Is there anything more awkward than a trio with four
members? Poor Jim McGuinn stands at arm’s length on the cover, and gets
buried in a shadow on the back, but the place he’s hidden best is on the record
itself, where he holds his banjo and . . . well, doesn’t do much. He whips up a
little jangle-fire on “Whup Jamboree,” but this generally staid music, Peak
Whitebread Pre-Dylan Folk with songs about the temperance movement and Lizzie Borden
and a super skier. “Dona Dona Dona” is pretty, and nothing's too terribly dire, but it probably felt
good for McGuinn to plug his guitar in and help lay this era to rest a few years later.
It was cool to see Bob Pollard producing and writing liner
notes, but then I looked closer and it was actually Bob Bollard, so, bummer
there. His notes call the crowd at this live show "wild," but it's important to remember, the Sixties hadn't happened yet.
