With the exception of 1964's
Folk, Blues & Beyond
, this is
Graham
's finest non-compilation album. It's also his most fully arranged and rock-influenced effort, with backing by a meaty ensemble featuring
Danny Thompson
(of
Pentangle
) on bass and British blues stalwarts
Jon Hiseman
and
Dick Heckstall-Smith
(
Graham Bond
,
Colosseum
) on drums and sax respectively. Even
's singing sounds better than usual.
offers some decent blues, but more interesting are his frequent excursions into raga folk-rock of sorts, especially on
"Blue Raga"
(learned from
Ravi Shankar
Ali Akbar Khan
). The raga-jazz interpretation of
Joni Mitchell
's
"Both Sides Now,"
which moves from meditative opening drones into a freewheeling explosion of modal folk-rock is one of the highlights of
's career on record and one of the best expressions of his ability to make a standard his own. ~ Richie Unterberger