A superb 68-minute collection of obscure and unreleased tracks from
Thompson
's career, covering late 1967 until April 1976. The album's first six tracks are devoted to
's career with
Fairport Convention
-- highlights include
"Throwaway Street Puzzle"
(the B-side of the single
"Meet on the Ledge"
), the
BBC
recording of
"Mr. Lacey,"
the
Liege and Lief
session outtake
"The Ballad of Easy Rider,"
Full House
"Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman,"
and
"Sweet Little Rock 'N' Roller"
from the
L.A. Troubadour
(
House Full
) concert tapes.
plays some sizzling guitar on these cuts, though
"Ballad of Easy Rider"
-- played here the way
Dylan
might've covered it on
John Wesley Harding
-- is more representative of
Sandy Denny
than
. The post-
Fairport
material includes an alternate arrangement of
"A Heart Needs a Home"
from
Hokey Pokey
, a beautifully sung live rendition of
"The Dark End of the Street"
(featuring one of
Linda Thompson
's best performances); their hard-rocking live rendition of
Jack Clement
's
"It'll Be Me"
; the exquisite solo acoustic guitar instrumental
"Flee as a Bird"
; and two epics,
"Night Comes In"
"Calvary Cross,"
featuring
and his band stretching out on-stage. Despite the existence of the triple-CD career retrospective, this disc still has enough prime rarities to rate as a must-own, even for casual fans. ~ Bruce Eder