Last Exit [Original recording remastered, Live]

Traffic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 27, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1969
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Live
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B000059T1G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,228 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

When Traffic announced their breakup in '69, Island assembled this LP from cuts they'd recorded but not issued. An unexpected gem resulted, and a #19 LP in the U.S.; includes Just for You; Feeling Good; Withering Tree; Blind Man , and more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "We are not like all the rest...", July 24, 2002

By 

Steven R. Seim "Steve Seim" (Beaver Dam, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Exit (Audio CD)

Traffic had one of the most original (and interesting) sounds in British rock, and not only because of their eclectic musical influences, which embraced psychedelia, folk, jazz, soul, R&B, and even classical. Their unique sound was also the result of their unusual instrumentation. While the group went through a number of personnel changes, its constant core members were Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, guitars), Chris Wood (sax, flute, and organ), and Jim Capaldi (drums & percussion). With no regular bass player, Winwood often filled in with the bass pedals on his organ. And, while there is no lack of guitars on most Traffic recordings, the guitar is not emphasized or particularly important to the group's sound. Dave Mason came and went in their early years and, on other recordings, Steve Winwood would switch to guitar, with Chris Wood taking over organ duties. In short, Traffic was anything but your typical guitar-bass-drums rock outfit. And, with "white Ray Charles" prodigy Winwood at the helm, and with their willingness to experiment with virtually any sound or musical style, they cut some of the most distinctive and important records in British rock.

"Last Exit," their third full-length release, is actually a record-company creation. With Dave Mason gone and the band temporarily disbanded (while Winwood joined Eric Clapton in Blind Faith), Island Records cobbled this LP together from tracks that didn't make it onto Traffic's earlier albums, along with two extended live jams ("Feelin' Good" and "Blind Man" - neither of which was ever recorded in the studio). The result, while not as cohesive as Traffic's other releases, is nonetheless exceptionally strong. While Mason's cut "Just For You" is disposable pop, Winwood's studio tracks are some of his strongest: the swirling psychedelic soul of "Shanghai Noodle Factory," the haunting blues-rock of "Withering Tree," and the Beatlesque rocker "Medicated Goo." And, while their sound quality is sub-par, the live tracks on side two are the group's most convincing experiments with the blues, as well as their most essential concert recordings available.

In short, "Last Exit" isn't Traffic's best album, but it's not far behind.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Traffic Report, May 5, 2006

By 

El Lagarto (Sandown, NH) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Last Exit (Audio CD)

Let's begin at the beginning. Steve Winwood is a total talent and a prodigy. You can rate him as a composer, bandleader, musical innovator, guitarist, organist, and especially singer and he comes out on top in every category. In rock that's almost unknown. This blather about Traffic's second album being their best because of the dynamic tension between Dave Mason and Winwood is eyewash. Mason is a folky annoyance.

When Winwood, still a teen back then, stepped up with Spencer Davis it was clear there was a new sheriff in town. The first Traffic album is amazing. When Last Exit came out, the third, nobody knew it wasn't their last. What about the complaints that Last Exit is a dog's breakfast, odds and ends tossed together? So what? On the LP, one side was live, the other was studio. Big deal, not exactly uncommon.

Now, the songs. Just For You - throwaway fluff from Dave Mason, fortunately the only one of the disk. Shanghai Noodle Factory - excellent funk, great to sing along, love those lyrics. Something's Got A Hold Of My Toe - this is the one every reviewer gets wrong. Rather than being some random snippet of tape lying around the studio it is 2:14 of driving rock guitar and back beat that really doesn't let go of your toe. Withering Tree - classic Winwood doing pretty as only he can. Medicated Goo - man, if you can't feel this one in your funky sneakers somebody gave you a soul-ectomy.

Then the big finish, Feelin' Good and Blind Man, 18-minutes of Traffic live at the Fillmore West. Sound quality is admittedly low but this shortcoming is vastly overshadowed by the performance, absolutely the best live Traffic ever. What Winwood does to Feelin' Good is simply beyond belief, he turns it inside out and puts a brand on it. As to Blind Man, that's the blues, big, bad, and beautiful. Just a fantastic CD. That's it from the Traffic-copter, now back to the studio.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mason`s Last Traffic Album, June 14, 2004

By 

Morten Vindberg (Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Exit (Audio CD)

"Last Exit" was originally thought as a farewell album from Traffic, as the band had split just prior to its release. Later when Steve Winwood was working on his first album, both Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi helped backing him, so eventually it turned out to be a new Traffic album; and Traffic was reborn. This time without Dave Mason, who had already been walking in and out of the band several times.

Dave is only partly present on this album. "Medicated Goo" and "Shanghai Noodle Factory" was recorded late 1968 without Mason. The 2 live tracks "Feeling Good" and "Blind Man" are also Winwood, Capaldi and Wood alone.

"Just For You" is more or less Mason solo. "Withering Tree" had already been released a B-side. The instrumental "Something`s Got a Hold on My Toe" is probably a studio outtake from the sessions for their second album.

As for the music; The new songs "Medicated Goo" and "Shanghai Noodle Factory" are great . "Withering Tree" and "Just For You" are classic Traffic. The live-tracks are interesting, but the sound is not so good as could be wished for. The instrumental "Something`s Got a Hold on My Toe" has probably just been included to add to the playing time.

I would have preferred some more singles-tracks like "Paper Sun", "Hole in My Shoe", "Coloured Rain", "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" and "Am I What I was, or Am I What I Am". This would have made the album much better, and the album could have completed the first era of a great band.