Traffic – Empty Pages Oil Well – RSC 142 CD

Traffic – Empty Pages
Oil Well – RSC 142 CD

1 John Barleycorn 4:52
2 Shoot Out The Fantasy Factory 6:34
3 Glad 7:38
4 Freedom Rider 4:36
5 Every Mother's Son 6:42
6 Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys 10:23
7 Pearly Queen 4:55
8 Empty Page 6:01
9 Who Know's What Tomorrow May Bring 5:58
10 Medicated Goo 2:33

Note:
All songs by Winwood/Capaldi unless noted.
Live in London, UK - June 5, 1973 

Tracks 1,3,4,5,7,8,9,10 recorded live at Paris Theatre, London, UK, 30th April 1970.
Track 2 recorded live at Jahunderthalle, Frankfurt, DEU, 5th April 1973
Track 6 recorded live in Germany, April 1973

1970 Lineup:
Steve Winwood - Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass
Jim Capaldi - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Chris Wood - Saxophone, Flute, Electric Piano

1973 Lineup:
Steve Winwood – guitar, lead vocals, piano
Jim Capaldi – percussion, lead vocals
Chris Wood – flute, saxophone
Rebop Kwaku Baah – percussion
Barry Beckett – organ, piano
David Hood – bass
Roger Hawkins – drums

This album is a clone of: "Freedom Rider" - Fabbri Editori - MRL 051 Italy 1994 and partial clone of: "John Barleycorn" - Oh Boy – OH BOY 1-9030 (with "No Time To Live") from London concert in 1970. The quality of this bootleg is good. It sounds like it was taped from vinyl, although very clean vinyl.This Oil Well version has a fine cover, fine quality.  Limited to 200 copies only. Due to its rarity and good quality, this disc is recommended.

The sleeve states "Live in London, UK June 5 1973". But it's not as you will see. This bootleg circulated among collectors for a long time; however the date associated with it is wrong. This is not a concert in London in 1973 but the bootleg is constituted as said by the union of different concerts, one of which in London in 1970. A remastered version of this bootleg has been released online on Spotiy in 2020 under Maison Orchade label as: "Live: London 1970 - Remastered". 

It's curious to note that for years no one has actually shed any light on the actual recording dates of the disc. all this has made this bootleg (which features numerous clones) a cult product.
Regarding the half of the album dedicated to 1973 we must say that it was all recorded during the German tour of the same year. The concerts were all officially recorded with a view to a live album to be officially released that year. We hope that in the future the Traffic label or whoever is at the base of the group's record choices will be able to get the tapes by giving us a deluxe version of On The Road - one of the best live albums ever.

Cover pic depicts Steve Winwood in "goatie" beard, taken from When the Eagle Flies promotional photographs from 1974 and not connected with the concerts of this album.
Recommended songs: Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, Who Know's What Tomorrow May Bring and Glad. Read below for more informations!

Audio quality: 
Quality content: 

 © Official released material:
Tracks 2, 6 have been released officially on the live album "On The Road"
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Traffic 1970 concert
The venerable, always dependable Traffic. Perennial favorites and one of the best bands to come out of the late 1960s and through the 1970s. Fronted by Stevie Winwood, Traffic went through a series of break-ups and patch-ups during their formative years. But the band was always solid, and always attracted first-class players. And Winwood on his own was part of more than one supergroup and had one of the most distinctive voices in Rock. .
In 1970 Traffic reformed and made a great comeback with the celebrated "John Barleycorn Must Die" released on July 1, 1970 and recorded between February and April 1970.

In April of 1970, prior to the release of the John Barleycorn album, Winwood, Capaldi, and Wood unveiled much of this new material before an intimate live audience at the Paris Theater in London. Hosted by legendary DJ, John Peel, who had long championed the group, this now historic performance was captured for the BBC Radio One "In Concert" series. Showcasing much of the new material, as well as a few choice songs from the second and third Traffic LPs, this recording captures the formidable power and instrumental dexterity of the trio lineup of Traffic.

The players often doubled on instruments, such as Chris playing sax and electric piano or using the sax line as bass in another song. Always respected as a keyboard player and vocalist, this show also illuminates what a talented guitar player Winwood had become. Just as impressive is Chris Wood, who changes instruments on nearly every song, performing on piano, organ, sax, flute, and percussion. It is more often than not Chris Wood's multi-instrumentalist contributions that add dimension, diversity and flavor to Winwood and Capaldi's most brilliant compositions.

A couple of the songs don't end very well, such as "John Barleycorn", where
Capaldi sings the (correct) next-to-last verse while Winwood sings the last verse, causing the ending to fall apart. The performance kicks off with a nod to the past, with "Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring," a classic song from the group's second self-titled album. A writing collaboration between Winwood, Capaldi, and Wood, this serves as the perfect introduction for this trio lineup, featuring Winwood on organ and vocals, Capaldi on drums and Wood handling everything else, including electric piano, sax, and percussion. Often Traffic's set opener during this era, this song serves as the perfect warm-up exercise, allowing the group to flex their improvisational muscles before tackling more adventurous material. Following an introduction by John Peel, they continue with similar instrumentation on the first of the new tracks to be performed, "Every Mother's Son." This majestic atmospheric gem would be destined to close the John Barleycorn album and features sensational instrumental contributions from all three musicians and one of Winwood's most impassioned vocals.

The third song of the set, "No Time To Live," aired only during the initial live broadcast, is unfortunately not included. It is speculated that the BBC's recording equipment malfunctioned during this song as it was not included on subsequent transmissions of this performance and appears to only exist from inferior airchecks of the initial broadcast. However, the "Medicated Goo" that follows is terrific, featuring Winwood and Capaldi sharing vocal duties, Winwood now switching to electric guitar and Wood playing the bass part on electronically processed tenor sax. Here the song is more immediate and stripped down compared to its studio counterpart, but it is just as tight and all the more enjoyable for it.

Winwood, Capaldi, Wood performing live as a trio
The most intimate moment of the entire set follows with the unveiling of the haunting title track from the forthcoming album, John Barleycorn. With Winwood on acoustic guitar and Capaldi and Wood adding sparse percussion in the form of tambourine and triangle, their interpretation of this traditional English folk ballad is performed with quiet, exquisite perfection.
Before they unveil additional new material, they again return to the second Traffic album with a performance of "Pearly Queen." Here Winwood gets to flex his guitar chops, while Wood takes over on organ (and bass using the organ's foot pedals) and Capaldi returns to his drum kit. This is another remarkable performance that is a dynamic testament to the magical chemistry between these three musicians. John Peel says it best during his post song commentary, where he astutely mentions, "If you are a guitarist and you think you got to go on playing those same old blues riffs at ear-shattering volume, in order to make it, you don't - and that's proof of it."

The remainder of the set is devoted entirely to new material, beginning with the infectious "Empty Pages," played close to the album version, but with a raw live intensity. Chris Wood remains on organ for this number with Winwood switching to electric piano. They again take the opportunity to stretch out a bit, with Winwood and Wood applying their formidable improvisational skills to this bouncy number. With just two keyboards and drums, this features unquestionably odd instrumentation for a rock band, but they deliver an engaging performance that never lacks for instrumentation.

The most breathtaking moments are saved for last, with the public unveiling of the Ray Charles influenced "Glad," paired up with the jazz-rock composition "Freedom Rider." The fact that these now classic compositions were being heard together for the first time is justification for celebration and the performances are truly outstanding. The piano dominated "Glad" is now widely considered to be Winwood's instrumental masterpiece and this early performance of it features Winwood, Capaldi, and Wood trading licks like musicians possessed. Both "Glad" and "Freedom Rider" find the band jamming at an extraordinary level, exploring exciting possibilities within the arrangements.
Much like the John Barleycorn album itself, these performances remain highly compelling nearly four decades later. These three musicians have never sounded more cohesive or inspired as they do right here, cementing the fact that this recording is one of the most outstanding Traffic sets ever captured on tape.

Traffic 1973 concerts in Germany
There are records that when you start listening to them you never stop them. They stay on the reader, on whatever medium you use, for months. And you can't take them off. Until everyone who knows you, everyone who shares your life can't take it anymore. And others who don't. Others that have been there, on a shelf, maybe for months, maybe years. And you don't hear them anymore. Yet they are fundamental. Yet, if you had to say what you would save, on a hypothetical desert island, one of the first ten records would be that. This. On the road by Traffic. In 1973 Traffic embarked on a world tour (1/17/1973 New Orleans, LA, Loyola Fieldhouse was the first date) at that time with the lienup of Steve Winwood (keyboards/guitar/vocals), Chris Wood (sax/flute), Jim Capaldi (percussion/drums/vocals), Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion), David Hood (bass) and Roger Hawkins (drums). 

They took with them an extra keyboard player, Barry Beckett, who was a colleague of Hood and Hawkins (the three of them being being the owners and house band of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama). In April Traffic did a German tour of eight dates with Spooky  Tooth as supporting act.

A live album came out of the tour, and On The Road was released later the same year (produced by Chris Blackwell released officially in October 1973.) It featured a small selection of songs, all drawn
This is probably the finest live statement Traffic could have done. Most numbers have been expanded to allow more interplay but I never sensed a feeling of stretching out at all. There are no long drum solo or much other real solos (in the proper sense of the term solo) and every second sound justified to me. This was originally a double vinyl but managed to fit in a single cd so it is a great value not only in musical terms. out to considerable lengths, showcasing the abilities of the talened lineup with lots of jamming. Much of the album selections are from 4/5/1973 Frankfurt, DEU, Jahunderthalle concert (for sure:Shoot Out The Fantasy Factory, Glad, Freedom Rider and Light Up Or Leave Me Alone).

The Muscle Shoals musicians are very good, sounding with a lot of experience to follow improvisations without problems. So, this album is really very good, and it shows that one of Traffic`s best qualities was their talent to improvise during structured compositions. In this album, Jim Capaldi is credited with playing percussion, vocals, and also playing the drums, but I can`t say when he is playing the drums. Roger Hawkins really shines on this album, playing very good. Barry Beckett is a very good pianist and organist. His participation in Traffic allowed Steve Winwood to play the guitar in some songs. Beckett plays the organ in other songs when Winwood plays the piano. The album starts with two songs from the "John Barleycorn Must Die" album: a long version of "Glad", with a lot of influence from jazz-rock music, and "Freedom Rider". "Tragic Magic" is an instrumental composition by Chris Wood. "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired" is a very good live version, with Winwood on lead guitar. "Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory" is the most "rocker" song in this album. "Light Up or Leave Me Alone" is a song composed and sung by Jim Capaldi, mostly a very good Pop song, during which he introduces the members of the band. "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" is a song which a duration of almost 18 minutes, with a lot of improvisation again

German tour dates
4/3/1973 Munich, DEU, Circus-Krone
4/4/1973 Saarbrucken, DEU, Kongresshalle
4/5/1973 Frankfurt, DEU, Jahunderthalle
4/6/1973 Bremen, DEU, Musikladen
4/7/1973 Oldenburg, DEU, Weser-Ems Halle
4/8/1973 Cologne, DEU Spooky Tooth
4/9/1973 Dusseldorf, DEU, Rheinhalle
4/10/1973 Hamburg, DEU, Musikhalle

Winwood was the star of the show of course, leading the band through a selection of tunes mostly from their most recent studio release (Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory). Capaldi's vocals were featured on his own "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone", but elsewhere he only performed as a percussionist (though he did take the drum seat on "Sometimes I Feel So Uninspired".
However by the end of the tour change was again on the cards for Traffic, as Hood and Hawkins finished their brief sojourn with the band and returned to America.
from: http://stuckinthepast08.blogspot.com/2013/01/traffic-were-british-rock-band-active.html

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