The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys by Traffic

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, Traffic's fifth album, came out on Island in 1971 with Steve Winwood producing, and it's the sound of the reborn band stretching out and settling in. Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood had put Traffic back together once Blind Faith fell apart, the lineup had grown to take in Ric Grech and Rebop Kwaku Baah, and the grooves here lean on jazz as much as rock: long, loose and smoky.

The title track is the centerpiece, a slow-burning epic that FM radio played to death, while "Rock & Roll Stew" gave them a minor hit. It went over far bigger in America than at home, climbing to number 7 on Billboard's album chart and becoming their only platinum record in the US, yet it never charted in Britain at all. It also cemented Traffic's standing as one of progressive rock's leading bands.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.