November 1, 1971 - The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys

My first album from November of 1971 came out on the 1st, the fifth studio album by Traffic, "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys", my second and final album by them after "John Barleycorn Must Die" last year. This album has the same three members as the previous one, along with three new members, doubling the band's size! Steve Winwood is still lead singer and playing several instruments including guitar and keyboards, Chris Wood remains on saxophone and flute but Jim Capaldi is no longer the drummer. Instead he plays just percussion, as well as lead vocals on two of the tracks. Jim Gordon is brought in as their new drummer as well as another percussionist named Rebop Kwaku Baah. What is this, Santana? Their final addition played in Blind Faith with Winwood, bassist and violinist Ric Grech. Now a six-piece, half of which is percussion, what will this new Traffic sound like? Let's listen!

Side one begins with "Hidden Treasure" which has some great flute by Wood and great guitar by Winwood throughout the song. Winwood played mostly bass on last year's album, but with Grech playing some solid bass in this one he gets to show that he's a pretty good electric guitarist as well. Winwood's singing is alright in this one, but nothing special. I think he sounds much better on the next track, the near 12-minute "The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys". His voice seems more fitting for the style of this song on which he also plays some excellent piano. Wood plays some snazzy saxophone throughout the song that I love and we really notice the additional percussion in this song, with some cool congas in a couple parts. Between the second and third verse we get a very long solo by Winwood where he plays both piano and organ. The organ parts are good, but the piano really shines as he plays lots of cool stuff on this one. Side one closes with "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone" which has Capaldi on lead vocals. His voice is an interesting one, I don't hate it, but I also don't love it. Winwood plays some more great guitar on this track and Grech plays some solid bass as well. The verses make up an alright rock song but there's a good instrumental bit that closes out the song that takes it up a notch.

Side two opens with Capaldi on lead vocals again for "Rock 'N' Roll Stew". His singing is similar to the last song and this is a pretty simple rock and roll song. Winwood plays a decent guitar solo, but for a song that was the only single off the album it's certainly a little underwhelming. Track 5 is titled "Many A Mile To Freedom" and has Winwood back on lead vocals again, albeit in a sappy fashion on this one. He also carries the song with his piano and guitar playing and delivers an alright guitar solo. Wood plays a better flute solo, and there's some more good guitar at the end as well. The final track is called "Rainmaker" and opens with a cool flute bit by Wood. Winwood sings some very simple lyrics and Wood delivers another solid flute solo. It switches around halfway to a new jazzier part with saxophone and some cool guitar, but for a song that's nearly 8 minutes, there really isn't a whole lot happening. There is some congas and percussion but nothing is really jumping out in this rather drab way to end the album.

That wraps up "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys" and I thought side one was pretty good, but side two didn't really stand out very much. Overall it's a decent album and Steve Winwood is definitely the main attraction here, but it doesn't make me need to hear more Traffic. I thought "John Barleycorn Must Die" was the better album for sure, and this will be the last Traffic in my library. But there's more music this month to come, stay tuned!