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Music
Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…
The Kinks – BBC Sessions, 1964-1977
Dave Davies is a great rock and roll guitar player. There, I’ve said it. And it’s high time he got the long-overdue recognition his talents deserve. I mean, put yourself in Dave’s place.…
Gene Clark – Silverado ’75
In a band that at various times included Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman and David Crosby, Gene Clark wasn’t overshadowed. He wrote some of the group’s most recognized songs, including…
The Who
The Who with Orchestra, Live at Wembley
The raw power The Who displayed from their humble beginnings, nearly six decades ago, showed they didn’t need enhancements. But this 2019 show at London’s Wembley Stadium – their first there in four…
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Yes
Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition
Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience of Close to the Edge in no fewer than four versions, plus rarities and a ’72 concert. For starters, the 2025 remaster sounds as close to the analog 1972 mix as you’re going to get…
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Pink Floyd
Have You Got It Yet? – The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
It’s understandable that fans warily approach the flood of pseudo-documentaries and biopics. Add the fact that the late Syd Barrett, Floyd’s original guitarist/leader, suffered from mental illness, and exploitation alarms are sure to go off. But this documentary handles the subject with dignity instead of sensationalism. Interviews by longtime Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson with…
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The Wildhearts
In the raging ’90s, The Wildhearts blasted out of Newcastle upon Tyne like some unholy melding of Guns ’N Roses, Cheap Trick, and The Replacements. Hard rock, power pop, and punk still make up their secret sauce, heard on this latest effort with original singer/guitarist Ginger Wildheart. Ben Marsden plays lead, while Kavus Torabi adds…
Ralph Stanley, II – This One is II
The expression “born into the business” applies to Ralph Stanley II. The son of Ralph Stanley and a nephew of Carter Stanley, “Two” as he’s often called when in his father’s presence, is…
Mark Knopfler
When it comes to inspired songwriting and guitar playing, Mark Knopfler’s not in dire straights. On his new solo album, he had so much material, he chose not to leave good songs on…
John Scofield and Eddie Henderson
Inakustik
These two new releases showcase guitarist John Scofield in far different ways. The DVD finds Scofield in a quartet setting and is the perfect vehicle for his skills, displaying chops on cuts like…
Poco
Collector’s Choice Music
Part of a new series that gathers unreleased live stuff, we find the first-generation country-rock band in transition. Even amidst many personnel changes, Poco’s focus was on harmony vocals and the pedal steel…
Jeff Golub – Do It Again
I can hear the naysayers already. They’ll call this album a boring, derivative, smooth jazz standerbearer. That’s fine. Listen closely, though, and you’ll hear a soulful guitarist doing heartfelt covers of some of…
Allman Brothers Band – Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival Jul
I’ve had the argument many times that the original version of the Allman Brothers Band was the best blues-rock band in the history of rock. Many insist it’s Led Zeppelin. Others have their…
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Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Honeysuckle
Resonator-slide specialist Reverend Peyton returns to his primary influences – early 20th-century African-American music – compelling him to shout from the hollers and the hills. Rootsy, acoustic, inter-war blues is the specific genre, and Peyton doesn’t hold back. With top-tier tutelage from the likes of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, T-Model Ford, and Robert Belfour, he masterfully…
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Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval
Heartbreaker: A Memoir
In his autobiography, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Campbell admits he’s quiet and shy. Self-doubt plagued him his entire life, and when problems arose in the Heartbreakers, a lack of confidence had him blaming himself first, even when he wasn’t responsible. Perhaps his attitude was psychologically rooted in his impoverished childhood and coming from…
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Alan Gogoll
Lioness Lullabies
Venture online and watch a few videos by Tasmanian guitarist Alan Gogoll and you’ll see he’s nothing short of a phenomenon. On acoustic, he conjures artificial harmonics in a manner that almost defies gravity. Better still, he never shows off these chops – everything on Lioness Lullabies is in the service of the song and…
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Jimmy Vivino
Gonna Be 2 of Those Days
A veteran vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist and purveyor of blues, R&B, and rock’, Jimmy Vivino has an incredible résumé. A longtime fixture in Conan O’Brien’s house band, he has played on movie, radio, and Broadway projects and worked with Levon Helm, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Jimmie Vaughan, Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, Laura Nyro, along with innumerable others. He’s…
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Thin Lizzy
The Acoustic Sessions
Thin Lizzy’s first studio release in decades, this album reimagines tracks recorded 50+ years ago by the trio of vocalist/bassist Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, and drummer Brian Downey. The songs are from Lizzy’s first three albums – 1971’s Thin Lizzy, ’72’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and ’73’s Vagabonds of the Western World. Recently,…
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Eve Monsees and Mike Buck
& Their Groovy Orbit
This is not a solo album as much as an anthology of Austin artists and styles – from blues to country to ’60s garage and psych, demonstrating the versatility of singer/guitarist Monsees (Eve & the Exiles, Blue Bonnets) and her husband, drummer Buck (LeRoi Brothers), as producers/organizers. The tracks span three years, but the names…
Delta Generators
If you like honky-tonk, rock and roll, roots, and blues, this new outing from the Delta Generators is one-stop shopping. Hellacious slide guitar and ballsy harmonica bump and grind against earthy American rock…
Derek and the Dominos
Polydor
Many supergroups lack true superpowers, but Derek and the Dominos was the real deal. Burned out on the supergroup phenom after his troubled times in Cream and Blind Faith, Eric Clapton sought anonymity…
Buck Owens and The Buckaroos – Carnegie Hall Concert
It almost seems silly to have to tell anyone about the Carnegie Hall disc. Widely regarded as a document of one of the best country bands performing live at its peak, it’s guaranteed…
Eric Clapton
Crossroads Festival 2019
Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival has become the guitar event since its inception in 1999. With a diverse cast of the greatest pickers in the world, the event is a fundraiser for Clapton’s drug…
Drive-By Truckers
ATO Records and Self-Distributed
It’s been less than a year since the Drive-By Truckers released The Big To-Do, but the songs on Go-Go Boots don’t suffer from the quick turnaround. An album considerably quieter than other DBT…
Bryan Sutton – Secrets for Flatpickers
Grab any top-selling country CD produced in the last five years that has acoustic instruments on it and chances are you’ll find Bryan Sutton credited with playing acoustic guitar. On Homespun Video’s latest…
Port City Prophets
The Prophets are a blues-rock bar band that brings around a lot of people to music they might not otherwise have heard. The PCPs will remind you of both Grand Funk and ZZ…
Jake Shimabukuro – Live
In his introduction to “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Shimabukuro explains how a video of him playing the George Harrison classic in Central Park, for New York’s Midnight Ukulele Disco, “changed my life.”…
Various Artists – The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute
The likes of Dylan, Mellencamp, Van Morrison, Dwight Yoakam, and many more cover the songs of one of country music’s pioneers. The covers mostly work. There are a few clinkers, but cuts like…
Warren Haynes
Million Voices Whisper
Warren Haynes’ first solo album since 2011 is an uplifting set that reflects am optimistic spirit of change and hope. With Haynes at the height of his superpowers on guitar and vocals, he…
Swervedriver
The shoegaze revival is peaking, so what better time for one of its leading lights to hop on the wagon while the hopping is hot, right? Not so fast. Swervedriver reunited seven years…
Kiss
Off the Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, NY
This 1984 concert is the only known soundboard recording with guitarist Mark St. John, whose tenure is one of the briefest chapters in Kisstory. St. John played on Animalize then developed a sudden…
Dan Bern – New American Language
New American Language
Red Simpson – Truckers’ Christmas
Truckers' Christmas
It’s the time of year when you may be looking to make a few additions to your collection of Christmas records. The theme this year is “Eclectic.” For oddball fun, check out Red…
Dave Van Ronk and Oscar Isaac, Bob Dylan, Punch Brothers, and others
The 2013 Coen Brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis, chronicled a week in the life of a Greenwich Village folksinger during 1961, a character loosely based on the late Dave Van Ronk. T-Bone Burnett…
Chet Atkins and Mel Cochran – Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars
Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars
Chet Atkins has a deserved reputation as a great guitar player and all-around nice guy. So it’s a pleasure to see a book that is part biography and part history of his personal…
The Black Crowes
1972
No surprise, the Crowes are a good – at times great – cover band, proven by this EP. Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson decamped to Sunset Sound in L.A., laying down heavy tracks…
The Spencer Davis Group – I’m A Man & Gimme Some Lovin’
I'm A Man & Gimme Some Lovin'
In its original incarnation, the Spencer Davis Group was one of the best R&B or pop bands of the British Invasion. Unfortunately, that incarnation only stayed together long enough to record two albums.…
Kelly Mulhollan
Divine Inspiration
Arkansas farmer Ed Stilley was plowing his fields in 1979 when he was struck down by a heart attack; lying in the dirt, he had a vision that God wanted him to build…
Willie Nelson – The Complete Atlantic Sessions
It’s ironic that one of the terms coined to describe the music various singer/songwriters were making in Austin in the early 1970s was “progressive country” (others being “redneck rock” and the more marketable…
The Ford Brothers – Center Stage
Center Stage
The Ford Brothers are Robben on guitar and vocals, Patrick on drums, and Mark on harp and vocals. Robben, of course, has a solo career, but on occasion gets together with his brothers…
Lucky Peterson
Plain and simple, this is a monster album. Lucky Peterson sings, plays great guitar, a lot of keyboards, and covers a lot of great songs. The rockin’ wah-drenched cover of Ernie Isley’s “Deal…
