July 1 – The Traffic Album that Made Me a Fan

7/1/70: Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die

Traffic represents, to me, the quintessential turn of the 1970’s band and sound, especially one originating in the U.K. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of my favorite album by that band, John Barleycorn Must Die.

Traffic had dissolved after 1968’s eponymous album, with Dave Mason leaving a second time prior to its completion. Steve Winwood joined Blind Faith, and along with Chris Wood took part in Ginger Baker’s Air Force project. Wood and Jim Capaldi also did session work. Early in 1970, Winwood, still only 22 years old, returned to the studio to fulfill a contract obligation with a new solo album. But before it was completed he’d brought in fellow Traffic alumni Wood and Capaldi, and it became a new Traffic album instead, their fourth. This core trio would go on to release three additional albums.

TRAFFIC - JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE DELUXE EDITION | UNCUT

The music on this album was a vehicle for Winwood’s vocals and instrumental work from keyboards to guitar, and the jazz, folk, and progressive rock influence on these sessions gave them plenty of room to spread out. Four of the album’s six songs which make up the original release exceed six minutes, but do not reach the running time of some tracks by their full on prog cousins. John Barleycorn Must Die peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold, but surprisingly only reached number 11 in the U.K.

Traffic - 1970 - Nights At The Roundtable - Past Daily: News ...

Dave Lifton, in his 45th anniversary review of the album in Ultimate Classic Rock, notes the similar vibe of the opening track, Glad, to that of jazz great Ramsey Lewis’s 1965 hit The In Crowd, and I can hear it. Glad, Freedom Rider, Empty Pages, and John Barleycorn Must Die are the songs that keep me coming back to this album, but there’s not a weak link. Chris Wood’s reed instruments are a perfect compliment to Winwood’s keyboards and vocals, as well as Capaldi’s percussion, the latter also contributing with four songwriting co-credits. The title track – a traditional British folk tune dating to the 16th century – might be my favorite as it combines all the aforementioned elements. It was covered by many British artists including Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, and Pentangle. I was unaware until preparing this post that the song is not about a person, but the personification of a type of barley used in brewing beer and whiskey distillation.

Steve Winwood: "I always felt the need to work with the people ...

Showing my age relative to the music I cover as I tend to do, I was a Winwood fan from 1981’s Arc of a Diver onward when I was a kid. But as a youth, though I was familiar with the songs Dear Mr. Fantasy and The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, I was mostly unaware of Traffic until my later teen years. Those were the two songs that got me interested in this band in the late-80’s, but John Barleycorn Must Die was the album that did it for me. It’s a complete package, a great album, and certainly one of my favorites by anyone in 1970.

Tracklist

Side One:

  1. Glad
  2. Freedom Rider
  3. Empty Pages

Side Two:

  1. Stranger to Himself
  2. John Barleycorn (Must Die)
  3. Every Mother’s Son

-Stephen

https://www.allmusic.com/album/john-barleycorn-must-die-mw0000197791#:~:text=Fantasy%2C%22%20but%20four%20of%20the,typical%20of%20earlier%20Capaldi%20sentiments.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/cfq4/

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/traffic-john-barleycorn-must-die/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barleycorn_Must_Die

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barleycorn#Versions_and_variants

14 thoughts on “July 1 – The Traffic Album that Made Me a Fan”

  2. Ah, Traffic. We go way back. Steve Winwood is my man; starting for me with Back in the High Life and Spencer Davis Group I think at about the same time in my life. I love Traffic; Dear Mr. Fantasy is my tenth-favourite song and has one of my three favourite guitar solos. I still can’t believe that Winwood performs it. I always felt that Traffic was missing something that made me LOVE them but I think the John Barleycorn album is great. I find as I age I’m really partial to the Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory album – Roll Right Stones! I saw Traffic in concert when they toured behind their reunion album-what a difference from when I saw Winwood! During the Traffic concert, Stevie never said a word. Check YouTube – I think I once watched a great old concert of theirs there. Thanks for brining me some Traffic today!

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  4. Thanks for reminding us of that terrific album. I dig Steve Winwood big time, especially his early music with Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith and Traffic. And he’s still bringing these tunes beautifully, as I had a chance to witness myself when I caught him in March 2018 during his “Greatest Hits Live Tour”. I would go see him again in a heartbeat; in fact, I was supposed to this year, together with Steely Dan, but due to bloody Covid-19, the gig was rescheduled until 2021. Of course, that’s a good thing!

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  5. First, thanks for playing “Glad,” because up to now I didn’t know its name or the album it was on, only that Traffic did it. Second, I never considered that it was anything like “The In Crowd” until you pointed it out, although the vibe is different: “Glad” was done in the studio, while “The In Crowd” was done in front of a live audience and is a lot more improvisational, with Ramsey seemingly doing things just to get a reaction out of them. It’d be interesting to see what “Glad” would sound like in front of an audience…

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    1. I wish the ” The In Crowd” observation was my original thought, but it came from one of the reviews I sourced. That’s on of the main reasons I look at others’ reviews – to see what connections they make – as opposed to their grades which I often disagree with.

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