When the Eagle Flies
Encyclopedia
When the Eagle Flies was the ninth and final album released by English
rock band Traffic
, in 1974, until their 1994 reunion Far From Home
. The album featured Jim Capaldi
on drum
s, keyboards and vocals; Rosko Gee
on bass guitar
; Steve Winwood
on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; and Chris Wood
on flute
and saxophone
. (Percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baah
was fired prior to the album's completion, but his contributions are heard on two of its tracks.)
When the Eagle Flies was the band's fourth consecutive studio album to reach the American
Top Ten and have gold album status. It was far less successful in the United Kingdom, where it entered the charts at number 31 only to drop off the following week. Traffic toured to support the release, but they disbanded in the middle of the tour in 1974.
The Chris Wood composition "Moonchild Vulcan" was recorded for the album, but ultimately left out in favour of "Memories of a Rock N' Rolla".
called the album uneven, saying that its bleak tone works superbly on "Graveyard People" and "Walking in the Wind", but elsewhere it often "turns anemic as a result of either a poorly conceived arrangement or inadequate production." However, they regarded the use of tighter and more concise songs as a promising change in direction for the band, and recommended the album based on the renewed strength of Winwood/Capaldi's songwriting and Winwood's work with the keyboards. Allmusic's retrospective review asserted the opposite: that the album indulged in long and meandering instrumentation more than any other work by Traffic, with even the vocals doing no more than "improvising his melodies over the music, paying little heed to the meaning of the words".
Production notes:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock band Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
, in 1974, until their 1994 reunion Far From Home
Far from Home
Far From Home, released in 1994, was the final studio album released under the name Traffic, and the first in two decades since the release of When the Eagle Flies in 1974....
. The album featured Jim Capaldi
Jim Capaldi
Nicola James "Jim" Capaldi was an English musician and songwriter. His musical career lasted more than four decades. He co-founded Traffic in Birmingham with Steve Winwood, and the band's psychedelic rock was influential in Britain and the United States...
on drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, keyboards and vocals; Rosko Gee
Rosko Gee
Rosko Gee is a Jamaican bassist who has played with the English band Traffic on their albums When the Eagle Flies and The Last Great Traffic Jam , with the supergroup Go conceived by Stomu Yamashta, which also included Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola, Klaus Schulze and Michael Shrieve, and with the...
on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
; Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; and Chris Wood
Chris Wood (rock musician)
Christopher Gordon Blandford 'Chris' Wood was a founding member of the English rock band Traffic, along with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Dave Mason....
on flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
. (Percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baah
Rebop Kwaku Baah
Anthony "Reebop" Kwaku Baah was a Ghanaian percussionist perhaps best known for working with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can.-Biography:...
was fired prior to the album's completion, but his contributions are heard on two of its tracks.)
When the Eagle Flies was the band's fourth consecutive studio album to reach the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Top Ten and have gold album status. It was far less successful in the United Kingdom, where it entered the charts at number 31 only to drop off the following week. Traffic toured to support the release, but they disbanded in the middle of the tour in 1974.
The Chris Wood composition "Moonchild Vulcan" was recorded for the album, but ultimately left out in favour of "Memories of a Rock N' Rolla".
Reception
Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
called the album uneven, saying that its bleak tone works superbly on "Graveyard People" and "Walking in the Wind", but elsewhere it often "turns anemic as a result of either a poorly conceived arrangement or inadequate production." However, they regarded the use of tighter and more concise songs as a promising change in direction for the band, and recommended the album based on the renewed strength of Winwood/Capaldi's songwriting and Winwood's work with the keyboards. Allmusic's retrospective review asserted the opposite: that the album indulged in long and meandering instrumentation more than any other work by Traffic, with even the vocals doing no more than "improvising his melodies over the music, paying little heed to the meaning of the words".
Track listing
All songs by Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi unless otherwise noted.- "Something New" – 3:15
- "Dream Gerrard" (Winwood, Vivian StanshallVivian StanshallVivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...
) – 11:03 - "Graveyard People" – 6:05
- "Walking in the Wind" – 6:48
- "Memories of a Rock N' Rolla" – 4:50
- "Love" – 3:20
- "When the Eagle Flies" – 4:24
Personnel
- Steve WinwoodSteve WinwoodStephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
– vocals, guitar, keyboards - Chris WoodChris Wood (rock musician)Christopher Gordon Blandford 'Chris' Wood was a founding member of the English rock band Traffic, along with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Dave Mason....
– flute, saxophone - Jim CapaldiJim CapaldiNicola James "Jim" Capaldi was an English musician and songwriter. His musical career lasted more than four decades. He co-founded Traffic in Birmingham with Steve Winwood, and the band's psychedelic rock was influential in Britain and the United States...
– drums, percussion, vocals on "Memories of a Rock N' Rolla", keyboards - Rosko GeeRosko GeeRosko Gee is a Jamaican bassist who has played with the English band Traffic on their albums When the Eagle Flies and The Last Great Traffic Jam , with the supergroup Go conceived by Stomu Yamashta, which also included Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola, Klaus Schulze and Michael Shrieve, and with the...
– bass - Rebop Kwaku BaahRebop Kwaku BaahAnthony "Reebop" Kwaku Baah was a Ghanaian percussionist perhaps best known for working with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can.-Biography:...
– percussion on 3 & 7 (uncredited)
Production notes:
- Chris BlackwellChris BlackwellChristopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
– producer - Nobby Clark – engineer
- Brian Humphries – engineer
- Jeff Willens – mastering
- Bill DeYoung – liner notes
- Martin Hughes – cover design
- Bill Levenson – reissue supervisor
- Monique McGuffin – reissue production coordination
- Vartan – reissue art director
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
31 |
| Billboard Pop Albums | 9 |