It’s Turntable Tuesday because life is too short not to listen to great music! Turn that TV off! Get out your vinyl and soothe your soul with your favorite tunes! Crank up some music on your local mobile device if you are traveling! Summer is on the way and nothing goes better with warm weather than your favorite music cranked up in the background. Let’s all celebrate another day on the planet.
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1967. Traffic was a rock band that was formed in Birmingham, England by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason. The band started by playing psychedelic rock given the influences of the time period following the 1967 Summer of Love and the Woodstock Festival in 1969. Over time the band began literally playing musical chairs with band members and taking off a year here and there to participate in other musical projects. The initial album was “Mr. Fantasy” followed by three more albums before the fifth studio album “The Low Spark of High Heeled boys” was released in 1971. In November of 2021 this album will be 50 years old!
I can recall Traffic music being played on FM during these years as I started listening on a bedside clock radio all the way through my years of collecting audio gear. “Mr. Fantasy” was very popular as was the track “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.” “Low Spark” at almost 12 minutes in length was known as a DJ’s dream song. As it was playing many DJ’s could go catch a “smoke break.” The 1970’s decade went by very quickly and suddenly it was 1978. I was in college at Mississippi State in Starkville driving a Toyota Corolla a MSU parking sticker on the rear bumper, more on that in a moment. I had a part time job so I had enough cash saved to drive over to Ole Miss in Oxford to see Dave Mason play a show. I had been collecting his music as well as listening to all the Steve Winwood music I could get my hands on. Mississippi State and Ole Miss were rivals so before I drove to the show I covered my MSU parking pass with a temporary bumper sticker from a record shop. This was my insurance that my car would still be there in one piece when I returned after the concert. It was… The show was great and it seems like yesterday that I was so close to that stage seeing Dave in his white suit with his long hair. Those suits were popular wear during that day. Later in the fall of 2014 when I met Dave before a show and we had time to talk a bit I showed Dave and his wife the photo below. He smiled and his wife says yeah he loves those old photos. There were a few more conversations that night and I captured some of that in a past blog post. Great times.
Dave Mason Oxford, Mississippi 1978. This is an old 35mm photo I shot with my Pentax camera scanned to digital. 
Dave Mason and Andrew Talbert 
Dave Mason on stage in Durham, North Carolina 2014
Steve Winwood. The music prodigy as most know was playing on a stage with the Spencer Davis Group when he was a teenager. Later in the bands “Traffic” and “Blind Faith” he was incredible on keyboards, guitar, and vocals. During the decade or so after 1980 Steve Winwood released solo record after solo record almost making his stamp on that time period with his signature vocal sound. It was hard not to hear a Steve Winwood hit playing on the radio during those years. Even now on the classic rock stations you hear the music with Steve Winwood in a band or solo from so many decades. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to see Steve play live a number of times at concerts with bands such as Tom Petty and the Allman Brothers Band. All of those musicians are amazing artists and those were quite the concerts. The story that is etched into my mind and I may have shared it before…I was at a show and Steve Winwood was opening. As I recall this was a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show in an amphitheater. The sun was easing down over the back of the lawn and it was still a little early. Steve walked out on the stage and I immediately stood up. Many sat back down to chill but I kept standing. I was smiling just feeling great watching and listening to this band play hit after hit from the stage. After several songs went by I felt a tap, tap, tap on my shoulder. Not a gentle tap but three from a finger behind me. I turned around to see a female with a scowl on her face and she yelled “can you sit down?” I smiled and calmly said “Mam this is a concert, the man on stage is a musical genius, and I am not sitting down until he leaves the stage.” Then I turned around and smiled again. Just another day at a concert. At least I didn’t have the tallest guy in the place standing in front of me that night as I was quite close to the stage! My rule is always “It’s a concert, everyone paid to be here, as long as you are in your space enjoy the show and be tolerant of others even if they are singing off-key.”
Steve Winwood playing the same Hammond B-3 Gregg Allman would play that night. 
Steve Winwood 
A show in 2016.
Back to the album. This re-issue album copy had no lyric sheets or other reference material inside. Here are some interesting pieces of trivia about this album. Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi started writing the title track “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” in Morocco, where he was getting ready to make a movie called “Nevertheless“ with actor Michael J. Pollard. The film project fell through, but did lead to one of Traffic’s best-known songs. Jim Capaldi said “Pollard and I would sit around writing lyrics all day, talking about Bob Dylan and The Band, thinking up ridiculous plots for the movie. Before I left Morocco, Pollard wrote in my book ‘The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.’ For me, it summed him up. He had this tremendous rebel attitude. He walked around in his cowboy boots, his leather jacket. At the time he was a heavy little dude. It seemed to sum up all the people of that generation who were just rebels. The ‘Low Spark,’ for me, was the spirit, high-spirited. You know, standing on a street corner. The low rider. The ‘Low Spark’ meaning that strong undercurrent at the street level.”
Jim Gordon formerly of the band “Derek and the Dominoes” played drums on this album, which allowed Jim Capaldi to focus more on vocals. This was the only “Traffic” album Jim worked on. Original member Chris Wood played the prominent saxophone parts on “low spark.” Dave Mason had left the band while this album was recorded. Rebop Kwaku Baah, a Ghana native played percussion on the studio album. According to Steve Winwood, Baah was later fired for being “too outrageous.” Steve said “He insisted on going onstage and singing – and he can’t sing!” Ric Grech formerly of the band “Blind Faith” played bass and violin on this record and this was the only “Traffic” project he worked on. Mike Kellie who had worked with Chris Wood played drums on “rainmaker” as a session player. Mike worked with many artists from Peter Frampton to George Harrison.
This Traffic album was certified platinum in the United States and continues to sell well even today. This band and this album are a great addition to any collection. I’ll talk to you on the companion podcast. Be sure to tune in and subscribe!
That’s all for now. Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.