Tom Paxton Albums Ranked

Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is noteworthy as a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions. Paxton’s songs have been widely recorded, including modern standards such as “The Last Thing on My Mind”, “Bottle of Wine”, “Whose Garden Was This”, “The Marvelous Toy”, and “Ramblin’ Boy”. Paxton’s songs have been recorded by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, The Weavers, Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Harry Belafonte, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Seekers, Marianne Faithfull, The Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, John Denver, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Flatt & Scruggs, The Move, The Fireballs, and many others. Here are all of Tom Paxton’s albums ranked.

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6. The Things I Notice Now, 1969

“This Tom Paxton album comes from that period where folkies were stretching beyond acoustic guitars and Appalachian-derived melodies to incorporate instrumental and melodic / harmonic elements of rock, jazz, and even art-song forms (think Phil Ochs’ “Pleasures of the Harbor” or Tim Buckley’s “Goodbye and Hello”). Tom Paxton’s voice isn’t as adaptable to such a musical environment as some of these others, but the batch of songs he comes up with here show a nice stylistic variety (“Bishop Cody’s Last Request” is juiced-up, “HIghway 61″-style folk rock, the title cut a self-deprecating Mose Allison-like jazz-blues, for instance).”

5. Redemption Road, 2015

“Wonderful folk album by a legend, Tom Paxton. Love songs, one social justice number that I love, but mostly songs that come to terms with loss and redemption. Hopefully, this will not be the last recording by Paxton, but if it is, it ends in an appropriate epitaph, an arrangement of the traditional Parting Glass.”

4. The Compleat Tom Paxton, 1971

“Tom Paxton has been one of my favorite singer/songwriters for over 50 years (yes, I am old). But his songs are timeless. This album was recorded in 1970, so this is early Tom. Read the list of songs on this double CD to see how many songs you already know by heart (Rambling Boy, Marvelous Toy, and more).”

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3. 6, 1970

“You can’t not respect the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper and Joni’s Blue, but actually, song for song, style for style, and for sheer beauty, I reckon that this, Love’s Forever Changes, and David Ackles’ American Gothic are probably the very best albums of the rock era, or at least, the most consistent. Not a dud track on them, lots of innovation, beauty, complexity, subtlety, and just maybe this shades the other two. A stunning outing!!!”

2. I’m The Man That Built The Bridges, 1962

“This is an album that was recorded at the Gaslight in the Village in NYC in the fall of 1962. This is real early Tom Paxton. He is backed by Barry Kornfeld on banjo and guitar and Felix Pappalardi on bass. They played with him on his first three Elektra albums. This is classic Paxton.”

1. Ramblin’ Boy, 1964

“While Tom Paxton had had some financial success as a songwriter by 1965 (the Chad Mitchell Trio had recorded several of his songs), he had not released an LP until this one. What an LP it was, and what a CD it is. After nearly forty years, such songs as “Ramblin’ Boy”, “The Last Thing On My Mind”, and “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound” remain classics. They’re complemented by such fine songs as “Goin’ To the Zoo” (one of the great songs ever written for children), “When Morning Breaks”, and “I’m Bound For the Mountains and the Sea”. Paxton has always written his share of topical/political songs, which, by their nature, don’t age well; that’s the case with “Daily News”, “What Did You Learn In School Today?”, and “A Rumblin’ In the Land”. The other songs, though, are as fresh today as they were in 1965, and the arrangements for guitar, bass, and either another guitar or a banjo are exquisite.”