Maxfield Parrish's sole album, It's a Cinch to Give Legs to Old Hard-Boiled Eggs, is a perfect example of the direction that many West Coast rockers were taking in the late '60s, incorporating country stylings into adventurous rock songs. In this respect, It's a Cinch… falls neatly between the Grateful Dead at their rootsiest and cosmic cowboys like the New Riders of the Purple Sage. The high, lonesome melodies and lead singing and three- to four-part harmonies connect the band's inspirations and mentors, such as Jerry Garcia (who taught some members guitar) and the Beatles, to early-1900s mountain music that was so influential to all of the Californian country-rockers. However, the songs on It's a Cinch… are not nearly as explicitly country as NRPS, often owing as much to the adventurous mid-period music of the Byrds, and even Middle Eastern drones. This latter effect was probably most prominent due to the presence of the several members of Kaleidoscope who played on and produced the record.
This outstanding 77-minute edition includes two exquisite and rare dates of the incomparable alto saxophonist for the first time ever on one CD, as well as five exceptional bonus tracks. Joined by such talented sidemen as Joe Newman, Ola Hansen, Bennie Green, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Kenny Drew, Tommy Potter, Kenny Clarke and Buddy Rich, Sonny Criss gives truly inspired performances as only he is able. His intensity, soulful lines, and incomparable expressiveness make this edition a true gem.
Here's a very reasonable compromise between the pricey Mosaic box and EMI's incomplete single-disc treatment of Milburn's Aladdin legacy: a three-disc, 66-song package that's heavy on boogies and blues and slightly deficient in the ballad department (to that end, his smash "Bewildered" was left off). Everything that is aboard is top-drawer, though - the booze odes, many a party rocker, and a plethora of the double-entendre blues that Milburn reveled in during his early years.