John Barleycorn Must Die

by Traffic

Overview

At only 22 years old, Steve Winwood sat down in early 1970 to fulfill a contractual commitment by making his first solo album, on which he intended to play all the instruments himself. The record got as far as one backing track produced by Guy Stevens, "Stranger to Himself," before Winwood called his erstwhile partner from Traffic, Jim Capaldi, in to help out. The two completed a second track, "Every Mother's Son," then, with Winwood and Island Records chief Chris Blackwell moving to the production chores, brought in a third Traffic member, Chris Wood, to work on the sessions. Thus, Traffic, dead and buried for more than a year, was reborn. The band's new approach was closer to what it perhaps should have been back in 1967, basically a showcase for Winwood's voice and instrumental work, with Wood adding reed parts and Capaldi drumming and occasionally singing harmony vocals. If the original Traffic bowed to the perceived commercial necessity of crafting hit singles, the new Traffic was more interested in stretching out. Heretofore, no studio recording had run longer than the five-and-a-half minutes of "Dear Mr. Fantasy," but four of the six selections on John Barleycorn Must Die exceeded six minutes. Winwood and company used the time to play extended instrumental variations on compelling folk- and jazz-derived riffs. Five of the six songs had lyrics, and their tone of disaffection was typical of earlier Capaldi sentiments. But the vocal sections of the songs merely served as excuses for Winwood to exercise his expressive voice as punctuation to the extended instrumental sections. As such, John Barleycorn Must Die moved beyond the jamming that had characterized some of Traffic's 1968 work to approach the emerging field of jazz-rock. And that helped the band to achieve its commercial potential; this became Traffic's first gold album. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	05/14/2021
Label:	Island / Umc
UPC:	0602577512568
Rank:	25467

Tracks

1. Glad
2. Freedom Rider
3. Empty Pages
4. Stranger to Himself
5. John Barleycorn (Must Die)
6. Every Mother's Son

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Traffic   Primary Artist
Chris Wood   Flute,Organ,Saxophone,Percussion,Electric Saxophone
Steve Winwood   Flute,Organ,Piano,Vocals,Percussion,Guitar (Bass),Piano (Electric),Guitar (Acoustic)
Jim Capaldi   Drums,Vocals,Percussion,Tambourine

Technical Credits

Guy Stevens   Audio Production,Producer
Steve Winwood   Audio Production,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Instrumentation
Andy Johns   Audio Engineer,Engineer
Brian Hogg   Liner Notes,Essay
Brian Humphries   Audio Engineer,Engineer
Chris Blackwell   Audio Production
Traffic   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Jimmy Miller   Composer
Chris Wood   Composer,Composer
Alan Leeming   Analog Transfer
Bill Levenson   Reissue Coordination
Jim Capaldi   Composer
Mike Sida   Design
Margaret Goldfarb   Reissue Production Coordination
Smay Vision   Reissue Design
Jeff Willens   Mastering
Ben Wiseman   Mixing
Mark Powell   Mixing