Superstitious Blues is an album by the American folk rock musician Country Joe McDonald, released in 1991.[2][3] Although McDonald had played then-recent anti-Gulf War rallies, the album is made up of personal, not political, songs.[4] McDonald considered making Superstitious Blues his final album; it was his first album in 12 years to be distributed by a label other than his own.[5][6]

Production

Jerry Garcia played guitar on the album; Sandy Rothman contributed dobro.[7] "Eunecita" was written in 1971, but remained unrecorded for almost two decades.[4] "Clara Barton" is a tribute to the founder of the American Red Cross; "Blues for Michael" is about Mike Bloomfield.[8][9] McDonald was supposed to sing at the 1991 American Red Cross annual convention, but was uninvited due to his Gulf War protest.[6] McDonald, in contrast to some of his peers, was happy to employ digital recording during the making of the album.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Entertainment Weekly	C[12]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[13]
The State	[14]

Entertainment Weekly called the album "both uneven and surprising," but acknowledged that the McDonald-Garcia "guitar team-up on the pretty country-folk tune 'Standing at the Crossroads' is a blissful pleasure."[12] The Boston Globe wrote that "in backing McDonald, [Garcia] returns to fluid acoustic musings that evoke the Dead's American Beauty and Workingman's Dead."[15]

The Sun Sentinel determined that "the shift from broader politics to personal themes reflects McDonald's maturation both as an artist and an activist."[7] The Philadelphia Inquirer called the album "poignant, pretty and powerful, yet almost understated ... Its songs range from the moody, moderately psychedelic instrumental 'Tranquility' to 'Standing at the Crossroads', a country waltz."[4] The State concluded that "the beauty of this disc is its simplicity ... McDonald combines those old bay area psychedelic sentiments with deep-rooted blues."[14]

AllMusic deemed it "an excellent comeback album."[11]

Track listing

References