A recent trip to America proved to be a traumatic period for Traffic. Once again the line-up has changed, with Jim Gordon (drums) staying over there to return to session work and Rick Grech leaving the band under undetermined circumstances, on his return to this country. The two have been replaced by two session men from Alabama's Muscle Shoals studios - Roger Hawkins and David Hood.
Jim Capaldi speaks about the making of The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys:
"I remember the "Low Spark" session vividly. I had written the lyrics for the title track and had given them to Steve. On the way to the studio he said he'd written something that was so so. When he sat at the piano and first played it through it took awhile to sink in- but you instinctively knew that you'd just heard a classic."
A band is playing on Saturday night in a college cafeteria to maybe 700 people. Pretty nice band. Their name is Traffic. There's this guy with carrot hair and a sweet smiley face doing whatever he wants on acoustic and lead guitar. Pretty nice voice. His name is Dave Mason. Dave Mason playing his farewell gig with Traffic (again). What with Stevie Winwood as right and fast on guitar as ever, stretching vocals and pushing changes at the organ, Chris Wood blowing sax and lyric flute, and the addition of Jim Gordan at drums and Rebop on congas and bongos freeing Jim Capaldi to shake and shout and bang his tambourine as Ric Grech burbles away on bass back at the amps, Traffic, with Mason, is maybe the best band in britain this summer.
So naturally, it's breaking up.
Traffic's album, parts of which are very free, some very rehearsed, should be out by September to coincide with their American tour for October-November. (Fairport Covention will also be on the tour with them.) And Eric Clapton, according to representative, would like to play as little as possible in public and just use selected people on his sessions. Steve reports that Eric is handling bass himself, Rosetta Hightower reports that Eric was just dying to play on her session the other day. To complete the news of the original trio: Jack Bruce has just recorded a new solo album, this time with Chris Spedding and John Marshall of Nucleus. It will be called Harmony Row, after a nearby street to Jack's old Glasgow home. And, you know, they're all so far from home.