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Michael Dregni
Danny Fender
Danny Fender was one of the great guitarists you may never have heard. He died December 3, 2024, at age 54. Fender was well-known among his people, the American Roma. He recorded sporadically including several live recordings as Danny Fender and the Caravans, released by L.A.’s Festival Records, including his 2006 album, A Band of…
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Michael Dregni
Bob Dylan
The Complete Budokan 1978
The original double-live album culled from Bob Dylan’s 1978 Tokyo shows was a Japan-only release until Dylan-mania demanded a global offering the next year; reviews were lukewarm. After the fiercely inspired Rolling Thunder Revue, the debut of Street-Legal and subsequent world tour were sculpted and polished. This four-CD or eight-LP collection of all 58 tunes…
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Michael Dregni
Boulou & Elios Ferré
Fathers & Sons
Alongside Django Reinhardt, the music of the Ferré family is at the heart of Gypsy jazz. And it’s still beating strong thanks to Boulou and Elios Ferré. The Paris-based brothers are the sons and nephews of former Django sidemen Matelo, Baro, and Sarane – each of whom also boasted wide-ranging, supremely creative, and influential careers.…
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Michael Dregni
Carolyn Sills Combo
On the Draw
Listening to the Carolyn Sills Combo, you might do a double-take: Is this newly fashioned country music, or a long-lost 1950s or ’60s band coming out of the ether? The combo is indeed that good. Guitarist Gerard Egan channels Grady Martin or Chet Atkins – or better yet, himself. Charlie Joe Wallace’s steel guitar and…
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Michael Dregni
The Replacements
Tim: Let It Bleed Edition
The Mats once released a live cassette entitled The Sh*t Hits the Fans, but when it comes to deluxe editions, they do not disappoint. This boxed set of their 1985 major-label Sire/Warner Brothers LP is chock full – four CDs and one LP with a remastering of the original Tim, a new mix by producer/engineer…
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Michael Dregni
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos
Various artists
You may think you know Stax, but this seven-CD set of 146 tracks (140 never before released) proves again how much creative genius was contained in that old Memphis theater turned recording studio. These songwriter demos are loose and unfinished – usually without a full band backing, and sans horn section. But they’re still soulful,…
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Michael Dregni
Lucinda Williams
Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You: A Memoir & Stories From A Rock N Roll Heart
Turning 70 is a time for reflection, and Lucinda Williams offers two takes. Her poetic autobiography recounts her troubled, peripatetic childhood and the tales behind the songs it inspired. Yet her new album leans into the future with a promise to keep on rocking. The past few years while these projects came together have been…
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Michael Dregni
A Song For Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival
John Lingan
Hailing this 368-page book on the front dust-jacket flap as the “definitive biography” of CCR – but lacking author interviews with John Fogerty – immediately raises an eyebrow. Still, relying on past published interviews and Fogerty’s recent memoir, plus original interviews with Doug Clifford and Stu Cook and several older Creedence history books, author John…
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Michael Dregni
Merle Travis & Deke Dickerson
Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story
Deke Dickerson does things right. He doesn’t skimp in his books, recordings, or various other productions, knowing that true “guitar geeks” (as he justly refers to himself and the rest of us) revel in the details. And his latest project here may just be his masterpiece – so far. Starting with the “treasure trove” that…
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Michael Dregni
Mel Brown
Hellafied
Before becoming a member of the house band at the legendary Austin venue Antone’s, Mississippi-born Mel Brown (1939-2009) was a blues guitarist who gained notice with West Coast R&B icon Johnny Otis. This reissue of his 1967 solo debut reveals a solid, blues-based soloist clearly at ease with the era’s organ-driven soul-jazz, surrounded by high-caliber…
