Originally released as two separate LPs, Giant Step/De Old Folks at Home is the earliest revelation of Taj Mahal's electric/acoustic, city/country duality. The album's first half sports artful, sophisticated arrangements of some of Mahal's best loved songs, including the beautiful title cut, originally penned by Brill Building spouses Goffin and King for the Monkees, and the equally sentimental "Farther on Down the Road." Part two is mostly Taj's countrified blues, scatting like barnyard animals on "Cluck Old Hen," going a capella for "Wild Ox Moan," and front-porching with a guitar for famous finale "Annie's Lover."