In 1967 Steve Winwood left The Spencer Davis Group and formed a new band, Traffic. As he was undoubtedly the focus of the group (as lead singer, guitarist and keyboardist) it was questionable as to whether they could go on without him, but they did give it a go. Winwood's brother Muff also left at the same time to pursue a career as an A&R man at Island Records, leaving them without a bassist.
New members were hired, and founders Spencer Davis (rhythm guitar) and Pete York (drums) were joined by Eddie Hardin (keyboards/vocals) and Phil Sawyer (guitar/vocals). The first recordings the new lineup made were for the film Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush, which interestingly also featured music from Traffic. Sawyer didn't last long, and was soon replaced by guitarist Ray Fenwick.
In 1968 the band's first post-Winwood album was released. With Their New Face On was a mix of jazzy R&B and some dubious psychedelic pop, featuring both Sawyer and Fenwick on different tracks. Hardin handled most of the vocals. The one song of note was the bluesy "Don't Want You No More", which The Allman Brothers Band covered as an instrumental on their debut. However the album as a whole was obviously not going to replicate the successes the group had originally had with Winwood. The singles "Time Seller" and "Mister 2nd Class" got to #35 and #30 respectively, but after that there were no more hits.
Before long Hardin and York had both departed. Ray Fenwick led the band for long enough to record another album of his own compositions, but it was never actually released, and the band officially split in 1969.
Autumn '66 (1966) <|> Gluggo (1973)
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