had a turbulent 1976. Still digging himself out of the dark period that produced his "Ditch Trilogy" -- the weird, gnarled records he made when he decided to steer away from the middle of the road that was a possible tributary from the success of "Heart of Gold" -- began to see a new dawn on , a 1975 reunion with . Not long after its release, reunited with his old bandmate to record , an album credited to the , but this union proved to be short-lived. ditched a month into their tour, headed back to California to record an acoustic album called , which he decided not to release. Instead, he took out that November, acting as his own opening act via an acoustic set that preceded the electric blowout. Released 42 years after that November jaunt, collects 23 highlights curated by journalist and photographer , who tagged along on the tour. recorded the concerts for his own pleasure and that provides the source material for . What's striking about these performances is how loose and relaxed -- even happy -- seems. A far cry from the haunted, hazy , is spry and sly, the songs sounding charged and muscular even when they're sung with no greater support than an acoustic guitar (and, on occasion, an organ). cracks jokes and sings with vigor, alternating between staples from his songbooks and test-driving new tunes. Among the latter is "White Line," which later showed up on 1990's , and "No One Seems to Know," which sees its first official release on this album. That alone makes of interest for diehards, but what really makes this collection worthwhile is how these robust performances put the lie to the notion that acoustic is sad, sensitive . ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine