Happy Just to Be Like I Am - Inspirational Wall Art for Home & Office Decor - Perfect for Living Rooms, Bedrooms, and Workspaces

This was the first folk/rock album I ever bought, vinyl of course, in 1971. I was a freshman in high school. I heard the amazing song "West Indian Revelation" on underground radio in Chicago -- WGLD out of Oak Park (several of the DJs would go on to found WXRT a short while later) -- and I had to have the album. (The second album I bought was Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume II.)Now I FINALLY have it on CD! I have been cursed twice to discover that it had been released on CD, but only after it quickly become unavailable, first in 1991 and then in 2009 when Wounded Bird Records obtained the rights from Sony (originally Columbia). But I managed to obtain a copy of the 2009 reissue disc -- hurrah! I still have my scuffed vinyl copy, but I haven't had a turntable to play it on since 1999.The title track, one of five great Taj Mahal songs here, is guaranteed to put you in a good mood -- "Now the bells, they gonna ring! And the people they gonna sing! Everybody sing happy day, happy day, happy day!" The propulsive guitar riff is augmented by a great brass section, orchestrated by the excellent tuba player Howard Johnson.The first song on the "second side," Track 5, "Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day" is another Taj Mahal composition with a message that life is short, so seize the time. "Oh Susanna" is adapted and arranged by Taj, and "Chevrolet" is a great, bluesy love song covered by Taj -- both feature smoking lead guitar from Jesse Ed Davis, who played with Taj on his great first solo album in 1968 (see my review). "Gonna buy you a Chevolay, gonna buy you a Chevolay, gonna buy you a Chevolay, just to do somethin' for you, babe, just to do somethin' for you."The song on the radio that knocked me out back in 1971 still knocks me out -- "West Indian Revelation" features Andy Narell on steel drums and The Toys on background vocals. The chorus is "First I'm an African man -- second a Black Jamaican -- third a Black American." The women singers add just what is needed to send it into ecstatic orbit. It is truly a shame that this album has been so difficult to find on CD all these years!On vinyl, Side One and Side Two both ended with quiet, funky, mystical numbers -- "Eighteen Hammers," with vocals, guitar, bass, and cowbell, and "Black Spirit Boogie," an instrumental guitar duet with Taj Mahal picking a 12-string guitar and David Colman strumming an acoustic rhythm guitar. It brings back memories of late evenings when I was much younger, and it still sounds incredible.Henry St. Clair Fredericks, Jr. (Taj Mahal) turned 70 in May 2012. Born in Harlem, raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, he is an important figure in my life. This album spoke to me of another world, a world much more appealing than the white Protestant suburban world I was raised in. Thank goodness I got the chance to see a great live Taj Mahal concert at the Ivanhoe Theater in Chicago in 1978 or so when he was still pursuing the blues/Caribbean fusion that began with HAPPY JUST TO BE LIKE I AM.It appears that this album has flickered out of availability yet again, with CD copies available only for outrageous prices (try the sister site amazon.co.uk before giving up), though it is available in MP3 form. I hope you have a chance to hear this amazing music!