Mr. Fantasy
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2008-07-10T22:00:14Z
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All Music Guide has now been rebranded to Allmusic
{{Infobox Album <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
| Name =Mr. Fantasy
| Type =studio
| Artist =[[Traffic (band)|Traffic]]
| Cover =MrFantasy.jpg
| Released =December, 1967
| Recorded =April - November 1967<br>[[Olympic Studios]], London
| Genre =[[psychedelic rock]]
| Length =33:54
| Label =[[Island Records|Island]]<br />[[United Artists Records|United Artists]]<br />[[Polydor]]
| Producer =[[Jimmy Miller (producer)|Jimmy Miller]]
| Reviews =* [[Allmusic]] {{rating-5|4}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:mi1ibks9hakv link]
*''[[Rolling Stone]]'' <small>(Not Rated)</small> [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/traffic/albums/album/115758/review/5946104/heaven_is_in_your_mind link]
| Last album =
| This album ='''''Mr. Fantasy'''''<br>(1967)
| Next album = ''[[Traffic (album)|Traffic]]''<br>(1968)
| Misc = {{Singles
| Name =Mr. Fantasy
| Type =studio
| Single 1 =[[No Face, No Name, No Number]]" b/w "Roamin' in the Gloamin' with 40,000 Headmen
| Single 1 date =1968, Island WIP6030
| Single 2 =
| Single 2 date =
| Single 3 =
| Single 3 date =
| Single 4 =
| Single 4 date =
}}
}}
'''''Mr. Fantasy''''' (not to be confused with "[[Dear Mr. Fantasy]]", the title song on this album) is the debut album by [[England|English]] [[rock band]] [[Traffic (band)|Traffic]]. It was released in 1967. For the recording, group members included [[Jim Capaldi]], [[Steve Winwood]], [[Chris Wood (rock musician)|Chris Wood]], and [[Dave Mason]], however Mason left the band before the album was released. The album reached the number 16 position in the UK album chart on 30th December 1967, and reached number 88 in the American ''Billboard'' charts.<ref>[http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=1942 Chart Stats]</ref>
==Overview==
Considered by far the strangest and most [[art rock]] style album that Traffic released, ''Mr. Fantasy'' didn't gain much more than a cult following for Traffic at the time. Critics seemed to like the album, though, and most said it was clear that Steve Winwood and Traffic were good at putting together semi-mainstream [[psychedelic rock]], except this album was not quite mainstream enough. By their next release, the eponymous [[Traffic (album)|''Traffic'']], the band was said to have worked through that.
This album features even more [[horn section|horn]]s, [[flute]]s, and less [[rock music|rock]]-style instruments than most of Traffic's future releases. The [[sitar]] was used much more in this album than any other later Traffic albums, undoubtedly because of Dave Mason's influence.
The first US version of the album on [[United Artists Records]] had a different title ''Heaven Is In Your Mind'' and a different cover that featured 3 members of the group without Dave Mason. The title was quickly changed back to ''Mr. Fantasy'' but the new cover remained until [[Island Records]] re-issued the UK version in the late 1970s.
For the original US edition the group changed the album substantially. The song order was changed and a short snippet of the group's November 1967 single "[[Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (Traffic song)|Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush]]" was added between most of the songs. The US LP also added three songs from the group's UK singles, "[[Paper Sun]]" and "[[Hole In My Shoe]]" and "Smiling Phases" (B-side) while deleting two Dave Mason songs "Hope I Never Find Me There" and "Utterly Simple." The final track on the US album "Were A Fade, You Missed This' is actually the ending of "Paper Sun" as it appeared in the earlier single. There are also many differences between the stereo and mono mixes for the album. Both the US and UK editions were released in stereo and mono.
The album was engineered by Phil Brown who when asked what was his favourite memory of engineering he responded: "Recording Dear Mr Fantasy, one o'clock in the morning, November 1967."
[http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/04/mark_hollis.html]
==Track listing==
===Original UK album===
# "Heaven Is in Your Mind" ([[Jim Capaldi]], [[Steve Winwood]], [[Chris Wood (rock musician)|Chris Wood]]) – 4:16
# "Berkshire Poppies" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:55
# "House for Everyone" ([[Dave Mason]]) – 2:05
# "No Face, No Name, No Number" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:35
# "[[Dear Mr. Fantasy]]" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 5:44
# "Dealer" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:34
# "Utterly Simple" (Mason) – 3:16
# "Coloured Rain" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:43
# "Hope I Never Find Me There" (Mason) – 2:12
# "Giving to You" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 4:20
#:'''Mono bonus tracks from the US 2000 CD release'''
# "Paper Sun" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 4:15
# "Giving to You" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 4:12
# "[[Hole in My Shoe]]" (Mason) – 2:54
# "Smiling Phases" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:43
# "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 2:18
===Original US album===
# "Paper Sun" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:26
# "Dealer" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:13
# "Coloured Rain" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:46
# "Hole in My Shoe" (Mason) – 3:04
# "No Face, No Name, No Number" (Capaldi, Winwood) – 3:38
# "Heaven Is in Your Mind" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 4:22
# "House for Everyone" (Mason) – 2:05
# "Berkshire Poppies" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:59
# "Giving to You" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 4:18
# "Smiling Phases" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:44
# "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 5:33
# "We're a Fade, You Missed This" (Capaldi, Winwood) – :53
#:'''Stereo bonus tracks from the US 2000 CD release (''Heaven Is In Your Mind'')'''
# "Utterly Simple" (Mason) – 3:17
# "Hope I Never Find Me There" (Mason) – 2:09
# "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" (Capaldi, Mason, Winwood, Wood) – 2:35
# "Am I What I Was or Am I What I Am" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) – 2:32
==Credits==
*[[Jim Capaldi]] – [[drum kit|drums]], [[percussion instrument|percussion]], [[singer|vocals]]
*[[Dave Mason]] – [[guitar]], [[mellotron]], [[sitar]], [[tambura]], [[shakkai]], [[bass guitar]], vocals
*[[Steve Winwood]] – [[organ (music)|organ]], guitar, bass guitar, [[piano]], [[harpsichord]], percussion, vocals, arrangements
*[[Chris Wood (rock musician)|Chris Wood]] – [[Western concert flute|flute]], [[saxophone]], organ, percussion and vocals, sleeve design
*[[Jimmy Miller (producer)|Jimmy Miller]] – [[Record producer|producer]]
*[[Eddie Kramer]] -- [[Audio engineering|engineer]]
*[[John Benton Harris]] -- [[photography]]
*[[Margaret Goldfarb]] -- re-release [[coordinator]]
==Versions==
There are actually four different versions of the album when taking into account both the UK and US track listings and the different stereo and mono mixes. All have recently been re-issued on CD. The 1999 UK re-issue features the UK version in stereo and the US album in mono as bonus tracks. In 2000 the US stereo version was re-issued on CD with its original title ''Heaven Is In Your Mind'' plus stereo bonus tracks. The same year the original UK mono version was also released in the US as ''Mr Fantasy'' with mono bonus tracks.
==External links==
*[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kpfuxq95ldke Traffic's ''Traffic''] at allmusic.com
*[http://www.jimcapaldi.com/Trafficalbum.htm ''Traffic'' at JimCapaldi.com]
*[http://music.com/release/traffic/1/ ''Traffic''] at Music.com
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Traffic}}
[[Category:Traffic albums]]
[[Category:Island Records albums]]
[[Category:1967 albums]]
[[Category:Debut albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Jimmy Miller]]
[[sv:Mr. Fantasy]]