With selections by Love, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Earl Hooker, Robbie Basho, Aynsley Dunbar, Albert Collins, Ike & Tina Turner, Fred McDowell, Bossa Rio, Southwind, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

A totally hip instrumental album from Peter Walker – a Vanguard Records treasure that we'd rank right up there with the label's classics from Sandy Bull! Like Bull, Walker has a way of taking older folk instrumentation into richly psychedelic territory – working here on both the Indian sarod, and on acoustic guitar – both played in these long, modal styles – and mixed with light instrumentation from Jim Pepper on flute, John Blair on violin, and Jim Hotep on tabla. The songs are very spare, and very freewheeling – still with a rhythmic core, but also floating free to find their own energy too – but at a level that's not nearly as hippy-dippy as we make that sound! Walker's got these amazing sonic sensibilities – just like Bull – and titles include "Second Song", "Tear", "Southwind", "Barefoot", "Mixture", "Socco Chico", and "Circus Day". CD

Jim Pulte got his start in Southwind, but here as a solo act he's got a very different vibe – a style that might have gotten smooth AOR production a few years later, but which instead here has this kind of quirky mix of styles that comes across with a lot more character than you might expect! There's some surprising currents of funk on the record at times – maybe in part because Ben Sidran plays piano and organ, in a lineup that also includes Jesse Ed Davis on guitar and Leland Sklar on bass – musicians who set things up nicely with a blend of roots and groove, while Jim spins out his vocals on tunes that include "The Goose Flew Back", "Reno Street Incident", "Old Time Junkie", "Big Times", "Cry Sing & Laugh", "My Heart's On Sweet Rollene", and "Anything". LP, Vinyl record album