Mr. Fantasy
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| Mr. Fantasy | |||||
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| Studio album by Traffic | |||||
| Released | December, 1967 | ||||
| Recorded | April - November 1967 Olympic Studios, London |
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| Genre | psychedelic rock | ||||
| Length | 33:54 | ||||
| Label | Island Records UK | ||||
| Producer | Jimmy Miller | ||||
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| Traffic chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Mr. Fantasy | |||||
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Mr. Fantasy (not to be confused with "Dear Mr. Fantasy", the title song on this album) is the debut album by English rock band Traffic. It was released in 1967. For the recording, group members included Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason, however Mason left the band before the album was released. The album reached the number 16 position in the UK album chart on 30th December 1967, and reached number 88 in the American Billboard charts.[1]
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[edit] Overview
Considered by far the strangest and most art rock style album that Traffic released, Mr. Fantasy didn't gain much more than a cult following for Traffic at the time. Critics seemed to like the album, though, and most said it was clear that Steve Winwood and Traffic were good at putting together semi-mainstream psychedelic rock, except this album was not quite mainstream enough. By their next release, the eponymous Traffic, the band was said to have worked through that.
This album features even more horns, flutes, and less rock-style instruments than most of Traffic's future releases. The sitar was used much more in this album than any other later Traffic albums, undoubtedly because of Dave Mason's influence.
The first US version of the album on United Artists Records had a different title Heaven Is In Your Mind and a different cover that featured 3 members of the group without Dave Mason. The title was quickly changed back to Mr. Fantasy but the new cover remained until Island Records re-issued the UK version in the late 1970s.
For the original US edition the group changed the album substantially. The song order was changed and a short snippet of the group's November 1967 single "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" was added between most of the songs. The US LP also added three songs from the group's UK singles, "Paper Sun" and "Hole In My Shoe" and "Smiling Phases" (B-side) while deleting two Dave Mason songs "Hope I Never Find Me There" and "Utterly Simple." The final track on the US album "Were A Fade, You Missed This' is actually the ending of "Paper Sun" as it appeared in the earlier single. There are also many differences between the stereo and mono mixes for the album. Both the US and UK editions were released in stereo and mono.
The album was engineered by Phil Brown who when asked what was his favourite memory of engineering he responded: "Recording Dear Mr Fantasy, one o'clock in the morning, November 1967." [1]
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Original UK album
- "Heaven Is in Your Mind" (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood) – 4:16
- "Berkshire Poppies" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:55
- "House for Everyone" (Dave Mason) – 2:05
- "No Face, No Name, No Number" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:35
- "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 5:44
- "Dealer" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:34
- "Utterly Simple" (Mason) – 3:16
- "Coloured Rain" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:43
- "Hope I Never Find Me There" (Mason) – 2:12
- "Giving to You" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 4:20
- Mono bonus tracks from the US 2000 CD release
- "Paper Sun" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 4:15
- "Giving to You" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 4:12
- "Hole in My Shoe" (Mason) – 2:54
- "Smiling Phases" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:43
- "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 2:18
[edit] Original US album
- "Paper Sun" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:26
- "Dealer" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:13
- "Coloured Rain" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:46
- "Hole in My Shoe" (Mason) – 3:04
- "No Face, No Name, No Number" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:38
- "Heaven Is in Your Mind" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 4:22
- "House for Everyone" (Mason) – 2:05
- "Berkshire Poppies" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:59
- "Giving to You" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 4:18
- "Smiling Phases" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:44
- "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 5:33
- "We're a Fade, You Missed This" (Capaldi, Winwood) – :53
- Stereo bonus tracks from the US 2000 CD release (Heaven Is In Your Mind)
- "Utterly Simple" (Mason) – 3:17
- "Hope I Never Find Me There" (Mason) – 2:09
- "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 2:35
- "Am I What I Was or Am I What I Am" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:32
[edit] Credits
- Jim Capaldi – drums, percussion, vocals
- Dave Mason – guitar, mellotron, sitar, tambura, shakkai, bass guitar, vocals
- Steve Winwood – organ, guitar, bass guitar, piano, harpsichord, percussion, vocals, arrangements
- Chris Wood – flute, saxophone, organ, percussion and vocals, sleeve design
- Jimmy Miller – producer
- Eddie Kramer -- engineer
- John Benton Harris -- photography
- Margaret Goldfarb -- re-release coordinator
[edit] Versions
There are actually four different versions of the album when taking into account both the UK and US track listings and the different stereo and mono mixes. All have recently been re-issued on CD. The 1999 UK re-issue features the UK version in stereo and the US album in mono as bonus tracks. In 2000 the US stereo version was re-issued on CD with its original title Heaven Is In Your Mind plus stereo bonus tracks. The same year the original UK mono version was also released in the US as Mr Fantasy with mono bonus tracks.
[edit] External links
- Traffic's Traffic at allmusic.com
- Traffic at JimCapaldi.com
- Traffic at Music.com
[edit] References
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