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Music
Popa Chubby
I Love Freddie King
The latest from blues dynamo Popa Chubby is a star-studded tribute to the late great Freddie King. Produced by Mr. Chubby and Mike Zito, I Love Freddie King is a blues guitar love-fest covering some of King’s most potent and popular songs. With Popa fronting the band on guitar and vocals, guests include Eric Gales,
Trigger Hippy
While the debut of Trigger Hippy features some musicians with familiar names, it’s not a “super group” in any sense of the word. That’s meant as a compliment, because the 11 songs here…
Deadstring Brothers – Silver Mountain
The Deadstring Brothers hail from Detroit and bring a mix of crunchy rock and roll and rootsy country – think Rolling Stones. Cuts like “Ain’t No Hidin’ Love,” and “Queen of the Scene”…
Luther Allison – Luther’s Blues
Originally released by Motown in 1973, Luther’s Blues was not a big seller. Not that it’s not a great album. It is. But maybe Motown at that time wasn’t the best place to…
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Rush
Rush 50
The goal of any anthology is to capture the broad scope of an artist’s career. Rush 50 is a strong attempt, starting with their first singles (previously unreleased) all the way to their final live recordings in 2015. In between are reams of epic studio and stage recordings, summing up the band’s career in one
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Rik Emmett
Ten Telecaster Tales
At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both a book and accompanying music. “Magic Power” this is not. On Ten Telecaster Tunes, Emmett delivers 10 solo performances on the instrument he calls Babs,
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Check This Action: Up Jumped Elmore
When someone recently asked me to recommend the most essential Elmore James album, I answered, “Any and all.” I’ve never heard a bad Elmore cut, and I’ve heard nearly everything he recorded. Everybody knows that he set the standard for slide guitar in electric blues, but he was also a fantastic singer and wrote some
Judas Priest and Deep Purple
Metal-Morphosis
This 30th-anniversary reissue of Judas Priest’s 1986 album is above average, but not for the reason you might think. Turbo itself was slick ’80s metal, festooned with guitar synthesizers and that ubiquitous “gated”…
The Subdudes
At its core, the Subdudes’ character sound is Tommy Malone’s sophisticated acoustic guitar blended with John Magnie’s keyboards, their soulful vocalizing, and Steve Amadee’s stripped-to-the-bone percussion. At times Malone’s playing is so impressive…
Barney Kessel
Stompin’
A year after Barney Kessel began recording his now-landmark material for Contemporary Records, he performed at Phoenix’s Jazz Mill backed by the house band, the Jazz Millers. The event was captured on a…
Kansas – Two For the Show
One iconic artifact of the late-’70s rock scene was the ubiquitous “double live album,” a marketing ploy usually timed for the Christmas rush, but one that also yielded much good music. Following the…
Molly Miller
St. George
Lyrical melodies, dreamy chord voicings, and spacious arrangements – Molly Miller’s latest is all that and more, employing guitar, bass, and drums. Tucked between bassist Jennifer Condos (Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks) and drummer…
Connie Smith
The Cry of the Heart
Connie Smith was an unknown in 1964 when her debut single “Once a Day” flew to the top of the country charts. In an era when slicker, less twangy Nashville Sound recordings were…
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Greg Koch
Blues
The Gristle Master returns with scintillating blues and the influences that made him the six-string slayer he is today. On this live recording, Koch uses an array of guitars including his signature Reverend, a Deluxe Tele, Custom Shop Les Paul, and a Custom Shop Strat while sharing stages with Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall, Malford Milligan,
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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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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
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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
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…
The Minus 5
Former R.E.M. fifth man Scott McCaughey is more significantly the longtime leader of Pacific Northwest rock legends Young Fresh Fellows, the brilliant Baseball Project, and the Minus 5. Considering the latter collective’s revolving…
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Live In London
In a world where Red Bull-injected athletes have hijacked blues guitar, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is a welcome return to feel, nuance, style, communication, and imagination. Drawing from the most-outstanding performers of the African-American…
Kiss
Destroyer 45
Following their Alive! breakout, Kiss hired producer to the superstars Bob Ezrin and cut what became their first platinum album, expanded here into a four CD/Blu-Ray box. The 1976 LP also launched the…
Joe Ely
Driven to Drive
From the start of his solo career, Joe Ely’s west Texas audacity and unpredictability has been an asset – an extension of his early days as part of the revered country-folk trio The…
The Strypes
Here’s rock and roll like it used to be – ageless, timeless, and ready to count off again. The Strypes are a quartet from Ireland, all just 15 to 17 years old, running…
Golden State-Lone Star Blues Revue
Welcome to a cross-country meeting of blues minds. The first release from this group of veteran California and Texas bluesmen features guitarists Little Charlie Baty, an Alabama-to-California transplant grounded originally in Chicago blues…
Bruce Springsteen – Magic
Advance word on this album centered on its anti-war lyrics, but its true focus is on the return of the E Street Band and Springsteen’s classic signature sound. “In the Future” does discuss…
Kenny Neal – Let Life Flow
Kenny Neal’s new release is full of blues and soul music of the highest standard. In fact, “Fly Away” alone is worth the price of admission, with its soaring soul tune with beautiful…
Roy Orbison
Playing the role of a lonely, heartbroken teen, Roy Orbison was the Enrico Caruso of early ’60s pop, his voice gracing more than a few torchy hits. “Oh Pretty Woman” from 1964 remains…
Bola Sete
Samba In Seattle
The uninitiated will wonder why they’re just now hearing such a guitar genius, while aficionados bemoan the fact Bola Sete isn’t a household name. Previously unreleased, this triple-CD, subtitled Live At The Penthouse…
Leslie West – Big Fat Assed Guitar
Leslie West has been sort of a one-trick pony in his 30-plus years as a rocker. But when that trick is one of the smoothest, most fluid and violin-like vibratos around, when its…
Roy Orbison
Unequivocally Essential
John Lee Hooker & the Coast to Coast Blues Band
Live at Montreux 1983 & 1990
The early ’80s weren’t a high point of John Lee Hooker’s career. Demand for all blues – including his Mississippi hill-country music – had eroded and record deals were scarce. None of that…
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.…
Fountains of Wayne – Traffic And Weather
It may sound fuddy-duddy, but to most baby-boomer ears, rock bands whose members are under the age of 40 just don’t sound good. They don’t get it, they have,/I> no history, and they…
Dave Biller & Jazz Pharaohs – LeRoy’s Swing & Old Man Time
The connection between these two albums is one Dave Biller, a multi-talented Austin guitar man who plays it all – Hot Club swing to straight-ahead jazz – with a fine dose of rockabilly…
Roy Buchanan – American Axe – Live In 1974
It’s not too far of a stretch to say Roy Buchanan was one of the most unique guitar players in the past 40 years. This recording, done at two shows in 1974, does…
Paxton Norris
Norris is an unabashed acolyte of Duane Allman. “Your My Girl” (sic) is a soul ballad that has the late guitarist’s stamp all over it. “It’s Alright,” an uptempo boogie, and “Hard Luck…
Peter Blake and Commentary Derek Taylor – 24 Nights
Perhaps you were let down by the high prices for the Eric Clapton guitars at the recent Christies auction. But don’t despair! You can still get a limited edition book, music, and memorabilia…
Carl Verheyen – Slingshot
I admit that although I’ve seen Carl’s name a lot, I’ve never become familiar with his playing. But after hearing this great CD, that’ll change. He’s a fabulous player whose style falls somewhere…
Hillbilly Idol
I love this record. You don’t really think of great country music as coming out of Cleveland, but this would be the exception to that rule. Whether it’s honky-tonk, country swing, pop-like country,…
