Geoff Muldaur
Album: The Secret Handshake & Password
Label: Retroworld
Tracks: 22
Website: http://www.geoffmuldaur.com

Geoff Muldaur's origins go back to the founding of the Jim Kweskin Jug along with then wife Maria who went on to record the hit "Midnight At The Oasis". Geoff chose a separate path, joining Paul Butterfield's Better Days before recording a series of solo albums across the Seventies. A sojourn then followed before returning as a solo artist in the 1990's.

"The Secret Handshake & Password" is a mid-price 2 for 1 re-release from the vaults of Hightone Records of his 1998 and 2000 output which had previously been available separately on cd but at higher prices. It's pleasing to note that each album has its own cd and that the accompanying booklet has not been skimped upon faithfully including full credits for each song and a track by track backstory for the "Secret Handshake" record.

It's that backstory that stands out, having had the pleasure of recently catching Geoff Muldaur at David Cartlidge's Wigan Acoustic Roots gig, it's the so lavish "flesh" that is put on the bones of the music that helps make it special. Take for example "Got To Find Blind Lemon - Part One", a road trip by a group of young lads who decided on a (drunken?) whim that they would buy brooms and set off to hitchhike across Texas seeking the grave of the legendary Bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson who had recorded a tune called "Please See That My Grave Is Kept Clean". That impulsive action appeals, especially to one like me who once drove a ridiculously long way (from Holland) just to see the "Moon Over Milford Haven" after being inspired by the Oysterband song. These things often don't quite work out, for me it was a cloudy night and no moon, for Geoff… well I don't want to spoil the story, suffice to say that "Got To Find Blind Lemon - Part Two" appears on the "Password" album bundled here.

What to expect though musically? These two records take American Blues, Gospel, Folk and Country and mix them together to create a wonderfully complete sound, a mellow warmth if you like that pulls you in and leaves you feeling happy and content.

Despite including a virtual who's who of supporting artists such as David Grisman, John Sebastian, Richard Greene, Amos Garret, Van Dyke Parks and David Lindley, these two albums are never overproduced, the luscious voice of Muldaur shines through as he tackles a series of standards, other less well known tracks and a smattering of originals. As an interpreter of others music he's second to none.

Highlights for me include the opener "Wild Ox Moan" written by Vera Hall Ward and Ruby Pickens with a distinctive blues yodel and the gospel tune "The World Is Not My Home" (Albert E Brumley Jr) from the rather obscure side. On the mainstay, Leadbetter's "Alberta" will be familiar as will "Chevrolet" here being taken back to fife and drum origins before expanding into a bigger more rounded sound,. Sleepy John Estes's "Drop Down Mama" and Blind Willie Johnson's "Trouble Soon Be Over" also stand out.

Of the self-penned songs there's the aforementioned Blind Lemon tracks coupled with "I'll Believe I'll Go Back Home".

Richard Thompson once said "There are only three White Blues singers and Geoff Muldaur is at least two of them", and whilst I wouldn't quite go that far I know exactly what he means.

Ian Cripps