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

Vivian Stanshall - Return Of The Ginger Geezer (1994)

After leaving the Bonzos in 1970, Vivian Stanshall enjoyed a wide-ranging and varied career. He released a few solo singles in the early 70's (see his last post), and his first big break came in 1971 when he was asked to fill in on the John Peel radio show while the DJ took a month off in the August. He recorded four two-hour shows which he called 'Radio Flashes', comprising sketches and music, and they've gained a reputation over the years from fans as being some of his best work, even though the BBC in their wisdom have apparently wiped the first show from their archive. I've included a couple of the sketches as interludes, and you can hear the remaining three shows in full here. 
Following the success of his short-lived radio career, other artists started asking him to guest on their recordings, the first and most famous of which was Mike Oldfield. They collaborated on Oldfield's 'Sailor's Hornpipe' single, with Stanshall writing and narrating some nonsense over Oldfield's interpretation of the traditional tune, and this led to Viv contributing his reknowned master of ceremonies piece for part three of Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells', introducing the instruments as they made their appearance. It wouldn't have been the same had it been anybody else but him. In 1974 Robert Calvert asked him to write and narrate some sketches to slot between the songs on his 'Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters' album, and I've included three of the best of them here. Also in 1974 he co-wrote 'Dream Gerrard' with Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi for Traffic's last studio album 'When The Eagle Flies', and it turned out to be one of the highlights on what was already one of their best albums. Winwood was obviously impressed with what Stanshall brought to the table, and they collaborated further on songs from Winwood's solo albums 'Steve Winwood', 'Arc Of A Diver', and 'Back In The High Life', including a song they co-composed for the '...High Life' album which never made the final cut, even though it was good enough to have been included. 
He was also asked to contribute his fruity vocals to songs by The Damned and Marden Hill, and in between that he still found time to play around in the studio with mates like Keith Moon, recording a humourous take of 'We'll Meet Again', which later appeared on a bootleg album in 1978. All of this is in addition to recording and releasing a number of fine solo albums, including the classic 'Sir Henry At Rawlinson End', which also spawned a 1980 film starring Trevor Howard, and a sequel album in 1984 with 'Sir Henry At N'didi's Kraal'. As I said in the last post, Vivian Stanshall really was one of a kind, and the world is a poorer place without him, so enjoy listening to this collection of his many talents, as surrealist comedian, radio broadcaster, songwriter, singer, and owner of the poshest voice in rock history.       

Track listing

01 Bruce Reason & The Reason Mobile (Radio Flashes 1971)
02 Sailor's Hornpipe (Mike Oldfield - co-write/narration 1973)
03 Aircraft Salesman (A Door In The Foot) (Robert Calvert - writer/narration 1974)
04 Ground Crew (Last Minute Reassembly Before Take Off) (Robert Calvert - writer/narration 1974)
05 Ground Control To Pilot (Robert Calvert - writer/narration 1974)
06 Dream Gerrard (Traffic - co-write with Steve Winwood & Jim Capladi 1974)
07 Announcement (Radio Flashes 1971)
08 Holiday Home (from 'The Roughler Presents The Warwick Sessions (Volume 1)' 1987)
09 Vacant Chair (co-write with Steve Winwood 1977)
10 Arc Of A Diver (co-write with Steve Winwood 1980)
11 Cohen's Colon Cream (Radio Flashes 1971)
12 My Love's Leaving (co-write with Steve Winwood 1986)
13 If That Gun's For Real (previously unreleased co-write with Steve Winwood 1986)
14 Thompson's Tiger Tongue Toiletry Paper (Radio Flashes 1971)
15 Lovely Money (The Damned - narration 1982)
16 Bombed On Heavy (Marden Hill- narration 1994)
17 We'll Meet Again (from the 'Harold Hare...And Other Droppings' bootleg with Keith Moon 1978)

Traffic - Traffic Update (1971)

Stevie Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason, and Chris Wood met when they jammed together at The Elbow Room in Birmingham, and after Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group in April 1967, the quartet formed Traffic, with Capaldi coming up with the name while the four of them were waiting to cross the street in Dorchester. The band signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records label, and their debut single 'Paper Sun' became a UK hit in mid-1967, and their second single, Mason's psych-pop 'Hole in My Shoe', was an even bigger success. The band's third single, 'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush', was made for the soundtrack of the 1967 British feature film of the same name, and their debut album 'Mr. Fantasy' was the beginning of an extremely successful, if somewhat troubled, career for the group. There were some initial disagreements, resulting in Mason leaving just after the release of 'Mr Fantasy', but he rejoined in time to contribute to their second eponymous album, before leaving again shortly afterwards. The band toured as a three-piece in 1968, and in their spare time they often played with Jimi Hendrix, with both Winwood and Wood (and an uncredited Mason) all appearing on The Jimi Hendrix Experience's 1968 double album 'Electric Ladyland'. 
They didn't record much music that didn't end up on an album, but there are a few rarities that are worth hearing, and this album attempts to gather them up. It's more for the UK fan, as it includes a few songs which didn't appear on their UK albums, but which did turn up on the US versions. None of the band's first three singles appeared on a UK record, so they are all here, along with a short coda to 'Paper Sun' which closed the US-released 'Heaven Is In Your Mind' album, as well as the b-side to the UK single release of 'Hole In My Shoe'. Alongside those there are a few previously unreleased songs, a BBC session from 1967, and as some of the band's jams with Hendrix have since emerged on bootleg, I've included an extract from one of these, as well as editing a rather rambling 10-minute demo from 1971 into a more concise ballad. The highlight for me is the live version of 'Hole In My Shoe', which was taped in concert in Stockholm in 1967, and includes a lengthy sitar introduction by Dave Mason. It''s not a bad collection, but I think it does emphasize that the band did seem to include most of their best stuff on the records.

Track listing

01 Paper Sun (single 1967)
02 We're A Fade, You Missed This (from the US album 'Heaven Is In Your Mind')
03 Am I What I Was Or Am I What I Am (previously unreleased 1968)
04 Here We Go 'Round The Mulberry Bush (single 1967)
05 I Just Want You To Know (previously unreleased 1970)
06 Smiling Phases (b-side of 'Hole In My Shoe' 1967)
07 Jamming With Jimi (excerpt from 'Jam Thing' with Jimi Hendrix 1968)
08 Hole In My Shoe (live in Stockholm 1967)
09 Sittin' Here Thinkin' Of My Love (previously unreleased 1970)
10 Blindman (BBC session 1967)
11 Hard To Find A Friend (extract from ten minute demo 1971)
12 Withering Tree (b-side of 'You Can All Join In' 1968)