Gordon Jackson's only album sounds a little like a
Traffic LP with a singer who isn't in the band. The similarity is really no surprise, since
Traffic men
Steve Winwood,
Dave Mason,
Jim Capaldi, and
Chris Wood all played on the record, and
Mason produced. Other notables with connections to the
Traffic family tree or Marmalade label also appeared, including
Luther Grosvenor;
Rick Grech,
Jim King, and Poli Palmer of
Family; and
Julie Driscoll. There's a languid, minor keyed jazz-folk-psychedelic vibe to the songs, which have a meditative, spontaneously pensive air, appealingly sung by
Jackson. Touches of Indian and African music are added by occasional tabla and sitar. What keeps this from being as memorable as
Traffic or some of the other better late-'60s British psychedelic acts is a certain meandering looseness to the songs that, while quite pleasant, lacks concision and focus. That was a quality also heard in the album from the same era by fellow Marmalade artist Gary Farr,
Take Something With You, and while
Thinking Back is better and more original than Farr's effort, the songs are more interesting mood pieces with a yearning, mystic tone than they are outstanding compositions. At times this is like hearing psychedelic sea shanties (as on "My Ship, My Star"), such is the lilt of the tunes, though hints of blues and more playful pop-psych whimsy are heard in cuts like "Me and My Dog." ~ Richie Unterberger