rating on Yelp. (vfemmes.com)
Appearing 9/13 at Riot Fest, Chicago
– Jeff Elbel
8
TRAFFIC
The Studio Albums:
1967-1974
VIOLENT FEMMES
Hotel Last Resort
(PIAS)
Violent Femmes’ 2016 album We Can
Do Anything was the Milwaukee band’s
first LP in 18 years. With Hotel Last Resort,
the Femmes return truly reinvigorated
and hewing to their core. Blasts of twisted
rockabilly-folk-punk are built upon the
minimalist foundation of Gordon Gano’s
agitated acoustic guitar strum, Brian
Ritchie’s guttural and driving bass, and
rattle-trap brushed snare percussion from
the current drummer (and BBQ basher)
John Sparrow. Gano’s adenoidal vocal
retains its youthful snark and angst, deliv-
ering hooks that stick for first-listen singa-
longs. “Another Chorus” cheekily sug-
gests such prowess can be abused. “Please
don’t sing another chorus,” chimes the
band, while packing no less than five
comically wearisome choruses into well
under three minutes. Skateboarder Stefan
Janoski helps expose the raw, exasperated
nerve of “I’m Nothing” (reimagined from
1994’s New Times), declaring no allegiance
to brawling socio-political extremes.
Blaise Garza’s saxophone adds skronk to
biblical fable “Adam Was a Man,” and
Gano’s religious roots reappear during
“Everlasting You.” Television’s guitar
maestro Tom Verlaine makes an unexpect-
ed appearance, augmenting the title cut’s
non sequitur quirkiness. Gano’s tongue-
twisting wordplay is tossed off with dis-
arming ease on “This Free Ride.” Sea
shanty “Paris to Sleep” finds Gano mak-
ing a pilgrimage to the City of Lights - not
for inspiration or romance - but simply to
catch a moment’s respite. “God Bless
America” is transposed into a minor key
as a mournful lament. Depth and whimsy
run side-by-side throughout these
grooves, and this album may well be the
Femmes’ best work since 1984’s Hallowed
Ground. Give Hotel Last Resort a five-star
(Island)
The time spent together between 1967
and 1974 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi,
and Chris Wood (and briefly but signifi-
cantly, Dave Mason) as Traffic maybe 45
years gone, but the group’s legacy stands
tall based upon innovative and influential
material recorded during the period. This
limited-edition boxed set collects six stu-
dio albums, faithfully restored on audio-
phile-grade vinyl with reproductions of
the original gatefold and die-cut sleeves
(and adding poster inserts from Island
Records’ promo campaigns for each
record). 1967’s debut Mr. Fantasy is pre-
sented with its original UK content, mix,
and running order, retaining Mason’s
twee psych-pop "Hope I Never Find Me
There" and the heady "Utterly Simple"
with its intoxicating sitar. Featuring the
teenaged Winwood’s earnest vocal and
Mason’s biting, blues-based guitar solo,
“Dear Mr. Fantasy” is the showpiece for
Traffic’s combination of Winwood’s R&B
roots and the group’s contemporary
Summer of Love psychedelia. Winwood’s
vocal also shines on the plaintive, acoustic
guitar and mellotron-based arrangement
of "No Face, No Name, No Number," and
the carnival chorus of “Berkshire
Poppies” with backing vocals by the
Small Faces. Other highlights include the
Spanish-inflected blues and Wood’s flute
flourishes during “Dealer.” Bookended by
beatnik vocal pastiche, Wood features
again alongside Capaldi’s urgent drums
and Winwood’s organ during the
jammed-out excursion “Giving to You.”
1968's self-titled sophomore album
was both a significant hit and satisfying
set, despite being something of a
wrestling match between Mason’s pop-
savvy voice on songs like the rollicking hit
“Feelin’ Alright?” that so inspired Joe
Cocker on one side, and the jazz-influ-
enced and improvisationally-inspired
ambitions of Winwood and Capaldi on
the other with tracks like “Who Knows
What Tomorrow May Bring.” “Pearly
Queen” is propelled by Capaldi’s Ginger
Baker-influenced drumming. Mason’s
folky “You Can All Join In” would have
suited the early repertoire of The Band.
Winwood spins a Dylanesque tale of a
star-crossed treasure hunt with “Forty
Thousand Headmen.” Following the
album, Traffic parked as Winwood
departed to form Blind Faith.
During sessions that were originally
intended to produce Winwood’s debut
solo album, Traffic reemerged in 1970 sans
Mason with the high-water mark John
Barleycorn Must Die. The album leads with
Winwood’s church-hall organ and saloon-
savvy piano on the instrumental “Glad.”
The song allowed Wood to stretch his
woodwind chops with soulful saxophone
while Capaldi indulged in layers of per-
cussion. It was a clear resolution to the
24 illinoisentertainer.com september 2019
bifurcated direction of Traffic and a state-
ment that the band could still rock without
Mason’s blues guitar. The trio’s jam-based
musical excursions are prominent on songs
like “Freedom Rider,” wherein Wood is
given more room to run with flute and sax-
ophone. Single “Empty Pages” featured
the type of stirring melody that Winwood
would spin into pop chart success a decade
later with songs like “While You See a
Chance,” married to progressive twists
suitable for early Yes and Genesis. The title
track is rooted in a 16th-century folksong
describing the indignities suffered by the
personified barley crop en route to its ulti-
mate power over men in the form of alco-
hol.
1971’s The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
features the deep and deliberate groove of
its title track, now a staple of classic rock
radio. The song’s fable of hard luck and
hope in the entertainment industry stretch-
es beyond 11 minutes, anchored by
Winwood’s steady piano and the pulse of
new bassist Ric Grech. For the album,
Capaldi yielded the drummer’s throne to
Jim Gordon (Derek and the Dominoes,
Delaney & Bonnie, Joe Cocker, etc.), but
took the lead vocal for a pair of songs
including reverb-drenched single “Rock &
Roll Stew” with Rebop Kwaku Baah’s
Afropop and Latin-styled percussion.
Capaldi, Winwood, and Wood retooled
their lineup with a new sextet for 1973’s
**Shootout at the **Fantasy Factory, adding
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section players
Roger Hawkins and David Hood. As a
result, songs like the title cut were given
the band’s toughest sound to date,
although still possessing identity through
Winwood’s prominent vocal and the per-
cussion of Capaldi and Baah. Still, the lack
of standout songs and one entitled
“(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired” made
this album an easy target for critics.
Shootout fits well in the Traffic continuum,
and fans will enjoy playing it (especially
those with a fondness for skillful jam
bands), but quips about running out of gas
in Traffic aren’t wholly unwarranted. The
box set does include the full 13:40 running
length of “Roll Right Stones” and unedited
“Uninspired.”
When the Eagle Flies was Traffic’s final
album before splitting mid-tour in 1974,
with Capaldi returning to his role as drum-
mer. The album featured strong ensemble
work, interesting new sounds including
Moog synthesizer, and more concise song-
writing (with the exception of the sprawl-
ing “Dream Gerrard” co-written by
Winwood and the Bonzo Dog Band’s
Vivian Stanshall). The album reached the
US Top Ten and attained gold status, but
produced no charting singles. Lyrics for
“Graveyard People” and the sonically
upbeat “Walking in the Wind” set a mirth-
less tone. “Memories of a Rock ‘n’ Rolla”
finds Winwood imagining old age in van-
ished glory and poverty, his youthful
dreams for naught. “Something New” is
melancholy over lost love. The Cure or
Bauhaus could have spun these songs into
teenage goth fantasies.
For this review, the remastered John
Barleycorn Must Die was compared to a
well-preserved first pressing of a US mar-
ket United Artists LP. The meticulous
remastering from original master tapes
promotes clarity and separation on songs
like “Every Mother’s Son” without nega-
tive impact on dynamic range. On glad,
Winwood’s piano sparkles, Capaldi’s per-
cussion colors the spectrum, and Wood’s
sax are warm and lively. The resulting
sound is present and distinct. It comes at
the expense of a measure of the fat bass
guitar’s former girth, but the mix remains
full-bodied for an overall improvement.
Early single and trans-continental hit
“Paper Sun” doesn’t appear, nor does
1967’s psychedelic “Hole in My Shoe” (res-
urrected to renewed hit status in the ‘80s
by biting BBC comedy The Young Ones).
Missing singles, b-sides, live albums, and
1994’s revival material keep this from
being a comprehensive Traffic collection,
but despite diminishing returns on the
band’s last two albums, this set presents
the flow of Traffic including its best work.
- Jeff Elbel
6
CREDENCE CLEARWATER
REVIVAL
Live From Woodstock
(Craft/Fantasy)
Plans for the 50th anniversary
Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York
may have been scuttled, but listeners can
hear key moments from the original festi-
val even if the artists themselves couldn’t.
Before launching a rowdy “Green River” (a
fresh cut from the band’s two-week-old
third LP of the same name), John Fogerty
can be heard off-mic laughing and saying,
“I can’t hear a thing.” Afterward, he
announces, “We’re having a multitude of
problems. I’m sure you don’t wanna hear
about ‘em.” Nonetheless, the finely tuned
San Francisco Bay quartet delivers a hot set
of swamp-rock hits from its first three
albums including “Bad Moon Rising,”
“Born on the Bayou,” and “Proud Mary,”
alongside lesser-heard but spirited gems
like “Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won’t Do)”
and “Bootleg.” The band unleashes a
spine-tingling version of Screaming Jay
Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” and a
revved-up but soulful take on Ray Charles’
“The Night Time Is The Right Time.” The
show concludes with an 11-minute ramble
through “Suzie Q,” satisfying the fans
heard calling for the debut album single
earlier during the set. Technical issues
onstage notwithstanding, it’s a treasure
that this skillful performance was recorded
to 8-track for posterity – notably since CCR
declined to be included in the 1970
Woodstock documentary film.
In addition to the beautifully-mastered
2-LP version, Live at Woodstock is available
in CD and high-definition digital formats.
– Jeff Elbel
7
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