North Carolina-bred producer and session man Jonathan Wilson (Dawes, Will Oldham, Erykah Badu) digs the old shit – like the Mellotron, buttery-toned Hofner bass and '69 Gibson ES 345 electric guitar he uses on this debut. Recorded on analog tape and conceived as a vinyl double LP, Gentle Spirit is a set of gorgeously detailed folk-rock ambles, most over six minutes long. Together they create a seamless mood, the sound of a chill living-room jam session where Wilson, in reality, is often the only player. Classic- rock memes flash like fireflies (see the "Dark Star"-meets-Dark Side of the Moon guitars of "Natural Rhapsody") but remain just out of reach. It's a vintage sound determined to live in the present.

Listen to "Gentle Spirit":

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“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.