Out of the four albums released by the Pousette-Dart Band on Capitol, Pousette-Dart Band 3 may be the most satisfying. The only song that received as much attention as Amnesia, the title track and minor hit off of their second album, or For Love, the David Finnerty of the Road Apples tune from their fourth disc, was the cover of the Lieber/Stoller/Ben E. King 1961 hit Stand by Me. It is a good version, and the songs on side one are the usual fare from Jon Pousette-Dart's group: top-notch country-rock. But it is side two that really is extraordinary. Louisiana, Too Blue to Be True, and Mr. Saturday Night work almost as a trilogy. They are deep, dark, and not as bouncy as Don Covay's I Stayed Away Too Long on side one. The beautiful, acoustic Where Are You Going, which ends this half of the program, sets up the second side nicely, and lends for a seamless flow if listening on compact disc. Pousette-Dart's voice is flawless, as is his playing on Where Are You Going, which ends suspended in mid-air. As with that tune, all the songs on the second side are written by Jon Pousette-Dart, and along with the sterling performance, this is his best songwriting of these releases on Capitol. Louisiana has tension, eerie production, immaculate instrumentation, and just a great vocal walking next to the guitars. While the Eagles and Hall Oates were enjoying success at this point in time, along with the resurgence of Crosby, Stills Nash, Pousette-Dart Band's mellow Buffalo Springfield style on this album really should have garnered a huge audience. Too Blue to Be True brings it up a bit, the band cooking with excitement and power. That power continues in the semi-funk of Mr. Saturday Night, three powerful statements by this important artist that somehow got lost in the shuffle of the music industry. Jon Pousette-Dart's appearance at the Paradise Theater in Boston at the end of 2000 with Jon Hall of Orleans and Jonathan Edwards of Orphan was their first live appearance together as a trio, having previously only recorded Why Can't We Be Friends, the War tune for Rounder. That performance magnified what one of those performers put in these grooves. Lord's Song starts to conclude the album in the same fashion as side one, Pousette-Dart's voice and acoustic guitar are combined with his plaintive expression, and this time the band in the background is solidified by co-producer Dave Appell's strings swelling, rising up before the group kicks in with precision. An album that truly deserves a better fate than obscurity. ~ Joe Viglione, Rovi

1		Next to You
2		Stand by Me
3		Love Is My Belief
4		I Stayed Away Too Long
5		Where Are You Going
6		Louisiana
7		Too Blue to Be True
8		Mr. Saturday Night
9		Lord's Song

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