#Traffic #Steve Winwood #Dave Mason #Jim Capaldi #psychedelic rock #progressive rock #British psychedelia #blues rock #jazz rock #folk rock #1960s #music video
This psychedelic song was written by Traffic's guitarist Dave Mason, who played sitar on the track. Depending on your state of mind, you might find some weighty meaning in the song, but Mason says he was just writing down random thoughts in the style of a nursery rhyme. He also insists that he hadn't tried LSD when he wrote it. In a Songfacts interview with Mason, he explained: "That's the first song I ever wrote. It was my first attempt at songwriting. I mean, that stuff I did back then, when I listen to it, I cringe and realize I need to work on writing. But writing comes out of living. You have to have something." Dave Mason tells us that this song was "the beginning of the end as far as the other three guys were concerned for me." The band's second single (after "Paper Sun"), it was a the biggest UK hit for Traffic, but it wasn't what Mason's bandmates had in mind, since they didn't think it represented their sound. Steve Winwood explained: "We never wanted to be a pop band but we had a hit with 'Shoe,' which was Dave's song. Dave had his own idea about the band, the rest of us had another one - a not-quite-as-sensible one, really, because it wasn't half as commercial." Mason quit the band soon afterwards and Traffic began to develop a less commercial sound, which put an end to their run of hit singles in the UK. However their new material proved popular on American Rock stations and it gave the band a second wind across the Atlantic. From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/traffic/hole-in-my-shoe
Traffic was a British rock group of the 1960s and ’70s, known for incorporating lengthy jazzlike improvisation into rock-music structures. Principal members included singer-keyboardist Steve Winwood, flautist-saxophonist Chris Wood, guitarist Dave Mason, and drummer Jim Capaldi. Founded in 1967 and charting one of the most tumultuous careers in rock history, Traffic underwent substantial shifts in both musical style and membership. The group’s first incarnation was a psychedelic pop collective whose members lived together in Berkshire, England, and collaborated on the composition of most songs on their debut album, Mr. Fantasy (1967). Mason departed briefly, returning just long enough to write half of the songs on Traffic (1968) — a hit in both the United Kingdom and the United States — before leaving again. Shortly thereafter, Winwood (who had already experienced fame as a teenager with the Spencer Davis Group) broke up the band and formed Blind Faith with former Cream members Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. In 1970, midway through recording a solo album, Winwood reconvened with Wood and Capaldi, releasing John Barleycorn Must Die as Traffic. The 1970s version of Traffic, built on this core trio, moved away from pop songcraft and forged a sound built on free-form improvisation, earning continued commercial success with The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971), Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory (1973), and When the Eagle Flies (1974). Both on tour and in the studio, the group added and subtracted a number of additional musicians during these years before finally disbanding in 1975. From: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Traffic-British-rock-group
