There You Go

by Richie Unterberger This was the first album to feature Renbourn's name prominently in the billing, although it was not a solo LP but a collaboration with vocalist Dorris Henderson, with Renbourn providing the guitar accompaniment. Henderson and Renbourn focused on traditional folk material like "Cotton Eyed Joe," "Ribbon Bow" and "The Water Is Wide" on this album, which also had a few songs by Renbourn, Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," Ewan MacColl's "The Lag's Song" and Willie Johnson's much-covered "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond." Although a tad restrained in execution, Henderson's vocals are assured and moving, like a link between the strict interpretive folk singers of the 1950s and the looser ones of the 1960s. Renbourn's guitar playing is already brilliant, and the recording (the tracks were largely done in one take) has a sparse and spontaneous feel, in the kind of setup where you can hear a slight echo on the vocals. The CD reissue on Big Beat adds the non-LP 1965 single "Hangman"/"Leaves that Are Green" (the latter an early Paul Simon composition), with the echo turned up high enough that it sounds as if it might have been recorded in an actual freight train -- not to the detriment of the tracks, it actually enhances the atmosphere.