Monday, August 20, 2012

New Riders of the Purple Sage-Oh What a Mighty Time

Oh What a Mighty Time
At the time that this recording was released, it received HORRENDOUS reviews from the critics and is listed as the "worst" release that the band had done to that point and maybe ever. I personally don't see it. I have been a NRPS fan from near the beginning and I love this album! I have been looking for this CD ever since I made the transition from vinyl to CD's.I had pretty much given up ever seeing this in CD. It has fun and joy that characterized the band. The songs are wonderful. I particularly love the musicianship in "Take A Letter Maria" It's my favorite track even though I would have liked to have it mixed so that the second verse was fully audible. Other personal favorites are Strangers on a Train and Farewell, Angelina. Give it a listen; you may be pleasantly surprised! The musicianship is excellent as it always was when Buddy Cage was on the pedal steel and Dawson and Nelson were up front. Skip Battin brought his (ill-fitting) Byrds like contributions co-written with Kim Fowley but after they dominated Brujo, Stranger on a Train was their only offering before he became the next to jump ship and Mike Love (I think) took over bass (and some song-writing) duties for 'Who are Those Guys' which, I must admit, is not anywhere near as fine as this album (so why did it get a CD release on Wounded Bird?)I have to note this is not the first CD release of the album. The excellent Cactus Juice combines Brujo, Oh, What a Mighty Time and Home, Home on the Road as a 2-CD package with a couple of bonus tracks and is well worth the coinage - that's where my (CD) version of this album is located.

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