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Music
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
Toulouse Engelhardt
Lost Grove Records
Acoustic-guitar pioneer John Fahey influenced a generation of fingerpickers, and none sound more like a genuine musical heir than Toulouse Engelhardt This is a solo guitar album, and its tunes, with titles such…
Jack Knife and the Sharps – Ace Cafe
Jack Knife and the Sharps are a staple on the bar scene in Minneapolis-St. Paul. They have a reputation of serving up good old-fashioned rock and roll spiced by rockabilly, country, and ’50s-style…
Pink Floyd and Australian Pink Floyd Show
It’s not easy being a Floyd fan in 2015. The band’s best work lies 40 years in the past, yet there are still choices to be made. First up is their latest –…
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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
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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
Burnin’ Mike Vernon’s 3 Balls Of Fire
Burnin’ & Churnin’ and Live! (featuring Nokie Edwards, George Tomsco, and Jerry Cole)
Of all the surf-instrumental revivalists, Vernon is one of the most prolific. Since forming Balls Of Fire in 1987, he has also dipped his toe into “crime jazz” and Hollywood soundtrack covers –…
Bryan Sutton
Bryan Sutton’s roots-music pedigree is flawless. His award-winning work as an accompanist and soloist spans bluegrass, Americana, and contemporary country, all proof of his versatility and virtuosity. A gifted guitar educator, he earned…
Yankee Slickers – Yankee Slickers
Self-distributed
Brothers Jason and Paul Ivey propel this band using their guitars and voices to purvey well-written rock songs with thoughtful lyrics and fine playing. The Iveys’ guitars soar like they were brought up…
Frank Zappa
Halloween 77
In late October 1977, Frank Zappa played six shows at the Palladium in New York City. Now you can hear the whole enchilada – more than 150 tracks of soundboard-quality audio – all…
Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey
Robert “Mack” McCormick
The legend of Robert Johnson looms large, from his music to the myth of the Faustian bargain made at the crossroads, and his death at 27, ostensibly murdered by poisoning. Author McCormick, who…
Laurie Lewis – Live
Bill Monroe never paid much attention to studio recording. He believed bluegrass music was created to be played live. On her latest release, entitled simply Live, Laurie Lewis treats us to a complete…
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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
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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,
Windhand
The doom-rock scene is experiencing a resurgence, and there’s plenty of good ol’ Sabbath-begot heaviness around to jack up your big ’70s-styled headphones down in the basement. This Richmond, Virgina, five-piece does it…
Scotty Moore/D.J. Fontana – and Various Others
Here’s a CD featuring a couple of members of Elvis’ original band – the legendary Scotty Moore on guitar and drummer D.J. Fontana – along with guests like Levon Helm, the Mavericks, the…
Otis Redding
Otis Forever: The Albums & Singles (1968-1970)
Otis Redding’s death in a plane crash in late 1967 created a monumental task for producer and guitarist Steve Cropper – the posthumous presentation of Redding’s unreleased work. Ultimately, four collections were released,…
Steve Khan
Backlog
Steve Khan has spent the last few albums mixing Latin music and jazz. The project has worked beautifully, culminating in this effort that takes tunes from Thelonious Monk, Bobby Hutcherson, Ornette Coleman, Steve’s…
Kid Bangham and Amyl Justin – Pressure Cooker
Here’s a very cool guitar-based blues record that gets ya jumpin’ from the first cut, the straight-ahead blues/rock of “Close to the Danger Zone.” Bangham is a versatile and interesting guitarist who has…
Steve Vai
Inviolate
After decades of technical shred-dom, Vai returns to his musical mindset prior to David Lee Roth, composing soundtrack-scaled material that is powerful and dramatic. “Teeth of the Hydra” is a showpiece for a…
The Beatles – Rare and Unseen
Most unauthorized retrospectives of pop music are overly academic and usually a bit cynical – consisting of revisionist perspectives from people who weren’t there “at the time.” With the exception of a couple…
Rosie Flores
The first of Flores’ 11 solo albums came out in ’87, but by then she’d run the gamut from singer/songwriter (in sort of an L.A./Ronstadt mold) to punk (including a 1984 LP by…
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Roadrunner Records
While we may wish he’d step further out of the shadows of his influences (especially Stevie Ray Vaughan), there’s no denying the guitar skills of one Kenny Wayne Shepherd. That said, his latest…
The Routes
In This Perfect Hell
Think old-school Zombies crossed with new-thing Arctic Monkeys: the result may just be the Routes. The guitar-bass-drum trio is part classic Brit invasion rockers with period-perfect gear, part hypnotic proto psychedelia – yet…
Hacienda Bros. – Arizona Motel
Arizona Motel is the last album we will ever get from the Hacienda Brothers. The death of lead singer Chris Gaffney in April has ended the five-year run of the best country band…
Jim Suhler and Monkey Beat – Tijuana Bible
Full of Skill and Soul
On his latest effort, Jim Suhler and his band serve up 16 cuts of boogie, blues, and other nasty forms of roadhouse music, and do it with skill and soul. Suhler’s a man…
George Cotsirilos Trio
OA2 Records
Veteran jazz guitarist Cotsirilos’ latest record is a swinging set driven by his considerable chops and skill at composing and interpreting music. His bandmates, Robb Fisher (bass) and Ron Marabuto (drums), are the…
Dino Saluzzi – Responsorium
Responsorium
Argentine Dino Saluzzi is at the forefront of a new generation of bandonéonistas arriving on the scene since the overpowering force of Astor Piazzolla. Yet while many have remain trapped in the strands…
The Routes
Mesmerised
Color the Routes’ mastermind Chris Jack’s music how you like: vintage-y, psychedelia, joyfully and unapologetically garage. But be sure to color it outside the lines. Jack is a musical mad scientist. Each release…
Santana IV
Describing Carlos Santana’s guitar playing, Greg Rolie, the Santana band’s original keyboardist, declares, “It’s real music; it’s not just a bunch of notes put together.” Truer words were never spoken. They’re just part…
Tower Of Babel
Lake Of Fire
In case you forgot, Bach-tinged Euro metal is alive and well. And for those jonesing for a healthy dose of freshly cut, high-quality, Teutonic metal escapism, Tower Of Babel has a plethora of…
The Yardbirds – The Yardbirds: Ultimate
Two fallacies that invariably arise in discussions of the Yardbirds: 1) declaring them the fathers of psychedelic music and/or heavy metal; 2) focusing on their colossal lead guitar lineage at the expense of…
Loe & the Nastys – Loe & the Nastys
Loe and the Nastys deal in music that isn’t popular with young folks anymore; equal parts jazz, Jobim-influenced Latin music, and even a little Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, this quartet has…
Walter Trout
Walter Trout’s guitar skills are unquestioned. In fact, his playing often turns mediocre songs into decent songs. At times, though, his music has lacked urgency. That’s not the case with Common Ground, where…
Mark Erelli – Delivered
Fearing negative comparison, some singer/songwriters shy away from covering other writer’s material. Some, boring people by the dozens in coffeehouses across the country, feel it’s everyone else who comes up short. Mark Erelli…
