THOSE WHO KNOW HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT

Despite the fact that this is an album made up entirely of cover songs (maybe because of that) this is one of my favorite Henry Kaiser albums. Kaiser tends to get a little too far away from structured music for my tastes when he his left alone to create songs. And what a strange array of songs to cover. There are two songs by The Grateful Dead (Mason's Children and Dark Star, both of which appear, from different takes on "Eternity Blue", Kaiser's tribute to The Dead), a bunch of Captain Beefheart covers, one Country Joe & The Fish tune, and three surprisingly good country songs. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Fishin' Hole, the well-known theme from The Andy Griffith Show (with lyrics!) are an unexpected treat. But Ode To Billy Joe, with smoky vocals by Cary Sheldon, is just one of the coolest songs on the planet.

The CD version is worth getting over the LP, as it has four extra tracks, and Billy Joe and Dark Star are both much longer than the original release.