Raven [Australia]
2008
Best Of 1971-1979: Angels And Gamblers
About This Album
Best known as the author of "Wild Thing," Chip Taylor etched out a career as a performer with a series of country-rock albums in the '70s. On these records, he debuted his own versions of "Angel of the Morning" and "Big River," songs later made famous by Juice Newton and Johnny Cash, but he never quite hit the big time himself. Raven's 2008 Best of 1971-1979: Angels and Gamblers illustrates that Taylor was more of a cult artist than a popular one. He straddled the divide between a southern outlaw and a western maverick, planted in the country but his head and heart wandered into esoteric territory. All this makes Chip Taylor's '70s albums a bit easier to appreciate now that there's some distance from their conception, now that it's easier to hear how they are distinctly different from other soft singer/songwriter LPs and progressive country of the '70s. Taylor fit into both camps easily, which made him difficult to market, and sometimes his albums, like 1975's This Side of the Big River, could get a little conceptual but when his best work is condensed to a 23-track collection like this, Taylor's idiosyncrasies are endearing and his easy touch is hard to resist.
Track List (try tracks 2,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,20,21 and 22)

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