Scotland starts with a hard rocking groove broken up by piercing violins playing a Celtic march. The Beat then drives on to feature a melodic back and forth call and response section between harmonica and various instruments. Some bubbling Wurlitzer piano chord progression changes things up for the emotional break before a fuzz guitar stabs through it in reaction. The percussion heightens as a Sam and Dave horn sounding part occurs as guitars wail away and banjos pluck in the middle and drums are bashed in a frenetic frenzy as the band winds down this melange. Always the Same is anything but with it's plucked strings and plonked piano notes start the tune with a melancholic circular arpeggio; instantly memorable. Judy is a heartbreaking classical piano piece that sounds so much like a masterpiece with the accompanying dirge of strings it can't be original.
Sausalito features a raucous Hendrix chord driven funk shuffle along the heavy psychrock rhythm of the Yardbirds' famous dual guitar attack Ten years Happenings Ago. Stone Fox Chase is the most notable for the famous harmonica 'twizzle' that became the short call sign for the Old Gray Whistle Test. But Fox Chase is a incredibly soulful with it's maracas backing to the harmonica work that vamps off while more complex percussive layers enter in to bring some Wild African textures in to surround the stoic, drawl of the harmonica. The rampant cowbell around 2 minutes with placid Kalimba melodies in the background as a counter point is fantastic as is the final run through improvisations by the harmonica player where he draws on the opening stutter to even more syncopated, approximating the timbre of a harpsichord at one point.
Russian Red has a haunting yet jangly banjo bouncy up and down in banjo rolls and even features a string run down as orchestration enters the magnificent track. Katy Hill is a even more impressive instrumental with a more dazzling banjo lick based around in twirling harmonisation with a violin before a peculiar downbeat pedal steel solo. The standard late 60s blues guitar and soulful rasp vocals also enter and some more harmonica but it's all forgettable funk jam in comparison to the itty bitty country stuff, such as the violins dancing strings and the pedal steel's minute fretwork; it's just breathtaking in a speed funky bluegrass jam sought of way.
The album get's more incredible as it goes along, Welephant Walk starts with a heavy wah wah guitar twanging away with a hammer-on part that is then taken over by a pedal steel; the tight drum beat and the attitude dripping from the various parts of this song is something to behold particularly the electric guitar's stomping groove work matching the shuffle beat as is the ending guitar wail and the immediate reaction of those in the studio control room left in at the end, audibly blown away by the take as we were too. The whole band deserves a round of applause after such an electrifying live work as this album Trip in the Country, but as with any team their are superstars; Weldon Myrick is a fantastic steel player, Wayne Moss would go on to form one of my favourite bands Barefoot Jerry and were my entry to this album, the bass player Norbert Puttnam would see the most success with his work as a producer but all these guys kept the playing charged and not rooted to any genre but to whatever would blow your mind.
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