Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic

Performer: Traffic
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Traffic: Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, piano, organ, harpsichord, bass, percussion); Dave Mason (vocals, guitar, sitar, tambura, shakkai, harmonica, bass); Chris Wood (vocals, flute, saxophone, organ, percussion); Jim Capaldi (vocals, drums, tambourine, percussion). Additional personnel: Rick Grech (bass); Jim Gordon (drums); Reebop Kwaku Baah (percussion). Producers: Jimmy Miller, Steve Winwood, Chris Blackwell. Compilation producer: Bill Levenson. Recorded at Olympic Studios, London, England between April 1967 and May 1970; The Record Plant, New York, New York from January-May 1968; Morgan Studios, London, England in November 1968; Island Studios, London, England between April 1970 and September 1971. Includes liner notes by John McDermott. Digitally remastered by Tom Ruff (Universal Music Studios East, Edison, New Jersey). This release was formerly titled: FEELIN' ALLRIGHT: THE VERY BEST OF TRAFFIC. Traffic: Dave Mason (tambura); Jim Capaldi (drum); Chris Wood , Rick Grech, Steve Winwood. Personnel: Dave Mason (vocals, guitar, sitar, tamboura, Mellotron, bass guitar); Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, piano, harpsichord, organ, bass guitar); Chris Wood (vocals, flute, saxophone, organ, percussion); Jim Capaldi (vocals, drums, tambourine, percussion); Rick Grech (bass guitar); Jim Gordon (drums); Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion). Liner Note Author: John McDermott. Recording information: Island Studios, London, England; Morgan Studios, London, England; Olympic Studios, London, England; Record Plant Studios, NY. Photographers: Chuck Pulin; Michael Putland; Barry Wentzell. Arranger: Steve Winwood. This well thought-out anthology includes just about every notable Traffic track from their peak years of 1968 to 1971. What immediately impresses here is the range of the band and the variety of their influences. They veer from psychedelic pop (love that cheesy sitar on their debut hit, "Paper Sun"), to jazz-inflected R&B on the instrumental "Glad," via Celtic folk in the lovely, pastoral "John Barleycorn Must Die," and the psychedelic rock of San Francisco-style jams on "Mr. Fantasy." The whole enterprise is held together by the glue of Jim Capaldi's vastly underrated drumming and by Stevie Winwood's justifiably celebrated keyboards and Ray Charles-inflected vocals. You can almost smell the incense and controlled substances that were present at the creation of most of this material, but, in a way, this only adds to the music's laid-back charm. Essential.

Traffic appeared amidst the late-1960s psychedelic scene, and at its height the band was one of the most adventurous outfits around, although Traffic's unstable lineup made it an on-again, off-again affair by the '70s. Teenage wunderkind Stevie Winwood was the main man, but all the members made significant contributions. With a sound that combined influences from folk, rock, jazz, and soul, Traffic created something wonderfully of its time on classic albums such as THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH-HEELED BOYS.

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