- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Despite running 12 minutes, the title song, “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” received a lot of radio play and is now one of Traffic’s best-loved songs.
Traffic – The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971): The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys – the front cover has the appearance of a three-dimensional cube that is enhanced by two corners being cut off in the initial pressings – is the fifth album by the English rock band Traffic and is the follow-up to Traffic’s comeback album John Barleycorn Must Die (1970) that was released after Blind Faith broke up. Barleycorn is their most successful album in the U.S., reaching #5 on the Billboard album charts. Traffic was founded in 1967 by Stevie Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason as a psychedelic rock band; Dave Mason left Traffic in 1968 to start a solo career. Traffic expanded their sound by incorporating jazz and other musical forms into their music, and by adding Mellotron, harpsichord, saxophone, sitar, and reed instruments.
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is the first album by Traffic to feature percussionist Anthony “Reebop” Kwaku Baah of Ghana; also on hand are Ric Grech of Blind Faith and Jim Gordon of Derek and the Dominos. Despite running nearly 12 minutes, the title song, “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” received a lot of radio play and is now one of Traffic’s best-loved songs. There are long instrumental passages in “Low Spark” with contributions by each bandmember, notably extended solos by Chris Wood on tenor saxophone, and by Stevie Winwood on piano, and also on Hammond organ as run through a fuzzbox. As to the other songs, they fit in well with the title cut; “Rock & Roll Stew” was a minor hit after being released as a single in the U.S. only.