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Rating: "When I was a young boy I lived for rock'n'roll; We spent our time playing gigs and travelling on the road; And we didn't have much money and the gigs were sometimes rough; Now I am a young man dressing in sparkling coloured clothes; A country house and sixty acres are a heavy load".
That's how Steve Winwood sings, new owner of 60 acres in Gloucestershire, in "Memories of a Rock'n'Rolla". It's '74, the "fabulous '60s" are long gone, and gentrification is advancing: Traffic is at its farewell, once again a quartet, without the cumbersome rhythm section of Muscle Shoals and with Jamaican Rosko Gee on bass. But surprisingly, the farewell album does not follow the path of complacent indolence undertaken with "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory" and "On The Road", offering more radio-friendly tracks where finally Winwood's splendid voice ranges freely as it did in the times of "John Barleycorn Must Die".
The jazzy "Something New", for example, has, ironically given the title, the typical lightness of their sixties tracks, just as, on the other extreme, the sinister "Graveyard People" somewhat recalls the psychedelic nightmare of "50000 Headmen". Nonetheless, there are more extended tracks, in the most typical tradition of Late Period Traffic: the jam session here is "Dream Gerrard", built on a hypnotic synth riff and sudden dramatic gusts of mellotron over which Winwood on piano and Wood on sax wah-wah embroider two interesting solos, the first romantic, the second slyly inviting. The incomprehensible lyrics, evoking the dream world of the romantic poet Gerard de Nerval who saw dreams as a second life, is the work of, and how to be surprised, Vivian Stanshall, the eccentric leader of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, a dadaist pride of swinging London. The track, even if it follows a bit the line of "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", is remarkable and probably deserves the prize of best together with the other mid-tempo "Walking In The Wind". The title track, finally, although marked by a pretentious ecological text by Capaldi, is a perfect closing track that lulls us on a soft carpet of percussion, organ, and piano towards the end of a beautiful adventure.
P.S.: On the cover, there's a nice drawing of the group based on a photo in which the African percussionist Rebop is still present, who, however, apparently from the credits, never participated in the album recordings.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Something New (03:21)
(Winwood/Capaldi)
You said you couldn't leave me after all that we'd been through
I believed you when you said we should both try something new
I was drowning inside here with a love that was so true
But you laughed right in my face and there was nothing I could do
Once I took a walk across the hill to see what I could see
I saw a light falling from the sky and land beneath a tree
The light it gave was oh, so bright that it took away my care
I ran back to the house to tell you but you were not there
When you've loved someone dearly it's so hard not to regret
Memories that have faded, suddenly you can't forget
I know I was not dreaming when you walked right out the door
Just a feeling that told me my love was gone for evermore
When you think you've found the key, the door just slips away
And so you walk the floor all night until the break of day
Somewhere in your mind you know that things will be alright
Because everything in life is equal just like the day and night
You said you couldn't leave me after all that we'd been through
I believed you when you said that we should both try something new
Something new
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by 1974 F.S. Music Ltd. (PRS) &
Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin. by
Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
02 Dream Gerrard (11:06)
(Winwood/Capaldi)
And it's a fact, you are cold, they react, dream Gerrard
Hippos don't wear hats, lobsters shriek if provoked
On long blue ribbons
That he may see while he sleeps
Monsieur Old Neddy, he wears spectacles in bed
That he may see dreams more clearly
The night, it will be black, and white raven croaking
I am thirsty, die, they won't let it be
They think it should be done with reality
I scream from a skull. Fritz, bring your wigwam
They won't let it be
They think it should be done with reality, with reality
They won't let it be
They think it should be done with reality, with reality
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by 1974 F.S. Music Ltd. (PRS) &
Warner/Chappell Music Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin.
by Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
04 Walking in the Wind (06:54)
You walk and talk and move around in circles
Your friends telling you you are doing fine
You can't see that snowball as it hurtles
Through the shattered membranes of your mind
If I could talk to you for just one minute
Then you would know what it is I am getting at
But there again your head's got nothing in it
By the way you left without your hat
I'm walking in the wind looking at the sky
Hanging on a breeze and wondering why, why
Your old man's headed for the final pay-off
The joker that you got is fading too
And all the sharks that come around for the rip-off
Are gonna tear the flesh right off you
The plastic princess hangs her head in wonder at the silver glittered boys
Trying, trying to compete
And all at once the room begins to thunder
And all that's left is the stain on the sheet
The prostitute is standing on the corner
Suffering so much pain to stay alive
She's so real, that life itself bows down before her
She couldn't make that nine to five
While the president is crying, crying in the White House
The prime minister's really got the blues
All the heads of state are busy playing cat & mouse
'Cause you can see none of them have ever paid their dues
God knows why, why, why
07 When the Eagle Flies (04:23)
(Winwood/Capaldi)
When the eagle flies you'd better watch your eyes
He's gonna sweep everything in his path
And when the heavens cry it's gonna drown the sky
And you'll get caught in the aftermath
When the mountains move it's no good trying
To prove that you've been doing everything you can
And don't you start to cry when you're about to die
You gotta stand up and take it like a man
Because you've been taking instead of giving
And all the while you've been living lies
Economics, all your atomics
Ain't gonna save you from that bird in the sky
And when the good times roll wrapped up in your mink coat
You will be stepping from your Cadillac
You will be stepping from your Cadillac
And in a micro flash you're gonna feel the lash
Of big eagle's wing across your back
And when the seas subside you'll see him glide right out of view
In clouds of snow the rains will come
And wash away the scum so that all the little flowers can grow
There'll be no more taking, only giving
And the sun pouring down
No economics and no atomics
Just the spread of Mother Nature's gown
Do you hear me, Mother Nature? ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by 1974 F.S. Music Ltd. (PRS) &
Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin. by
Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
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