Comments for Traffic, Mr. Fantasy (US version)

Well, 99 times out of 100 espcially with The Beatles, the UK version of an album is better than the US version. "Mr. Fantasy" is a major exception to the rule. This was the only version of the album that I was familiar with for the longest time. It never occurred to me that some of the songs were unrelated UK singles - I mean, "Smiling Phases" (single) and "Coloured Rain" (from the album recording sessions eg. UK & CD version) sound very similar. The U.S. album replaces the 2 Dave Mason songs with 3 singles (*) that are on the "Paper Sun" CD. This US arrangement, plus the running order of the songs is by far better than the UK (and current CD) release. I wish Island would release this version. For those of you who still have turntables, or know what records are, you should go to a used record store & seek this out.

Driving home late last night, my mind wandered to "Dear Mr. Fantasy". Lovely song.....wish I knew all the words. Can you help? Thanks, Wanda

This version of the album seems to be RARE. Got one at a used record store for $15 in ''86, and was disappointed to find that "We''re A Fade" was nothing but the last :49 of the oft-truncated "Paper Sun".

The US version is now available on the UK CD version along with the original UK tracks. The US version has some better songs but one Mason track (I can't remember which one)was cut that I quite liked. The main problem though is that the US version is mono and the UK version is stereo!