• 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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Various Artists – Concert For George

Concert For George

On November 29, 2002, a year to the day after George Harrison’s death, an all-star cast took the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the music of the ex-Beatle and distinguished…

Newport Folk Festival – Best of Bluegrass 1959-1966

Before Farm Aid, Telluride, or even Woodstock, there was the Newport Folk Festival. Begun in the late ’50s, this yearly gathering molded and defined a generation’s tastes in music. It was the all-star…

The Clutter Family

A line in Bob Dylan’s “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” goes, “If my thought dreams could be seen, they’d probably put my head in a guillotine.” Lyrics to Clutter Family songs like…

Nancy Wilson

You and Me

The Heart legend has finally made her first solo album. Armed with a ’63 Telecaster for rhythm, signature Martin HD-35, and Gibson mandolin, Wilson mostly recorded in her home studio, working remotely with…

Anders Osborne

Alligator Records

Anders Osborne’s first effort for Alligator has a “tougher” feel. In the past, one may have mistaken him for a white soul singer, but here he looks (with beard and long hair) and…

Jamnesia – Jamnesia

Feenix Finale

This CD can’t help but grab any guitarist’s attention, with its clever cover collage, depicting Robert Johnson playing Clapton’s famous psychedelic “Fool” Les Paul/SG. If you check out what’s inside the package before…

Eric Clapton

Six-String Stories

Mr. Clapton has a vast guitar collection – okay, shocker. But within this book, you can drool over Eric’s greatest axes, many auctioned to support his Crossroads Centre for recovering addicts. Some instruments…

John Cipollina – Electric Guitarslinger

Electric Guitarslinger

John Cipollina was probably best-known as the lead guitarist for the Quicksilver Messenger Service. He was also a seminal figure in the San Francisco music scene. He died in 1989 at the age…

John Abercrombie – Open Land

Guitarist John Abercrombie is one of the creators of the ECM Sound, and his new album is quintessential Abercrombie/ECM. If you arrived late, ECM Records was sparked by Manfred Eichner in Germany and…

Dick 50 – Late Show

Self-distributed

Dick 50 is Delbert McClinton’s touring band. Guitarist Rob McNelley handles most of the lead vocals and brings the same soulful feel he did to his two solo albums. His guitar is the…

Michael Bloomfield

It’s difficult to critique compilations, especially those that include material from various labels: you never know what licensing restrictions were imposed, which cuts the A&R folks would’ve included but weren’t able to. It’s…

Chris Hillman 

Time Between; My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother, and Beyond

Though he began as a California bluegrass mandolin picker, Chris Hillman cemented his place in rock history as the Byrds’ original bassist and (with Gram Parsons) co-founder of the Flying Burrito Brothers. His…

Swamp Cabbage – Honk

Swamp Cabbage – Honk Swamp Cabbage is a trio led by guitarist/vocalist Walter Parks. Walter has been around, and is best known as the guitarist for Richie Havens. If that fact would have…

Yates McKendree

Buchanan Lane

A Grammy-winning engineer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and already a veteran of some of Nashville’s most-storied stages, the release of 21-year-old Yates McKendree’s debut album mandates the addition of another accolade – top-shelf purveyor…

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…

Scott Holt – Angels in Exile

Scott Holt isn’t exactly a newcomer to the music buzz. He served in Buddy Guy’s band for 10 years and, not surprisingly, calls it a “…trip to the university.” That schooling has definitely…

Jerry Granelli

Dance Hall

The artists that drummer Granelli has recorded with range from Vince Guaraldi to Earl “Fatha” Hines to the Kingston Trio. He’s also released more than a dozen solo albums, including 1992’s A Song…

Janis Ian – Billie’s Bones

Billie's Bones

My fondness for Janis Ian comes as no surprise to longtime VG readers. My monthly column is named after one of her songs, and I have followed her career since I bought my…

Mem Shannon – Memphis In The Morning

Once everyone’s favorite cabby in the Cresent City, Mem Shannon is now rapidly making tracks toward the same level of popularity in the contemporary blues idiom. Making his home in Memphis (where is…

Elvin Bishop

Delta Groove

Bishop’s 2008 album, The Blues Roll On, was a landmark of sorts, as he surrounded himself with elder statesmen like B.B. King and James Cotton, as well as young guns like Derek Trucks…

Dan Tyminski – Wheels

Rounder Records

Even if you haven’t heard of Dan Tyminski, you’ve likely heard his music. His Grammy-winning version of “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” from the soundtrack O Brother Where Art Thou? garnered…

Otis Redding

Live At The Whisky A Go Go: The Complete Recordings

Johnny Winter

Guitar Slinger

Check This Action: So Long, Charlie and Top

I was saddened to hear of the passing of ’50s rocker Charlie Gracie on December 16. The 86-year-old rocker sure led a full life. I interviewed Charlie for VG in 2006 and, at…

Mike Stern

Trip

Mike Stern’s latest speaks to the triumph of his spirit and twisted sense of humor. In a freak accident while waiting for a cab, he tripped and broke both arms. This left him…

Tab Benoit – Brother To The Blues

Tab Benoit – Brother To The Blues Benoit throws a bit of a curveball by adding country music to his always fun mix of blues, R&B, funk, rock, and Louisiana music. He even…

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…

Oz Noy & Andrew Synowiec

Recreational Substance

Fusion guitar experts Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec join forces for an album of shameless note density and post-bebop shred. Eight compositions run the gamut between energetic shuffles, wide interval ballads, and twisted…

Abby and Norm Group – Volume 1: The Book of Norman

This band is led by Norman Zocher and Abby Aronson, both professors at the Berklee College of Music. The style is jazz, and it’s a fine mix of different modern styles. Abby is…

Mark Lettieri

Can I Tell You Something?

The Snarky Puppy virtuoso delivers a set of crisp funk-fusion, touching on everything from Steely Dan jazzisms to an ’80s dance party. Part of Lettieri’s charm is that he’s an absolute beast on…

Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music

Various artists

The genesis of Alligator Records – founder Bruce Iglauer’s desire to cut an LP with his favorite band, Hound Dog Taylor & the House Rockers – is one of modern blues’ most-told stories.…

Duke Robillard

Stony Plain Records

One of the busiest players around today, Duke takes a break from touring, producing, and recording jazz, jumpswing, and bop to crank out his most uncompromising blues set in 20 years. Twelve original…