"The Circle Game," by Tom Rush (May, 1968)

Dad's Take:

You could call 1968 the year of the concept album, and this is another. This time, folk-rock singer Tom Rush follows a relationship from beginning to end.

Most of the songs on the album were written by others. Rush wrote two himself, but others come from such big names as Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and Charlie Rich. He might not have written most of the songs, but he combined them into a story and delivered them in his own style. Using so many cover songs was an interesting choice, considering Tom Rush's own songwriting talent. His two songs are among the best on the record, especially "No Regrets," which has become a standard, covered by several big-name artists.

This is one of those records that you have to put on and then sit back and listen. The poetic lyrics demand attention. And it's easy to give it. Like a lot of folk and folk-rock, the voice isn't the draw. Rush's voice is kind of a combination of Dylan and Lou Reed, with a little Gordon Lightfoot and a touch of Leonard Cohen mixed in, but it usually fits the songs fine. The draw is the songs and the messages behind them.

Some songs are a little jarring. For example, if you know James Taylor's version of  "Something in the way she moves," Rush's almost hyperactive musical arrangement feels more than a little odd. But for the most part, the album takes a mellow, enjoyable, and emotionally satisfying folk-rock approach.

I like the record best in its mellower moments, such as "Tin Angel" and "Urge for Going," both written by Joni Mitchell. The somewhat countrified old-school rocker "The Glory Of Love," written by Billy Hill and performed by people like Benny Goodman in the distant past, is fun, but sounds slightly overdone compared to most of the tracks.

Jackson Browne's "Shadow Dream Song" holds up well to the Tom Rush treatment. It's one of Browne's earliest songs and shows that he'll one day be a songwriting force to be reckoned with. It's one of the best songs on the record. I also really like Joni Mitchell's title song, "The Circle Game."

This record isn't a personal favorite, but when it's good, it's really good. I've gone to it a couple times in the last few months, when the mood has hit me. Usually I'll listen to a few songs, then move on to something else. But like most concept albums, it is best when listened to whole, despite a few weaker songs. Where it's weak, it's usually due to some production decisions that aren't to my taste, rather than the songs themselves, as in "Something In The Way She Moves." Overall, though, it's a solid album, a classic in its genre.

One additional note: the cover photo of Tom Rush and his girlfriend Jill Lumpkin was shot by photographer Linda Eastman, who later became Mrs. Paul McCartney.

Brad's Take:

The 60s were all about folk music that (to me) was very hit and miss. My tastes sway more to "miss" but I actually really liked this album by Tom Rush. I'd never heard of this guy before, but it's classic singer-songwriter/folky music, but the production and other instrumentation going on sets this apart a little bit from the rest of that era. It's not just an acoustic guitar and vocals. I always prefer multiple guitar tracks and other instruments in this kind of music.

Most of the songs kind of stay in a certain style, but "The Glory of Love" is a fun little early 60s pop-inspired tune. It's full of melody and even features background vocals by a female group. Not sure who it is though. This was one of my favorite songs from the album though. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.

Generally, I've found that most of folky stuff from the 60s all sounds kind of similar. This album was refreshing though. It has the classic popular folk style, but there's also a lot of other non-traditional parts throughout each song that makes it not as bland to me. Some might argue that a lot of these kinds of records were so stripped down is so you could focus on the story that the songwriter was telling through their lyrics. But I think that Tom Rush has the perfect balance of interesting music and interesting lyrics. I don't feel like the music takes away focus from the stories at all.

This is definitely a folky album that I don't have a hard time backing at all. Consider me a fan!

On a side note: Tom Rush's voice reminds me a lot of a singer-songwriter I like named Mark Kozelek (who is also the frontman of the bands Sun Kil Moon and The Red House Painters.) If you haven't checked him out, or his other bands, do it.

"Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison" by Johnny Cash (March, 1968)

Dad's Take:

You pretty much know what you're going to get from a Johnny Cash album. And this has exactly what you'd expect. We are releasing the 1999 reissue, which contains three more songs than the original release ("Busted," "Joe Bean," and "The Legend of John Henry's Hammer." There's also a 2008 Legacy Edition, which contains both shows Cash played that day, along with a DVD.

My mom had this album on a reel-to-reel tape and I listened to it often as a kid. So it brings back good memories. But you definitely have to like Johnny Cash to listen to this. The one knock on his unique sound is that it doesn't vary that much from song to song. Still, this deserves its classic status as one of the great live albums.

From the opening "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash" that leads into the classic "Folsom Prison Blues," through the rest of the 19 tracks, you get everything you want from the man in black. Whether he's singing standards like "Busted" or "Green Green Grass of Home" or showing his funny side in songs like  "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog" and "Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart," Cash provides a set list aimed squarely at the prisoners in the audience. His audience interactions are brilliant and personal. He's not afraid to sing about criminal acts, including drug use and murder, and even suicide by prison guard, topics some performers might shy away from, considering the audience. He sings about justice ("Cocaine Blues") and injustice ("Joe Bean"), and about missing the people back home, as well as the hardships of life behind bars, subjects close to his audience's hearts. And the inmates love it. They go nuts in several places on this record. The result is a live concept album, and it's a good one.

It's a lot of Johnny Cash in one sitting for me, but it makes it clear how he reached legendary status. His career was lagging before he released this record, without a hit for a few years, but it became a sensation and led to a new peak.

I was kind of dreading this one. I generally like my Johnny Cash in smaller doses. But I enjoyed the album more than I expected, and almost as much as I did as a kid. I remember his San Quentin album a little better with its tons of hits, but I like the concept album nature of this one more, I think.

Brad's Take:

I've never been a big Johnny Cash (which probably isn't very surprising, if you've followed our blog at all and realized that I'm not the biggest folk music fan) so, like my dad, I was kind of dreading listening to this too. Hence our two month hiatus.

The album kicks off with Johnny's low voice saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." This is definitely Johnny Cash. He's doing what he does and he's doing it well.

It's fitting for him to be performing these songs at a prison. His lyrics were probably never as relatable in any other setting. For example: "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" or "I took a shot of cocaine and shot my woman down."

The recording quality of this album is fantastic. It sounds clear and it's mixed very well. Sometimes live albums, especially older ones, are mixed terribly. Maybe this version we're listening to is remixed and remastered though. I'll have to find out. But regardless, I'm impressed with the quality.

In the end, I'm still not a Johnny Cash fan, but this is a fun performance. The overly-responsive crowd, Johnny $'s humor between songs (and sometimes in the middle of songs), etc. make this fun to listen to. But being a double disc album, it feels a little too long to me.

And thank goodness someone got the man a drink of water!

"Songs of Leonard Cohen" by Leonard Cohen (December 1967)

Dad's Take:

This is another album that shows that the list we're basing our reviews on comes from Britain, where this album charted much better than it did in the U.S. That said, I like Leonard Cohen and his songs.

The problem is, the album suffers from a sameness between songs that makes it hard to get through without getting bored, unless you listen very closely to the poetry Cohen sets to music. But that's kind of the point. This isn't an album for casual listening. It demands attention to Cohen's often poignant story poems set to music.

"Suzanne" is the obvious classic here, along with "So Long, Marianne," but the rest of the album is worth a listen, in the right mood. My favorite, beyond the two classics, is probably "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye." The acoustic music is played well throughout the album, but often doesn't differ much between songs, although if you listen closely there are interesting things happening in the arrangements. Cohen's droning chanting of his poems also doesn't change a lot from song to song, but he's easier to listen to here than in later albums when his voice became little more than a deep growl.

When I listen to my collection on shuffle, I always enjoy the Cohen songs when they pop up. Listening one or two at a time is a great experience. So is listening to a career-spanning collection, where his voice and music change over the years. Unfortunately, by the time I reach the end of this album when listening to the entire thing--which I've done several times because, when it comes down to it, I'm a sucker for stories about strange, sad people-- I become somewhat numb and don't give the songs the attention they deserve. It gets better with repeated listenings, when the subtle differences between songs start to pop a bit more and it becomes more clear how much is going on in each of these songs.

If you like story songs and poetry, check this one out. If you want a good beat, this isn't your album. And if you're looking for something to party to, an album of mellow, depressing stories isn't right for you. Well, at least not until you're wasted and everything sounds deep.

All that might not sound like much of an endorsement, but I like this album. The stories are good if you can keep your attention focused, and the musical arrangement are actually more varied and interesting than they sound the first time you listen or if you don't listen closely. This might not rank up there with my favorite albums, but when heard at the right time, I really enjoy it.

Brad's Take:


"Suzanne" is such a pretty song. I love everything about it. The female background vocal on the chorus was especially great. "So Long, Marianne" and "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" are also really great. And again, the background vocals really help make these songs shine for me. I don't know who she is, but she has a really pretty voice.

I wouldn't say there's any bad songs on this record, but there aren't a lot of songs that I love individually either. However, I really like the overall mellow feel I get from listening to the album as a whole. I don't think I would like it this much every day, but this evening it's hitting the spot. It's definitely a mood record, and right now my mood is: Sleepy.

Most of the songs on this album are basically two songs. The casual listener who just listens to this as background music or something will probably just hear Leonard's voice and an acoustic guitar on most of these songs. But those who put on headphones and give this record a focused listen will hear a lot of other instruments that kind of hide out in the background a little bit. The production on this album carries every song perfectly. It never overshadows the actual skeletons of the songs, but it puts just enough meat on the songs for it to be attractive to the ears.

"Surrealistic Pillow" by Jefferson Airplane (March, 1967)

Dad's Take:

This is Jefferson Airplane's second album, but it's the first after the band was joined by drummer Spencer Dryden and vocalist Grace Slick, one of the sixties' most recognizable voices. It is also the first major success to come out of the San Francisco counter-culture scene.

The album's first track, "She Has Funny Cars," makes a good opener, but the record doesn't get going until the second song, "Somebody To Love," which gets my vote for one of the greatest rock and roll singles ever. I love that song. Paired with side two's "White Rabbit," "Somebody To Love" cements Grace Slick's reputation as an icon.

Almost everything about this song is first rate. A driving rhythm section, amazing vocals, great guitar work, hippy lyrics, and an overall upbeat counter cultural feel opened the floodgates for other bands from San Francisco. Together with LA bands like The Byrds and The Mamas and Papas, this music invited the peace and love crowd to come to San Francisco for a summer of love, with the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets and ground zero. That area eventually became a sad disaster zone, but for one short period, it was something beautiful.

"Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit" aren't all this album has to offer, although they'd be enough. I've always had a tender spot for "Today," with it's great lead vocal by Marty Balin. Jorma Kaukonen's guitar work on "Embryonic Journey" is a classic of acoustic psychedelia. And I also really enjoy Balin's "Plastic Fantastic Lover." "Comin' Back To Me" also has a marijuana-fueled beauty that shows off the band's softer side. Grace Slick gets most of the attention--and deserves it--but Marty Balin's vocals are also a major part of the band's sound, a psychedelic instrument in their own right. "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds" is a another great example of the Airplane's sound, every bit as good as the record's pair of massive hits.

The version I have of this album includes several bonus tracks. Although we've tried to stick pretty much to reviewing the albums in their original form, I can't help commenting on the great blues track, Kaukonen's "In The Morning." (Brad will love the re-emergence of his favorite instrument.) The song just plain rocks. Sure, it doesn't exactly fit the sound of the album, which is probably why it was left off, but MAN! what a great tune. Same with the Paul Kantner rocker "Go To Her." There are two more bonus songs (and an instrumental hidden track), plus mono single versions of "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit." In this case, the bonus tracks really do enhance the original record. It doesn't always work that way.

I don't listen to this album enough. Whenever I do, I'm reminded just how great it is. There's really nothing here I don't like. It takes the LA folk rock and adds a generous twist of San Francisco's counter-culture (ahem) "fog," and the result is one of the best albums of the sixties.

Brad's Take:


Going into this album, I felt a bit pessimistic. 60s hippy rock music isn't typically my favorite, but by the third track, I was feeling pretty good about it! There's something about Surrealistic Pillow that is different than other albums of the same era/genre. It's got nice equal doses of just about everything from the era, and I like that. It's not overwhelmingly hippie-ish, but it's also not just a 60's rock record.

There were only a couple songs that I didn't really like as much as others, but to me, that's really surprising. Even the slow folky songs like "Comin' Back to Me" were interesting to me. Maybe it was because of "spiritual leader's" Jerry Garcia's fancy guitar playing. If it's even him. There's controversy about if Jerry Garcia contributed to this album at all. Garcia apparently even suggested the album title, but who knows. I'll need to research that stuff a little more.

But all in all, I was pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment of this album. It's got everything from folky acoustic tracks to fast rockin' songs to blues jams. I'd say this album encompasses the 60's perfectly. It makes me dislike the 60's a little bit less.

"Blonde On Blonde" by Bob Dylan (May, 1966)

Brad's Take:

As you probably know by now, Bob Dylan and I don't have the best relationship together. We've listened to a small handful of his albums so far, and I have only liked one of them. Highway 61 Revisited. Since listening to and reviewing that album, I have become a little bit more welcoming to his style of music.

In our book that we're taking all of these albums out of, I read that this was the first rock and roll double-album. I believe it was also the first album to have only one song on the D-side of the record, because the song was so long. In fact, the whole album is long! It's only 14 songs, but it clocks in at just under 73 minutes. It didn't really feel like that long though, in retrospect.

I really enjoyed "One Of Us Must Know." The way it builds up into the choruses reminded me a little bit of Mr. Dylan's hit "Like A Rolling Stone." The upbeat poppy rhythm of "I Want You" was a nice surprise. What I liked most about that song though was the organ's catchy lead melody that plays during the choruses. It fits the song's subject really well. I really like the use of organ on this album.

Maybe I just hate the instrument itself, but Bob Dylan makes the harmonica even worse somehow by using it as a weapon against my ears. "Pledging My Time" had a harmonica solo that almost killed me with its overly drawn out high pitched notes. Maybe it's his way of getting back at me for disliking most of his music.

"Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again" is a perfect example of what I don't like about Bob Dylan's vocal style. It's unique, and it's not that hard to get used to, but this song sort of made it bother me a little bit extra.

As a whole, I liked Highway 61 Revisited a bit more, but this album comes in close second. There are a couple songs that were hard to get through because they were so long, but I liked enough of this record that I can say that I'll listen to it again soon.

Dad's Take:

When anybody asks me about my three favorite albums of all time, I always mention this as one of them. In fact, it's one of the two that are most solidly in place. I usually say Blonde on Blonde is my number two, but it's a pretty close second.

The difference between first and second place is that my first choice, which we'll be reviewing very soon, is a much more personal record. For Blonde on Blonde, it's purely artistic. I love most of the songs. This is Dylan at his poetic best, the lost clown struggling to make sense of a world that defies logic.

There are classic hits here, namely "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," "I Want You," and "Just Like A Woman." There's also one of Dylan's best-realized compositions, "Visions of Johanna." And, there's the song that turned me from a Dylan's-greatest-hits fan to a full-album fan, "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," easily one of my top five or six Dylan tunes. (I've never actually made such a list, but if I did, I'm sure this would be up there. Funny that Brad chose this particular song as an example of what he doesn't like about Dylan, when it's a prime example of what I love--playful lyrics full of allusions and humor, a song where you're never quite sure what he's trying to say but you know that, whatever it is, you like it. And I love how it always seems like the song has finally reached its end, only to keep on a-goin'.

There's also the fun, bluesy "Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat," the thoroughly enjoyable "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)," "Absolutely Sweet Marie, the brilliant Chicago Blues of "Pledging My Time" with its classic blues harmonica--I can list almost every song on this lengthy album as a highlight.

The closest thing to a downside is the epic "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." I like this song a lot too, but it's a little too dirge-like for a 14 minute song. I don't mind the length, but, for me, a song this long needs changes and other effects to hold up. There are a few times where Dylan himself seems to be yawning the words. But if you really listen, it's a pretty amazing piece of work--just hard to listen to if you're not in the mood to put in the effort. Put in the effort, though, and the song is among Dylan's best poetry.

This has been my number two favorite album for a long time. Records move in and out of the number three spot (although it always comes back to another album we're reviewing soon), but one and two are firmly entrenched.

I should also mention another record here. I'm not usually wowed by tribute albums (although I buy them now and then), but Blues on Blonde on Blonde is a terrific little collection, containing all but two songs from the original album. It does what a good tribute album does: provide an enjoyable listening experience in its own right while giving you new insights into the songs that help you enjoy the original even more. It also has what may be my favorite cover song ever, the gorgeously heart-breaking rendition of "Just Like A Woman" by Eric Bibb. If you enjoy Blonde on Blonde or feel like the songs are great but you find Dylan himself difficult, seek out this collection. I'm betting that it will make you a bigger fan of Dylan's original work, and renew your confidence in tribute albums at the same time.

"Joan Baez" by Joan Baez (October, 1960)

Dad's Take:

It's interesting to follow an established folk trio with the debut from one of the quintessential new breed of folk singer who arose in the early sixties. Joan Baez signaled the new era of the bare bones solo singer-songwriter (a little ironic since the songs are mostly folk standards, not Baez originals).

This album was recorded in a hotel room, with Baez, her guitar, and guitarist Fred Hellerman. It exhibits the folk sincerity that is sometimes parodied when people make fun of folk, but the performances are strong. Where blues and jazz records might conjure up the feel of a smoky bar room, this style of folk evokes a Greenwich Village coffee shop, full of beatniks and soon-to-be hippies, navel gazing and trying to out-deep each other in conversation. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Baez has that prototype young woman singer-songwriter voice that continues to this day. It's not one of my favorite voices, but it works perfectly with the songs and simple arrangements of the material. Her best work was yet to come, but this record is a solid announcement that a new musical force had arrived. This doesn't feel like a debut. In classic folk songs like "Donna, Donna," "Wildwood Flower," and "House Of The Rising Sun," the 19-year-old Baez performs with confidence and sincerity, opening the door for the great new folkies of the sixties.

Brad's Take:


This sounds like it was recorded today. I had to double-take that it really was released in 1960. Like my old man said, her vocal style is copied in a lot of today's female fronted folk music. It, too, isn't my favorite vocal style ever, but it works for what it is. VibratoOoOoOoOoOoOo! I can see the flower people poking their heads out from behind the trees wondering what this new sound they're hearing is.

I have never been a big fan of singer-songwriter kind of folk music. I'd take the Kingston Trio over this any day. I didn't love this album. I didn't even like it, really, but I can see why it is a classic album. It's a style that was new and fresh at the time, but became a leading one near the end of the 60s.

It isn't bad. It's just not my cup of tea. All the new-school indie kids and hipsters would love it though.