Search - Traffic :: John Barleycorn Must Die

John Barleycorn Must Die is the Traffic album that almost never was but which is now commonly regarded as their definitive work. By 1970, still only 22, Steve Winwood had already served time at the heart of The Spencer Davis Group, as a founder member of Traffic, and with the supergroup Blind Faith. What started out as Steve Winwood's solo debut, originally to be called Mad Shadows (a title later filched by Mott The Hoople), John Barleycorn Must Die became Traffic's third and most fully realised studio album. In support of the album, Traffic toured America where their shows at the Fillmore East, New York, on November 18th and 19th were taped. A scheduled live album, mixed down from the Fillmore East, was never released. These much bootlegged recordings are now officially released for the first time on Disc Two of this new deluxe edition along with alternate takes of `John Barleycorn Must Die`, `Stranger To Himself' and `Every Mother`s Son`.