Take a Little Walk With Me

Editors’ Notes Tom Rush began his career as a Cambridge, Mass., folk singer with a penchant for the blues, while the bulk of his later career has been built on his impeccable ear for the songs of singer/songwriters. This 1966 album is the most unusual of his studio records. It starts with Rush in full-out rocker mode, breaking out of his warm baritone for the swagger of Willie Dixon's "You Can't Tell a Book by Its Cover," Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business," and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love." Rush's inclusion of great R&B and early rock 'n' roll makes for surprisingly convincing performances from a man best known for his restraint. Rush's folk influences fill out the album, with sweet, forlorn takes of "Joshua Gone Barbados" and "Turn Your Money Green" and the acoustic blues of "Galveston Flood." (It wouldn't prepare anyone for his 1968 release The Circle Game, where Rush zeroed in on the changes in pop and folk music with an authoritative delivery that would make his talents legendary.)