After spending the majority of his late-teen years being mistaken -- in the realm of audio -- for
Ray Charles
,
the Spencer Davis Group
's "little"
Stevie Winwood
found himself at the helm of one of the most promising and volatile bands of the late '60/early '70s,
Traffic
. The initial core foursome of
Winwood
Jim Capaldi
Dave Mason
, and
Chris Wood
successfully went from
psychedelic
art rockers
to
blues-rock
"jamathoners" without losing any momentum, cranking out both concise,
pop
-oriented radio singles (
"Paper Sun,"
"Dear Mr. Fantasy"
) and rambling epics (
"Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys,"
"John Barleycorn"
) with equal amounts of elegance and swagger. Despite numerous lineup changes, side projects, and endless clashes between
and
Mason
, the group lasted well into the '70s, a good chunk of which appears here on the double-disc, liner-note-heavy
Gold
. While previous
Island
collections like
Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection
dutifully cover the radio essentials,
provides both newbies and longtime fans with a fully stocked buffet of fan favorites and album highlights. ~ James Christopher Monger