Tim Rose - The Musician (1975 us, a fine blend of blues folk power pop)

A nearly forgotten singer/songwriter of the '60s, Tim Rose's early work bore a strong resemblance to another Tim working in Greenwich Village around 1966-67, Tim Hardin. Rose also favored a throaty blues-folk-rock style with pop production flourishes, though he looked to outside material more, wasn't quite in Hardin's league as a singer or songwriter, and had a much harsher, even gravelly vocal tone. Before beginning a solo career, Rose had sung with Cass Elliott in the folk trio The Big Three, a few years before she joined The Mamas And Papas. Signed by Columbia in 1966, his 1967 debut album (which actually included a few previously released singles) is considered by far his most significant work. 

by Richie Unterberger

Although The Musician was recorded several years after Tim Rose's 15 minutes of fame had officially ended, his voice is as gloriously ragged and raspy as ever, and the album contains several flashes of the brilliance that made Rose a Greenwich Village legend in the mid- and late '60s. Considerably less folky-sounding than his earlier records, The Musician contains heavy rock versions of the two songs with which Rose is most identified ("Morning Dew" and "Hey Joe") along with several originals and covers of generally high quality. Like Alex Chilton, another devotee of pure pop music who seems entirely unconcerned with commercial success, Rose's no-apologies vibe has always placed him in the "love him or hate him" category.

On his exceedingly strange version of Neil Young's "Old Man," Rose, amid swirling psychedelic slide guitars, sings like a raging drunk, lending the song an air of chilling desperation. Although much of the production values are quite dated, Rose does a good job of treating each song with a complete emotional honesty that transcends any sonic limitations. 

by Pemberton Roach