Let It Flow
	Produced by Dave Mason & Ron Nevison
	Released on April 1977
	US CHART POSITION #37
	Find it at GEMM
PC 34680 cover [high resolution photo]

I t occurs to me that Mason is a poor man’s Eric Clapton, and what with Clapton being a poor version of himself most of the time it leaves little room for Mason’s albums in the great hall of guitar-playin’ songwriters. Let It Flow is one of his more popular records, notable for the inclusion of “So High (Rock Me Baby And Roll Me Away),” “Let It Go, Let It Flow” and, of course, “We Just Disagree.” The latter is one of the better perennial ballads from the Seventies, while “So High” has aged about as well as “Afternoon Delight.” Really, little has changed since his eponymous 1974 album: bits of high-minded mysticism slip in (“Mystic Traveler” is the best of these), but so do mediocre genre exercises. As Trafficanelia goes (and I always see these things from the vantage point of prog), Let It Flow is a better bet to please than the work of Jim Capaldi (e.g., Whale Meet Again), but both are pedestrian by comparison. Mason likes to keep the mix varied, but too often strings tired idioms together rather than write good lyrics (e.g., “Then It’s Alright”), and what results are songs that sound remarkably average rather than clever. In fact, Mason seems to play just well enough to justify his next record; you have to wonder whether anyone would have signed him if he hadn’t been in Traffic. Not that Mason isn’t capable of catching your ear with an interesting track (“Takin’ The Time To Find”), it just doesn’t happen with any regularity. If these Mason reviews seem lackluster, I agree. Superlatives weren’t made for a man like Mason, whose muse was a workmanlike creature. Clapton could put his finger on the human condition, Harrison in the hand of God, and Mason seems to grope around just hoping to make a connection. Really, none of the ex-Traffic members lit a fire under my fanny. A reader once asked me to string together ex-Beatles’ songs to approximate the band in the post-Let It Be landscape (a request I’ve yet to honor, unfortunately), and I wonder if a similar exercise for Traffic wouldn’t be equally interesting. Then, as they say, you might have something.

PC 34680 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. SO HIGH (ROCK ME BABY AND ROLL ME AWAY)    (Mentor Williams/Jack Conrad)    4:07
2. WE JUST DISAGREE    (Jim Krueger)    3:00
3. MYSTIC TRAVELER    (Dave Mason)    5:00
4. SPEND YOUR LIFE WITH ME    (Angeleen Gagliano)    3:22
5. TAKIN' THE TIME TO FIND    (Dave Mason)    4:31
6. LET IT GO, LET IT FLOW    (Dave Mason)    3:15
7. THEN IT'S ALRIGHT    (Dave Mason)    4:14
8. SEASONS    (Angeleen Gagliano)    4:50
9. YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT NOW    (Dave Mason)    3:09
10. WHAT DO WE GOT HERE    (Jim Krueger)    4:21

CREDITS

Sorry, my elpee didn't come with an inner sleeve, so I can't give credit where it's due.

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