Consumer Guide Album

Leon Redbone: On the Track [Warner Bros., 1975]
On record, he's an exemplary folkie, making up in organizational intelligence what he lacks in inventive spark. Melding antique songs of varying origin into a mature New Orleans instrumentation absent from his unaccompanied stage appearances--which are at first intriguing, then stultifying and/or annoying--he offers an alternative to the narrowness of both stylistic commitment and audio reproduction that makes the original New Orleans recordings inaccessible. Worthwhile work. B+