o jays road manager, don king prison chauffeur, window washer, house painter, ink spot, domino, producer, engineer, label owner, guitorgan technician, and one-time steward of a coveted jet magazine delivery route, lou ragland is cleveland s eastside success story. though suffocated by lake eries nitrate rich waters and the burning oil from a cuyahoga river fire, between 1967-1977 lou ragland produced the most thoughtful, hopeful, and downright soulful work to come out of the forest city. bookended by his dynamic albums hot chocolate and understand each other, i travel alone gathers period singles, collaborations, and an unreleased live album cut in 1973, revealing a cleveland genius in a musical microcosm of fearless and confident creation.