This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
After nearly 20 years in retirement from music, folk bluesman Geoff Muldaur made a triumphant return in 1998 with the well-regarded album Secret Handshake. His new sequel Password — get it? — is sure to satisfy Muldaur fans and folk-blues purists just as fully.
Combing classics from the catalogs of Sleepy John Estes (Drop Down Mama), Charley Patton (I’ll Be Gone) and even Bessie Smith (At the Christmas Ball) with his own homespun cuts (Kitchen Door Blues, Got to Find Blind Lemon Part Two), Muldaur smoothly cruises through a dozen quaintly captivating folk, blues and gospel cuts perfectly suited to his laid-back, Randy Newmanish voice and tasteful, Ry Cooder-style guitar work. Guitarists David Lindley and Dave Alvin, along with keyboardist Van Dyke Parks, John Sebastian and Kate and Anna McGarrigle lend a hand here and there, not that Muldaur needs it. Password shows he’s ready for the next 20 years of his career.
