''Traffic'' is the second studio album by the English rock band of the same name, released in 1968 on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

in the United Kingdom as ILPS 9081T (stereo), and

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

in the United States, as UAS 6676 (stereo). The album peaked at number 9 in the

UK albums chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It was the last album recorded by the group before their initial breakup.

Background and content

In January 1968, after some initial success in Britain with their debut album ''

Mr. Fantasy ''Mr. Fantasy'' is the debut album by England, English rock band Traffic (band), Traffic, released in December 1967. The recording included group members Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood (rock musician), Chris Wood, and Dave Mason; however ...

'',

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

had departed from the group. He produced the debut album by the group

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, containing in its ranks future Traffic bass player

Ric Grech Richard Roman Grechko (1 November 1945 – 17 March 1990), better known as Ric Grech, was a British rock musician. He is best known for playing bass guitar and violin with rock band Family as well as in the supergroups Blind Faith and Traffic ...

, while Traffic went on the road. In May, the band had invited Mason back to begin recording the new album. The album was somewhat of a departure from the

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

of Traffic's debut, featuring a more eclectic display of influences from

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. Mason ended up writing and singing half of the songs on the album (including his biggest hit "

Feelin' Alright Feeling Alright may refer to: *"Feelin' Alright?", a 1968 song by Traffic, made famous by a 1969 version by Joe Cocker retitled "Feeling Alright"; also recorded by many other artists * "Feelin' Alright" (Len song), 1999 song by Canadian alternative ...

?"), but making scant contribution to the songs written by

Jim Capaldi Nicola James Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he co ...

and

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

. His flair for pop melody had always been at odds with the others'

ambitions, evidenced by the dichotomy seen for the songs on this album, and by October he was again out of the band.Nick Logan and Bob Woffinden, editors. ''The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock''. New York: Harmony Books, 1977, p. 234. He would return one more time for a tour and album in 1971 to run out the band's contract. ''Traffic'' was reissued for compact disc in the UK on 11 January 2000, with five bonus tracks, two from the soundtrack to the

film ''

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" (also titled "Mulberry Bush" or "This Is the Way") is an English nursery rhyme and singing game. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7882. It uses the tune which Nancy Dawson danced into fame in ''Th ...

'' and three from '' Last Exit''. In the US, the

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

reissue of 27 February 2001 included mono single mixes of "You Can All Join In" and "Feelin' Alright?," and the stereo single mix of "Withering Tree." The original album was produced by

Jimmy Miller James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of t ...

. The remasters were assisted in their production by Jim Capaldi.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave a positive retrospective review of the album, commenting that it achieved a strong balance between Dave Mason's simple and straightforward folk-rock songs and Steve Winwood's complex and often haunting rock jams. It was voted number 312 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

3rd Edition (2000).

Track listing and personnel

Additional personnel

* Terry Brown,

Eddie Kramer Edwin H. Kramer (born 19 April 1942) is a British recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppel ...

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English musician, recording engineer and record producer. Biography Early history Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. He had three siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother, Andy ...

, Brian Humphries – sound engineers * Richard Polak,

Gered Mankowitz Gered Mankowitz (born 3 August 1946) is an English photographer who focused his career in the music industry. He has worked with a range of artists from The Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix, and in other divisions of the photography industry, i ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

Notes

References

External links

* Traffic's ''Traffic''at allmusic.com
''Traffic'' at JimCapaldi.com''Traffic''
at Music.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Traffic (Traffic Album) Traffic (band) albums 1968 albums Albums produced by Jimmy Miller Island Records albums Polydor Records albums United Artists Records albums Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios nl:Traffic (album)