Traffic

Though ultimately serving as a temporary platform for its singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and guitarist Steve Winwood, Traffic carved its own distinctive path across the rock landscape of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Launched amid the psychedelic climate of 1967 under the Beatles’ influence, the ensemble issued a series of varied pop singles in Britain; by the close of that first year, however, it had forged a pop-rock blend anchored in its unconventional lineup. While electric guitars dominated the era, Traffic highlighted Winwood’s organ alongside the woodwinds—particularly flute—handled by Chris Wood. Once Dave Mason, the member who had supplied an alternative folk-pop voice, exited permanently, the remaining musicians gravitated toward longer compositions that allowed jazz-inflected improvisation within a rock rhythmic framework. This approach yielded widespread acclaim that persisted until Winwood chose to pursue a solo direction.

Born May 12, 1948, Steve Winwood first drew notice at fifteen when he and his older brother Muff joined Spencer Davis and Pete York in a Birmingham-based group later known as the Spencer Davis Group. Signed by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, they began recording in 1964. As lead vocalist, Winwood commanded most of the spotlight. By the time the Winwood brothers departed in April 1967, the Spencer Davis Group had scored four Top Ten singles and three Top Ten albums in the U.K., with two of those singles also reaching the American Top Ten.

Still under nineteen, Winwood assembled Traffic alongside three twenty-two-year-old acquaintances from lesser-known outfits: drummer and singer Jim Capaldi (August 24, 1944 – January 28, 2005), singer and guitarist Mason (born May 10, 1944), and Wood (June 24, 1944 – July 12, 1983). Reflecting the cooperative ethos of the period—and despite Winwood’s central role—the quartet intended to function as equals, sharing a Berkshire cottage and writing songs collectively. Blackwell promptly signed them, issuing the debut single “Paper Sun,” which climbed to the British Top Five in July 1967 and charted modestly in the United States, where United Artists handled distribution just as it had for the Spencer Davis Group’s releases.

While the band tracked its first album during summer 1967, Mason’s independent songwriting began to strain the communal arrangement; unlike Winwood, who composed melodies but relied on collaborators for lyrics, Mason could complete songs alone. Capitalizing on “Paper Sun,” Blackwell rushed out “Hole in My Shoe,” Mason’s composition and vocal showcase, as the next single. It outperformed its predecessor, nearly topping the U.K. charts in October, yet Winwood viewed it as uncharacteristic of the group’s intended direction. The third single, “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush,” taken from a film soundtrack, became their third British Top Ten hit in December, coinciding with the release of the debut album Mr. Fantasy. That LP entered the Top Ten the following January, by which point Mason had already departed. A fourth single, “No Face, No Name, No Number,” reached the British Top 40 in March, the same month Traffic made its American concert debut; stateside, Mr. Fantasy (initially issued as Heaven Is in Your Mind) entered the Top 100.

As a trio, Traffic faced immediate challenges. Its atypical instrumentation made replacing Mason’s bass guitar contributions difficult onstage, forcing Winwood to manage organ bass pedals with his feet while playing keyboards and singing. Lacking Mason’s songwriting output, the group also struggled to meet recording obligations. Consequently, Winwood, Capaldi, and Wood invited Mason back in spring 1968; he contributed substantially to the second album, Traffic, authoring half its songs, including “Feelin’ Alright?,” which later became a standard after Joe Cocker’s 1969 cover reached the American Top 40 in 1972.

Traffic appeared in October 1968, and the band toured the United States in support. Shortly after the tour began, Winwood, Capaldi, and Wood dismissed Mason once more. At tour’s end, Winwood withdrew, declaring Traffic finished at the start of 1969. Despite these upheavals, the album attained the British Top Ten and American Top 20. Contractually still obligated to Island and United Artists for five albums—with only two delivered—the labels issued Last Exit in April 1969, a compilation of non-album tracks, outtakes, and live recordings that reached the U.S. Top 20.

Meanwhile, Capaldi and Wood joined Mason and keyboardist Wynder K. Frog in the short-lived Wooden Frog, which produced no recordings, while Winwood formed Blind Faith with former Cream members Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker plus former Family bassist Ric Grech (November 1, 1946 – March 16, 1990). The supergroup released one self-titled album that topped both U.S. and U.K. charts and completed a single American tour before dissolving. Still owing two albums, Winwood started a solo project in early 1970 but soon recruited Capaldi and Wood, transforming it into a Traffic record. John Barleycorn Must Die appeared in June 1970, earning gold status and a U.S. Top Ten placement while reaching the British Top 20.

Extensive touring followed, with the addition of Grech on bass. In spring 1971, ahead of British and American dates, drummer Jim Gordon, formerly of Derek and the Dominos, and percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah joined; Mason also participated in several U.K. shows after achieving solo success with his 1970 album Alone Together. The resulting live set, Welcome to the Canteen, released in September, missed the British charts yet reached the American Top 40.

Re-signed to Island—which now handled U.S. releases—the band delivered The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys in November 1971. It climbed to the American Top Ten and sold a million copies, though it failed to chart in Britain. A winter 1971–1972 tour collapsed due to Winwood’s illness (later diagnosed as peritonitis), prompting Grech and Gordon’s departures; Capaldi then recorded his solo debut, Oh How We Danced, which entered the U.S. Top 100.

With Winwood recovered, Traffic regrouped in fall 1972, enlisting drummer Roger Hawkins and bassist David Hood from the Muscle Shoals studio band. (Keyboardist Barry Beckett, another Muscle Shoals veteran, performed live with the group.) Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory, issued in January 1973, reached the American Top Ten and earned gold certification. The supporting world tour was documented on Traffic: On the Road, released in October 1973. After the tour, the Muscle Shoals players returned home and Kwaku Baah departed, leaving the band to recruit bassist Rosko Gee.

Capaldi released his second solo album, Whale Meat Again, in summer 1974; its single “It’s All up to You” reached the U.K. Top 40. Traffic’s next studio effort, When the Eagle Flies, appeared in September and became the group’s fourth consecutive U.S. Top Ten gold album. Following the promotional tour, Traffic disbanded without announcement.

Capaldi, already building a solo profile, scored a U.K. Top Five hit in 1975 with his cover of “Love Hurts” from Short Cut Draw Blood. (The single charted in America but was outsold by Nazareth’s competing version.) In 1976, Winwood contributed prominently to Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamashta’s concept album Go alongside former Santana drummer Michael Shrieve; the project reached the U.S. Top 100. Winwood finally launched his solo career in 1977 with the modestly successful Steve Winwood.

A three-and-a-half-year hiatus ended with 1980’s Arc of a Diver, which peaked in the American Top Five, went platinum, and spawned the Top Ten single “While You See a Chance.” Talking Back to the Night (1982) underperformed commercially, yet Winwood achieved his greatest success with 1986’s Back in the High Life, a multi-million seller that yielded four Top 20 singles, including the chart-topping “Higher Love.” A 1987 remix of “Valerie” from Talking Back to the Night also reached the Top Ten. Roll With It (1988) delivered another multi-platinum triumph, with both album and title track hitting number one, while Refugees of the Heart (1990) proved less successful.

In 1994, Winwood announced a reunion with Capaldi—Wood having died of liver failure—who had continued releasing solo albums with declining returns. The pair recorded Far from Home and toured that summer under the Traffic name. The album entered both U.S. and U.K. Top 40 but sold modestly, and the tour similarly underperformed, marking another retirement of the Traffic moniker. Nonetheless, the 1967–1974 lineup retained classic-rock stature, with catalog reissues and compilations such as Smiling Phases (1991) and Feelin’ Alright: The Very Best of Traffic (2000). Capaldi’s death on January 28, 2005, effectively concluded the band’s story.