Happy Just to Be Like I Am

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Happy Just to Be Like I Am
Studio album by
Taj Mahal
Released1971[1]
GenreBlues
Length42:36
LabelColumbia
ProducerTaj Mahal, David Rubinson
Taj Mahal chronology
The Real Thing
(1971) 		Happy Just to Be Like I Am
(1971) 		Recycling The Blues & Other Related Stuff
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

Happy Just to Be Like I Am is the fourth studio album by American blues artist Taj Mahal.[1]

Reception[edit]

Christgau's Record Guide said in their review: "this relaxed, witty survey of musical Afro-America is strongest when its compositions verge on interpretations".[2] Disc and Music Echo called it a "fine album, it's funky and it's gutsy, and there's splended brass on it".[5] Rolling Stone Magazine said it is a "loose riotous blues 'n roots album", and that Taj Mahal is "nearly alone carrying the torch of the country music blues for other young black musicians to hear".[5]

Eric Zoeckler wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it is the "unconventional mixture of instruments, Taj's six-holed fife, a section of four tubas, gung-ko-gwees, flugelhorns and steel bodied guitars, that makes this recording the delight that it is".[6]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks composed by Taj Mahal; except where indicated

  1. "Happy Just to Be Like I Am" (3:49)
  2. "Stealin'" (Gus Cannon) (6:58)
  3. "Oh, Susannah" (Traditional) (5:19)
  4. "Eighteen Hammers" (5:45)
  5. "Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day" (4:14)
  6. "Chevrolet" (Ed Young, Lonnie Young) (2:45)
  7. "West Indian Revelation (AKA West Indian Reservation)" (6:09)
  8. "Black Spirit Boogie" (7:10)[1]

Personnel[edit]

Technical
  • Glen Kolotkin - engineer
  • John Simon, Taj Mahal - mixing[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Happy Just to Be Like I Am - Taj Mahal | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 2, 2019 – via Robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 26.
  4. ^ Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John (1979). The Rolling Stone Record Guide: Reviews and Ratings of Almost 10,000 Currently Available Rock, Pop, Soul, Country, Blues, Jazz, and Gospel Albums (1st ed.). New York: Random House. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-3944109-6-8. LCCN 79004757.
  5. ^ a b McStravick, Summer; Roos, John (2001). "Taj Mahal". Blues-rock Explosion. Old Goat Publishing. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-0-9701332-7-4.
  6. ^ Zoeckler, Eric L. (February 24, 1972). "Happy Just to Be Like I Am". Record Reviews. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 5D.
  7. ^ a b "Happy Just to Be Like I Am - Taj Mahal | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
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