Customer Reviews

Rising Sons Featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Yes, it's loose and sometimes the vocals are out of tune, and it's not as studied and particular as the more well known Ry Cooder major label product. I dont care .... I like it a whole lot! Mining the same roots rock territory that Van Morrison was tapping into around '65, '66, before the influence of Hendrix, heavy blues, psychedelia etc - for better or worse. "Flying So High" even sounds like, ahem, Monkees! Cool by me. : )

Don't let that negative reviewers' narrow idea of what "good" music is prevent you from discovering these genuine, energetic, rockin' songs. They're not all perfect, but it's worth obtaining a copy just to have tracks like If The River Was Whiskey, 2:10 Train and Sunny's Dream.

This is a great album. It may not display all of the refined talent of Taj and Ry's later work, but if you are adventurous (as Taj and Ry always have been) and interested in the their early work, you will be rewarded. I believe that Taj was right out of the Julliard School and Ry was just a teen when they recorded this album. Forgive them if their skill is not perfect, but enjoy this music for its energy and youth.

This is a must CD for fans of Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. The sound is bit like Country Blues takes a ride on a LA freeway, but you have to love such great cuts as "Take A Giant Step," "Last Fair Deal Gone Down," and "Corrin, Corrina" cause you already know what these fine musicians recorded down the road.

The 1-star review overemphasizes the negative effect of Jesse Lee Kincaid's vocals on this album.

I'll be frank. Kincaid definitely is not a good singer. He kind of sounds like a less talented version of the Flying Burrito Brothers after Gram Parsons died (except he kind of tries to sound British on one song).

But on the flip side, Kincaid does not sing lead on half of the songs. And a couple of them, he actually pulls it together a little. So, what you end up with is about 15 of the 22 songs here being rocking r&b sung competently by Taj. Also, it's cool because this is a little different setting that Taj usually has.

The only other minor caveat you should know about this album before buying is that Ry Cooder hasn't really come into his own yet. Still good, but not awesome.

Overall, this album is worth it for Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder fans.

Interesting blend of guitarists and material. Both players have had storied careers as soloists and appearing with other artists. This is not music that received heavy air play, but if you're a fan of either artist, I believe it can be worth your time to give it a listen.

I'm giving it 5 stars if for nothing else than to balance out a couple of these lame 1 star reviews. Were these kids reviews? At the very least I would give it 4 stars. For anybody who knows music prior to 1970 and has any kind of appreciation for the evolution of rock n roll - check out this cd. It's from right around 1966 - a moment in time on the cusp of two eras - the naivity of early 60s rock and the psychedelic era which led into the 70s (the tunes seem to veer off to one side or the other from song to song). Actually you can hear trends that reminisce or preminisce The Band, early Beatles, The Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart, The Doors, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Jerry Lee Lewis.. in a nutshell, early blues rock, by a band that doesn't know what it is or wants to be.

There are a number of real gems on here plus a fair dose of hokier tunes as well and unfortunately the album kicks off with one of them. Keep going! It winds its way into some very nice stuff as the cd progresses, going from not great to not bad to quite good to so so again which it maintains a while towards the end of the cd. I will be giving this another listen. I probably shouldn't give a five star rating - I'm not sure it truly merits 5 stars altogether, but I know it deserves more than one or two. I'd understand 3, agree with 4 in terms of what it offers, give it 5 as an act of protest. This is an historical oddity, well worth having at the price it's going for now. Few of these tunes last longer than 3 minutes.

You would think this album couldn't miss with Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal. In fact, it's dreadful, not because of their fault but because of another non-entity who has about half the lead vocals. I can't even remember this person's name. He soon returned to the obscurity from which he sprang. (Hopefully, someone cut his tongue out first.) In any event, he completely ruins the album. Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal have so many great albums; anyone who thinks I'm overstating how bad this one is should make it the last thing they buy in these two superb musicians' catalogs.

Interesting in that it shows where Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder came from. But it was still some way to go before they really made an impact. Of greatest interest to those who want a complete catalogue for either artist. Flashes of brilliance but not the bright shining light you see in each artist's later work.

they are young and it is early in their career, but you get a feel for their talent.