Rock democracy has a pretty checkered history, unless you
consider Stu Cook a songwriter on par with John Fogerty or want to hear some
random guy sing about his air mattress on a Conor Oberst album. When Roger
McGuinn undertook a songwriting democratization on his third solo album,
however, rather little was at stake; his first two albums were already awash in
hired-hack-written tunes. Plus, they were both mediocre at best, so what was
bringing the boys from the band in gonna do, wreck a winning streak?
Hardly. The backup dudes hold their own against McGuinn,
though it’s a lightly stacked balance beam on both ends (still better than the
first two solo albums, admittedly). Bassist Stephen Love opens with the slick,
radio-ready “Somebody Loves You,” and while the other guys bog down side 1 with
songs about a dog and painted ladies (they represent better on side 2), they’re still closer to quality than
McGuinn’s soggy run through “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Plus, the fearless leader is reduced to
retrieving his own “Lover of the Bayou” from the opening-track slot on a
5-year-old Byrds album, hardly plucked from obscurity but rather reeking of
desperation. At least it has a fiery guitar solo, rare proof that McGuinn was
awake for at least one moment in the 1970s.
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