TRAFFIC PART ONE: John Barleycorn

As a child growing up in the late 1970's and 80's I was surprised at what my parents had in their collection of music.  It was only till I was nine or ten that my parents went out to buy music.  I was sometimes involved and others they just brought stuff home to listen to.  In the age of early MTV my dad was sure trying hard to be as hip as the videos he watched.  My mother on the hand, her musical tastes were things that were less popular and did care for anybodies opinion.  I know I made jokes about her tastes.  Who was I talk, I listened to some pretty crappy music myself.  Dad got hip in the early 1980's when he bought Huey Lewis, ZZ Top, Michael Jackson, and anything else he could find. I kind of ignored most of them, but tried really hard to listen.  I was impressed with some of his older records in his collection.  There were a few stand outs, but nothing in my eyes then that changed my musical taste.  It was only till I got older I saw the light of my dad's small but decent record collection.

One day I was done playing dad's newest purchases and I needed something to keep me dancing.  I looked through.  I asked for his help but he ignored my request.  All he told me was to keep then in the order they way I found them. That made no sense there was no order.  Well I continued looking.  I looked at each spine to see what the album said.  Then I came to the Traffic album.  No title was indicated on the spine.  When I looked at the cover It said John Barleycorn Must Die.  What an odd name for an album.  At this point, the album got me curious.  I grabbed the album and dived in.

After the first listen I knew I liked it, but the problem was it's length and I needed to hear it again.  I always wondered and still do why some album are extremely short for the time they came out.  The Beatles were guilty of it and so was Traffic.  Thirty-four minutes was too short for my taste.  Oh, Well I will give it another go.  I like it and I liked it more then first time I spun it.  It was different it was folky it was progressive.  Why on earth would my dad buy this.  Later on I found out why.

Later in my album collecting career  I bought another Traffic album and my uncle gave me another.  At one point this was the most of any one artist's collection I had.  I liked the uniqueness of each album and the different feel each album had.  I liked the instruments in the songs and I really liked Steve Winwood's fresh soulful voice.  I also was attracted to the cool little Traffic symbol on the album.  

In high school I took a creative English Class.  In this class you read and studied all kinds of great literature and myths and legends and also wrote stories.  We were assigned to write a report on a myth or legend that we liked.  I went home to try to figure this out.  I went to work one day with this on my mind and a cassette copy of John Barleycorn Must Die.  When I got to work my co-worker was just getting off his break.  This co-worker has always give me great musical suggestions and kept my musical mind turning.  I asked him for help.  He told me I have my answer on your tape.  I was curious by what he meant.  "John Barleycorn" he said, "There are many interesting myths and stories about him and that could be your report."

The next time I had class I told my teacher about my topic.  To much of the class laughing at my idea, the teacher agreed and after class told me that she too was curious.  So I guess I was not the only one which was good for me.  When I got to work my co-worker had a small pile of information waiting for me.  "Bring all this home and you should have enough to write your report with no problem. Way before the age of the internet it was all hands on research and looking through books which led to other books to encyclopedias and back to my album John Barleycorn Must Die.

The short and description in the liner notes gave some great detail and helped me with my search:

"Between the years of 1900 and 1910, Cecil Sharpe collected a number of songs, John Barleycorn among them. The many versions of this song are said to have come from Oxfordshire, Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey and Somerset, and there are estimated to be between 100 and 140 versions. The earliest known copy is of the age of James 1 in the Pepoysian collection 1465 printed in black letter by H. Gorson (1607-1641). the popular interpretation is the effort of the people to give up the alcohol distilled from barley but in the last verse:

"And little Sir John with his nut brown bowl
And his brandy in the glass
And little Sir John with his nut brown bowl
Proved the stronget man at last...'

but there are many interpretations."
This is what started it all. I came in with the album and showed my teacher.  She laughed and told me that this information is key to your paper writing.  She also told me when I turn in my report and talk about it to the class she wanted me to play "John Barleycorn Must Die." After all my research I was able to write about five pages of information.  It was one of the most interesting research papers I did in high school. The curiosity to this day still has me seeking out more and more information about the legend and or myth of John Barleycorn.

So this post is not only about music, but a bit informative as well.  Traffic was a band with many interesting musical lines.  Some was about psychedelics and some where about myths and legends.  Traffic was a band that to me where some of the coolest music ever.  In their short career they made some great music.  I had a chance to see them twice when they had a mini reunion in 1994 and they were awesome.  Now you wonder why my dad of all people had this in his collection.  Well here is the short version of it.  in 1970 my dad got invited to see a concert at none other then the Fillmore East.  He and my uncle went to see Traffic.  I remember asking my dad about the show.  He told me it was in November and Cat Stevens and a band called Hammer were on the bill with them.  Traffic was amazing.  Just as amazing as this album Traffic are all that and more.  Check this one out when you can.  I may complain about short albums, but this one is short and sweet.  Enjoy!!!