could sometimes produce complex, subtle music beyond the reach of their contemporaries. I can't think of anyone, for instance, who could have performed the title track of John Barleycorn nearly as well.

Don't worry about the absence of material from the live albums--those extended jams lose most of their allure on cd 30 years later (Plus, off-mike singing gets annoying after the first few listens!) Included is about 15 minutes from each of the first four studio albums (more for John Barleycorn), plus the best studio track from Last Exit. The title track from Shootout, which has a fine groove, thanks to Winwood and the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, should be here: I would have left off Hole In My Shoe and You Can All Join In to make room if necessary (but I'm not a Dave Mason fan.) When The Eagle Flies was good enough, but didn't really break new ground, so its absence here isn't crucial.

Not being an audiophile, I don't have much to say about the remastering (if there actually was any--It seems the same as Smiling Phases to me and it isn't discussed in the packaging.) I found the booklet essay disappointing because it completely lacks any critical distance and offers no insight into the music beyond its commercial success or lack thereof. The author may be a musicologist for all I know, but he sounds like a PR man.

Smiling Phases, the 2 disc anthology from 1991, is more complete, of course, but completists wouldn't be happy with that either. [The Finer Things would do for me, if only it had the acoustic version of Can't Find My Way Home]. I recommend this for anyone else who doesn't have the entire Traffic catalog.

For a penny less, you can get every song on "Feelin's Alright" AND ELEVEN MORE SONGS from the compilation Smiling Phases. Sure, this one disc compilation contains *great music* but what shmoe would buy it when you can get more music on 2-CDs for less money???? Perhaps another reviewer can fill me in on the "logic" of buying this over Smiling Phases because I don't see it.

EDIT - Sept 07 -
Not sure how often Amazon fiddles with prices, but today at least, "Feeling Alright" is almost 10 dollars while "Smiling Phases" is almost 17. Those prices are more in line with the number of songs on each disc. And if "Feelin Alright" truly does have a noticeably better sound due to remastering, it might even be the better deal right now.

THE BAND: The main players consisted of Steve Winwood (lead vocals, piano, organ, guitar, bass guitar, percussion), Jim Capaldi (drums, percussion, vocals), and Chris Wood (flute, sax, organ, percussion, vocals). Additional members included Rick Grech (bass guitar), Jim Gordon (drums & percussion), and on-again off-again Dave Mason (guitar, mellotron, sitar, bass guitar, vocals).

THE DISC: (2000) 15 tracks clocking in at approximately 77 minutes. Included with the disc is a 14-page booklet containing song titles/credits, pictures of all album covers, what songs came from which albums, and 10 pages of pictures and history of the band and its members. Digitally remastered sound. Label - Island Records.

ALBUM REPRESENTATION: "Mr. Fantasy" (1968: 4 songs), "Traffic" (1968: 4), "Last Exit" (1969: 1), "John Barleycorn Must Die" (1970: 4), "The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys" (1971: 2). *No songs from "Welcome To The Canteen" (1971-Live), "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory" (1973), "On The Road" (1973-Live), "Where The Eagles Fly" (1974).

COMMENTS: I got into Traffic way after the fact. However, I remember so many of these tunes from the classic rock radio stations growing up outside NYC. Especially the best songs on this disc... ""Dear Mr. Fantasy", "Glad", "Freedom Rider", "Empty Pages" and the ultra cool 11+ minute "Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys". With that being said, I'm sitting on the fence regarding "Feelin' Alright". The songs chosen here spot are on accurate - the best songs were chosen from each of the albums represented. But, Island Records skipped anything from their last 4 albums. So, as good as the songs here happen to be, it's not an adequate sampling at all. Traffic's sound was simply different. They were cool in a jazzy/fusion/spacy/pop kind of way. I don't recall too many bands like them at the time. They certainly were not like The Beatles or Rolling Stones. Not even close to Jimi Hendrix or anyone else at Woodstock. (Some) Traffic is necessary in your music collection. Over the years several compilations have hit the stores trying to adequately capture the best schmattering of songs. As for a single disc 'best of', this one is good... BUT it only covers a fraction of their catalog. For a more detailed mix, I'd go with the hard to find "Smiling Phases" (1991) with 2-discs and 26 tracks... and something from each of their studio albums. Looking for a single studio album - I'd first go with "John Barleycorn" (simply a great album, and backed up by the liner notes indicating this is/was Traffic's best selling album in the U.S. by a wide margin), followed by "Low Spark" and/or "Mr. Fantasy".