Paper Sun

For the song by Def Leppard, see Paper Sun (Def Leppard song).

"Paper Sun"
Single by Traffic
B-side"Giving to You" (Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood)
Released26 May 1967[1]
Recorded23–24 April 1967[2]
StudioOlympic, London
Genre
Length4:14 (UK single version)
3:22 (US single version)
LabelIsland WIP 6002 (UK)
Songwriter(s)Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood
Producer(s)Jimmy Miller
Traffic singles chronology
"Paper Sun"
(1967) 		"Hole in My Shoe"
(1967)

"Paper Sun" is a song by British rock band Traffic, and was released as their debut single on 26 May 1967.[6][1] It was a number 5 hit in the United Kingdom,[7] number 4 in Canada.[8]

An edited version peaked at number 70 on the Cash Box Top 100 chart in the United States.[9] This version was also released on U.S. copies of the band's debut album, Mr. Fantasy (early U.S. copies of the album had the alternate title Heaven Is in Your Mind).

The song was recorded at a nightly session, spanning between 23 and 24 April 1967. It was held at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London and produced by Jimmy Miller.[2] The song is famous for its sitar riff, played by Dave Mason, and its vocals by composer Steve Winwood. A black-and-white promotional film for the song was shot at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (AfricaMuseum) in Tervuren, Belgium.

The single's B-side, "Giving to You", features an opening vocal section with lyrics sung by Winwood. The B-side version was later released as a bonus track on a CD reissue of Mr. Fantasy. The song was later issued in a modified version (4:20) on Mr. Fantasy. The album version begins and ends with overdubbed spoken parts (probably by Chris Wood).[citation needed]

The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 2010 British film Made in Dagenham.

  1. ^ a b "New release from Nancy, Dave Clark, Smith, Dubliners, Winwood group" (PDF). New Musical Express: 9. 6 May 1967 – via WorldRadioHistory.
  2. ^ a b Welch, Chris (29 April 1967). "Stevie Winwood: First Single" (PDF). Melody Maker: 1 – via WorldRadioHistory.
  3. ^ Greenwald, Matthew. "Paper Sun - Traffic | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  4. ^ Segretto, Mike (2022). "1967". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. pp. 157–158. ISBN 9781493064601.
  5. ^ Gallucci, Ennio (24 February 2021). "Top 20 Psychedelic Rock Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  6. ^ Details @ Australian-charts.com Retrieved June 2009
  7. ^ Traffic in the UK Charts Archived 20 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Official Charts. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  8. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - September 9, 1967" (PDF).
  9. ^ Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press. p. 604.