Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die (1970)

[Album 672/1001]

Question: during the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, who was in the band?

Let’s see, there was Prince of course.

And Tom Petty sang.

Then there was George Harrison’s son & Jeff Lynne from ELO.

I think that’s…oh, and the video title says Steve Winwood is up there too? Is that him, maybe playing the organ?

Though he’s listed third in the video title, I don’t seem to notice him during the performance. Yet if his organ part was actually missing, there would be a glaring hole in the song.

Perhaps I got distracted by everything else going on (just where did Prince’s guitar go?!)…or perhaps Winwood’s lack of front & centre visibility may be evidence of his greatness.

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There’s a chance Steve Winwood is the Niklas Lidström of the music business.

You’d be forgiven for not being familiar with Lidström as outside of the world of hockey, he’s hardly a household name. Throughout his 20 years of service in the NHL, you could even argue he was barely noticeable on the ice.

Though not because of any skill deficiency; on the contrary, he was so sound positionally, always making the right play from the right place at the right time, that his flashier teammates would be the ones featured on highlight reels.

Sometimes the greats have a knack for sharing the spotlight. Even though he served as the Captain & undisputed defensive leader of the team, his contributions made those around him better.

Unsurprisingly, with such a talented leader at the helm, the team enjoyed unparalleled success, qualifying for the playoffs every year of his career.

However, since his retirement, his absence has been painfully visible in Detroit. Without him, the team has tumbled to the bottom of the league standings.

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Does John Barleycorn Must Die support or disprove the Winwood = Lidström theory?

Although my theory is beyond under-researched (at least for the Winwood part of the equation), I’d say the Traffic album doesn’t completely disprove the notion. Not immediately, at least!

Although Winwood wrote/co-wrote or arranged each of the tracks, he doesn’t necessarily give himself all of the flashiest parts.

I found that on the first two tracks, rather than noticing Steve Winwood, I was captivated by the Woodwin(d) player.

Like Niklas, Steve wasn’t completely invisible of course. From time to time, you can’t help but notice his versatile playing, with his acoustic guitar work on the title track being a particularly noteworthy/noticeable performance.

Overall, based on this extremely small/almost certainly unrepresentative sample size, I’m pleased my theory (that great musicians can be more effective by being noticed less) isn’t entirely invalid just yet!

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Verbalize the Positive

For my school’s Girls Ice Hockey Team, we give out a Nicklas Lidström award (for best decision-making/quiet leadership/positional play) at the year end lunch party – it’s likely my favourite award, as those types of players are so valuable & typically so underappreciated!