The trio's 16th album is an engaging collection of
John Stewart originals interspersed with a handful of joint compositions and arrangements and two outside numbers. Whatever the makeup of the songwriting, the album is one of the trio's best, a sinewy, exciting collection of performances that yielded the
John Stewart-era trio's biggest hit, "Reverend Mr. Black," which made number eight on the charts nationally (and featured the banjo playing of
Glen Campbell), but also embraced serious issues ("Road to Freedom") and history ("Mark Twain"), off-Broadway theater ("Try to Remember"), and traditional folk sentiments at their most lyrical and bracing ("Run the Ridges"). The group even found room to fit in a version of "La Bamba" that couldn't sound much less like the
Ritchie Valens hit. This was the trio's last great album for Capitol Records. It was reissued in April 2000 paired with
Sunny Side!. ~ Bruce Eder