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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…
Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home & Highway 61 Revisited
Here’s a couple of vinyl releases by Sundazed that I thought I could use to highlight their fabulous vinyl reissues. If you’re a vinyl freak, you’ll love these. Take these two, for instance.…
Leon Ware – Moon Ride
This album has an instant familiarity, and Leon Ware’s background makes it easy to see why – he has written and produced music for the likes of Quincy Jones, Maxwell, the Average White…
Joan Osborne – Breakfast in Bed
In other hands, Osborne’s penchant for jumping from genre to genre could peg her as a dilettante. But she’s just so good at everything she tackles – her 2006 Nashville CD, Pretty Little…
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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…
Rodney Crowell, Richard Bennett, Wes Langlois, Chris Scruggs, and others
Seeing The Light
I Saw The Light, the recently released Hank Williams Sr. biopic, stars Tom Hiddleston as the iconic, troubled country singer and songwriter who left an indelible impact on American music before dying in…
Paul Gabriel – Fate
Fate
I’m not familiar with Paul, but juding by his playing and singing, I’d guess he’s been around awhile, gigging away and making audiences smile heartily. The music here is a really nice mix…
Cheap Trick
In Another World
Ever since the Rock Hall of Famers’ debut in 1977, the quartet has been non-stop road warriors supporting albums that varied in quality. Beginning with 2006’s Rockford, their studio mojo has stayed. CT’s…
Cadillac Angels – Two Blocks Off Main
Guitarist Tony Balbinot employs an array of classic Gretsch guitars to make his band’s distinct rockabilly music. Sure, they wear the derigueur cowboy gear and sideburns, but they treat the music seriously, as…
John Pizzarelli
His 1998 mash-up album John Pizzarelli Meets The Beatles staked his claim as a hardcore fan, and he was subsequently invited to play on Paul McCartney’s 2012 pop standards album Kisses On The…
Little Charlie and the Nightcats – That’s Big
That's Big
Charlie Baty and company come through again. If you’re not familiar with Charlie and the boys, where you been? Since the late ’80s, they’ve put out a batch of excellent blues records that…
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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…
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969
With endless Hendrix live albums available, you may be justly skeptical about this concert recording. However, one attraction is its modern remix, with a level of audio detail that lets us hear the…
Rob Halford
Confess: The Autobiography
“Confess” is the right word: this Metal God’s life certainly warrants an autobiography. Halford recalls the gradual climb of Judas Priest – and his struggle to remain in the closet. If the vocalist’s…
Slick SL-52 and SL-56
Budget Riff Rockers
Since 2004, Guitarfetish has been selling instruments, parts, pedals, and accessories online. Their Slick guitar line – designed and built with input from guitarist Earl Slick – includes the offset SL-56 and single-cut…
Bernard Allison – Times Are Changing
The times certainly are a-changing. Luther Allison’s son, Bernard, is back, unleashing a tough brand of modern blues that will blow the dust out of your speaker cones. This is new blues by…
Bill Frisell
Music Is
Bill Frisell is a musical treasure who has proven himself in so many musical situations he’s impossible to categorize. His latest effort is his first “solo” record in many years. And it’s not…
Miko Marks and the Resurrectorsd
Feel Like Going Home
Miko Marks can sing the hell out of country, blues, and soul. And with guitarist/songwriter/producer Steve Wyreman again at her side, this new studio album may be her best yet. The lead single…
Justin Golden
Hard Times and a Woman
The word “blues” pops up in Justin Golden’s bio, but “African-Americana” might be a more apt term. The Virginian’s 12 originals make for an extremely impressive debut, as comfortable leaning toward country on…
Pink Floyd in North America 1966-1983
Glenn Povey
David Gilmour playing a rare Stratocaster doubleneck? You’ll see that 1972 photo and others in this reference book documenting Floyd’s many North American tours (FYI, one Strat neck was set up for slide).…
Analog Man’s Guide to Vintage Effects Pedals – Tom Hughes
“Analog Mike” Piera was one of the first to recognize the power of the internet to disseminate information and as a tool for commerce. Peira’s background as a software engineer with a degree…
Joseph Rosen
Surely, Joe Rosen isn’t the first music photographer to snap a shot not of a performer’s face but of his or her hands. The difference is he continued the practice and, with a…
Black Crowes
When it comes to meat-and-potatoes rock and roll, the Black Crowes are as good as it gets. The band’s latest release finds it playing a live version of the studio album, Warpaint, along…
Steve Lukather
I Found the Sun Again
Amid the recent turmoil of a Toto-related lawsuit and major lineup changes, “Luke” still managed to record his eighth solo album. Its eight songs cover his trademark territory – well-crafted tunes with shimmering…
Black Sabbath
Heaven and Hell & Mob Rules Deluxe Editions
Dan Tyminski – Wheels
Rounder Records
Review: “Gimme All Your Lovin’: The Blues, Boogie, and Beard of ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons”
In his prologue, author Christopher McKittrick acknowledges the difficulty of condensing Gibbons’ six-decade career into one book, partially due to the enigmatic vocalist/guitarist’s own “admitted tall tales.” In short, Gibbons is both an…
The Byrds: 1964-1967
Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, David Crosby
Like Dylan, the three founding members of the Byrds were ’60s acoustic folkies who, inspired by Beatlemania and the British Invasion, defined the amplified genre dubbed folk-rock. This lavish, chronological account of McGuinn,…
Bruce Pavitt
Before Sub Pop the label there was Sub Pop the music ’zine and later the column in Seattle weekly The Rocket. This expansive anthology compiled by Sub Pop founder Pavitt is a fantastic…
D.A.D. – No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims
On their first major label release, the band formerly known as Disneyland After Dark (changed after a threatened lawsuit by the Disney Co.) was poised for a breakthrough in the U.S. with backing…
P.K. Dwyer – King Pin
Yes, PK is a bit odd – he admits it. While some folks can’t get past that, it’s hard not to get into his whacked take on traditional blues and country. Healed is…
Oz Noy
Fusion maestro Oz Noy expands his palette of influences by enlisting the help of a horn section and special guests. Noy basks in the funkalicious glory of instrumental ’60s soul. Jazz-rock Strat lines…
Pokey LaFarge
Hamfats-Styled Hot Stuff
Pokey LaFarge’s Rounder Records debut continues his rich, well-established sound. Primarily acoustic, he offers another amalgam of jazz, blues, jug band, and Western swing. At different times, LaFarge and his expanded band conjure…
Marshall Chapman
TallGirl Records
Marshall Chapman wrote most of the songs here in tribute to friend (and former guitarist) Tim Krekel, who died of cancer in June of ’09. The result is at once beautiful and very…
Sex Pistols
The Original Recordings
Playing a ’74 Les Paul Custom straight (mostly) through a Twin Reverb, Steve Jones’ Faces-influenced swagger – landing somewhere between the militaristically precise rock of Johnny Ramone and the shambolic roll of Johnny…
Humble Pie
The A&M CD Box Set (1970-1975)
