Tom Rush - The Circle Game

The Circle Game is the 1968 album from folk rock musician Tom Rush. He covers three songs from fellow singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, as well as songs by Jackson Browne and James Taylor. Rush himself wrote "Rockport Sunday" and his classic, often-covered tune "No Regrets"; the song has become a folk standard, and has been covered by several dozen artists, including Emmylou Harris, The Walker Brothers, Fairport Convention, Olivia Newton-John, indie-pop group Luna, and Curtis Stigers. In addition to his original rendition here, Rush himself later made a radically different version for Columbia Records featuring a screaming electric guitar solo.

The songs follow the cycle of a relationship from its beginning to an end, according to the lyric content and sequencing of songs. Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game," recorded prior to her own release of the song, can be read as the turning point of the relationship while "Rockport Sunday" ends the romance using an instrumental piece, followed by the coda "No Regrets." Supporting this concept is the cover shot, which pictures then girlfriend Jill Lumpkin behind Tom Rush as photographed by Linda Eastman.