When he released Old Dan's Records, Gordon Lightfoot was still an album away from the commercial resurgence that its follow-up, Sundown would bring. But middling sales figures didn't stop him from forging further on with his signature blend of folk, pop, country, and rock influences. As with "Don Quixote" (the title track on his previous album), it's hard to imagine why the infectious tune "Old Dan's Records"—a peppy pop-folk concoction powered by an implied Bo Diddley beat—wasn't a single, let alone a hit. The laid-back but luxuriant "Lazy Mornin'" is as appealing an example of the mellow '70s singer/songwriter sound as one could want. The strikingly spare arrangement of the bluesy "My Pony Won't Go" makes the song a standout. The steel guitar punctuation of "You Are What I Am" indicates Lightfoot's continuing fascination with country music. But whatever stylistic detour he may take, the Canuck song-poet's oaky vocal tones make everything on Old Dan's Records simply sound like part of his own engaging paradigm.