John Barleycorn Must Die

Always on the verge of becoming brilliant, but never quite gets there.

Decent album

Startede rimelig jazzet og slutter mere rocket. Musik som er behageligt at lytte til.

Early prog, with plenty of folk influence. Takes itself very seriously, and borders on pretentious at points, but I liked it a lot.

This is very cliche. Nothing interesting at all

Good 60s rock album, enjoyed the instrumental tracks, glad this was on the list.

Steve Winwood's band. Psychadelic folk. Like The Doors lite. With a ton of organ work throughout. Not a bad album, but nothing to get too excited about.

Favourite songs: John Barleycorn, Empty Pages, Freedom Rider

Least favourite songs: Glad

3/5

This feels like the earliest version of prog rock. The precursor to Rush and Jethro Tull. Still very jazz and blues inspired, very approachable.

Really surprised an album like this would make the list. There are others I didn't like, but that was more genre preference. This is the type of music that would be up my alley, but it was just boring. 1.5/5

It’s very good, just not my preferred Traffic album.

3.5/5

After listening to John Barleycorn Must Die, I don't really have much to say about it. Its a purely fine album that doesn't really stand out in any meaningful way, neither good or bad. The songs were okay and didn't go on for too long which is nice. But beyond that, I don't really have anything else to say.
Best Song: Freedom Rider
Worst Song: Glad

El grupo donde empezó Steve Winwood y que a pesar de ser muy mencionado nunca he escuchado con atención. Vamos. Me gustó "Empty pages" que me recordó la voz de Peter Gabriel y la folk "John Barleycorn". No me ha parecido malo pero tampoco es que sea algo como para no perderse.

Hey guys, let's get a Hammond organ and flute. It'll be completely different to anything else around at the moment......

Haven't really listened to much Traffic but I enjoy the mix of folk and prog. Some nice flutes throughout as well. It feels a bit slight for a prog album to me though.

nice

This album kicks off with some fun piano work, setting a not-too-serious prog mood. It’s like they’re telling the listener, “We’re here to play, not show off.” Not to say that showing off is bad. I know some people hate it, but I don’t mind it. Anyway, the reason I mention this is because so much prog shows off, so it’s nice to hear something a bit more straightforward for a change. “Freedom Rider” is the centerpiece here, but being a folkhead, I prefer “John Barleycorn”.

I initially quite enjoyed this, but wasn't blown away really. I've been listening to a lot of Prog this year, but haven't come across Traffic. I do know of Steve Winwood though. I might give this a second listen, since I just had it on in the background on the first spin. It is quite short!

OK, so I listened to this a second time while doing the dishes and paid more attention to the vocals this time. I'm now questioning why this album is included in the book. The singing isn't great at all and the lyrics leave a lot to be desired. This pales in comparison to Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes and Jethro Tull albums from the era, so I wouldn't even argue that it was super influential or anything. Maybe people just love having an origin story for Steve Winwood? I'll give it 2 stars because the musicianship is good throughout, but I doubt I'll listen to this again.

Not a single moment of boredom while listening this album, but it's all a bit too safe.
The album feels like a cross between blues-folk-rock bands like The Band and prog acts like early Genesis.
And anyone who can appreciate a dash of jazz will also like John Barleycorn Must Die.
3.5*

I knew of Steve Winwood (and various bands), but hadn't heard of Traffic. Some parts felt too long, like a carried away jam session, but it's a short album so not too overbearing.

The folklore of John Barleycorn was interesting to read up on. #TIL (Funnily enough, it was referenced in last week's Inside No. 9 episode "Mr. King")

I enjoyed it. "Glad" could be a cinematic track, I'd half expect to see it popping up in a future Edgar Wright movie.

Just kind of washes over me.