1960S STYLE FOLK MUSIC

Peter Isaacson was a house act at Gerde’s Folk City (in NYC) beginning in 1967. He’s got a pleasing baritone voice, somewhat like Paul Stookey’s or Gordon Lightfoot’s. This 1971 issue had some success in Canada, but Issacson remained obscure in the US, later changed his name to Clay Canfield, and made a couple C&W (cowboyish) albums. Why? Because much of this material had been expertly interpreted by Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Peter Paul & Mary, etc; and by 1971 this sort of thing was passé. You can tell this was meant to be a demo: it’s quite spare (just voice & acoustic guitar), and he frequently names the song titles & writers at the start of tracks. (Tracklist on back cover is wrong; believe mine.)

FCC clean

1 ** “Both Sides Now” (Joni Mitchell) A sensitive reading w nice melodic tweeks (3:18)
2 “Blowin’ in the Wind” (Dylan) Competent, but play P,P&M’s version instead (2:38)
3 *** “Lalena” (Donovan) Deeply emotional singing, Spanish sounding guitar (2:37)
4 “Trouble in Mind” down-and-out blues is not in his wheelhouse (2:43)
5 “Just Like a Woman” (Dylan) weirdly retrograde, as though it came from Freewheelin’ rather than Blonde on Blonde. Play Richie Havens instead. (3:56)
6 *** “Ribbon of Darkness” (Lightfoot) Slow, sad. Fine singing & finger-style gtr (2:20)
7 * “I Shall Be Released” (Dylan) Slow. Passionate singing of popular prison song (2:43)
8 * “Black Sheep Boy” (Tim Hardin) A prodigal-son ballad, prettily done (1:48)
9 ** “Catch the Wind” (Donovan) Pretty but sorrowful song of a love out of reach (2:16)
10 “Affair on 8th Ave” (Lightfoot) Memories of a one night stand? A bit tedioius (3:11)
11 * “Long Way Back Home” (Lightfoot) Reflecting on a life lived with hardships (2:52)
12 “Girl from the North Country” (Dylan) The pathos is turned way up (3:12)
13 * “Friends of Mine” (Ian Tyson) A song about friendship, nicely sung & played (02:41)
14 “Suzanne” (Leonard Cohen) Nothing special about this version (4:57)
15 “Hoochie Coochie Man” (Willie Dixon) a blues standard done acoustic (03:53)
16 * “If I Were a Carpenter” (Hardin) A decent version despite a noticeable restart (3:51)
17 *** “Early Morning Rain” (Lightfoot) As good as the original; beautifully done (3:08)
18 ** “I Threw It All Away” (Dylan) Done with more emotion than Bob’s original (2:40)
19 ** “In My Time of Dying” (Blind Willie Johnson) Strong singing and vigorous guitar on this blues classic aka "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed." Match it with Led Zeppelin (3:31)
20 Isaacson tells the recording engineer that he’s made a mistake (0:10)