Early Traffic

by Peter Saint-Andre

2007-06-20

As just mentioned, much of my favorite music was made between 1968 and 1974. One of my favorite bands from that time is Traffic. To date I've listened only to their albums John Barleycorn Must Die (1970) and The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys (1971), but I've been curious about some of their other music so I recently picked up a used copy of a Traffic compilation containing some of their earlier music. My favorite tunes here are "Shining Phases" and "Dear Mr. Fantasy" from their 1967 debut album Mr. Fantasy and (from their eponymous 1968 album) "Feelin' Alright", "Pearly Queen", and "40,000 Headmen". Their early stuff is bit more psychedelic compared to the more progressive sound of their 1970 and 1971 releases, and some of the early stuff is a bit twee if you ask me, but overall there are some tasty cuts here.


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