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Remembering Jim Capaldi: Co-founder of Traffic Leaves a Signficiant Legacy
A musical giant has passed from this earth. Jim Capaldi was a big reason I even became a musician in the first place. He was the epitome of the Traffic lyric "The spirit that no one destroys". His drumming was always inventive and first-rate but he stepped from the drummers chair on a couple of Traffic's many incarnations to let other great players fill the spot. He stayed in the band however, on percussion and second lead vocal (to Steve Winwood). Jim also had an interesting solo career as a vocalist, both before and after Traffic. He was sort of a Traffic "fan" himself...he really loved the band and loved being part of it. His spirit was a huge part of the mix...he kept that spirit alive even after band mate Chris Wood passed away in 1983. Jim Capaldi's lyrics are among the best in rock music. He was one of the great, prophetic lyricists. His sage lyrics were inspired by ancient myths and the connectivity between nature and the spirit. They speak of the evils of money and the artist's journey toward truth. No, we
wont see another of his kind again and he shall be dearly missed. Thanks Jim,
for the music and for the spirit that no one destroys.
He was one half of a writing team (Winwood/Capaldi) that penned everything from the psychedelia of the '60s Paper Sun through honing the standard groove rock staple, which stands to this day, Dear Mr. Fantasy. When Traffic returned in '70 with the acoustic guitars on John Barleycorn Must Die, a whole new genre was introduced where the organ and percussion were turned up in the mix along with the guitars, saxes, flutes, and drums. Capaldi,
being both a percussionist and a drummer, was feeding the world music quotient
into Winwood's stellar compositions. Long, dreamy songs and short to-the-point
bits of feeling. From
Low Spark and Rock and Roll Stew (where Capaldi's lead vocals became
an eventual FM radio staple) through Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory or
Dream Gerrard or Walking In The Wind to instrumentals like the '94
piece Mozambique, there was no end to the musical styles or creations. At the
young age of 60, when JC passed away on January 28, Capaldi sealed the fate of
Traffic (who was to reunite this year, for the first time since '94 and last
year's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). His ability to cross all styles of music (even touring in the '70s with Island label mate Bob Marley, whom he was excellent friends with) has been one of the hidden treasures in rock music history and one musician we can still gather inspiration from forever. When I was helping put the seed together for Muddy Gumbo back in '99, it took us a year to figure out we didn't sound like any one thing that we originally thought (we all brought to the table so many different influences). We eventually realized we were more like Traffic with our percussionist Squirrel out front singing part of the time and playing at matching volume with my guitar. Sometimes you don't realize what you have and there's always something out there. Then you get hit across the head with a part of history like that... Either way, Jim Capaldi will remain an inspiration, not only to me and us, but for generations of musicians to put together a vibe of musical styles based on unique song form and improvisation. Acoustic and electric. Father, family man, friend of the world, songscribe, man of universal musical inspiration, thank you for sharing yourself with us all. You will never be forgotten and you will continue to be heard forever.
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