Al Kooper – Black Coffee A passing glance at the resume Al Kooper has amassed over nearly a half-century is enough to make anyone ask, “What do you have to do to get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?” Playing organ on “Like A Rolling Stone” would be a good place to

Read more >>

Since Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded 33 years ago, its catalog has been anthologized in every conceivable way, culminating with a six-disc boxed set of every track the band ever laid down, including its pre-CCR incarnations. What makes this 25-cut, single-disc set unique is that it’s the first time Creedence hits and bandleader John Fogerty’s solo

Read more >>

Richard Leo Johnson – The Legend Of Vernon McAllister A fascinating, unexpected concept album of acoustic steel-string instrumentals. Johnson has been compared to Michael Hedges, and, like that late innovator, his music is a bit too intense to fit the “new age” tag, even if no one knows where else to pigeonhole him. He lists

Read more >>

Kenny Burrell – The Best Of Kenny Burrell The good thing about compiling a Kenny Burrell “best of” is, since his 1956 solo debut, it’s hard to find any clinkers; the hard part is knowing where to begin and when to stop. The fact is, several retrospectives could be compiled, and indeed have been. But

Read more >>

More than a decade before he became a staple of Southern rock with “Fooled Around And Fell In Love,” guitarist Elvin Bishop established his blues credentials as an original member of Chicago’s Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Originally a quartet, keyboardist Mark Naftalin and lead guitarist Mike Bloomfield were added to the ensemble for its debut

Read more >>

At the opposite end of the spectrum from Sundazed’s Burton-Mooney collaboration, which balances restraint with fire, is this collection of singles by steel trickster Speedy West, which Capitol originally released in 1960. This, too, is a collaboration in that this collection of singles recorded between 1950 and ’55 features West’s longtime partner in speed, guitarist

Read more >>

It may have only reached number 39 on Billboard‘s Pop Singles chart in 1963, but “The Lonely Surfer” is as perfect as any 21/2 minutes in rock history. Bill Pittman’s Danelectro six-string bass enters, playing the Duane Eddy-esque melody over a medium-gallop drumbeat, supported by unwavering rhythm guitars, with a triangle marking the 3, and

Read more >>

One of many reunions that took place over the years, after a teenaged Evan Johns provided vocals and rhythm guitar on Danny Gatton’s legendary Redneck Jazz album in 1978. This was recorded live at Baltimore’s 8×10 club in March of ’84, just a month before Johns disbanded D.C.’s H-Bombs and joined Austin’s LeRoi Brothers, and

Read more >>

It’s ironic that one of the terms coined to describe the music various singer/songwriters were making in Austin in the early 1970s was “progressive country” (others being “redneck rock” and the more marketable “outlaw country”). Because the brand of country that Nashville defector Willie Nelson, hippie eclectic Doug Sahm, and New York folk-rock import Jerry

Read more >>