I bought this CD while attending UW-Madison, shortly after it came out.  Chris and the band were wonderful to listen to in person--I know that Sims led Wail, but Chris was always my favorite--and my wife and I listened to it a *lot*, until we lost it about five years ago.

I didn't realize how much we missed this tape until I started listening to it again.  If I could, I'd give the CD 4 1/2 stars because the playing, singing, and production are a little off in places--the fiddle seems a hair sharp, some of the vocals seem a hair flat, notes are sometimes less than crisp.  Still, the musicians were younger and less experienced; I very appreciate the band's honesty in not trying to engineer the clams out of the session; and the enthusiasm, arrangements, and song selections more than make up for the occasional clinkers.  

There is no material on this CD that I don't like:  we play it in the car on drives, listen to it while running on the treadmill (I lost the tape at the Gainesville FL Health and Fitness Center, along with a walkman), and hear it playing in my head from time to time between times.  I also like the sequence in which the tunes are arranged.  Personal favorites: 'Is you is' (I prefer this by far to the Joe Jackson arrangement), 'Exactly like you' (beautiful vocals, some tight playing - even if the production sounds a little off), 'You've Got to Believe', 'Basin Street Blues', 'Jitterbug Waltz', and 'Slipped Disc' (note: the latter two are instrumentals.  The band also sounds good on its third instrumental, 'Tico Tico', but I'm just not as fond of this tune as the others.)  

Biggest regrets: the CD doesn't have Chris's renditions of "After You're Gone" and "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie".
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