• 2025 December Issue on Spotify

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    2025 December Issue on Spotify

    This month, we feature Rick Derringer, Kid Ramos, Booker T and The M.G.’s, Steve Stevens, Phil Manzanera, Doug Aldrich, Kenny Burrell, Eric Johanson, Gary Moore, and more! Spotify is free or available without ads via a paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search “Vintage Guitar magazine,” or if you already have an account Listen to

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Alvin Lee & Co.- Live at the Academy of Music, New York 1975

The good news is that we don’t have to listen to yet another version of “I’m Going Home,” the 10-minute jam that propelled Alvin Lee to fame at Woodstock. No question, Alvin Lee…

Otis Taylor – Recapturing the Banjo

Multi-instrumentalist Taylor has never been afraid to push the blues envelope, both stylistically (ranging from Appalachian to psychedelic to explorations with jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara) and lyrically (boldly addressing social and racial issues).…

Andy Timmons Band

To translate one of the touchstones of popular music is not something most guitarists would attempt, but Timmons and his trio take the Beatles’ classic and turn it into an instrumental rock album…

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio- Close But No Cigar

No disrespect to bassists but there’s just something about a funked-up organ trio that sticks to your backbone. Made popular in the cool music joints of the ’50s and ’60s, organists Jimmy McGriff,…

Hot Club of Cowtown

Proper Records

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli’s Hot Club both blended early 20th century blues and jazz with the folk music of their culture. Both featured hot-shot fiddlers…

GA-20

Crackdown

When a band names itself after a ’50s Gibson amp, plays Silvertone and Harmony guitars, and devotes an entire album to Hound Dog Taylor, any self-respecting blues fan should take notice. But the…

Eric Lindell – Low On Cash, Rich In Love

Eric Lindell’s second album is full of great songs and inspired playing while his hipster feel and look match his guitar grooves. You get an idea with the opener, “Lay Back Down” –…

Molly Maher and Her Band of Disbelievers

Molly Maher is blessed. She writes songs that ring true. Her singing is a fine balance of deep and soulful, somewhere between Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris. And to top it all, she…

Mike Watt

In 1995, Minutemen and Firehose co-founder/bassist Mike Watt unfurled his solo debut, Ball-Hog or Tugboat? Testament to Watt’s influence (and legendary affability), the credits were an honor roll of indie/alt whizzes; Nels Cline,…

Iggy & the Stooges – Raw Power

Sony Legacy

Nearly four decades on, the reviled fathers of punk continue to inspire the underground masses. With the reissue of their seminal ’73 release, Raw Power, offers a lot of Iggy to enjoy. Reissued…

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver – Hard Game of Love

Hard Game of Love

For the last six years, if you wanted to hear Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver do secular bluegrass, you had to attend a live concert, since gospel material has been all they’ve recorded. With…

The Best of Sessions at West 54th – Volume 1 (DVD)

Although this DVD is over two years old, I think it’s still the best live performance music DVD out there. What makes it so good? Not only are the production values top-notch, but…

John Lee Hooker, Jr.

It’s one thing to be the offspring of a famous performer, but quite another to share his name and still be able to forge your own identity. After a number of years in…

Gene Bertoncini – Concerti

Bertoncini hits the jackpot; the nylon-string guitar whiz is joined by a string quartet for a set of music that is both challenging and exquisite to hear. Familiar tunes like “East of the…

John Prine: The Tree of Forgiveness

When John Prine walks out on stage these days, he’s often greeted with a long, thunderous standing ovation in recognition of his songwriting craft. Not even Mr. Dylan gets that. Prine has released…

Big Dez – You Can Smile

For decades, France has welcomed expatriate American blues and jazz artists. It was inevitable that seeds would be sown; the results in jazz music going back at least as far as the 1930s,…

Steve Earle – Washington Square Serenade

Whether or not you appreciate the politics that have dominated his latest records, it’s hard to deny that Steve Earle is a brilliant songwriter. On his latest, Earle has gone back to a…

A Small Part of the ’60s

Every musician I’ve spoken to who was around to witness or participate in the birth of rock and roll, from Carl Perkins to J.J. Cale to Jeff Beck, agrees that it was like…

Barry Levenson – Heart to Hand

Barry Levenson has most all the tools; the heart, the hands, the chops, and experience. What places this release a step ahead is the production, which in this is also the work of…

Bob Seger – Face The Promise

Anyone who saw Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s Letterman appearance several weeks ago can attest that he’s lost none of his power or edge during his decade-long hiatus. But, as his…

Vinny Roth

Red Wine Sunshine and Loud Guitars

Vinny Roth proves adept at mixing funk, rock, and fusion to make a record that sounds fresh and new – and yet still seems to fit like an old shoe. There are numerous…

Bucho – Omit the Harsh

Bucho is a pretty amazing little band. They mix different music into what one would have to call “modern soul.” If you like funk, you’ll find lots of it here. If you like…

Robert Gordon: Memphis Rent Party

There’s no city like Memphis when it comes to music. And thankfully, there’s Robert Gordon to chronicle its story. Gordon has written books and helmed documentaries about Muddy Waters, Stax Records, and, of…

Florence Joelle

Zoltan Records

Florence Joelle sings rock and roll like Billie Holiday might, croons a torch ballad as Wanda Jackson may, and spices it all with a bit of Patti Smith attitude. Add to that Joelle’s…

Buzzcocks

Late For The Train: Live & In Session (1989-2010)

On the punk-rock timeline, some bands haven’t quite received their just acknowledgment. Two Australian bands, The Saints and Radio Birdman, come to mind, as do groups like Flamin’ Groovies and Dr. Feelgood, which…

Dave Hunter

Les Paul Praises

Here is a coffeetable book and then some! It’s a 224-page hardcover, with 400-plus exquisite photographs chronicling the rise and fall – and rise again – of the Gibson Les Paul. All its…

Nate Najar

This Is Nate Najar

Nate Najar plays accessible jazz on a classical guitar and applies classical technique to match. This album showcases the music veteran playing a variety of tunes that range from Chopin’s “Prelude in E…

Tab Benoit – Fever For the Bayou

Benoit has a feel and authenticity to his playing. His records always bring a smile of familiarity to my face when I first hear them, like an old coat that you haven’t worn…

Nancy Wright

Play Date!

The ubiquitous saxophonist of the San Francisco blues scene for 30 years, Nancy Wright finally stepped to the fore and released her solo debut in 2009 – a fine instrumental outing in a…

Son Volt – A Retrospective: 1995-2000

Spinning off from the roots-rock trailblazers Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar’s Son Volt is famed for its honest, no-nonsense, straight-to-the-heart songs. A Retrospective: 1995-2000 is a fine greatest hits celebration with six unreleased bonus…