Wildweeds' sole album (they were no longer called "the"
Wildweeds by the time it came out) is fair but non-eyebrow-raising country-rock. Cut with assistance from top Nashville session men
Charlie McCoy,
Weldon Myrick, and David Briggs, it's mild and easygoing, distinguished from the purely generic 1970 country-rock album by
Al Anderson's likably gruff vocals.
Anderson wrote all of the songs, with the exception of covers of
Arthur Crudup's "My Baby Left Me," and they're pleasantly benign, without the striking tunes or penetrating lyrics needed to make a lasting impression. The better items include the up-tempo sh*t-kicker "Belle," where
Anderson's vocal sounds more effectively strained and pinched, and the songs where there is a bit more pop influence in the melody, like "And When She Smiles." The Italian CD reissue adds three non-LP tracks from 1971 singles, all of which have a stronger blues-R&B influence than the LP does.
–
Richie Unterberger, Rovi