"Dear Mr. Fantasy" is a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

song by

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

from their 1967 album, ''

Mr. Fantasy ''Mr. Fantasy'' is the debut album by England, English rock band Traffic (band), Traffic, released in December 1967. The recording included group members Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood (rock musician), Chris Wood, and Dave Mason; Mason t ...

''.

Jim Capaldi Nicola James Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he c ...

contributed the lyrics, while

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

and Chris Wood composed the music. In a song review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Lindsay Planer writes:

Dave Matthews David John Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is an American musician and the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band (DMB). Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved frequently between South Africa, ...

mentioned this song specifically as part of his speech inducting Traffic into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, and this is the song they played as part of that same induction.

Renditions

Traffic recorded an extended version (10:57) for their live album ''

Welcome to the Canteen ''Welcome to the Canteen'' is the first live album by English rock band Traffic. It was recorded live at Fairfield Halls, Croydon and the Oz Benefit Concert in the canteen of the Polytechnic of Central London London, on 3 July 1971 and released i ...

'' (1971). Winwood played the song at

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

's 2007

Crossroads Guitar Festival The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a series of music festivals and benefit concerts founded by Eric Clapton. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center in Antigua. The concerts showcase a variet ...

and the song appears on the festival DVD. Winwood and Clapton played the song on their joint tour; a live recording appears on the album '' Live from Madison Square Garden'' (2009). Planer also notes performances by

Mike Bloomfield Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrume ...

and

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s he was a prolific studio musician, including playing organ on the Bob Dylan song " Like ...

(1969, ''

The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper ''The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper'' is a double album recorded at the Fillmore West venue; the album is a successor to the studio album '' Super Session'', which included Stephen Stills in addition to Bloomfield and Kooper, ...

''); the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

(1980s–1990s), and Crosby, Stills, & Nash (1991, '' CSN'' box set).

References

{{authority control 1967 songs Traffic (band) songs Grateful Dead songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Songs written by Jim Capaldi Songs written by Steve Winwood