Although
Jackrabbit Slim was
Steve Forbert's best-selling album, containing his only Top 40 hit, "Romeo's Tune," and his only other chart single, "Say Goodbye to Little Jo," it took Nemperor (formerly part of CBS, now part of Sony) 17 years to put it out on CD (on September 3, 1996). It sounds as good as it did before, thanks both to
Forbert's excellent songwriting (also included: "January 23-30, 1978," one of his best diary songs) and to
John Simon's production. In a newly added note,
Forbert says
Simon was a late addition, after his producer was stolen by
Barbra Streisand. If he means
Gary Klein, who handled
Streisand's 1979
Wet album, one can only concluded that he traded up.
Simon, whose previous credits included
the Band, understood
Forbert's folk/rock/pop style perfectly, making this the best marriage of artist and producer on what is also the artist's best material.
–
William Ruhlmann, Rovi