When Nelson, a consistently big seller in the late 50s and early 60s, launched a comeback on the back of the million-selling Garden Party single in 1972, there were high hopes for his revived career. The remainder of the decade brought little commercial success, however, despite the pleasing soft country-rock gathered together in this compilation.
In many instances, he perhaps follows the shuffling acoustic template of Garden Party too closely; it pays dividends on the whispered take on Bobby Darin’s Dream Lover and the title track (penned by British duo Gallagher & Lyle), but his cover of John Fogerty’s Almost Saturday Night lacks the cacophonous clout of the original.
Nelson’s warm voice is given room to breathe by uncluttered arrangements and sympathetic production (often with Al Kooper behind the mixing desk). He touches base with his rock’n’roll roots on a toe-tapping rendition of Buddy Holly’s Rave On, and is in especially fine hillbilly form on the self-penned Something You Can’t Buy.
