John Barleycorn Must Die is a 1970 album by English rock band Traffic. As did most of their albums, it featured many different genres of music including art rock, jazz rock, and many psychedelic influences. The album was initially intended by Steve Winwood to be a solo album, but when Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi joined him, it became Traffic once more. The album was originally dubbed "Mad Shadows". After recording the album early in 1970, it was released by Island Records and United Artists in July 1970. It became the first Traffic album to reach gold status.