Just noticed the bit about "letting Tom have some involvement in the lyrics" at the end of your review and wanted to point out for accuracy's sake that Tom wrote the majority of the lyrics for the project, including almost all of the 'actual songs', while Burroughs was primarily responsible for the libretto. "That's the Way", "Flash Pan Hunter", "Crossroads" (Burroughs) and "T'ain't No Sin" (an old standard, oddly enough) are the only exceptions.