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 e...
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. Both the US and UK editions of the album were released in substantially different stereo and mono mixes.
For the original US edition the group changed the album substantially. The song order was changed and a short looping 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 “We’re A Fade, You Missed This’ is actually the ending of the full length version of “Paper Sun.” For most of the songs there are significant differences between the stereo and mono mixes. One song in particular, “Giving to You”, actually was released in 3 different versions, including similar mono and stereo versions from the U.K. album, plus a very different mono U.K. b-side mix, which also was later included on the U.S. mono LP. The special U.K. b-side mix includes lyrics sung my Winwood during the introduction which are not heard on any other version.
Credits
Design (Sleeve) – CCS Advertising Associates*, Chris Wood
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Jim Capaldi
Engineer – Eddie Kramer
Flute, Saxophone, Organ, Vocals – Chris Wood (2)
Guitar, Mellotron (Meletron), Sitar, Tambura, Other (Shakkai), Bass Guitar, Vocals – Dave Mason
Organ, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano, Harpsichord, Percussion, Vocals – Steve Winwood
Photography By – John Benton Harris*
Producer – Jimmy Miller
Recorded At – Olympic Sound Studios
Published By – Island Music Ltd.
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