AMG Review of New Folk Sound of Terry Callier [Bonus Tracks]

Jason Ankeny
All Music Guide

The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier was not released until 1968, about three years after the project was originally completed; while the long delay almost certainly crippled the momentum of Callier's fledgling career, the impact on the music itself was at most minimal -- while not the singer's best album, it's his most timeless and inviting, adhering closely to the folk stylings addressed by the title while largely ignoring the mystical jazz dimensions that texture his later material. Surprisingly, none of the album's eight songs are originals, relying instead on traditional tunes like "900 Miles" and "Cotton Eyed Joe"; while Callier's spiralling acoustic guitar lines and the use of two bassists (Terbour Attenborough and John Tweedle) reflect his admiration of John Coltrane, New Folk Sound is for the most part stark and simple, possessed of a subtle grace that spotlights his remarkably moving vocals to excellent effect -- it's a debut that holds all the promise fulfilled by his classic recordings for Cadet. [The 2003 CD adds three previously unreleased bonus tracks recorded on the same day as the session that yielded the original LP, including the traditional tunes "Be My Woman" and "Jack o' Diamonds," as well as Judy Collins' adaptation of William Butler Yeats' "The Golden Apples of the Sun."]