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VOLUME 139, sent August 21, 1998
Topics in this issue:
1. Re: Smiling Phases, volume 138
2. Re: Summer Listening
3. RE: Trafficology
4. Replies & Trafficology Part 3
5. Session Work - Oldfield / Faithfull / Jackson
6. Re: First Traffic album
7. Lennon tribute album
8. voting stuff
9. Festival Express Movie
10. First Annual Convention
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From: Winwoodie@aol.com
Date sent: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 01:37:06 EDT
Subject: Re: Smiling Phases, volume 138
Just wanted to put my 2 cents in by replying to a couple of posts in SP #138.
First to Dawn's call to put our Wood en heads together & come up with a name
for ourselves. About a year & a half ago we touched on this in the SP chatroom.
Right after that I started calling myself a Winwoodie. (Winwoody was already
taken on AOL). I decided this was better than any Traffic related names since I
like all SW's music including SDG, Traffic, Blind Faith, etc & solo stuff. It is
also a play on words of the Muff Woody Jazz Band. I would sure like to see
some incarnation of that band someday! This is offered as another possible
name. Anyone can call themselves this if they want to (or anything else for that
matter). "Here's a little song you can all join in with..."
I would also like to agree with Mike that a release of the American version of the
Mr. Fantasy CD is long over due. We "grew up" on that music in the order it
was on the original American LP. A couple years ago I made myself & a friend
a tape each with the songs back in the original order that we were used to. I used
"Traffic Control" for the missing parts from the UK version. Although it is very
nice to listen to again in that order it lacks the background music between the
tracks which is part of the "magic" of the original American LP.
Craig Loudon
2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2
From: LesterJake@aol.com
Date sent: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 16:34:55 EDT
Subject: Re: Summer Listening
Regarding the Summer Listening post in Vol. 136, I have always been very
partial to Steve's extraordinary vocal and keyboard work on Stomu Yamashta's
Go, a 1976 jazz-fusion effort featuring Michael Shrive on drum kits and Klaus
Schultze (sp?) on synth (Island 9387). Some of the album has a Eurojam feel to
it, very spacey (the album cover shows a starry sky over a desert), but the
rock/jazz songs are very powerful, particularly Crossing the Line and Man of
Leo. Steve's contributions are central, and give the album a very progressive
Traffic flavor. He also wrote one fine song (rare in that there is no co-lyricist),
Winner/Loser. The band apparently toured, because about a year later a two-
album live-from-Paris set was released (also on Island), with extended versions of
the same song list, arguably even stronger than the original album. While it is a
shame that (to my knowledge) Go has never been released on CD (although many
other Stomu Yamashta LPs are), some numbers from Go can be found on various
Winwood CD compilations. For Traffic and Winwood fans, the original albums
are definitely worth seeking out.
Les
[You are right, neither album has ever been released on CD, although we've been
hearing rumors for years that release is imminent. Both LPs were released in
1976. The only compilation CD that tracks from "Go" appear on, is The Finer
Things, the 4-CD box set, which includes "Winner/Loser" from the studio album
and "Crossing the Line" from the live album. --BG]
3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3
From: "Steven Tidwell"
Subject: RE: Trafficology
Date sent: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 00:39:51 -0700
When "Welcome To The Canteen" came out Rolling Stone mag speculated about
the name Traffic not being on the cover and what that meant. I think someone
just goofed. True, Mason's status was in question. He was asked if he wanted to
stay with the expanded version of the band and he said he'd love to but it wasn't
his decision ("It's Steve's band," he said).
BUT...whether leaving the name off the album was deliberate or not, the Traffic
symbol WAS on the cover, and that was enough for me.
Other things: I doubt the American version of Mr. Fantasy will EVER be released
on CD and I too would love to see it. I loved the title for the trailing end of
"Paper Sun" on the B side: "We're A Fade, You Missed This". And all those faint
segues between tracks were all taken from the fade out of the title song from the
"Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" album. I think the only chance of
seeing that on CD is if someone copies the LP to CD themselves (I know it's on
my list).
And just why:
1) Did the cover to "John Barleycorn" change from the yellow burlap to
plain gray? (Without the inside picture?)
2) Did they change the running order of "Low Spark"?
4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4
Date sent: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 08:11:41 -0400
From: Ted G
Subject: Replies & Trafficology Part 3
Replies:
to Dawn ("Solidarity") - I'd like to suggest that we call ourselves "Smiling
Phasers" (or "Phasers" for short). to Katstrofik (Last Exit cover) - Thanks, I'm not
looking for a copy; I just wanted to be sure I wasn't losing my mind/memory. Do
you know if the different cover was earlier, later or what? to BigStar303 (US Mr.
Fantasy) - (Speaking of losing my mind/memory...) You're right about my
remembering the (black) record label. Come to think of it, I can't remember the
back cover. I've only seen one copy of the US Mr F, and that was 12 years ago.
Oh well. Thanks for setting me straight. (I'm sure I'm but one of many who
would say: Feel free to 'pitch' one of your many LP copies at me!)
TRAFFICOLOGY (Part 3):
SHOOT OUT AT THE FANTASY FACTORY
The only US release of SOATFF to have the full version of 'Roll Right Stones' is
the original Island 'sunray' label LP pressing (see Note below). To my
knowledge, all other US copies of this album (CD included) have 'R.R.S.' faded
out two minutes early, in spite of their invariably listing it as the full '13:44'. (I'd
like to know who's responsible for THAT.) Apparently some non-US CDs have
the full version, though. Indicator: If it doesn't have that strange creaky sound
(possibly a percussion instrument?) near the end, it's not the full version. NOTE:
The "sunray" pressing (with complete RRS) gives the song times on the label as
6:01 / 13:40 / 5:00 / 4:07 / 10:01 -- more stopwatch malfunction -- instead of 6:04
/ 13:44 / 5:16 / 6:40 / 7:31. The cover has the catalog # at the bottom of the
spine, while later LP covers (which have smaller lettering on the spine) have it at
the top.
Time signature at end of title track is best described as '17/4' (not 9/8 as guessed
in SP 2). Time signature of chorus of 'Roll Right Stones' is 11/4.
Possible (though unlikely) mishearing of SOATFF lyrics: 'National Guard came
all around / They couldn't find Disney'.
ON THE ROAD
OTR was originally released in two formats, 1 LP & 2 LP, both with the same
sleeve design. 2 LP (& current CD) version: Glad / Freedom Rider / Tragic
Magic / Uninspired / Shoot Out / Light Up / Low Spark. 1 LP version: Low
Spark / Shoot Out / Uninspired / Light Up. 'Low Spark' was edited from 17:35 to
15:10, with the missing 2:25 cut from the break between verses 1 & 2. 1 LP
copies have an inner sleeve with humorous 'road sign' designs; I don't know if
any 2 LP copies have this. The 1 LP version was reviewed by Rolling Stone
when OTR was new -- the 2 LP version might not have become available until
later.
For some reason, 'Low Spark' is faded out several seconds early on later copies of
OTR. The song is not faded out on the (edited) 1 LP version or the earlier
pressings of the 2 LP version.
WHEN THE EAGLE FLIES
Rosko Gee is seen in the WTEF cover drawing & in 2 photos in the Smiling
Phases collection, but to my knowledge his name has never appeared on a US
Traffic album.
'Did ya ever notice?' No. 3: Jim's lyrics to the title track are in a fairly tight
AABCCB rhyme scheme, but Steve's tune totally disregards their structure &
even knocks out a few words ('And you get caught (in the) aftermath'). In my
opinion, this song represents the strangest treatment that a composer ever gave a
set of lyrics. (But he still sings them with feeling!)
HEAVY TRAFFIC / MORE HEAVY TRAFFIC
These, along with Best Of Traffic, add up to 3 compilations of material from only
4 original LPs (plus 1 Canteen track). What's the point? There must have been
some contractual nonsense happening with UA even after the Canteen thing.
(Anybody have any insight on this?)
SMILING PHASES
The insert shows the covers of all 9 original Traffic albums, but the John
Barleycorn cover is in the wrong place (after Canteen instead of before it). (It's
also not the original cover, for what that's worth.) The liner notes (Traffic
history) say 'Rebop' died 'a few years later' than Chris. (Reebop died the year
before Chris.)
FAR FROM HOME
This is the only Traffic album (to my knowledge) to feature guest musicians
(most notably Mr. Spillane).
That's all, folks!
Ted
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From: Stephen Smith
Subject: Session Work - Oldfield / Faithfull / Jackson
Date sent: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 16:02:35 -0400
The last new session in my backlog is courtesy of yet another tip from Jan Inge
Sommerseth. Steve played organ on Mike Oldfield's "Guilty", originally released
as a 12" single in 1979. The information I found about this record from other
sources was confusing (and wrong as it turned out!), so I waited to find the single
for the full story. The single included short and long studio versions of the song,
and Steve is credited on the sleeve. The long version has not been re-issued
elsewhere. The short version was also on a 7" single and several compilations,
some currently available as imports. Oldfield also released a live version of
the song, originally on the Exposed album, but Steve wasn't involved with that
album.
Another 12" single I came across recently is Marianne Faithfull's "Broken
English". The song was released on two 12" singles in a longer version than on
the album, and hasn't been re-issued since. The B-side of one is the previously
unreleased "Sister Morphine", also produced by Mark Miller Mundy and Steve
may have been involved in that song as well.
These will be posted to the Sessions page shortly, along with new information
about the Gordon Jackson record. Stay tuned for updates on the soundtrack for
That'll Be The Day and the legendary Anglos single!
Steve
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Date sent: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 02:01:40 -0400
From: Paul Rosano
Subject: Re: First Traffic album
Hi folks,
Indeed the "Mr. Fantasy" album was released on CD with the American track
sequencing in of all places, England! Quel ironic. It still may be available directly
from the Island Records site. I haven't checked there for a while but they used to
sell it direct. I bought one from an American importer, the name of which I can't
remember, but it is in one of the archived mailing lists.
I agree completely, the American version of the album is far superior, with little
snippets of "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" in between tracks,
unfortunately that's not on the CD. What is on the CD though is a completely
intact version of "Paper Sun," not a chopped up two-part version of the song and
the fade.
Also, this CD, which was released around '93 was done in some special 3D effect
mastering, I forget what they called it. At any rate, it sounds quite good.
For some reason, in the late '70s or early '80s when Island re-released the album,
they chose to release it with the English cover, good choice, and English tracks,
bad choice. That thinking probably mirrored other companies, for instance,
English versions of the Beatles albums started becoming much more available
around that time. It sounds like a marketing decision. Too bad, Mobile Fidelity
got it wrong, but they may not have had a choice, or maybe they decided to do it
as the album was originally intended, which, in fact, is what the English version
is.
All the best,
Paul
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From: "BobbieG."
Date sent: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 13:20:36 -0700
Subject: Lennon tribute album
From Channel V Undercover Music News:
John Lennon tribute album on the way
Yoko Ono has been compiling a tribute album to her late husband John Lennon.
The album has been a long time in the making (so far nearly four years) and
finding the right artists to sing the right songs has been the biggest stumbling
block. So far, confirmed for the release are Everclear (Instant Karma), Paula Cole
(Working Class Hero), Sinead O'Connor (Mind Games) and David Bowie
(Mother). Steve Winwood, Ben Folds 5 and Robbie Robertson are also expected
to take part in the project and Capitol is trying to entice the three remaining
Beatles to also perform a track each. A release date is yet to be confirmed.
Bobbie
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From: Winwoodie@aol.com
Date sent: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 01:41:29 EDT
Subject: voting stuff
VOTE FOR STEVE
No Steve is not running for office but you can vote for his music on the Internet.
One place called Rocknworld lets you vote for your favorite 5 albums of all time.
They are taking votes through December then will post the final list in January.
Vote for the Winwood albums of your choice but vote! Their web address is
http://www.rocknworld.com/top100.shtml Bobbie already has a link to their site.
Other sites you can vote for music are http://www.softdisk.com/comp/hits/ also
http://www.dotmusic.com/premier/vote/vote4.html and there are probably
more than these so if you run into them let us know.
Craig Loudon
[I had trouble every time I tried to use the last one in your list, so I didn't add that
to the website. --BG]
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From: "speakershop"
Subject: Festival Express Movie
Date sent: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 19:50:18 -0400
I want to thank you for the tape trader page. I was able to locate a copy of the
1974 Rainbow theatre shows, finally. I've been enjoying them immensely! What
a great band, there was still plenty of life left, with no signs of a loss of spirit. The
fascination is the end was so near. Perhaps the Eagle flew later in the tour.
Anyway it's a dream come true for me to hear this version of the group,
performing this material. The tape is a first generation soundboard.
I recently came across a reference to a film that was made of the 1970 festival
express concert tour. The groups included Traffic as well as Joplin, Grateful
Dead, etc etc. Do you have any knowledge of this rockumentary? It was
according to legend " one hell of a three day party".
BTW perhaps the relative failure of J7 may be a blessing in disguise. If steve gets
back to playing with musicians because he digs them, rather than marketing
considerations I'm all for it. I've always felt jazz & world music would offer him
so many more ways to express his prodigious talents.(But what the heck do I
know?)
GUY
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From: "BobbieG."
Date sent: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 13:31:59 -0700
Subject: First Annual Convention
I am planning a trip to New York City to visit Dawn, a frequent contributor to
this mailing list and to "Chronicles" (Craig's snail-mail newsletter), in November.
We discovered that Eddie, another contributor to both, will be there with his wife
at the same time. Then I got email from Berkin, who you may remember posted
pretty frequently until he got busy with school and travelling. With 4 of us
already congregating, it occurred to Dawn and myself to announce this as:
The First Annual Smiling Phases Convention
How about it? If you can be in New York City over Thanksgiving weekend
email me, and we'll let you know where to meet us! We'll pick a nice bar
or club.
If this works out, we'll do it again next year, maybe alternating coasts (heads up,
Craig! I may want you to organize one in Los Angeles in 1999); or maybe having
one in August of 2000 in the UK, when several of us are already planning on
going.
Put on your dancing shoes and join us!
Bobbie
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END OF SMILING PHASES, VOL 139
