Ain't That News

Album review

Tom Paxton's second album was one of his most earnest efforts, and that serious narrative tone, combined with the fading of the issues it addresses (the Vietnam War, the draft, the Civil Rights movement) off the national radar, makes much of it dated and some of it stilted. Nonetheless, it does have one of his most effective anti-war pieces; "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation," in fact, is one of the better anti-Vietnam folk songs of the 1960s. There's also "Bottle of Wine," one of Paxton's best and most tuneful compositions, and one of his most-covered ones (by Judy Collins at the tail end of her folk era and then by the Fireballs a few years later for a pop/rock hit). Felix Pappalardi (on bass) and Barry Kornfeld (on second guitar and banjo) do add a bit of depth to the arrangements, yet many of the songs are a dry listen, though Paxton's observations are consistently well-thought out and well-intended. He could have used more lighthearted moments like "Bottle of Wine," or more romantic ones like "Hold On to Me Babe" (which Sandy Denny covered on an unreleased 1967 recording). And, in fact, he would use more such moments on his subsequent albums.

© Richie Unterberger /TiVo