Entertainment For Lively Minds
Where should I go after John Barleycorn Must Die?
Posted by Ola Claesson on 23 April 2011 - 9:21am.
After having discovered Traffic´s John Barleycorn Must Die and really enjoyed it, where should I go next?
There must be some Traffic fans around here. I already have a really nice Spencer Davis Group comp and Blind Faith´s album (so-so to these ears).
Thanks and enjoy the sun!
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The debut album.....
'Dear Mr. Fantasy', I reckon, with backing vocals by Steve Marriott.
£3.59 on Amazon and includes the 45s of the era!
But, best of all is the 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush' soundtrack.
Good tip
but you have whetted my appetite so I paid 4.99 for 20 tracks off iTunes and I'm listening to it now...
i really like the first album
and judging by his solo career, so does Paul Weller. Its a bit more sixties-ish in its vibe. One of my all time favs .
Dear Mr Fantasy is the place to go next
But, personally, I prefer the later albums where they stretched out a little, especially Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys and Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory.
Low Spark
"John Barleycorn" is a superb album to start on. Mr. Fantasy is essential listening, especially the remastered edition with the singles etc. that they released around that time. "The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys" is a great example of how Traffic turned out, before it all finally fell apart.
Low Spark, When The Eagle Flies and Blind Faith......
......all great. And even though Blind Faith isnt a Traffic album its still has a similar feel with Winwood singing all the tunes.
Another vote for Low Spark
However don't ignore Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory which I used to like a lot. A friend had it on vinyl, and I haven't heard it for years, but I thought it was a fine album.
I also recommend Welcome To The Canteen, a Traffic album in all but name. It's not perhaps the best ever recorded live album, but for the vibe that comes through I think it's one of the best live albums ever.
If I were pushed, I'd say that Shoot Out is my favourite
and Roll Right Stones (sic) my favourite individual Traffic track.
Second Album
The one simply called "Traffic." One of the best albums ever made in my opinion. It has "Feelin' Alright." "Pearly Queen," "40,000 Headmen," and lots else. Not a bad track on it.
a good shout
- and while I loves me some Winwood - perhaps my favouriteTraffic track is the discard Dave Mason's "Feelin' Alright" - although the Mad Dogs version by Joe Cocker, Leon Russell and friends beats the original imho.
Hole In My Shoe
But make sure it's the Neil version.
How about
back to the start and play it again!
dear mr fantasy
start there, move on to low spark and shoot out
The Santa Monica film is wonderful
The way the band shambles into the song is, perhaps, the very definition of mid 70s noodling - and all the better for it!
"Traffic" 2nd Album - Perfect
I agree Traffic is a perfect album without a dud track.
In my openion it holds up better than Mr. Fantasy which now is a bit dated in patches.
Also love "The Low Spark..." and "Welcome to the Canteen".
Nostalgia
It may be nostalgia but I recall the Live On The Road album being a splendid accompaniment to stoned student evenings "in hall".
Gold
If you want a good Traffic "best of", look no further than this one:
Pretty much a soup-to-nuts career overview over 2 cds.
Early thoughts are in
Mr Fantasy got a lot of early votes. Have been listening to it and must say it sound slightly too much of its time. Even for someone who thinks The Beatles are the greatest thing since bread came sliced and pre-buttered the whole sitar thing could wear a bit tin. I do like Dear Mr Fantasy and Hole In My Shoe. Maybe it´s a grower.
According to you it seems next stop should be The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys.
I´ll be back (with a Swedish accent).
So what accent
were you typing with just then, Ola?
Haha! You got me there. Danish?
Although I was mainly thinking that people would perhaps add a German accent when reading "I´ll be back", or perhaps Austrian.
Danish?
I hope not. Having recently watched the Danish series Forbrydelsen on the BBC, I was struck by how much I preferred listening to the Swedish of Wallander. The Danish I heard seemed to be composed largely of glottal stops. Where did all the consonants go?
I've since heard spoken Danish likened to someone speaking Norwegian while swallowing a potato. Any views on this, Ola? (If you can express them without causing an international incident, of course...)
And yes, I knew what you meant...but I find it hard to resist a bit of feigned misunderstanding for "comic" effect.
Well, without causing an international incident (hopefully)
Danish to me tends to sound like Swedish without the consonants. If they knew what a consonant was I´m sure they would say the opposite about Swedish. Some accents are worse than others, but the ones I do manage to understand are hard to find. I always speak English when I go to Denmark, which I try to do at least once a year - it´s a beautiful country, with Copenhagen this time of year being quite lovely. Norwegian is slightly easier to understand, with the exception of certain accents.
I come from the south of Sweden (the "county" is called Småland for those of you with a google computer) and a lot of people from the north says my accent sounds like Danish. I´m not sure why there isn´t a civil war.
The worst things about the Danes, though, is their dramas outclassing us (Swedes) ten to one.
On the fourteenth day, I believe, god invented subtitles. And Ola saw it was good.
Btw, I didn´t take you for the make-fun-of-foreigners-type, nigelthebald. :)
And how about this: In 1658 Skåne went from being the north east of Denmark and became the south west of Sweden. People living there spoke Danish and where suddenly forced to speak Swedish. You don´t want to hear this.
Thanks, Ola,
that was most illuminating. Seriously: my degree was in linguistics, and I take a trainspotterly interest in matters of language and the relationships between languages.
As for the relative merits of Scandinavian dramas, I'd say that for me it's been an honourable draw so far, having enjoyed both Swedish versions of Wallander and, more recently, your neighbours' Forbrydelsen.
And as regards making fun, I'm an equal opportunities tease - I'll have a laugh at anyone I feel I know (you're an honorary member of this category, though obviously we've never met in meatworld), as long as I'm reasonably confident that they won't take serious offence. (With or without the risk of them hitting me.)
Agree
As posted above I bought it yesterday but it lasted about 6 tracks on a long car journey before being voted off by other passengers. I'll give it a solo lis but 60s brit psychadelia doesnt wear well, does it?
I'm probably biased
..but wherever you go to next with Traffic, you won't be disappointed.