Jackrabbit Slim / Alive on Arrival 35th Anniversary Edition

Yet another literate singer/songwriter with an interesting voice who was once awarded the "new Bob Dylan" tag, Steve Forbert had more in common with the other new Bob Dylans of the late '70s, John Prine and Bruce Springsteen, than he did with the man himself. These two albums—Forbert's first and second, released in 1978 and 1979—reveal a quick wit and a supple rhythmic sense that somehow escaped mainstream embrace, with the exception of the Top 40 hit "Romeo's Tune." Alive on Arrival is Forbert at his most wide-eyed and natural. "Goin' Down to Laurel" evokes an image of this Missouri kid showing up in the Big Apple wondering where they hide the street cleaner. Jackrabbit Slim—produced by John Simon, who once manned controls for The Band—nails a grand sound that still lets Forbert's brilliant narratives shine through. Twelve bonus cuts between the two albums complete the portrait of the young man in the late '70s, with "Poor Boy," "Oh Camille," and "Lonesome Cowboy Bill's Song" making the case for Forbert as an unheralded godfather to the modern alt-country scene.