Frank,

It wouldn't have been the early-'60s. James Talley's four Capitol LPs date from 1975-1977.

I thought then, and still think now, that James was one of the best working class songwriters since Woody Guthrie. It's too bad those albums are all out-of-print.

James dropped out of the music business for about 20 years. I was a big fan of his 1970s work and was very glad to see him come back in 1999 with his album of Woody Guthrie songs. It was one of my favorite albums that year. In 2000, he relaesed "Nashville City Blues," a terrific collection of new material that showed his new material was just as good as his older stuff.

I have an advance copy of "Touchstones," James's new album coming out in April. It's new versions of some of his best songs from the Capitol LPs and is one of my favorite CDs of the year, so far.

I've had James as a guest on my radio show. On top of everything else, he's a really nice guy.

Mike Regenstreif