Mr Fantasy: A mini-documentary that Celebrates the 50th anniversary of Traffic's debut album. Find out more at Steve Winwood's official website: www.SteveWinwood.com
One of the greatest bands ever assembled. There will never be another Band like them. Steve Winwood is a musical visionary and genius. I listen to them to this day!
I saw Traffic in 1967/68 in Edinburgh. It was supposed to be a Jethro Tull gig but they got stuck in Europe somewhere. So, the replacement acts were, Traffic, Ten Years After & Family. They were excellent, & I loved 'Hole In My Shoe'
Strolled into Copenhagen for a 4 day side trip just as a two day Rock-fest was staged in an airplane hanger. Got to see Family in August of 71’ w/ John Wieder on bass & violin! Great show! Saw Ten Years After at The Shrine Audit. in 68’ & Traffic 3 nights in a row in 70’: two nights at the Fillmore & the 3rd show in Santa Monica. Amazing memories!
There's a bit of similarity between early Traffic and early Tull, namely the folk element and the flute. Both bands were on Island Records (in the UK). Many years later Jethro Tull started playing "John Barleycorn" on one of their tours.
I had forgotten how good they were , came across Mr Fantasy by change and I’m hooked on them again .. woww nothing like the musicians of that time .. real , true magical notes and sounds .. soo professional .. I salute them and bless them for ever and ever
I just went to a Steve Winwood concert two nights ago, he played several songs from his days with Traffic. Winwood at age 75 sounded every bit as good as he ever did!
A unique and eclectic bunch of musos - so many brilliant memories from my youth - Traffic was and remains my favourite band. Thank you for the everlasting memories of that is timeless and a joy to groove to.
I had the great pleasure of seeing Traffic three times when they came through Chicago in the early 1970's. Me and my mates were huge fans. We had all their records and played their music in our band. I have the absolute, ultimate respect for Steve Winwood. He's a huge part of my life.
"I have the absolute, ultimate respect for Steve Winwood." - Ditto. Winwood's ascension was guaranteed based just on "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm A Man". His Hammond B3 riffs and singing at 16, 17 were phenomenal. I got to see Traffic at the Fillmore East in '68? His first solo record has always had a special place in my heart. His solo work, like Traffic, is underrated. It might be said that some of it is close to syrupy, but coming from Steve W., it's always genuine.
Jimmy Miller is a legend! The guy's so good that The Stones immortalize him in "You can't always get what you want". Never knew about him and Traffic!!
Outlandish artist,Stevie Winwood is always in my and my family's hearts, all his production is timeless...with all our admiration,,,God bless Stevie always for all the joy he has brought to millions of humans, not just me!!!!!
Traffic for me was always a special band and sound they got. Very few managed to cross pollinate so many styles with so much class. To get together before 67 and stay making music into the 70's was already quite an achievement. They had/ve a great sound. As a Brit I feel they encapsulated a very english sound of psychedelia up there with the best of them. Tracks like 40 thousand headmen and Hidden Treasure represent this gorgeous acoustic funky ethnic feel that few bands managed to pull off let alone such treasures. Loved the folk feels too in the music that are there right from the word go too. A wonderful band one I never tire of listening too.
From what I read about how Dave Mason wanted them only as a backing group_ not a collective of songwriters ,I can appreciate them not commenting on this.Classy,unlike now,where everything is open for public scrutiny. We have become so accustomed to talk show trash,that all some seem to want is dirt on somebody else.Great to know some would not fall for this.
I turn 70 next month and last nite I turned my son on to you he will be a fan long after we are gone and hopefully pass great music onto his children . That's immortalized. Thank you .
Back in the 60's so many records were released for Christmas and I remember walking into a record store and bought Magical Mystery Tour and Mr. Fantasy in 1967 and had a mighty psychedelic Christmas!
My Mr music Steve Winwood talks about Traffic, which was a rock/blues and jazzband that made them known in the whole modern music world. Traffic is dead long ago, but the central figure is still rocking more than 70 years old looking 60 and is a central figure in keeping the synthesis of rock and roll, blues, and jazz alive. Thanks for hanging on in the variety of modern music.
Great mini-doc but I wish it could have been longer. I could have watched this for hours. Steve has one of rock's great voices and I've loved him since I first heard Keep on Runnin'. I remember there was an early B side (sorry young people) called Blues in F where Stevie as he was then known played a marvellous guitar instrumental. I think he was 14 at the time. I'm 71 now and still can't play as well as Steve did in the early 60s. I keep trying trying though. I think some people are naturally talented. Dear Mr Fantasy is a very underrated song and always sounds fresh to me. Another favourite is No Name, No Face, No number. Thanks Steve for all the great music that you have been involved with.
Just hearing the opening notes of Mr. Fantasy in a radio advertisement for the album made me realize Traffic was something special and the group immediately became one of my favorites. Mr. Fantasy was a state of mind, a wonderful, happy and friendly place to be. The imagery in Traffic's songs is so evocative, vibrant and compelling, it was a place I wanted to return to over and over again. They captured a special aspect of the zeitgeist which made them seem like they were on the same journey as everyone else in the counterculture.
Beautifully stated. I feel the same way about Traffic and their place in the story of my generation. And I always liked the way that Paper Sun took a playfully sardonic look at psychedelia. "Too much sun will burn " being one example. Mr.Fantasy is ,in my view, one of the greatest debut albums from that period.The best songs on it are both of their time and timeless.
"These were my very good friends, you know. And they're all gone, you know. So it's of course, it's a, 'tis a, it's, you know, sort of bittersweet, you know, return to...to remembering all these good times with friends who're no longer with us. Yeah? More bittersweet than I...I imagined it would be." That says it all right there. SW had me in tears. His grief evident as he stumbled over his words. Yet in typical stiff upper lip fashion, he gives an incongruous sweet smile as the camera cuts away.
This Man Steve Winwood is a Genius ..look him up ..Spencer Davis Group .. Then ...Formed This Great Band Called TRAFFIC .. i do recall as a kid hearing Paper Sun on an old vintage record player ..Then .. I discovered Music .. Beatles were good but ..But Hey These guys were very very Good ..above anyone else ...
What a treat to see. Steve is still so rightfully beloved, and such an amazing talent, but Jim ,Chris and Dave earned a special place all their own that's creatively head and shoulders above so much of what their era produced. I'll never tire of their music!
Wooowww. After watching this what a beautiful time it seemed like! It goes to show how different it was between generations/times. Try doing this today! The living together as a band, and only job was jamming any time you wanted during day/night, could sleep in an old cottage in country with just mattress on floor....SAFELY...lol. What a beautiful time it seemed. 🙂
Maybe the best show I've been to, Steve Winwood at the Ryman Auditorium here in Nashville. I had perfect seats (a Christmas gift from my wife). Everyone goes to the Ryman to listen to the music, not like going for the show, ya know? Very intimate, acoustically great place to listen and I got to hear Steve Winwood and his band do Everything from Spencer Davis, Traffic, and his solo work... What a deserving Icon of music! Thanks Steve
I was born and raised on with Traffics music from the age of 2 and now t 56 enjoy to the fullest God bless Chris Jones any time I here a flute I think of him and Steve voice is signature
Great doc of one of the all-time great bands! Dear Mr. Traffic, you wrote and played the soundtrack of our lives at a time in our lives that was unparalleled! And in doing so, you made us all ha-ppy! God bless and keep you all, always!
Traffic was so into ethnic and different and yet they actually veered away from the Indian sounds that were prevalent and still did famously. Hats off.
Love these guys! Steve had so much balls when he was young "it's that the public has to try and accept us." So true about the white artists sort of picking a black artist to be like (I always thought Winwood was the white Ray Charles: Ray could sing anything and make it sound like it had soul, and so could Steve). RIP Campaldi , Wood, and Miller. Miller is the unsung genius of this whole scene and I am thinking of writing a screenplay about him!.
Love to hear these guys describing what they wanted to do and how they did it...freedom and togetherness was at the heart of it...they truly succeeded in what they set out to do musically...that is pretty rare in life...even if it didn't last nearly long enough...love Winwood's brummie accent, so reflective and quietly joyful
My favorite band of all time. Very creative, unusual and cool music. Heaven Is In Your Mind and Paper Sun slay me. I will never tire of them. But in fact, due to the high standards of the boys, there were many great tunes, and equally interesting lyrics. I'll tell you what's truly amazing: Traffic, The Band, Cream, The Dead, the Stones, and Hendrix were all playing at the same time! What the hell, man! If you were paying attention, and you had a good ear, you couldn't go wrong. :)
March 1972 I'm a senior in high school. Two friends and I have 3 tickets to see Traffic. We don't have a way to get to the concert though. One of my friends brother has an old Chevy that doesn't run. It's cold out and we work all day and finally we get the car running. We don't shut the car off for fear it wouldn't start again. We somehow make it to the gig and the band Traffic is amazing. Blow away concert. One of the best ever. No band is even close to being as unique and talented.
Thanks, Steve. Finally had the pleasure of hearing you in Auckland a few years ago. Your music has had a great influence on me from the early 70's till today. That 'free' state of mind has always remained :)
@@rikk7041 He wrote the "biggest" hit single, even though that wasn't really the band's "vibe" ~ too poppy. He also wrote 30% of the tracks of "Mr Fantasy" and was involved in writing a further track. He's there on the front cover. Having said that I don't think they were pretending he wasn't in the band, he just didn't get too many mentions, didn't Steve mention the two words "bitter sweet" with regard to memories of band members ;-)
Stevie was wide-eyed and innocent in the early days about just how good he really was… I mean, really really good (natural) singer with a great high range and pitch perfect sense of tuning…. what a legend!!
I first heard Dear Mr. Fantasy when I was a teenager. I was experimenting with pot and I interpreted the song to mean something about an altered state of consciousness, like being on drugs. Steve Winwood's vocal and melody was key. John Lennon wrote happiness is a warm gun and it also resonated the same way.
Great to see this. Bitter-sweet indeed....sweet-bitter and bitter-sweet, flowers and sunlight and heather and heath, misty rain and fog-drenched melodies, thank you Traffic for all you have been and all you still are!
