JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE

After the breakup of the original Traffic, Steve Winwood started to go off in his own direction. After a little while with Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Air Force, Winwood decided toi work on his own solo album. After bringing in Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood for some of the songs, It was decided to be released as the new Traffic album (A similar occurance would happen 10 years later for Jethro Tull and "A"). This album is Traffics masterpiece, even more so than LOW SPARK or 1968's TRAFFIC or even MR. FANTASY; And there are only three members! The opening pair of "Glad" and "Freedom Rider" are quite possibly the greatest rock songs to feature Sax and Flute, and Winwood's melodies are superbly crafted. These two songs alone earn this album 2 of its 5 stars. "Empty Pages" sounds like something that would've been on TRAFFIC, but Winwood would've never been able to do with Mason around. Both "Stranger to Himself" and "Every Mother's Son" lack Wood, leaving Capaldi and Winwood alone. These could easily fit in on Winwood's 1977 self-titled solo album (and make it a much easier listen), but for Traffic, they aren;t anything too special. The album's breadwinner is the title track. If someone were to ask me to summarize folk rock in 2 words, it would be "John Barleycorn". Whoever had the idea to record this (most likely Winwood) was a genius. With Winwood on acoustic guitar and vocals, Capaldi on tambourine and vocals, and Wood on flute, this marks what would be quite possibly Traffic's best song of all (It's between "Barleycorn", "Mr. Fantasy" and "Low Spark") If you like Traffic and have never heard JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE, you'd better pray that the CD store is still open with one in stock right now.