Mayo Thompson - Corky's Debt to His Father (1970)
The album features a softer Thompson sounding like a Texan Syd Barrett, with songs that are spare and mystical but ultimately friendly. While the band sticks mostly to the familiar sounds of folk guitars, pianos, deep horns, and heavy bass, the instrumental arrangements are designed to clink along and never quite reach harmony. What is created in the end is an uptight and warped version of the stripped-back country & western of late '60s Dylan. If Thompson could sing, Corky's Debt's jazz touches and linear quality might have made the record something of an American Astral Weeks. Instead, we'll settle for coherence and a considerable amount of charm.
