Posts Tagged ‘Dear Mr Fantasy’

TRAFFIC – ” Dear Mr Fantasy “

Posted: February 11, 2016 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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On this date in 1967, Traffic released their debut album ‘Mr. Fantasy’. 

The second half of 1967 is memorable for many landmarks in the annals of pop history, but one that’s sometimes a little underplayed is the remarkable arrival of a new British rock force called Traffic.

In the space of less than six months, the band racked up no fewer than three top ten hits in the UK with ‘Paper Sun,’ ‘Hole In My Shoe’ and ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush.’ Then, exactly 48 years ago on the countdown on 30th December, 1967, they rounded off the year in style by charting with their first album, Mr. Fantasy.

Beneath the surface of what appeared to be a new driving force in creative British pop, all was less than harmonious, because by the time the album appeared, Dave Mason was about to split with his colleagues Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood. He returned to the fold in time for their self-titled follow-up of 1968.

Paper Sun

“Dave Quits, But Traffic Keeps Moving’ was the Melody Maker’s headline in its 16 December issue. “It’s because there are things I want to do and for me to do them while still in the group would hang the others up,” he told the paper’s Chris Welch. “The best thing to do is leave. I decided ages ago.” Almost immediately, he started producing the debut album by Family, Music In A Doll’s House, which came out the following July.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYvEHlXRZlc

Nevertheless, Mason still had three solo compositions on Mr. Fantasy, in the form of ‘House For Everyone,’ ‘Utterly Simple’ and ‘Hope I Never Find Me There.’ He also had a co-write on the closing ‘Giving To You,’ with all six remaining tracks credited to the Winwood/Capaldi/Wood triumvirate. As a notable example of the way that the singles and album markets were now splitting in two, the album didn’t contain any of Traffic’s hit singles.

Mr. Fantasy opened on the chart at No. 38, as The Beatles‘ Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band continued at No. 1, in what turned out to be the penultimate week at the summit for that particular classic. The Traffic album then faltered at No. 40 before rallying in the new year to spend two weeks at No. 17, and then hitting a No. 16 peak in early February. In the US, a different version of the album, with alternative sequencing and the notable addition of ‘Smiling Phases,’ hit No. 88. Bigger achievements were in store for Traffic on both sides of the Atlantic.

Traffic Make Their Album Debut

JIM CALPALDI – with TRAFFIC – ” Hole in My Shoe ” Died 28th January 2005

Posted: January 30, 2015 in MUSIC
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Remembering Jim Capaldi who died from stomach cancer,  born 2nd August 1944 – 28th January 2005

Nicola James “Jim” Capaldi  was an English musician and songwriter. His musical career lasted more than four decades. He co-founded Traffic in Birmingham with Steve Winwood, and the band’s psychedelic rock was influential in Britain and the United States. Capaldi and Winwood wrote many of Traffic’s major hits and most of the tracks on the band’s ten albums. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Traffic’s original line-up. Jim Capaldi also performed with several famous musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Alvin Lee, and Mylon LeFevre. He has also written lyrics to songs for other artists,

As a solo artist he scored more than a half dozen chart hits in various countries, the most well-known being “That’s Love“, “Shoe Shine“, and his cover of “Love Hurts“.

Following his death, several tributes in celebration of Capaldi’s life and music came out under the name Dear Mr Fantasy. The first was a tribute concert that took place at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, London on Sunday, 21 January 2007. The performances were evenly split between Capaldi’s solo songs and his work with Traffic. All profits went to The Jubilee Action Street Children Appeal. A recording of the concert was released as a double CD set the same year.

Jim Capaldi’s success as a lyricist continued throughout his life. In 1990 “One and Only Man“, a Steve Winwood song for which Capaldi wrote the lyrics, reached the Top 20 in the USA. He was a five times winner of BMI/Ascap Awards for the “most played compositions in America”, and sales of songs written or co-written by him exceeded 25 million units. He numbered Bob Marley among his friends, and they travelled together while Marley was writing the Catch A Fire album. Capaldi wrote the lyrics to “This Is Reggae Music”.

In the 1980s, Capaldi collaborated with Carlos Santana contributing songs and ideas to Santana’s projects and in the 1990s he co-wrote (with Paul Carrack) the song “Love Will Keep Us Alive“, 

In 1993, Traffic reformed and toured the US and UK. Capaldi and Winwood recorded a new album, “Far from Home“, without the other members of the band. In 1998 he paired up again with Dave Mason on an extensive American tour.

The second such tribute, Dear Mr. Fantasy: The Jim Capaldi Story, is a four-disc boxed set released in July 2011. Though a slight majority of the tracks came from Capaldi’s solo albums, it also included some of his work with the Hellions, Deep Feeling, and Traffic, a few rare non-album tracks, and more than ten previously unreleased recordings,

The third and final tribute is a book of Capaldi’s handwritten lyrics, released in November 2011. The ideas of a boxed set and lyrics book had been conceived by Jim Capaldi shortly before he died, and their releases were prepared by his widow Aninha in fulfilment of a last promise to him.

CROSBY STILLS & NASH – ” Dear Mr Fantasy “

Posted: January 10, 2015 in MUSIC
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“Dear Mr. Fantasy” is a rock song by Traffic from their 1967 album, Mr. Fantasy. An extended live version of the song also appears on the 1971 Traffic album “Welcome to the Canteen“. The lyrics were written by Jim Capaldi, while the music was written by Steve Winwood and Chris Wood.

Stephen Stills sings the lead and plays lead guitar. I don’t have the liner notes so I am not sure who is on organ – it could be Stills, Nash, Joe Vitale, Mike Finnegan, or Paul Harris. They are all credited to the album. Graham Nash fills in on the harmony vocals while David Crosby is missing in action. Stills also adds his own verse in the process of this recording. Crosby, Stills,  & Nash  version added two new verses to their original’s lyrics

Each time you choose to sing the rock & roll blues,
you take everybody’s loneliness with you.
What do you lose each time you face down a room?
All of us see our changes through you.
So sing of the ocean of tears you have sailed,
Strangers and lovers that took you.
All of us sang, and all of us failed.
In one way we don’t ever hear you.

This song was recorded in 1980, however, it remained unreleased until 1991 when it appeared on two compilation CDs:  “CSN” (the boxed set) and “Carry On.” It is quite a bit heavier than Traffic’s original recording from 1967 which is below. While I appreciate this rendition, it would be hard for anyone to improve on the  Traffic original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwtgpKZeTxI