Mixed Bag
Artist: Richie Havens

Richie Havens' finest recording, Mixed Bag captures the essence of his music and presents it in an attractive package that has held up well. A close listen to lyrics like "I Can't Make It Anymore" and "Morning, Morning" reveals sadness and loneliness, yet the music is so appealingly positive that a listener actually comes away feeling uplifted.... Read More

Patrick Sky
Artist: Patrick Sky

Sky was one of the numerous folky singer-songwriters to be placed in the new Dylan camp during the '60s (and, for that matter, ever since). Although the comparison with Dylan is basically unfair, and his talents were not without modest charms, they didn't measure up to Dylan in the slightest. On this 1965 debut, Sky did present a mixture of... Read More

Our Mother the Mountain
Artist: Townes Van Zandt
Community Score: 8.00
The New Christy Minstrels' Greatest Hits
Artist: The New Christy Minstrels

This 11-song album illustrates the conundrum surrounding the New Christy Minstrels and the way they've been presented over the decades. Issued in the second half of the 1960s, when it was intended to appeal to the same audience that was buying records by the Ray Conniff Singers (et al), The New Christy Minstrels' Greatest Hits encompasses both... Read More

Stay Awhile
Artist: The Kingston Trio

As they did with the Nick-Bob-John album, Folk Era has gone back and added the trace of Capitol Records echo-chamber ambience that lent the group's Capitol-era recordings their special resonance. This was a pretty strong album to begin with, some strong songs by Tom Paxton ("Where I'm Bound," "Bottle of Wine") and Rod McKuen ("Rusting in the... Read More

Sings Beatles & Dylan
Artist: Richie Havens
Community Score: 8.50

Richie Havens is probably the only '60s icon who could get away with an album like this without apology. But for the presence of the electric keyboards, synth bass, and '80s-style drums, these performances by Havens could easily have appeared 18 years earlier. His performances of "Here Comes the Sun," "If Not for You," "Strawberry Fields... Read More

Precious Friend
Artist: Arlo Guthrie

Recorded in late summer of 1981, Precious Friend, the second of Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger's live collaborations, is pretty much what you would expect. Seeger is his usual folksy self, leading the crowd through a series of folk tunes ranging from the traditional African chant "Wimoweh (Mbube)" to Harry Chapin's "Circles," while Guthrie mixes... Read More

Diamonds & Rust
Artist: Joan Baez
Community Score: 8.33

With the Vietnam War winding down, Joan Baez, who had devoted one side of her last album to her trip to Hanoi, delivered the kind of commercial album A&M Records must have wanted when it signed her three years earlier. But she did it on her own terms, putting together a session band of contemporary jazz veterans like Larry Carlton, Wilton... Read More

The Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie

Sainte-Marie pursued a variety of musical styles, from folk to country to experimental rock, and all are represented on this wide-ranging double-record compilation. It doesn't all work, but there are some terrific songs, among them the Native American lament "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying," and the romantic "Until It's Time for You... Read More

Resume: The Best of Richie Havens
Artist: Richie Havens

Havens' output has been so extensive that picking tunes for a single-disc anthology would be a difficult task for any label. Rhino has done a respectable job in compiling 17 selections, although there was no material from the LPs Stonehenge or 1984, and while he certainly performed them his way, neither Ray Charles' "Drown in My Own Tears" nor... Read More