1973-01-26
Winterland
San Francisco, CA
Soundboard Recording
320 kbps
CD 1:
01. Shootout At The Fantasy Factory
02. Rock'n'Roll Stew
03. Roll Right Stones
CD 2:
01. Empty Pages
02. Evening Blue
30. 40,000 Headmen
04. Glad
05. Freedom Rider
06. Tragic Magic (incomplete)
07. Sometimes I Feel So Uninspired
08. Light Up or Leave Me Alone
Stevie Winwood - keyboard, guitar, vocals;
Jim Capaldi - drums, vocals; Chris Wood - sax;
David Hood - bass; Roger Hawkins - drums;
Reebop Kwaku Baah - percussion
This is the part of the stream of essential Traffic performances 1967-1974.
This recording was made while the band was taping shows for their soon-to-be-released On The Road double CD. For the tours and records made around this time ('72-'74), Traffic was augmented by three members of the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, a group that had provided backing on some of the greatest rock and R&B hits of the 1960s and '70s, including many classic Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield records. This same month, Traffic released Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory, which went gold and reached the American Top 10.
By adding David Hood on bass, Roger Hawkins on drums and Barry Beckett on keyboards, the group's core members -Winwood, percussionist/vocalist Jim Capaldi and sax player/flutist Chris Wood - found an enormous amount of freedom to play their respective instruments. Many Traffic classics are here, including "Empty Pages," "Evening Blue," "Forty Thousand Headman," "Glad" and "Freedom Rider," but there is still enough room for several, then-new tracks to be featured, including "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory," "Rock and Roll Stew," "Roll Right Stones," "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired" and "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone."
For fans of Traffic, Winwood, or classic rock in general, it doesn't get much better than this.