Dave 'Snaker' Ray - Fine Soft Land 1967

Dave Snaker Ray split his second album about evenly between his own compositions and covers of songs from the likes of Sleepy John Estes, Arthur Crudup, and Leroy Carr. It's a tribute to Ray's feel for traditional blues styles that it's not easy to tell the originals from the covers, though overall it's just an average, if respectable, album. He accompanies himself on 12-string guitar on this set of acoustic blues, playing harmonica on his "Tribute" to Sonny Boy Williamson II, piano on the closing "Born to Surrender," and singing a one-minute snatch of Mose Allison's "Young Man" a cappella. The LP usually has a slow, relaxed ambience that sometimes gets a little too low-energy after a few songs at a time. Some of the highlights include his bottleneck guitar on "West Egg Rag" and his unusual, almost raga-tinged guitar work on "Baby Please Don't Go," which in spots is rather reminiscent of the approach Davy Graham used in England on "Blue Raga." Future Rolling Stone editor Paul Nelson produced. AMG.

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