One of the best albums of the seventies. My favorite song is Many a Mile to Freedom (excellent flute solo). My sister was one of those Americans that bought this...and I basically borrowed it from her (and never returned it).
I love that song The Low Spark of High heeled Boys! What a vibe. My fave Traffic song. The first track is great too, reminds me of being a kid in the late '60s and early 70s and my brother was a decade older than me and had the black light posters, the beads in the doorway, the turn table and great music. At 7 I stole his Beatles album Abbey Road when it came out and for whatever reason my 7 year old self was obsessed with that record. My brother liked country too but his best friends then were more into the hippie type vibe so he listened to rock and blues around them. He really loved CCR and I used to ask if I could listen to them with him. We weren't very close, our ages were so far apart, but he would let me listen with him and to this day I love CCR. My brother had a big box of 8 track tapes, ha, and our much younger baby brother, 17 years younger than my older brother!, got into my older brother's room one day when he was a toddler and pulled all the ribbons out of my older brother's fave 8 tracks. Boy my older brother was mad!
Thank you, Jim, for playing this. Had to hold myself off of listening to this as wanted to hear on my big system. Traffic - always was good! :) Great fun! Traffic. Understated maestros. Could listen all day to this. AWSOME!
Thanks for listening with me Steve. It's fabulous. Hope the big system delivered! Someone else said in the comments that it sounds tinny and poor - I thought it sounded great, how was it at your end?
@@JimNewstead Hm. Can vibe with the thin comment. My system here has a deliberate "big" low end - which I am used to. Wharfedale Dovedale SP2's (1974 era on 3rd cone refurbs now) driven by Yam. Natural Sound MOSFET amp. Not _the_ top end, but to do better need x3 months+ salary £budget on top! Whole thing tuned by pro engineer to be flat too, via a Marantz graphic equaliser. Upshot? Sounds "within range of normal" for an LP. Sounds v. OK here! Actually, relistening as I write - Brilliant! Can't wait for side 2! :) Dr. Xlerb....
What a great album. Yep.. that title track takes up an already very good album, a couple of notches. And a bunch of us fellow listeners saying... WE TOLD YOU ! Glad you enjoyed it with us. :)
Love this album....it has the feels throughout and sounds soooooo flipping good. Authentic earthy jazzy blues rock at it's best. The song writing quality shocked me a few weeks ago, but then juxtaposed with that superb jazzy riffing ....it's a jam like you say Jim, but it's also so damn well composed you are still left wanting more...omg! Apart from you and Larry I've not heard any channel ever recommend this great great band..... People are missing out. They should be in the Hall of Fame. Get to it people!!😎😎👌👌👌
@@JimNewstead ha I know👏! It's taken me 3 years of seriously watching and listening on UA-cam to get here! My cat leaps from cd tower to cd tower🐈😸🥴☺️....though I'm doing it all less now. I think going super intense listening to all kinds of stuff over covid really kick started a new deeper breadth in my listening habits....but I'm taking it more slowly recently... It's nice to live in the music a while.
In the US, on FM radio during the 1970's, most of the tracks from Low Spark and John Barleycorn, were played regularly. Traffic was hugely popular here. They never had a lackluster album. I especially like Shootout At The fantasy Factory.
I like the new MCU intro, Jim. 😀 But glad to see you're getting to this classic album so soon after John Barleycorn. It'll make all your pains fade away. Since you pointed out it didn't make a dent in the UK charts, perhaps as a Brit you can explain why. This is the album that landed Traffic firmly in the early 70's progressive camp for many due to the seamless blending of folk, rock, soul, and jazz. You can understand how this would have appealed to fans of Jethro Tull, for example. My older brother was a huge Yes fan and it was an easy addition to his vinyl collection. You also identified the jam element that runs throughout this album. Winwood and Capaldi revived Traffic in the 90's (Chris Wood had passed away by then) and toured around the time of the 90's Woodstock festival. They put a new album out, but revived a lot of the music from this era. It gave them the opportunity to push the jam element in a lot of the songs, which worked great in that setting and those times. One other thing: Your sleeve has a misprint. the last song you heard today was "Light Up or Leave Me Alone". "Rock and Roll Stew" is the first track on side 2.
@@JimNewstead What's funny is that I grew up in the 70's with this album on vinyl. My older brother played it to death, which meant the first songs on each side were absolutely *swamped* by crackles and pops. They were an intrinsic part of the vinyl experience that became part of those songs! I think "Rock and Roll Stew" even had a skip in it that was so embedded in my brain that when I got the CD version it was weird for it *not to be there*! 😄
traffic is my go to. and low spark till the very last drop. mozambque. vacant chair. walking in the wind. mr. f. and so many more. mind and body candy. fun to play along with too puts a smile on mah mug
Didn’t chart in the UK?!… Huge album in the US and lots of air play for the title track as well as “Light Up or Leave Me Alone”, another one of those albums played in the dark & stoned of course...
Jim- if DMSO is available where you are, get it! It comes in roll on or cream- put it on your back. Ignore the short-lived burning sensation as your back pain goes away! I'm NOT kidding!!
I am astounded that this amazing lp, on the heals of the genre-breaking JohnBarleycorn, didn't make waves in the UK! For once, we Americans showed some real class... Oh well, even broken clocks are right twice daily.
Just to ramble on a bit about your surprise that this album was a UK flop. Lots of factors may have contributed. Firstly, as always, there’s the question of promotion. I know there were full page ads in the music papers, but i doubt the lp received much airplay (as opposed to US FM stations which were all over it). The only BBC show in 1971 to play ‘Rock’ music was Top Gear, a couple of hours on a Sunday, and if Peel didn’t like it you wouldn’t even have that. On top of that there was definitely a feeling among UK fans that a lot of successful groups had snubbed the ‘people who had made them’ by going off and chasing the Yankee dollar, and they reacted by shifting their support elsewhere. This didn’t apply to groups like the Stones, The Who or Zeppelin, who were big enough (and better managed) to happily prosper on both sides of the pond, but slightly lower down the pecking order, groups like Ten Years After, Humble Pie, Procol Harum and yes, Traffic, became huge in the USA while home support dwindled. I don’t suppose they (or their bank managers) cared too much at the time. I know Low Spark had a few stinking reviews in the UK press too. The Beat Instrumental review was absolutely brutal iirc, so anyone reading them may have spent their dosh on Yes, ELP, Wishbone Ash or The Groundhogs instead 🤔
@@JimNewstead one more factor, though i don’t know whether it applies in the case of Low Spark, could be the release dates. For example, Ten Years After’s lp A Space in Time was released in 1971, but it came out a few months earlier in America than it did here. Apparently thousands of US copies were imported to the UK and were snapped up by their fans. Now those sales counted as US sales, so when the lp was finally released in the UK it had a really poor chart showing (their previous half dozen lps had been top 5) whereas it was their first Gold album in the US. 🤔 As i said, i’m not sure if this was an unusual case but TYA never had another hit lp in the UK, and Traffic’s albums went the same way after John Barleycorn.
Jim Capaldi was Traffic’s original drummer and wrote most of the lyrics. As time went on he wanted to sing more. He released some really good stuff in the 70s in singer-songwritery style. Surprised you haven’t heard of Ric Grech as he was in Blind Faith with Steve ( and Clapton & Baker), and before that he was on Family’s first two albums. Jim Gordon was in Delaney & Bonnie’s band and then was with Derek & the Dominoes, as well as doing loads of sessions. He also was a schizophrenic who ended up shooting his mother dead, for which he is still incarcerated. After this Traffic used the famous ‘Muscle Shoals’ recording studio rhythm section for a couple of years. Great band Traffic but in the UK all the casual listener knows is Hole in My Show as that’s all that gets played on Gold Radio 🙄
@@JimNewstead i forgot to say that Mike Kellie (the one track drummer), was in Spooky Tooth…and you must, must, must hear their first 2 albums, It’s All About a Roundabout, and Spooky 2. Their music is so thick and custardy that they make Vanilla Fudge sound like The Flying Lizards! 👍
Hi Jim, Great new intro clip, you’ve been busy on the Mac. What program did you use? I love Traffic, have about 10 (digital) albums by them including this one. Great music. I can very very much recommend you Stomu Yamashta- Go live in Paris. It’s with Steve Winwood, Al di Meola, Michael Schrieve, Klaus Schulze. I see you’re still in pain. The best for your back is not to sit for long times in the same position but vary sitting with a bit of walking. A physiotherapist can give you light exercises. Succes and get well soon I hope.
Hey Will! I can't tell you all my secrets! But I edit the video in Final Cut Pro. The back is slowly improving. I don't think I'll be going back to the gym anytime soon. However, they do have a swimming pool there which might be better! I have a Stomu Yamashta record but not listened yet..... Thanks my friend.
@@JimNewstead i use Final Cut Pro too for all my motorcycle rides videos on my channel. Very handy if you include a moving map with a pointer of where you are exactly. Go live from Paris is the album to go for from Stomu Yamashta.
@@JimNewstead Crosby Stills and Nash are unknown to you? 😮 Definitely start with their 1969 self-titled debut, and follow up with 1970's Deja Vu when Neil Young joined the group and they became known as Crosby Stills Nash & Young. They are the epitome of singer-songwriter supergroups. If you've heard the recent release Troika by D'Virgilio Morse and Jennings, you'll find a lot of reviewers saying Troika is a throwback to singer-songwriters like CSN.
@@JimNewstead Follow up Deja Vu with the double A-sided single Ohio/Find the Cost of Freedom by CSNY. Each is considered one of the best protest songs of all time. The single Ohio was recorded on May 21st, 1970, a little over two weeks after the Kent State Massacre, which occurred on May 4th, 1970, in response to the events there. Neither song was included on a studio album until the compilation album So Far, which was released in 1977, since Deja Vu had just come out in March of 1970, which is why I'm suggesting doing the single after Deja Vu, as it was released in a similar time period.
Chris Wood was the secret, not so secret, weapon of Traffic!! What a great player! I still play all of the Traffic material regularly! Too damn bad Winwood and Dave Mason never could seem to get along. What might have been!
The track listing as you read it is correct, but the vinyl pressing has Light Up or Leave Me Alone as the 3rd track on side 1. The track Rock & Roll Stew should have been the 3rd track on side 1 and Light Up or Leave Me Alone should be track 2 on side 2. The album cover is printed correctly and the vinyl pressed incorrectly.. I'm making this assumption as the CD is in the order of your album cover. I used to have a vinyl copy, but I dispensed with that a few years ago to an avid collector of vinyl so I can't check mine.
@@JimNewstead Well something is jumbled and after some research I came up with these results: the original LP running order: Hidden Treasure,The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, Light Up Or Leave Me Alone, Rock & Roll Stew, Many A Mile To Freedom, Rainmaker. Subsequent LP pressings and CD have Light Up And Leave Me Alone as the 5th track instead of the 3rd. At this time it is still unknown when the track order changed. At this point I suppose it is a moot point since you’re done with this album. :)
Excellent album, so excellent choice. But at 8:24, no, it's not "quiet" due to the rice krispies of the vinyl, a medium that should have been discarded to the dustbin of history decades ago.
@@JimNewstead Well, bizarre as it may seem, I actually prefer to listen to what the musicians themselves wanted me to hear. And I reason that if they wanted me to hear snap, crackle, and pop on their recordings, they would have crunched on rice krispies in front of a microphone - or at least, added such mastication in a post-production mix.
@@psbarrow true…. I can’t argue with that! Perhaps I phrased it wrongly. I like the history of an old record, the pre-loved slightly dog-eared tatty sleeves and decades old nicks and marks on the vinyl that hint of a story I’ll never fully know. It’s akin to reading a treasured old book that you know has been read before, an enigmatic pencil note on a page. But I take your point squarely on the chin. However, playing Devil’s advocate a second… do you listen in a hermetically sound proof chamber with acoustic treatment on the walls, ceiling and floor? Or exclusively on noise cancelling headphones? You’re never going to hear the music exactly the way the musicians did when they recorded it. The world is full of imperfections and artefacts that colour the songs you hear. Bird songs, a fire burning, traffic outside, children next door. I enjoy the nostalgia and romance of records. 🤪
@@JimNewstead Well, to cut to the chase: None of your guessing at what my system might comprise is relevant to the SQ rendition of what an old, worn-out vinyl recording is. The analogy with an old book is misplaced. As long as both are readable, it matters nowt. But with vinyl, each revolution of the needle across the disc degrades the recording further, like an iceberg carving moraine out from mountain valleys during the last ice age - and you actually get to hear the end result of that sonic desecration through the musical rice krispies. If I want to listen to, for example, a YES recording, or Floyd's DSoTM, I'm going to go for the best quality available (Blu-ray 5.1/ SACD/Quad mix), and that ain't an old vinyl record with intrusive noise that ruins what the musicians' intended, and which is simply down to the archaic limitations of vinyl records. In conclusion: I fully support your musical journey into the past, exploring new bands/musicians, mostly in the prog. realm. But I cannot accept that 50 years on, you see the need to regress to the worst possible version of those recordings , and through your channel, convey them to your listening public. 'nuff said.
Omg omg! So into Traffic right now. This album is brilliant. The 5cd original album box set is stupendous! Great band. In fact I'd rate the 5 albums set 2nd only to the Nektar one I have too....and I've a few of them...jazz funk folk psychedelic blues rock? Yes please.🥸 Ah bad backs....hope yours is just temporary Jim. Wishing you luck....mines not got better for 6+ years now....but then you'd know cause you saw me sitting down every few minutes at that gig!!....or maybe you thought I was just being a weirdo👻👀😂
I didn't think you were a weirdo! I know you were in pain and I'm so glad you were able to enjoy some live music at last! I think it's getting better, albeit very slowly, but I seriously couldn't walk, sit, stand, lie down.... anything on Saturday! Chalk and cheese today :)
@@JimNewstead ah....that morning when you woke up, did you notice straight away? If you have damaged a disc or burst it you would've woken up unable to get up....except by rolling out of bed like a log springs to mind! The key to recovery and in your case hopefully fully healing is realising slow physio and daily careful core strength exercise and particular stretches helps you to feel less pain and keep fit. Lots of walking, lower back exercise as directed by expert, gentle swimming! Don't do any running or ott lifting for a while....it puts pressure on lower back very quickly. Careful physio, good posture high back chair, finding out the appropriate stretches and treatment for your particular case, but most def no running for a few months would not be ott dude. Might save you long term problem (I unwisely kept doing tennis, football and 5ks every week for first year after my omg log day incident...)
It is so much a ‘lost in sauce’ tune, I never get tired of it after all these years. Brilliant
Talkin’’bout the title tune of course.
It slays live, too.
This and 'Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory' are two of my all-time 'go-to' Traffic albums. Fantastic!
The creativity in this song is almost beyond belief. ♥🎼🎹🎵🎸🎷🥁🪘🎶🎶
The title track is one of my top 10 all-time mellow rock songs! The entire album is a treasure.
I used to play 'Low Spark' on a loop when I wasn't listening to YES.🤩
Humans playing with feeling, and an analogue recording that gives the music depth and room to breathe 👍
It's the best sound, eh?
@@JimNewstead undoubtedly! Imho of course. 😁
Hey Jim! Been waiting for this one since you got the album. You will love the title track!🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹😎
Eh 214! Seems like everyone had this album back in the day.
@@lesblatnyak5947 Still have mine.😎
Indeed I will!
@@JimNewstead Gets better with each listen!😎
I've still got mine.🤩
Title track is hypnotic!
One of the best albums of the seventies. My favorite song is Many a Mile to Freedom (excellent flute solo). My sister was one of those Americans that bought this...and I basically borrowed it from her (and never returned it).
Lol! Poor sister :(
I love that song The Low Spark of High heeled Boys! What a vibe. My fave Traffic song. The first track is great too, reminds me of being a kid in the late '60s and early 70s and my brother was a decade older than me and had the black light posters, the beads in the doorway, the turn table and great music. At 7 I stole his Beatles album Abbey Road when it came out and for whatever reason my 7 year old self was obsessed with that record. My brother liked country too but his best friends then were more into the hippie type vibe so he listened to rock and blues around them. He really loved CCR and I used to ask if I could listen to them with him. We weren't very close, our ages were so far apart, but he would let me listen with him and to this day I love CCR. My brother had a big box of 8 track tapes, ha, and our much younger baby brother, 17 years younger than my older brother!, got into my older brother's room one day when he was a toddler and pulled all the ribbons out of my older brother's fave 8 tracks. Boy my older brother was mad!
Yes, that first Hidden Treasure track is inspired by an influential hippie era book Siddhartha by German author Hermann Hesse.
Light up or Leave Me Alone, Rock and Roll Stew opens side 2
Damn!
Low Spark, is the coolest song ever. Love it.👍
Such a nice blend of jazz and blues on the title track. And the bass just keeps rolling along holding it all down.
Isn't it great!
Thank you, Jim, for playing this. Had to hold myself off of listening to this as wanted to hear on my big system. Traffic - always was good! :) Great fun!
Traffic. Understated maestros. Could listen all day to this. AWSOME!
Thanks for listening with me Steve. It's fabulous. Hope the big system delivered! Someone else said in the comments that it sounds tinny and poor - I thought it sounded great, how was it at your end?
@@JimNewstead Hm. Can vibe with the thin comment. My system here has a deliberate "big" low end - which I am used to. Wharfedale Dovedale SP2's (1974 era on 3rd cone refurbs now) driven by Yam. Natural Sound MOSFET amp. Not _the_ top end, but to do better need x3 months+ salary £budget on top! Whole thing tuned by pro engineer to be flat too, via a Marantz graphic equaliser.
Upshot? Sounds "within range of normal" for an LP. Sounds v. OK here! Actually, relistening as I write - Brilliant! Can't wait for side 2!
:) Dr. Xlerb....
What a great album.
Yep.. that title track takes up an already very good album, a couple of notches.
And a bunch of us fellow listeners saying... WE TOLD YOU !
Glad you enjoyed it with us. :)
Well said! You DID tell me so :)
Love this album....it has the feels throughout and sounds soooooo flipping good. Authentic earthy jazzy blues rock at it's best. The song writing quality shocked me a few weeks ago, but then juxtaposed with that superb jazzy riffing ....it's a jam like you say Jim, but it's also so damn well composed you are still left wanting more...omg!
Apart from you and Larry I've not heard any channel ever recommend this great great band..... People are missing out. They should be in the Hall of Fame. Get to it people!!😎😎👌👌👌
It's taken me nearly 5 years of YouTubing to get here!
They are in the Hall of Fame. 👍
@@Atom-56 they are? Well I'll be! Well that's good. 🙂
@@JimNewstead ha I know👏! It's taken me 3 years of seriously watching and listening on UA-cam to get here! My cat leaps from cd tower to cd tower🐈😸🥴☺️....though I'm doing it all less now. I think going super intense listening to all kinds of stuff over covid really kick started a new deeper breadth in my listening habits....but I'm taking it more slowly recently... It's nice to live in the music a while.
Certainly enjoyed your intro for this album, that brought out a laugh, nicely done.
Enjoying your channel immensely.
Thank you very much Gary!
Great album choice, Jim. Thanks
Oh, I'm so happy to see this.
: settling in to listen :
Enjoy!
A classic album by a classic band and the great Steve Winwood ❤️😎🔥
Love the song. Have yet to listen to the album. Maybe I will today : )
I don't have this album but again because of great old radio in NYC I know the title track backwards and forwards.
That is the organ run through a fuzz box. Groooooove!
16.35………not a keyboard Jim, but, Chris Wood playing his saxophone!
It sounds mad!
In the US, on FM radio during the 1970's, most of the tracks from Low Spark and John Barleycorn, were played regularly. Traffic was hugely popular here. They never had a lackluster album. I especially like Shootout At The fantasy Factory.
I like the new MCU intro, Jim. 😀 But glad to see you're getting to this classic album so soon after John Barleycorn. It'll make all your pains fade away. Since you pointed out it didn't make a dent in the UK charts, perhaps as a Brit you can explain why. This is the album that landed Traffic firmly in the early 70's progressive camp for many due to the seamless blending of folk, rock, soul, and jazz. You can understand how this would have appealed to fans of Jethro Tull, for example. My older brother was a huge Yes fan and it was an easy addition to his vinyl collection. You also identified the jam element that runs throughout this album. Winwood and Capaldi revived Traffic in the 90's (Chris Wood had passed away by then) and toured around the time of the 90's Woodstock festival. They put a new album out, but revived a lot of the music from this era. It gave them the opportunity to push the jam element in a lot of the songs, which worked great in that setting and those times.
One other thing: Your sleeve has a misprint. the last song you heard today was "Light Up or Leave Me Alone". "Rock and Roll Stew" is the first track on side 2.
Thanks re: the intro - I like it!
Yes, I think a couple of other people have pointed out the error about Rock and Roll Stew too.
@@JimNewstead What's funny is that I grew up in the 70's with this album on vinyl. My older brother played it to death, which meant the first songs on each side were absolutely *swamped* by crackles and pops. They were an intrinsic part of the vinyl experience that became part of those songs! I think "Rock and Roll Stew" even had a skip in it that was so embedded in my brain that when I got the CD version it was weird for it *not to be there*! 😄
Fabulous!
traffic is my go to. and low spark till the very last drop. mozambque. vacant chair. walking in the wind. mr. f. and so many more. mind and body candy. fun to play along with too
puts a smile on mah mug
Didn’t chart in the UK?!… Huge album in the US and lots of air play for the title track as well as “Light Up or Leave Me Alone”, another one of those albums played in the dark & stoned of course...
a bag of sound...enter the chill zone grove!
The title track on this album is fabulous
Helo Jim, how are you today? here, the real winter starts, sunny -10, next weekend will be the coldest -20 during the day.
Brrrr! It's much warmer here now.... plus 8 or 9°C
Jim- if DMSO is available where you are, get it! It comes in roll on or cream- put it on your back. Ignore the short-lived burning sensation as your back pain goes away! I'm NOT kidding!!
It isn't but its getting better now - slowly but surely!
Nice new openening sequence, Jim. Fancy! ;-)
I know! I'm a fancy kind of guy!
I don't know why this record didn't do very well, but Mick Capewell has commented elsewhere on this thread about that.
17:00 very much a jam. I've heard live versions that are twice the length where they just sort of improv solos for a bit.
I am astounded that this amazing lp, on the heals of the genre-breaking JohnBarleycorn, didn't make waves in the UK!
For once, we Americans showed some real class... Oh well, even broken clocks are right twice daily.
No... NOT a keyboard on LowSpark! It's Chris Wood on tenor saxophone.
Your first hunch was correct: a sax (not a keyboard). BTW, that third track was Light Up or Leave Me Alone, not Rock and Roll Stew.
Just to ramble on a bit about your surprise that this album was a UK flop.
Lots of factors may have contributed. Firstly, as always, there’s the question of promotion. I know there were full page ads in the music papers, but i doubt the lp received much airplay (as opposed to US FM stations which were all over it). The only BBC show in 1971 to play ‘Rock’ music was Top Gear, a couple of hours on a Sunday, and if Peel didn’t like it you wouldn’t even have that.
On top of that there was definitely a feeling among UK fans that a lot of successful groups had snubbed the ‘people who had made them’ by going off and chasing the Yankee dollar, and they reacted by shifting their support elsewhere. This didn’t apply to groups like the Stones, The Who or Zeppelin, who were big enough (and better managed) to happily prosper on both sides of the pond, but slightly lower down the pecking order, groups like Ten Years After, Humble Pie, Procol Harum and yes, Traffic, became huge in the USA while home support dwindled. I don’t suppose they (or their bank managers) cared too much at the time.
I know Low Spark had a few stinking reviews in the UK press too. The Beat Instrumental review was absolutely brutal iirc, so anyone reading them may have spent their dosh on Yes, ELP, Wishbone Ash or The Groundhogs instead 🤔
Great info!
@@JimNewstead one more factor, though i don’t know whether it applies in the case of Low Spark, could be the release dates. For example, Ten Years After’s lp A Space in Time was released in 1971, but it came out a few months earlier in America than it did here. Apparently thousands of US copies were imported to the UK and were snapped up by their fans. Now those sales counted as US sales, so when the lp was finally released in the UK it had a really poor chart showing (their previous half dozen lps had been top 5) whereas it was their first Gold album in the US. 🤔
As i said, i’m not sure if this was an unusual case but TYA never had another hit lp in the UK, and Traffic’s albums went the same way after John Barleycorn.
Great album. try "Surrealistic Pillow" from Jefferson Airplane. you'll hear hits such as White Rabbit and lots of other very cool trippin music
Nope Chris Wood on sax 🎷 and effects 👍🏻😎💯
Classic!
whole album, my bad
Jim Capaldi was Traffic’s original drummer and wrote most of the lyrics. As time went on he wanted to sing more. He released some really good stuff in the 70s in singer-songwritery style.
Surprised you haven’t heard of Ric Grech as he was in Blind Faith with Steve ( and Clapton & Baker), and before that he was on Family’s first two albums.
Jim Gordon was in Delaney & Bonnie’s band and then was with Derek & the Dominoes, as well as doing loads of sessions. He also was a schizophrenic who ended up shooting his mother dead, for which he is still incarcerated.
After this Traffic used the famous ‘Muscle Shoals’ recording studio rhythm section for a couple of years.
Great band Traffic but in the UK all the casual listener knows is Hole in My Show as that’s all that gets played on Gold Radio 🙄
You won't believe this, but I don't know Blind Faith either. Obviously I know who they are and the record cover....
@@JimNewstead i forgot to say that Mike Kellie (the one track drummer), was in Spooky Tooth…and you must, must, must hear their first 2 albums, It’s All About a Roundabout, and Spooky 2.
Their music is so thick and custardy that they make Vanilla Fudge sound like The Flying Lizards! 👍
I believe Gordon did not shoot his mother, rather he murdered her with a hammer and a butcher knife.
@@albarton7189 well…same result eh? 🙄
Please consider listening to Uncle Meat. I'd like to hear your impressions of this amazing and eclectic jewel.
I don't even know what that is..... is that Traffic?
zappa i believe
@@JimNewstead
@@jimhockley9730 thank you for eventually answering the question! Obviously Howterson wasn’t following the channel too closely!
Hi Jim,
Great new intro clip, you’ve been busy on the Mac. What program did you use?
I love Traffic, have about 10 (digital) albums by them including this one. Great music.
I can very very much recommend you Stomu Yamashta- Go live in Paris. It’s with Steve Winwood, Al di Meola, Michael Schrieve, Klaus Schulze.
I see you’re still in pain. The best for your back is not to sit for long times in the same position but vary sitting with a bit of walking. A physiotherapist can give you light exercises.
Succes and get well soon I hope.
Hey Will!
I can't tell you all my secrets! But I edit the video in Final Cut Pro.
The back is slowly improving. I don't think I'll be going back to the gym anytime soon. However, they do have a swimming pool there which might be better!
I have a Stomu Yamashta record but not listened yet.....
Thanks my friend.
@@JimNewstead i use Final Cut Pro too for all my motorcycle rides videos on my channel. Very handy if you include a moving map with a pointer of where you are exactly.
Go live from Paris is the album to go for from Stomu Yamashta.
Jim, If you liked that you might like Crosby Stills & Nash.
Again...... another unknown to me.
@@JimNewstead
Crosby Stills and Nash are unknown to you? 😮
Definitely start with their 1969 self-titled debut, and follow up with 1970's Deja Vu when Neil Young joined the group and they became known as Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
They are the epitome of singer-songwriter supergroups. If you've heard the recent release Troika by D'Virgilio Morse and Jennings, you'll find a lot of reviewers saying Troika is a throwback to singer-songwriters like CSN.
@@JimNewstead
Follow up Deja Vu with the double A-sided single Ohio/Find the Cost of Freedom by CSNY. Each is considered one of the best protest songs of all time.
The single Ohio was recorded on May 21st, 1970, a little over two weeks after the Kent State Massacre, which occurred on May 4th, 1970, in response to the events there. Neither song was included on a studio album until the compilation album So Far, which was released in 1977, since Deja Vu had just come out in March of 1970, which is why I'm suggesting doing the single after Deja Vu, as it was released in a similar time period.
Jim, I had forgotten just how good Traffic were, thanks for that. How do you clean your records?
I've recently taken ownership of a wet vacuum cleaning machine. I'm cleaning every record before playing it - it makes a heck of a difference.
Chris Wood was the secret, not so secret, weapon of Traffic!! What a great player! I still play all of the Traffic material regularly! Too damn bad Winwood and Dave Mason never could seem to get along. What might have been!
The track listing as you read it is correct, but the vinyl pressing has Light Up or Leave Me Alone as the 3rd track on side 1. The track Rock & Roll Stew should have been the 3rd track on side 1 and Light Up or Leave Me Alone should be track 2 on side 2. The album cover is printed correctly and the vinyl pressed incorrectly.. I'm making this assumption as the CD is in the order of your album cover. I used to have a vinyl copy, but I dispensed with that a few years ago to an avid collector of vinyl so I can't check mine.
So.... the label running order is the same as the vinyl pressing, but the sleeve is jumbled up!
@@JimNewstead Well something is jumbled and after some research I came up with these results: the original LP running order: Hidden Treasure,The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, Light Up Or Leave Me Alone, Rock & Roll Stew, Many A Mile To Freedom, Rainmaker. Subsequent LP pressings and CD have Light Up And Leave Me Alone as the 5th track instead of the 3rd. At this time it is still unknown when the track order changed. At this point I suppose it is a moot point since you’re done with this album. :)
Excellent album, so excellent choice. But at 8:24, no, it's not "quiet" due to the rice krispies of the vinyl, a medium that should have been discarded to the dustbin of history decades ago.
Haha, maybe.... I kinda like it, same as flickers and scratches on old films. Makes it authentic and real!
@@JimNewstead Well, bizarre as it may seem, I actually prefer to listen to what the musicians themselves wanted me to hear. And I reason that if they wanted me to hear snap, crackle, and pop on their recordings, they would have crunched on rice krispies in front of a microphone - or at least, added such mastication in a post-production mix.
@@psbarrow true…. I can’t argue with that! Perhaps I phrased it wrongly. I like the history of an old record, the pre-loved slightly dog-eared tatty sleeves and decades old nicks and marks on the vinyl that hint of a story I’ll never fully know. It’s akin to reading a treasured old book that you know has been read before, an enigmatic pencil note on a page. But I take your point squarely on the chin. However, playing Devil’s advocate a second… do you listen in a hermetically sound proof chamber with acoustic treatment on the walls, ceiling and floor? Or exclusively on noise cancelling headphones? You’re never going to hear the music exactly the way the musicians did when they recorded it. The world is full of imperfections and artefacts that colour the songs you hear. Bird songs, a fire burning, traffic outside, children next door.
I enjoy the nostalgia and romance of records. 🤪
@@JimNewstead Well, to cut to the chase: None of your guessing at what my system might comprise is relevant to the SQ rendition of what an old, worn-out vinyl recording is. The analogy with an old book is misplaced. As long as both are readable, it matters nowt.
But with vinyl, each revolution of the needle across the disc degrades the recording further, like an iceberg carving moraine out from mountain valleys during the last ice age - and you actually get to hear the end result of that sonic desecration through the musical rice krispies. If I want to listen to, for example, a YES recording, or Floyd's DSoTM, I'm going to go for the best quality available (Blu-ray 5.1/ SACD/Quad mix), and that ain't an old vinyl record with intrusive noise that ruins what the musicians' intended, and which is simply down to the archaic limitations of vinyl records.
In conclusion: I fully support your musical journey into the past, exploring new bands/musicians, mostly in the prog. realm. But I cannot accept that 50 years on, you see the need to regress to the worst possible version of those recordings , and through your channel, convey them to your listening public. 'nuff said.
Is there something wrong with the sound, the music sounds really quiet and tinny to me
Does it? It sounds fine here, and in editing earlier. But then again, I don't know how it is meant to sound....
Time to invest in a proper LP cleaner!
I've got a really good vacuum cleaner, but only had a for month or so!
Hello Jim I've sent you an cast iron request, I don't know if it worked ?
I just saw it.... damn those loop holes!
@@JimNewstead ahaha I've outsmarted your plan !
Omg omg! So into Traffic right now. This album is brilliant. The 5cd original album box set is stupendous! Great band. In fact I'd rate the 5 albums set 2nd only to the Nektar one I have too....and I've a few of them...jazz funk folk psychedelic blues rock? Yes please.🥸
Ah bad backs....hope yours is just temporary Jim. Wishing you luck....mines not got better for 6+ years now....but then you'd know cause you saw me sitting down every few minutes at that gig!!....or maybe you thought I was just being a weirdo👻👀😂
I didn't think you were a weirdo! I know you were in pain and I'm so glad you were able to enjoy some live music at last! I think it's getting better, albeit very slowly, but I seriously couldn't walk, sit, stand, lie down.... anything on Saturday! Chalk and cheese today :)
@@JimNewstead ah....that morning when you woke up, did you notice straight away? If you have damaged a disc or burst it you would've woken up unable to get up....except by rolling out of bed like a log springs to mind! The key to recovery and in your case hopefully fully healing is realising slow physio and daily careful core strength exercise and particular stretches helps you to feel less pain and keep fit. Lots of walking, lower back exercise as directed by expert, gentle swimming! Don't do any running or ott lifting for a while....it puts pressure on lower back very quickly. Careful physio, good posture high back chair, finding out the appropriate stretches and treatment for your particular case, but most def no running for a few months would not be ott dude. Might save you long term problem (I unwisely kept doing tennis, football and 5ks every week for first year after my omg log day incident...)