Rainy Day Raga

Personnel: Peter Walker (guitar); Monte Dunn (guitar); Jeremy Steig (flute); Bruce Langhorne (tambourine, bells); Jean-Pierre Merle (tambourine).
Liner Note Author: Ski Williams.
Illustrator: David Wilson.
Photographer: Rick Stafford.
Peter Walker, world-traveled guitarist (Spain, Africa and Mexico) landed in the right place at the right time in the mid-'60s. A student of various musical forms, he ended up in Cambridge in 1965, and became musical director for Timothy Leary's 'Celebrations. Walker's modal guitar explorations fit the menu perfectly. Exploring a tonal range that would be best described as the perfect L.S.D. soundtrack, this album is a gentle, evocative affair, and often recalls some of the passages that Stephen Stills would use for "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," among others. Aided by Dylan session veteran Bruce Langhorn on percussion (and by others as well), this is a fine document of a space in time when ragas were just becoming popular in Western music. In a certain way, Walker was a visionary, and this album shows it. ~ Matthew Greenwald