Traffic ON THE ROAD

Traffic: Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, piano); Jim Capaldi (vocals, drums, percussion); Chris Wood (flute, saxophone); Barry Beckett (keyboards); David Hood (bass instrument); Roger Hawkins (drums); Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion).
Liner Note Author: Bill DeYoung.
The venality of the business gets a workout in the 12-minute title track, a slow-building jazz-rock groove that starts with a sense of quiet menace and ends with a pealing, distorted guitar solo, with one of Steve Winwood's most impassioned and lengthy organ solos at the song's heart. "Rock & Roll Stew" and Jim Capaldi's sneering putdown "Light Up or Leave Me Alone" are even more forceful, with only the groovy ecological message of "Many a Mile to Freedom" lightening the mood. Even that song rocks harder than anything on JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE, though, and that extra hint of power is likely what helped make THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH HEELED BOYS Traffic's most commercially successful album in the United States.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop