Dave Snaker Ray
split his second album about evenly between his own compositions and covers of songs from the likes of
Sleepy John Estes
,
Arthur Crudup
, and
Leroy Carr
. It's a tribute to
Ray
's feel for
traditional blues
styles that it's not easy to tell the originals from the covers, though overall it's just an average, if respectable, album. He accompanies himself on 12-string guitar on this set of
acoustic blues
, playing harmonica on his
"Tribute"
to
Sonny Boy Williamson II
, piano on the closing
"Born to Surrender,"
and singing a one-minute snatch of
Mose Allison
's
"Young Man"
a cappella
. The LP usually has a slow, relaxed ambience that sometimes gets a little too low-energy after a few songs at a time. Some of the highlights include his bottleneck guitar on
"West Egg Rag"
and his unusual, almost
raga
-tinged guitar work on
"Baby Please Don't Go,"
which in spots is rather reminiscent of the approach
Davy Graham
used in England on
"Blue Raga."
Future
Rolling Stone
editor
Paul Nelson
produced. ~ Richie Unterberger