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Following the departure of Mason, Traffic released The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys ( 1971 ), which was a Top 10 American album but did not chart in the UK ; the LP is also notable for its striking die-cut cover.

It sold over half a million copies in 1972 when it received a gold disc, and was awarded a R. I. A. A.

platinum disc in March 1976 for over a million total sales.

Once again, however, personnel problems wracked the band as Grech and Gordon left the band in December 1971, and the month after, Winwood's struggles with peritonitis brought Traffic to a standstill.

Jim Capaldi used this hiatus to record a solo album, Oh How We Danced, which would prove to be the beginning of a long and successful solo career.

The album included a surplus recording from The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, " Open Your Heart ", and the new tracks featured drummer Roger Hawkins and bassist David Hood, from the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio house band.

Capaldi soon brought them on board to replace Grech and Gordon.