John Stewart And Buffy Ford - Signals Through the Glass (Reissue) (1968/2004)

Stewart's first album after leaving the Kingston Trio wasn't precisely a solo endeavor, as it was billed to both him and his wife, Buffy Ford, who often sings both harmony and lead vocals on the LP. Still, Stewart wrote all of the songs, and it's his singer/songwriter vision that dominates the record. It's an interesting but curious effort, very much a transitional one, mixing echoes of his troubadour folkie past with orchestrated California sunshine pop, the more darkly pensive aspects of the early singer/songwriting movement, and even whiffs of trendy psychedelic influence. The Americana narrative flavor that would color much of his work was prominent on songs such as "Lincoln's Train" (inspired by Abraham Lincoln's corpse's ride to his funeral), yet "Holly on My Mind" was rather luscious dreamy orchestrated pop. "July, You're a Woman" (re-recorded by Stewart on his next album, California Bloodlines) had enough Glen Campbell/Bob Lind-ish mainstream appeal to attract cover versions by Pat Boone, John Davidson, and Robert Goulet. Yet in contrast, "Draft Age" was almost chilling in its singsong vérité snapshot of the day in the life of a young man on the very day he becomes eligible for military service (i.e., for death in Vietnam). "Nebraska Widow" almost gets into funky folk-blues in its portrait of lonesomeness, and "Mucky Truckee River," if only inadvertently, seems to reflect the awakening of a folk circuit veteran such as Stewart to the contemporary social confusion of America in 1968. Rare and seldom discussed, it's worth checking out despite its unevenness, for fans of both Stewart and overlooked late-'60s folk-rock and singer/songwriter albums in general.