Thursday, January 22, 2009

Album of the Day

John Barleycorn Must Die, by Traffic (1970): A long while ago, I got this disc from Columbia House, curious to hear what Traffic was all about. It made no impression on me whatsoever. It languished on the shelf for years until a few years ago when, for some reason, I was inspired to put it on. I don't know why, but it clicked then and it has ever since. Winwood and crew throw a bunch influences together (rock, folk, jazz) and come up with a loose jammy sound. The title track is a reworked British folk tune with its own interesting history.

2 comments:

Paul said...

Oh man, I love that album! Such an original sound.

Christopher Scott Jones said...

Did you tape a penny and request it, forget to mail in the card on time, or order it specifically?

I was more of a BMG man myself. Hey, come to think of it, they owe me 4 cassettes. Bastards.