Jesse Colin Young, who seems to have been locked into a very congenial private time-warp for quite a while now, has an artful way of suggesting that a permanent trip back to the gentle-sounds heyday of '68 or so wouldn't be such a bad arrangement. He can always make things sound rife with good times, sunlight, great big flowers (like the one on the cover), and hands on hips with minds rolling by. If Jesse has any troubles of his own (all signs point to No), he can leave them behind and make you forget yours too, all in one fell and joyful swoop.

This album is the best thing he's done in quite a long time, and should easily mend any hearts broken by the Youngbloods' recent and barely memorable effort. Much of it is in the best spirit of the "Sunlight"/"Sugar Babe" days, with titles in the same sunny vein ("Good Times," "Sweet Little Child," "Together," "Peace Song") and the songs themselves even more so. "Good Times" and the title cut are particularly out-standing, as is the version of John Hurt's "Creole Belle," arranged with elegant simplicity and featuring Jesse's wife Suzi to provide delicate harmony. "It's A Lovely Day" is rescued from an old Youngbloods album and given the treatment it deserves here. Jesse's "Six Days On The Road" is an unexpected knockout, handled with enough originality to keep it fresh and beautifully performed, too. His "Peace Song" comes as close to a lament as Jesse's compositions ever seem to get, which is to say that it too exudes the old perennial warmth and sugary good-time feeling.

The cuts here are peculiarly ordered so that each side starts strong and gradually descends a little, though. The bluesy ones towards the end (Nick Gravenites' "Born In Chicago," Mercy Dee Walton's "6000 Miles") are bound to evoke mixed reactions (sounds pretty/what's a voice like that doing to stuff like this?). Also, there's a certain incongruity to his taking on the likes of Chuck Berry's. "Sweet Little Sixteen" or Woody Guthrie's "Pastures Of Plenty." However powerful the original may have been, originals have an uncanny way of vanishing by the time Jesse gets through with them. Whatever's left invariably sounds nice, but how you feel about it is bound to depend on whether you're devoted to the songs or to Jesse.

He sounds great all through the album, and he plays great (guitar, bass, alto and tenor saxes). The only vestigial Blood in evidence is Jerry Corbitt doing some harmonies, but the sidemen assembled here sound enough like the Youngbloods (plus some extra horns) to make their absence a very minor point. With or without them Jesse is still Jesse, and in his own sunny way Jesse is still mighty good. (RS 106)

JANET MASLIN