John Barleycorn Must Die

Background and content

In late 1968, Traffic disbanded, guitarist Dave Mason having left the group for the second time prior to the completion of the Traffic album. In 1969, Steve Winwood joined the supergroup Blind Faith, while drummer/lyricist Jim Capaldi and woodwinds player Chris Wood turned to session work. Wood and Winwood also joined Blind Faith's drummer Ginger Baker in his post-Blind Faith group Ginger Baker's Air Force for their first album, Ginger Baker's Air Force (1970).

In the beginning of 1970, after the demise of Blind Faith, the band having lasted barely six months, Winwood returned to the studio ostensibly to make his first solo album, originally to be titled Mad Shadows. He recorded two tracks with producer Guy Stevens, "Stranger to Himself" and "Every Mother's Son", but yearned for like-minded musicians to accompany. Inviting Wood and Capaldi to join him, Winwood's solo album became the reunion of Traffic, and a re-launch of the band's career.

As did most of their albums, it featured influences from jazz and blues, but the version of the traditional English folk tune "John Barleycorn" also showed the musicians attending to the same strains of folk baroque and electric folk as contemporary British bands Pentangle and Fairport Convention.

It was reissued for compact disc in the UK on 1 November 1999, with five bonus tracks, including three recorded in concert from the Fillmore East in New York City. In the US, the remastered reissue of 27 February 2001 included only the two studio bonus tracks.

Steve Winwood oversaw a deluxe edition version that was released on 15 March 2011, featuring the original studio album, digitally remastered on disc one, plus a second disc of bonus material including more of the Fillmore East concert with alternate mixes and versions of album tracks.

Cover

The original LP release of the album had the front cover design on a background consisting of a photograph of burlap. Later LP copies had the design on a grey background. The cover is displayed prominently during a party scene in the 1971 movie by Dario Argento, 4 Mosche di Velluto Grigio.

Reception

Retrospective reviews of the album have been mixed. AllMusic criticised the vocal sections as "excuses for Winwood to exercise his expressive voice as punctuation to the extended instrumental sections", but made note of how the album took the band's jazz/rock leanings beyond mere jamming. Robert Christgau's review dismissed the album for lacking Dave Mason, whom he saw as the only member of the group with any talent.

Track listing and personnel

1. "Glad" (Steve Winwood) – 6:59
2. Steve Winwood – organ, piano, bass, percussion;
3. Chris Wood – sax, flute, electric sax, percussion;
4. Jim Capaldi – drums, percussion
5. "Freedom Rider" (Winwood, Jim Capaldi) – 6:20
6. Winwood – organ, piano, vocals, percussion;
7. Wood – sax, flute, electric sax, percussion;
8. Capaldi– drums, percussion
9. "Empty Pages" (Winwood, Capaldi) – 4:47
10. Winwood – organ, bass guitar, electric piano, vocals;
11. Wood – organ;
12. Capaldi – drums, percussion

4. "Stranger to Himself" (Winwood, Capaldi) – 4:02
5. Winwood – vocals, all instruments;
6. Capaldi – vocals
7. "John Barleycorn (Must Die)" (traditional, arr. Winwood) – 6:20
8. Winwood – acoustic guitar, piano, vocals;
9. Wood – flute, percussion;
10. Capaldi – vocals, tambourine
11. "Every Mother's Son" (Winwood, Capaldi) – 7:05
12. Capaldi – drums;
13. Winwood – all other instruments, vocals

Original US & UK LP Mastering-Lee Hulko, Sterling Sound NYC

1999 reissue track listing

Previously unreleased studio bonus tracks 4. ("I Just Want You To Know") and 8. ("Sittin' Here Thinkin' of My Love") appear to be demos left over from when Winwood was still planning to make this a solo album (entitled Mad Shadows). Recorded on 18/19 November at the Fillmore East, the live tracks comprise what was to have been side one of a concert Traffic album, Live November 70 (ILPS 9142), presumably shelved in favour of Welcome to the Canteen.

1. "Glad" (Winwood) – 6:59
2. "Freedom Rider" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 5:30
3. "Empty Pages" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 4:34
4. "I Just Want You to Know" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 1:30
5. Winwood – vocals, instruments
6. "Stranger to Himself" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:57
7. "John Barleycorn" (Traditional, arr. Winwood) – 6:27
8. "Every Mother's Son" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 7:08
9. "Sittin' Here Thinkin' of My Love" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:33
10. Winwood – vocals, instruments
11. "Backstage and Introduction" (live) (Capaldi, Winwood) – 1:50
12. Introduction by Bill Graham
13. "Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring" (live) (Capaldi, Winwood, Chris Wood) – 6:56
14. Winwood – vocals, Hammond organ, bass pedals
15. Wood – saxophone
16. Ric Grech – guitar
17. Capaldi – drums
18. "Glad" (live) (Winwood) – 11:29
19. Winwood – Hammond organ
20. Wood – saxophone
21. Ric Grech – bass
22. Capaldi – drums

2011 Deluxe reissue disc two track listing

1. "Stranger to Himself" (Alternative Mix) (Capaldi, Winwood) – 4:09
2. "John Barleycorn Must Die" (First Version) (Traditional, arr. Winwood) – 5:05
3. "Every Mother's Son" (Alternative Mix) (Winwood, Capaldi) – 7:03
4. "Back Stage and Introduction" – 1:44
5. "Medicated Goo" (Live) (Winwood, Jimmy Miller) – 4:17
6. "Empty Pages" (Live) (Winwood, Capaldi) – 4:47
7. "Forty Thousand Headmen" (Live) (Capaldi, Winwood) – 4:30
8. "Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring ?" (Live) (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 5:16
9. "Every Mother's Son" (Live) (Winwood, Capaldi) – 7:00
10. "Glad" / "Freedom Rider" (Live) (Winwood / Winwood, Capaldi) – 14:30

Tracks 4 - 10 recorded on 18 & 19 November 1970 at the Fillmore East

Technical personnel