In the sonic constellation orbiting jazz-rock, Hiram Bullock traveled a separate trajectory. His work on “Angela,” the theme for “Taxi,” was heard weekly by the masses. A member of the original The World’s Most Dangerous Band on “Late Night With David Letterman,” he captivated nightly audiences with his flamboyant style and soulful grooving presence. In…

Read more >>

Harvey Mandel is a regular on the list of “guitarists’ guitarists,” yet is woefully unknown to the public. With an uncategorizable rock style and penchant for instrumentals, his 1968 debut, Cristo Redentor, foreshadowed fusion with its cinematic qualities that still sound modern and distinguished from typical jazz-rock. Mandel presents a striking case of parallel evolution…

Read more >>

Leader and guiding spirit of Savoy Brown, Kim Simmonds was an architect of the ’60s British Blues movement. A powerful influence on countless guitarists, he epitomized the form and set its evolution to blues-rock, progressive, hard rock, and heavy metal. Born December 5, 1947, in Wales, Kim Maiden Simmonds (see our remembrance in the March…

Read more >>

The proverbial chicken-or-egg conundrum has an equivalent in the spirited debate over the Jeff Beck Group versus Led Zeppelin as progenitors of heavy metal. There’s a bit of truth in either. Heralded by many as the birth cry of metal, Truth was Beck’s first album as bandleader, and the 1968 release pre-dates Zep by several…

Read more >>

Co-founder of The Cult, Billy Duffy was Britain’s last ’80s guitar hero, with an attitude and sound that embodied the essence of rock guitar. While lauded, that X factor was misunderstood by critics. Historically, Duffy bridged gaps between hard rock, melodic metal, punk, and alternative in an era fraught with conformity by adhering to the…

Read more >>

Woefully under-recognized guitarist Roy Lanham was a favorite of leading country and jazz pickers and rock innovators; Merle Travis extolled his musicianship, and when Barney Kessel sought him out for coaching on country picking, Lanham exclaimed, “Take off your boots and hat, and you can be a great jazz player!” Emerging when musical boundaries were…

Read more >>

Marshall Tucker Band was arguably the most unusual Southern-rock group of the ’70s. Its namesake wasn’t the leader, a member, or mascot, their virtuosic lead guitarist didn’t use a pick, and they regularly featured flute and saxophone solos. Moreover, MTB played a seemingly irreconcilable array of styles, blending country, blues, folk, gospel, and rock with…

Read more >>

Though he is today largely forgotten, blues aficionados recognize Pee Wee Crayton as a legend. “The little man with a big sound” dominated the charts briefly in the years between T-Bone Walker and B.B. King. Though his legacy could rest solely on the guitar break in 1954’s “Do Unto Others” (the first significant recording made…

Read more >>

Underrated pioneers of melodic metal in the 1970s and ’80s, UFO’s music compared with contemporaries Thin Lizzy, Rainbow, AC/DC, and Whitesnake, yet they achieved only modest success – until uber-guitarist Michael Schenker elevated their status. Formed in 1968 by vocalist Phil Mogg, guitarist Mick Bolton, bassist Pete Way, and drummer Andy Parker, from its inception,…

Read more >>

American music history is fraught with tales of forgotten heroes. In the ’40s, jazz guitarists like Tiny Grimes, George Barnes, Chuck Wayne, and Arv Garrison occupied the space between Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel. Garrison’s star shone briefly at a crucial point. A pioneer of electric-jazz guitar, he was a favorite of Django Reinhardt, admired…

Read more >>