Although
Blackburn & Snow were probably not allowed to reach their full potential due to various problems (not the least of them being a lack of record releases), this collection of 20 1966-67 recordings is only a little below the first tier of mid-1960s American folk-rock in quality. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a highlight and probably could have been a big hit. Almost on the same level are melodic Blackburn originals that could be ebullient ("Yes Today," "It's So Hard," "Every Day Brings Better Things"), spookily sad and folky ("Takin' It Easy," "Some Days I Feel You Lovin'"), or both high-spirited and hard-edged at once ("Do You Realize"). About a dozen of these songs have circulated on muffled lo-fi collector's tapes in the past, but the fidelity here is pristine. It's recommended to fans of early California folk-rock, the early
Jefferson Airplane being the closest reference point (though it's more like the 1966 Airplane than the 1967 model). It's also unusual for such a collector-oriented release in how it is both almost guaranteed to satisfy fans of classic folk-rock groups like the early Airplane, Byrds, and
Buffalo Springfield, but quite distinctive in approach and not explicitly derivative of any of the big names in the genre. ~ Richie Unterberger