Search - Tom Paxton :: Best of the Vanguard Years

Of all the topical songwriters to emerge during the early to mid-1960s, Tom Paxton may have been the most jocose. On this 25-song collection, he takes sarcastic potshots at politics ("Talking Watergate"), poverty ("You Can Eat Dog Food"), war ("Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation"), even Anita Bryant ("Anita O.J."). The first six tracks here were recorded at the Newport Folk Festivals of 1963 and 1964, before Paxton's first national release, and include a poignant reading of the compassionate "Last Thing on My Mind" and a previously unreleased version of "Bottle of Wine" (which would become a Top 10 hit by the Fireballs in '68). But this compilation's last two-thirds, culled from two late-'70s studio recordings, demonstrate that Paxton could be as caustic as he was clever. He weaves stirring melodies with eloquent lyrics on the somber "Death of Stephen Biko" and his haunting account of the suicide of folk compatriot Phil Ochs ("Phil"). --Scott Holter