Desert Island Disc Series "Traffic"

If The Beatles “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” changed music, then The Band’s “Music From Big Pink” changed it back. Nowhere is this more evident than when comparing Traffic’s first album, “Dear Mr. Fantasy” to their sophomore effort, simply titled “Traffic”.

“Fantasy” came out in December 1967 , and honestly, I’ve always been of two minds on it. On the one hand, there are brilliant tunes like “Dealer”, “Coloured Rain” and “Heaven Is In Your Mind”. On the other hand, there are these other tunes (the Dave Mason ones) that simply reek of psychedelic bandwagon jumping.

By no means am I singling out Traffic here. Many bands, including The Stones (Satanic Majesties) got caught up in the whirlwind of “Pepper”, convinced that this was the future direction of music. So it became the aim of the followers to try to emulate it or even top it.

The smart money went in the other direction, staying true to their country/folk roots or whatever their strong suit was. Moreover, they realized before everyone else that “Pepper” was the culmination of a pop direction, and not the beginning of one.

What made “Big Pink” such an influential album was as much about where it came from as it was about the ingredients inside. It didn’t come out of a scene or a movement, but from a frozen in time place in upstate New York. Intellectually, it came from a place that fostered down-home camaraderie instead of swirling psychedelic imagery.

“Big Pink” came out in July of 1968,and the stories of it’s influence are legendary. One tells of Eric Clapton hearing the LP and quitting Cream almost immediately afterward. Another one tells of George Harrison around the same time yearning to get The Beatles to stop arguing with each other and move toward a more collective approach.

So three months ABP (after Big Pink) comes the self titled LP from Traffic. Gone are the paisley prints, red light bulbs and other decorations that adorned their debut. Replacing them are cowboy hats, suede jackets and illustrations of a big house in a field of green. More important than the visuals, the songs that Dave Mason brought to the table are miles better than the ones he wrote for their debut. The albums opener, “You Can All Join In” is a front porch hootenanny. It’s hard to believe that this song came from the same guy who wrote “House For Everyone” the year before.

The Capaldi/Winwood contributions continue in the Rhythm and Blues meets Jazz tinged vibe they displayed on “Fantasy”. “Pearly Queen”, “40,000 Headmen”, “No Time To Live”, and “Means To An End” all feature stretched out arrangements that catch a groove right at the outset and stay in it all the way through.

The other songs by Mason, “Don’t Be Sad” , “Feelin’ Alright”, and “Cryin’ To Be Heard” effectively put this album over the top. There is simply not a duff track on the record. “Sad” features that wistful harmonica bit , “Feelin Alright” is practically a pop standard, and “Cryin’ To Be Heard” has Winwood on the Hammond organ creating his trademark whirlwind of sound.

Jimmy Miller had been with Steve Winwood on and off professionally all the way back to the Spencer Davis Group days, and he handles production duties here. Miller is most famous for his work with The Rolling Stones,(Honky Tonk Women, Jumpin Jack Flash, Let it Bleed LP, Beggars Banquet and others) but when I give examples of his great work I never fail to mention this album. In addition to his other talents, Miller’s greatest asset to me as a listener is his ability to capture a completed performance on tape of the sound of a band playing in a room. It sounds easy, but that kind of honesty is something that cannot be manufactured. It has to actually happen with tape rolling. This is the main reason why “Traffic” is a D.A.A. Desert Island Disc.