Some consider these albums minor releases in the Love canon. But neither might have been considered so if the magnificent Forever Changes hadn’t set the bar so high. While they may not meet that high level, each has plenty to recommend it. False Start opens with a rare and brief guest shot from Jimi Hendrix…

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Unlike some country greats, George Jones is no au courant object of fashion, and he’s not part of today’s you-can-hardly-tell-it’s-country music. From his earliest hits, when he was basically imitating Hank Williams, until the day before yesterday (this chronological collection ends with 2001’s “Tramp On Your Street”), he has been an unyielding champion of drinkin’/weep-…

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Texas songwriter Denice Franke’s fourth solo disc sounds as though its inspiration could have come from nowhere but that mystical area the title references, where cowboy country meets the ocean; where “big” gives way to the unfathomably immense and creative thoughts are reduced, but not lessened, to an elemental uncomplicated naturalness. Franke’s straightforward approach to…

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The kind of disc essential to party DJs, Outlaw Country contains many cuts fans of this subgenre will already have. But it’s still worth a nod. Hearing Waylon Jennings’ “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” or Johnny Cash “Cocaine Blues” again may turn someone toward Jennings ’70s RCA recordings or Cash’s early Sun…

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A few years ago, Josh Preston laid down his electric guitar for the life of singer/songwriter. Once past the slightly offensive notion that this move speaks of contempt for the music that changed the world, it becomes clear he probably made the right move; if your heart isn’t in it, move on. When he did,…

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It’s hard for any artist to squeeze out one good album, much less two at once. It’s significant that Ken Will Morton hits more than he misses on these simultaneously released, but separately packaged, discs. Devil In Me covers his harder, White Stripes-type rocking side while Kickin’ Out the Rungs is more (but not exclusively)…

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Two of pop music’s finest – Steve Winwood and Alex Chilton – hit the big time while still in their teens; Stevie Wonder even earlier, and Shuggie Otis and Kenny Wayne Shepherd were playing with the big boys before they hit 20. Yet, bands – people who play their own instruments and possibly write their…

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As a guitarist, Richard Bennett is the best of all possible things; a modest, immensely skilled and empathetic player who is at home with the West Coast semi-bebop to A-list pop music, sophisticated rock, and country music session work. He even recorded with T-Bone Walker. On the 12 original instrumentals here, his jazz side is…

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For decades, France has welcomed expatriate American blues and jazz artists. It was inevitable that seeds would be sown; the results in jazz music going back at least as far as the 1930s, when Django Reinhardt was shaking it up with Le Qunitette du Hot Club. But not many Frenchmen have made names in the…

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In a band that at various times included Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman and David Crosby, Gene Clark wasn’t overshadowed. He wrote some of the group’s most recognized songs, including “Feel A Whole Lot Better” and “8 Miles High.” Still, he seems to have spent much of his abbreviated career at the…

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