• 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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David Bromberg – Demon in Disguise

Not to be confused with a live DVD of the same name, which was released in 2008 and quickly vanished, this is part of Stefan Grossman’s “Guitar Artistry Of” series. Playing only his…

Coco Montoya – I Want It All Back

Ruf Records

Fans familiar with Coco Montoya’s blistering guitar work and gruff vocals are in for a surprise when they hear I Want It All Back, on which Montoya serves up music tilted to traditional…

Electric Willie

Yellowbird

Avant-garde guitarists Elliott Sharp, Henry Kaiser, and Glenn Phillips share a love for the blues, so when a threeway collaboration was suggested, it morphed into a tribute to Willie Dixon. To differentiate it…

The Monkees – More of the Monkees

Dovetailing off our yearly rant when the nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame are announced, a fellow writer and I segued into our ritual of listing the glaring omissions who…

Mudhoney

Plastic Eternity

When it comes to writing music reviews, nothing’s more Lamesville than a critic swiping text from a label’s press release. But in the case of Mudhoney’s new full-length, one would be hard-pressed to…

Jimi Hendrix Experience – Paris 1967/San Francisco 1968

Paris 1967/San Francisco 1968

Got to hand it to the folks at Experience Hendrix, who keep coming up with good Hendrix music and packaging it in fine releases. This new work, on its Dagger Records subsidiary label,…

Tommy Emmanuel – Endless Road

Anyone who had seen Emmanuel in concert or heard about his prodigious technique, then rushed out to buy his 2001 Favored Nations effort, Only, may have been a bit puzzled. Not that the…

Detlef Schmidt

Girls Go Wild

Some among the cognoscenti argue that there are two bassists in the blues world that define the genre – Chess mastermind Willie Dixon on the upright and Keith Ferguson on electric. This illustrated…

Owen Campbell

While the electric guitar might define rock and roll, Owen Campbell elevates the image of the acoustic guitar as an effective force in the medium. He got an early boost by appearing on…

Monte Montgomery

That guitar players will ever stop reinterpreting Jimi Hendrix’ “Little Wing” is neither likely nor necessary. The song is so rich and inviting, so mesmerizing to play, its beautiful chord structure and melody…

Crooked Still – Still Crooked

Signature Sounds

When a founding member of a band departs, the other members face a difficult choice. Do they find someone who merely “fits in,” or do they add personnel who might change the ensemble’s…

Andy Brown

Chicago-based Andy Brown is 40 years old – meaning that some of the songs here were popular decades before he was born, as well as illustrating his maturity, along with the fact that…

Various Artists – All My Loving

“All My Loving” was a 1967 TV special on the BBC that scared some people – and it’s easy to see why. For older folks tuned in, video of musical acts and other…

Mike Baggetta/Jim Keltner/Mike Watt

Everywhen We Go

Guitarist Mike Baggetta teams up with renowned rock drummer Jim Keltner (Harrison, Dylan, Frisell) and equally legendary punk bassman Mike Watt (Minutemen, Stooges) for the trio’s second album. As one might expect given…

Dave Stryker and Steve Johns

Rippin' The Blues

Dave Stryker is becoming the go-to guy for bluesy bop guitar. And he keeps finding clever ways to do it without sacrificing soul or integrity. His last record, Eight Track, was a collection…

Sauce Boss – Sky Blues

Sky Blues

Bill Wharton, for those of you not familiar, is the Sauce Boss. He is the Sauce Boss because he cooks for his audience. Not just on guitar… he literally cooks. He prepares food…

Carolyn Sills Combo

On the Draw

Listening to the Carolyn Sills Combo, you might do a double-take: Is this newly fashioned country music, or a long-lost 1950s or ’60s band coming out of the ether? The combo is indeed…

Jefferson Airplane – The Essential Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane released eight studio albums between 1966 and ’72, then culled a live curtain call from its final tour before morphing into Jefferson Starship. Since then, there have been at least twice…

Robert Gordon with Chris Spedding

Hellafied

A legend out of time with the times, Robert Gordon should have been a star during the true rockabilly era of the late ’50s. Instead, he made his mark in the punky late…

Mimi Fox – Perpetually Hip

The first thing you notice about Mimi Fox when she begins the single-note original melody of the title track (the first cut of this double-CD) is her bell-like tone (more highs than the…

Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers

Some retro acts are more concerned with image and outfits than music. This record is a bit theatrical but with enough substance to give it staying power. A charming, versatile singer, Erin Harpe’s…

Bob Dylan on Hybrid SACDs

Sony and Phillips have been heavily hyping their new Super Audio CD format since its inception two years ago. For most consumers, SACD and its competitor DVD-A have been non-issues because of the…

Nick Lowe

Yep Roc Records

Time sometimes makes us forget how good certain artists truly are, and Nick Lowe is a prime example. After being out of print for some time, Yep Roc has reissued Lowe’s brilliant 1979…

Pretty Things, Procol Harum, David Bowie, and Various Artists

For all the British psych bands you do know – such as the Move and Small Faces – you’ve probably never heard of dozens more. This three-CD set brings together more than 75…

Ed DeGenaro – Dog House

Ed DeGenaro is a Seattle-based session cat and bonafide guitar monster with great ideas and chops. His music is a fusion of musical styles and influences that often intermingle within the same composition.…

Tommy “CGP” Emmanuel and David “Dawg” Grisman

Certifiable Pickin’

Tommy Emmanuel is one of just five pickers hailed by his mentor Chet Atkins as a “certified guitar player,” or CGP. On two new albums, Emmanuel provides proof with every passage. Australia-born Emmanuel…

Jeff Beck

Since the late ’90s, Jeff Beck has been fusing equal parts blues, jazz-rock, and heavy-duty electronica; this time he’s added spoken-word sections and vocals over the big, throbbing grooves, thanks to singer Rosie…

Kenny Olson Cartel

Think Detroit rock and roll – the MC5 and Iggy by way of Ted Nugent and Kid Rock: gear-grinding rock with plenty of volume and aggression. Throw in some Hendrix, Guns N’ Roses,…

Bee Gees

Reprise

When the Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1997, Barry Gibb acknowledged that they are “the enigma with a stigma.” Indeed, to find a musical act…

Tony Green – Gypsy Jazz

New Orleans artist/guitarist Tony Green has crafted a masterpiece of swinging gypsy jazz with this CD. He covers three Django Reinhardt tunes, as well as songs by Sidney Bechet, a variety of traditional…