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Amazon.com: This mid-'60s curio would have served as an introduction to two remarkable musicians had it not been buried in the vaults at Columbia Records from 1966 until 1992. Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder were two of the unfortunate Sons, who were briefly an L.A. club phenomenon. Neither man was in full possession of his talent, and the album (produced by Terry Melcher of Byrds fame) is more rewarding as an historical artifact than as a country-blues breakthrough. --Steven Stolder
Customer Reviews:
- not a trap for all taj & ry fans: The 1-star review overemphasizes the negative effect of Jesse Lee Kincaid's vocals on this album.
I'll be frank. Kincaid definitely is not a good singer. He kind of sounds like a less talented version of the Flying Burrito Brothers after Gram Parsons died (except he kind of tries to sound British on one song).
But on the flip side, Kincaid does not sing lead on half of the songs. And a couple of them, he actually pulls it together a little. So, what you end up with is about 15 of the 22 songs here being rocking r&b sung competently by Taj. Also, it's cool because this is a little different setting that Taj usually has.
The only other minor caveat you should know about this album before buying is that Ry Cooder hasn't really come into his own yet. Still good, but not awesome.
Overall, this album is worth it for Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder fans. - eramos tan jovenes, jejeje.....!!: valiosa edicion de Columbia Legacy rescatando del olvido las primeras experiencias de dos monstruos como ry cooder y taj mahal..versiones garageras de viejos blues, con el desparpajo y candidez de principiantes que con el tiempo daran que hablar..quien espere encontrar el original talento del ry y la aspera presencia del taj..no es el disco indicado..recuerden que se trata de grabaciones primerizas, donde apenas se vislumbra algo especial...como dato anecdotico, taj sobregrabo en 1992, las voces en dos de los 22 temas. buen documento historico, simpatico recuerdo!
- a gem in the rough, thumbs up!: Yes, it's loose and sometimes the vocals are out of tune, and it's not as studied and particular as the more well known Ry Cooder major label product. I dont care .... I like it a whole lot! Mining the same roots rock territory that Van Morrison was tapping into around '65, '66, before the influence of Hendrix, heavy blues, psychedelia etc - for better or worse. "Flying So High" even sounds like, ahem, Monkees! Cool by me. : )
- Ry and Taj in Their Garage: I've been a huge Ry Cooder fan for years and I like Taj Mahal, too. But I can't believe I bought this album. I was so excited to find it, and so disappointed when I listened to it. I couldn't listen to more than a few songs. It sounds like Ry and Taj as junior hight school students hacking away in their garage. There is some good guitar work, but that's it. The production is terrible. It just doesn't have the same tight zip that most of Cooders records have. Sounds like an amateur bootleg.
- this album rocks!: Don't let that negative reviewers' narrow idea of what "good" music is prevent you from discovering these genuine, energetic, rockin' songs. They're not all perfect, but it's worth obtaining a copy just to have tracks like If The River Was Whiskey, 2:10 Train and Sunny's Dream.
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