HOLE IN MY SHOE (1967) by Traffic (incredible stereo mix)

I bought this single when it came out (Smiling Phases was the ’B’ side). This song was written and sung by Dave Mason, rather than Steve Winwood who did most of the singing for the band. Interestingly, Dave said it was the first song he wrote and that it was like a nursery rhyme. He said he had not tried LSD at the time he wrote the song (many thought it was influenced by that drug). Francine Heimann was the six year old girl who did the spoken part in the middle of the song. She was the stepdaughter of Island Records boss Chris Blackwell. Winwood had success as a musician prior to joining Traffic, becoming the frontman of the Spencer Davis Group at age 15 in 1963. Winwood met drummer Jim Capaldi, guitarist Dave Mason, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Wood when they jammed together at The Elbow Room, a club in Aston, Birmingham. After Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group in April 1967, the quartet formed Traffic. Soon thereafter, they rented a cottage near the rural village of Aston Tirrold, B