ROCK ’N’ ROLL REGRETS
Dave Mason’s Traffic jam
For persons of a certain age, the British rock band Traffic delivered some of the most innovative music of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The group was prone to the usual run of conflicts that in the end could not be overcome.
But its legacy is impressive. Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, Feelin’ Alright, 40,000 Headmen, Paper Sun, Dear Mr. Fantasy and Hole in My Shoe number among the hits. The last tune was the first song written by original Traffic member Dave Mason.
He brings his show Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam to the Black Sheep Stage on July 10. It’s a nostalgic notion, performing the songs of his youth. It’s bittersweet, too, because of how his time in Traffic ended in conflict with his bandmates — especially with Steve Winwood.
“When people ask me about Traffic and I think of (those) years, we were one of the first alternative bands. And we were also a jam band onstage.
“I came from a different point of view (musically), which probably led to me not being there at the end, which was not of my choice. I was exiled.”
It remains a big part of his life, though. “Now that I am moving into the last quarter of the game” — Mason is 68 — “I thought it’d be nice to do some of that stuff.”
Don’t expect to hear the records played back. Mason is alone onstage and the songs have been adapted and rearranged. Dear Mr. Fantasy, for example, is “more moody and more blues-orientat- ed.” And he does Low Spark of High Heeled Boys as a slow blues.
In the show’s second half, he segues into his own material.
There have been some sad departures from the original group. The first to go was Chris Wood, many years ago. But in 2005, Mason’s old mate Jim Capaldi passed away. Of the originals only Winwood and Mason are left and “he don’t speak to me,” Mason says.
“When I think about it, what made Traffic great for me personally were the differences. Managing the attendant personality traits is a whole different ball game in life, especially when you are young and you know nothing but you think you know everything.
“There are bands who have had differences, who nevertheless came together to make some music again. It’s a pity that Steve won’t. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if there was going to be a Traffic reunion or a Traffic tour, it’s a shame that we can’t go out and do this together. He might find out that this is actually fun.”
Mason is from Worcester in the middle of England. Jim Capaldi was from a town 18 kilometres away and the two of them were in bands together at 16 and 17.
At the same time the Spencer Davis Group was making a mark in Britain. Winwood was the teenage prodigy in that band.
“We’d play shows in Birmingham, which is where Spencer Davis Group were from. There was a place called the Elbow Room which was a late-night club. And they’d always have a band playing. The Moody Blues played there one night I remember.
“That’s how we got to know Steve and Chris. We were just young kids who hung out for a year, smoking pot and listening to music.”
When Winwood left Spencer Davis, Traffic formed.
“As soon as Traffic started I started writing. My first song was Hole In My Shoe. It became the biggest hit Traffic had in Europe, and therein started the problem.
“The other guys were more blues and R&B. This was too poppy for them. Egos got in the way.
“It’s so petty in the vast scheme of things.”