• Smith/Kotzen

    Music

    Smith/Kotzen

    Black Light/White Noise

    This is the third album from rock veterans Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs). The busy axeslingers – especially Kotzen, who is always involved in solo and band projects – released their full-length debut and an EP in 2021. Smith-Kotzen has happily blossomed into a going concern. What’s interesting about Smith/Kotzen’s

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John Abercrombie

John Abercrombie is one of our unsung heroes of jazz-rock, and this gorgeous three-CD reissue amply proves it. His Quartet recorded three albums from 1978 to ’80, all included here: Arcade, Abercrombie Quartet,…

Glen Campbell – Meet Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell has been absent from the pop/rock world for a long time. His late-’60s records like “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get To Phoenix,” and “Gentle on my Mind” showed him…

Bob Dylan

1970

Not yet 30, Bob Dylan had already conquered the world at the beginning of the 1970s. Wisely, he plowed ahead, entering a New York studio with ringers David Bromberg, Charlie Daniels, and another…

Dave Hunter

Most guitarists will never have the opportunity to play high-end or vintage gear, but that’s what guitar pornography like this book is for. If you’ve never been fortunate enough to play or own…

Johnny Nicholas & Friends

Too Many Bad Habits

When Johnny Nicholas was kicking out blues in Austin in the ’70s, between there and Detroit, he recorded his 1977 album Too Many Bad Habits, 14 raw, authentic tracks released on the Blind…

Ricky Skaggs

Born in rural Kentucky in 1954, Ricky Skaggs (named for “I Love Lucy’s” Ricky Ricardo) stands today as a supremely versatile musician. With his band Kentucky Thunder and his own record label, he…

Stacie Collins

Rev Records

The list of people who call themselves “professional harmonica players” certainly is not all that long. And the number of female harmonica players… well, beyond Stacie Collins, I can’t think of one. On…

311

If you remember the ’90s, you probably weren’t there. But if you were there and had your thumb on the pulse of contemporary music, you remember 311. Songs like “All Mixed Up” and…

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe White When Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie” came out in ’69, it was about the greasiest thing to hit the Top 40 since Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back.” But over…

Dierks Bentley

Capital Records

From the outside, one could easily judge Dierks Bentley’s music too slick, his status as merely a phenom on country radio. But Up On The Ridge might slap you up-side the head. Recorded…

Black Star Riders

A few years ago, a rejuvenated lineup of Thin Lizzy hit the road, earning great acclaim thanks to longtime Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, singer Ricky Warwick (The Almighty), and later, co-riffer Damon Johnson…

Jethro Tull

Happy Anniversary

Released in 1977, this album was crafted to get Jethro Tell as far as possible from Britain’s punk and New Wave explosion. The result was an enchanting folk-prog outing featuring acoustic guitar, mandolin,…

Reeves Gabrels

Guitarist, producer, and composer Reeves Gabrels is best known for his work with David Bowie and Robert Smith of The Cure. He’s taken a break from his role as a collaborator to release…

Rick Vito – Complete Guide to Slide Guitar

The guy who played the slide part in Bob Seger’s “Like a Rock” and played in Fleetwood Mac lends insight on improving your slide playing. He covers a range of topics including setting…

Check This Action: Discovering Son House, Again

In 1964, blues enthusiasts Nick Perls and Phil Spiro, along with freelance photographer/writer Dick Waterman, made a pilgrimage to track down Eddie “Son” House. Decades earlier, the blues singer and bottleneck guitarist had…

Kentucky Colonels

1966

Clarence White is best known as the B-bendin’ Telecaster pioneer with the Byrds – and his tragic 1973 death. But he’s also admired for his groundbreaking flatpicking with the Kentucky Colonels. This set,…

Sam Bush and David Grisman – King of My World

If you see Sam Bush perform live, the first thing you’ll notice is what a wonderful time he has on stage. Few performers enjoy playing music as much as Sam, and it shows.…

Thin Lizzy – Still Dangerous

Thin Lizzy was one of the most badass guitar bands of the ’70s. After a series of lineup changes early in the decade, the Irish-rooted group finally settled on the axe duo of…

Joe Negri

Noteworthy Jazz

A regional star, local TV luminary and jazz virtuoso even before beginning his 32-year tenure as Mister Rogers’ favorite handyman, Joe Negri (see feature in the September ’10 issue) was woefully under-recorded until…

Marty Robbins – Live Classics from the Country Music Hall of Fame

Nowadays, Marty Robbins is more respected than appreciated. Much of his studio material sounds dated because of syrupy string arrangements and slick backup singers. But a new release from the Country Hall of…

Enrico Granafei – In Search of the Third Dimension

On this truly phenomenal record, Granafei rolls through 10 cuts, most familiar, with just his voice, a nylon-string guitar, and a chromatic harmonica. There is no over-dubbing on this record, and Granafei’s performance…

Chip Lamason – All Young

Celtic music is a surefire melodic bromide for those who’ve grown tired of mainstream musical fare. Undulating melodic lines and complicated musical textures define the genre, which at times sounds Middle Eastern because…

Kid Ramos and Bob Corritore

Phoenix Blues Sessions

Ramos is well known in L.A. blues circles from his decades with James Harman, Janiva Magness, the Mannish Boys, Los Fabulocos, and others. As part of harpist Corritore’s “From The Vaults” series, this…

The Yardbirds

Yardbirds ’68

This two-CD set captures a 1968 concert taped at the Anderson Theater in New York City, roughly three months before the Yardbirds folded. This show was briefly released as an LP in 1971,…

Jimi Hendrix – Live at Monterey

Forty years after the fact, some people (people who weren’t around at the time) might say that Jimi Hendrix wasn’t all that revolutionary. These people would be wrong. There had been sonic experimentation…

Nils Lofgren

Wags might be forgiven for calling Nils Lofgren the Forrest Gump of rock. The dude’s not only played with everyone, it seems, but he’s been a key guitar (and accordion) foil for some…

We’re an American Band: A Journey Through The USA Hard Rock Scene, 1967-1973

Various artists

Early hard-rock bands were often British (Led Zep, Sabbath, Purple), but this box set looks at the American acts morphing from psychedelia into something crunchier. The wildly influential Vanilla Fudge delivers “Ticket to…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

John Lee Hooker

Mr. Boogie

John Lee Hooker was the bridge between country blues and electric blues, something elegantly captured during a 53-year career. The son of sharecroppers, he melded field hollers, Delta blues, talking blues, and what…

Frank Moriarty – Seventies Rock: A Decade of Creative Chaos

Seventies Rock: A Decade of Creative Chaos

It’s the music many of us grew up on. But it was different from the ’60s. The Beatles were over, Jimi and Janis were dead, and the feel-good ethos of Woodstock had given…

Bill Hullett – Two-Lane Blacktop

Okay, by now you’re all saying, “Does this guy listen to anything besides jazz?” Well, here’s a killer instrumental album featuring a veteran Nashville studio picker. Not only does Hullett put on a…


Jimi Hendrix Experience

Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969

LA LOM

The Los Angeles League of Musicians

Buddy Guy

Silvertone