(***) December 27, 1967. Eighth Studio Album.
This album is an enjoyable semi-acoustic tribute to a host of drifters, gangsters and various other misfits as they search for meaning in their lives. It is a departure from both the rollicking blues songs of prior albums, and also from the strictly acoustic, folksong-type statement songs of his early years. In many ways it is a precursor to the singer-songwriters of the ’70s like Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and the Eagles, or anything you may hear on Adult Alternative radio today. The sound, production and ebb and flow of the recording is excellent. There are no hits per se — although it does include “All Along The Watchtower,” a short concise recording which was forever changed by Jimi Hendrix a few months later — but the “Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” and “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” are my standout cuts.
#17…”The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” is a personal fave.