Customer Reviews
Excellent - By: are-jay-enn, 23 Jun 2008 
I got into this one as a Winwood fan working backwards from his current material. I cannot add too much to the other reviewers comments but would echo that it's a superb work and, if you've heard other late sixties & seventies acts, you can hear how they were inspired by Traffic.
One very minor gripe with this package is that a bonus track (track 4) is slottedin the middle of the main work without any explanation as to whyin the sleve notes - was this track orginally pencilled for that slot on the album? I prefer to listen to such re-issues as the artist originally intended with the bonus material on the end as an option.
What happened to the the 22 year old genius who made this album? - By: Levenbridge, 12 Nov 2007 I've often wished I could ask Steve Winwood what happened to switch off the greatness - this album, the two that came before & the one that followed it are unparalled works amoungst those that seemed to taking rock music forward to an erain music to rival any that had preceeded it. Yet as has often happened with 'popular music' it ended just as it seemed it might emphatically break open the world of musical form. Why is it that Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert or Wagner never lost the creative drive but virtually all rock 'composers' have (heard anything profound by Paul McCartney or Bob Dylan recently?)!
Well whatever the reason is, (and none of the greats are very likely to come out & say "well the reason I'm no good anymore is......") John Barleycorn remains one the absolute best albums that anyone could be lucky enough to own. It is not the third best Traffic album as is often said, the first five Traffic albums are all equally creative & satisfying, if one has to be the best this is it!
There are no weaker tracks on John Barleycorn, each is a gem that standsin its own right, & if one of the really telling guages of great art is "how long before it starts to bore you" this passes that test, a rare thingin the genre - & 30+ years on I'm guessing that John Barleycorn Must Die contains a beauty, integity & a unique colouration that mean it never will.
A third successive bullseye - By: D. J. H. Thorn, 22 Jun 2007 Welcome to the 1970s. After two great albums rootedin the late 1960s culture, Traffic, minus Dave Mason, made one brimming with vital, extended instrumental passages, as was the norm for the average 1970s album-oriented band. Mason had been known as the the more pop-inclined writerin Traffic, & as Winwood now had the field to himself (it was going to be a solo album at first, anyway) the new emphasis wasn't surprising.
Contrary to the widely-held belief that this approach led to all artists of the era drifting off at a tangent, however, most of them, Traffic included, made solidly-structured music. This album doesn't contain any potential hits, but wit, melody & beautifully-weaved textures abound. The instrumental 'Glad' features an arresting opening passage of sax, lively percussion & inspired piano. The trio are on top form collectively & individually. 'Freedom Rider', into which 'Glad' segues maintains the tempo.
The album title alludes to a folk song, but only the interpretation contained here touches on that genre. 'Every Mother's Son' provides a marvellous swirling climax to the original album. The bonus tracks include a live version of the wonderful 'Who Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring' from their second album. In total, this expanded reissue runs to an hour of high quality. A superb album that grows with age.
A Traffic Gem - By: Juan Mobili, 28 Jun 2004 Times had changed by 1970 ... Dave Mason was off to a full solo career, Chris Wood had joined Ginger Baker's Airforce, & Capaldi was not so sure what he wanted to do, but had not yet decided to quit the drums & be a singer.
This is how this album begins, with only Stevie Winwoodin the studio, having already penned a couple of songs -"Every Mothers Son" and, only includedin this remastered version, "Sittin' Here Thinkin' of My Love"- & ready to record a solo album.
Anyway, that was the plan but was not what ended up happening. Instead, whatever the real reason was -several stories are told- soon enough Capaldi & Steve's brother, Chris Wood, joined him & this became Traffic third studio album.
Although Mason was gone -his contribution to Traffic's original sound & the two gems they recorded together can never be acknowledged enough- Winwood had enough music, feeling & ideas to carry the load & make "Barleycorn ..." a classicin its own right.
It can be said that although this is very much a Traffic album, it is more heavily dominated by Winwood's musical vision & playing than its predecessors.
There are two strong musical courses, running through Winwood's veins, coming naturally to a crossroads here, the ever-present Jazz/R&B that Winwood had been feeding off since the Spencer Davis Group's days, & his connection to the English Folk tradition.
Actually, when you think that it was recorded over thirty years ago, it is even a more astounding example of how "ahead-of -its-times" Traffic was and, even more conclusively, what a tremendous composer Winwood had already become at 22.
Traffic, as a whole, & this albumin particular are, to this day, one of the beacons of popular music that has ever been recorded, even today.
Great Classic - By: , 15 Oct 2003 One of the greatest albums of all time!
