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Rating: "Peace On You" represents the natural follow-up to the previous "Roger McGuinn," namely the second step towards stylistic perfection in blending all American music, this time giving more prominence (folk rock aside, of course) to gospel.
Thus, right from the initial title track (a cover of country man Charlie Rich), we encounter a perfect blend between the exemplary rearranged folk ballad and the piano-led spiritual filled with choruses. The infusion of soul continues in the subsequent ex-folk bonbon "Without You," and the attempt succeeds even when Roger decides to darken even the true Californian rock of "(Please Not) One More Time" by Al Kooper.
The "routine" continues on side B, starting with "Do What You Want to Do" by Donnie Dacus, yet another expression of the ongoing mix: everything is very catchy, starting with the guitars, both electric and acoustic. The chorus is soulful, the verses are folk. But the song, as mentioned, is not McGuinn's; the creative merit on this album is not entirely his. A whole series of prestigious session men, primarily Stephen Stills' Dacus, Kooper, and yacht rocker Dan Fogelberg, not only accommodate McGuinn's great musical taste but also contribute with their compositions.
Let's focus on the songs written by McGuinn, and we'll soon realize we're treading familiar paths. Apart from the aforementioned "Without You," "Same Old Sound" (as the title already suggests) is his usual Dylan-esque folk, barely tinged with two drops of soul. "Together" is thus a folk song suitable for Simon & Garfunkel, spiced up with fast and bluegrass choruses; "Gate Of Horn" is a saloon country plaything, with nostalgic lyrics about the music of the good old days. Finally, the excellent "The Lady," a faithful (only updated to 1974) representation of the compositional and sonic style of "his" Byrds. In short, the graft between the white-flowered tree and the black-flowered one does not fully materialize, due to McGuinn himself, a valid, "well-tested" root-rock author but nothing more or almost.
In this case, therefore, the flaw of McGuinn was not giving too much space to his musicians, but not giving them enough space.
Tracklist
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