Back Roads
Wolf's debut recording (released in 1976 on her Owl Records imprint)  was only a small indication what was to come. After all, who could have predicted  the influence she would have on a generation of singer-songwriters? In retrospect,  this first studio effort sounds a bit tentative; it's as if Wolf holds back for fear of  giving too much too soon. She needn't have worried; she was a prolific  songwriter and interpreter who never ran short of material. The sad opener  "Lately" and the kick-up-your-heels joy "Sitting on the Porch" point toward the  intimate, confessional lyrical tone she came to master.--Alexandra Russell