Following the success of
John Barleycorn Must Die,
Traffic planned a concert album for the fall of 1970, and it got as far as a test pressing before being canceled. A recording was necessary to satisfy the terms of British label
Island records' licensing deal with American label
United Artists, which had provided for five albums, of which four had been delivered. With
Island starting to release its own albums in the U.S., the
UA contract had to be completed, and hopefully not with the potentially lucrative studio follow-up to
John Barleycorn Must Die. Thus,
Traffic tried again to come up with a live album by recording shows on a British tour in July 1971. Joining for six dates of the tour was twice-dismissed
Traffic singer/guitarist
Dave Mason, who had subsequently scored a solo success with his
Alone Together album. The resulting collection,
Welcome to the Canteen (which was technically credited to the seven individual musicians, not to
Traffic), proved how good a contractual obligation album could be. Sound quality was not the best, with the vocals under-recorded and stray sounds honing in, but the playing was exemplary, and the set list was an excellent mixture of old
Traffic songs and recent
Mason favorites.
"Dear Mr. Fantasy" got an extended workout, and the capper was a rearranged version of
Steve Winwood's old
Spencer Davis Group hit
"Gimme Some Lovin'." Welcome to the Canteen's status as only a semi-legitimate offering was emphasized by the release, after a mere two months, of a new
Traffic studio album on
Island (
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys) that undercut its sales. But that doesn't make it any less appealing as a summing up of the
Winwood/
Mason/
Traffic musical world. ~ William Ruhlmann
