As Jackson Browne's longtime accompanist and studio sideman for a host of West Coast wailers, David Lindley played the string man who could make the music sound sensitive. But on Win This Record, his second solo LP, Lindley and his group, El Ravo-X, sound like a professional garage band out to have some instant fun. Stacking harmonies like cases of beer, they use Etta James' "Something's Got a Hold on Me" to kick off the record at full tilt. Another uncovered gem is "Turning Point," a tasty serving of Memphis soul stew spiced by guest Booker T. Jones, whose organ plays a sprightly game of tag with Lindley's slide guitar.

The root of these songs is rhythm, and as on Lindley's solo debut, reggae remains a major influence. Win This Record's cover versions include Toots Hibbert's "Premature" and a reverentially trashy reading of the Melodians' "Rock It with I." Lindley cooks up his own reggae on "Talk to the Lawyer," a political number with a rock-hard guitar solo by Bernie Larsen.

David Lindley has the curatorial instincts of Ry Cooder, but he performs in an engagingly offhand manner that says he's more of a fan than a scholar. His reggae makes no pretenses to Rastafarianism, and his rock is aimed at those who like tequila with their tacos. It's a bit unusual for a musician's musician to be writing songs as charmingly cheesy as "Ram-A-Lamb-A Man," but David Lindley seems plenty happy doing it. (RS 384)

JOHN MILWARD