Traffic - Live Traffic (1970)

In 1970 two shows at New York City's Fillmore East, on 18th and 19th November 1970, were recorded with the intent of producing Traffic's first fully live album, with both the British and American press announcing its intended release shortly after the performances. The release was scheduled, given an Island catalogue number  ILPS 9142, saddled with the perfunctory title of 'Live – November 1970', and is reckoned to have had finished sleeves, one of which has turned up here, acquired from an industry insider, who got it at the time from UA's Head of Publicity. Melody Maker described the (sic) 'Philmore East' album as being due for release on 11th December 1970, even giving a tentative track listing for the record, and mentioning that there was to be included between tracks some backstage recordings of conversation, greetings to friends, etc., making it a unique approach to the standard 'live' album. An interesting selection of tracks, including a Blind Faith cover, and an extremely long performance of 'Glad', plus newly added band member Ric Grech supplying sorely needed bass and violin, would have made the album something special. However, only days from official release (with advertisements, promo posters and album covers printed), the release was cancelled, with the circumstances surrounding the cancellation remaining somewhat confused and mysterious. The album was quickly mixed in New York, and things seemed to be going well, but then Melody Maker announced that the release date had been pushed back a month. Soon after that came the news that a "lost tape" had again set back the release date. The story of the lost tape varies, but it was said to have somehow disappeared on the flight back to England, although one source went so far as to say that the band actually destroyed the tapes themselves, as Winwood had announced in the press his dissatisfaction with the finished product. He wanted to release an album that was one half live and one half new studio material, recorded in his newly built home studio. United Artists had also greatly upset Winwood and band manager Chris Blackwell by releasing a 2-LP Winwood career retrospective without their permission, which might also have contributed to the live album's cancellation. Bootlegs exist, and some finalised tracks were officially released as bonus cuts on the expanded CD issue of 'John Barleycorn Must Die'. The bootleg album is excellent sound quality, apart from a serious drop-out during 'Glad', where over five minutes of music are lost, but luckily we finally have a perfect recording from the 'John Barleycorn' re-issue, so I've been able to piece together the whole thing from the original track listing. Considering that it was a professionally recorded show, the editing on the bootleg left something to be desired, with songs cutting in and ending sharply, often with no applause at the end. Also, 'Can't Find My Way Home' from the Fillmore East has never surfaced, so I've had to use a recording from Fillmore West in July. I've spliced in applause where I felt it was needed and cross-faded the tracks to sound like a continuous performance, so I reckon this is as close as we'll ever get to the original album.   

Track listing

01 Backstage & Introduction
02 Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring
03 Glad
04 Pearly Queen
05 Forty Thousand Headmen
06 Dear Mr. Fantasy
07 Can't Find My Way Home