• Popa Chubby

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    Popa Chubby

    I Love Freddie King

    The latest from blues dynamo Popa Chubby is a star-studded tribute to the late great Freddie King. Produced by Mr. Chubby and Mike Zito, I Love Freddie King is a blues guitar love-fest covering some of King’s most potent and popular songs. With Popa fronting the band on guitar and vocals, guests include Eric Gales,

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Elvis Presley

Before the Crown

The beginnings of Elvis Presley’s professional career during July, 1954, through late 1955 long ago acquired a mystique that has grown over the decades. During this time, the unknown Memphis singer, recording at…

The Replacements

For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s 1986

Love for the greatest band that “shoulda but didn’t” trundles onward. Replacements fans in the past few years having been treated to a critically acclaimed bio, a rollicking new LP from bassist Tommy…

Jody Williams – Return of a Legend

Return of a Legend

Rarely has an album been more aptly named. Williams was one of the key Chicago sessionmen in the ’50s and ’60s, the musically sophisticated guitarist who added the licks and solos to Chess,…

Emmylou Harris – Songbird

Emmylou Harris’ latest box set, Songbird, occupies a unique place among deluxe anthologies. Instead of being merely another greatest hits or an unreleased versions set, it’s a collection of personally important musical moments.…

Alison Brown Quartet – Replay

Replay

Acoustic jazz is one of those “difficult” musical categories that doesn’t get much attention. Most jazz fans won’t take seriously anything that lacks a horn, while folkies are intimidated by music where they…

Tom Feldmann

“And the Oscar goes to…” If they gave out Academy Awards for the best guitar instructional film, Tom Feldmann’s latest on Robert Johnson would be a shoe-in. We rarely review instructional videos, but…

Shawn Mullins – Honeydew

Vanguard Records

Shawn Mullins hit the big time in the ’90s with the sleepy folk tune “Lullaby.” Since then he has jumped around a bit and now finds himself recording for Vanguard, which has a…

Cedric Burnside

Be Trying

One of 35 grandchildren of the late R.L. Burnside, Cedric grew up in the rundown Holly Springs, Mississippi, home that housed four generations of Burnsides. An award-winning drummer, he was behind a kit…

George Benson

Concord Jazz

While Benson is a fine soul singer, some have been frustrated that his guitar has often taken a back seat on records full of vocals. There are a couple of vocals here, but…

The Replacements

For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s 1986

Love for the greatest band that “shoulda but didn’t” trundles onward. Replacements fans in the past few years having been treated to a critically acclaimed bio, a rollicking new LP from bassist Tommy…

Junior Wells & the Aces

Delmark

Junior Wells released enough mediocre product in his lifetime that it’s easy to forget what a great stylist and showman the Chicago bluesman was. This hour-plus live set, recorded at Club 47 in…

Al Di Meola – Anthology

Al Di Meola needs no introduction, and most of the music on this fine two-CD collection will be familiar to most guitarists as well. The only question is What’s new? The 20 tracks…

Connie Smith

Love, Prison, Wisdom and Heartaches

Connie Smith’s career began with her ebullient 1964 hit “Once a Day,” now part of the Library of Congress’ prestigious National Recording Registry. Marty Stuart, Smith’s husband and producer since ’97, shaped her…

Don Stiernberg with Rusty Holloway and Jeff Jenkins

Blue Night Records

Many musicians play swing, but few swing with the authenticity of Don Stiernberg, with whom the expression “Dig your well deep” comes to mind. On Swing 220, Stiernberg is joined by Jeff Jenkins…

Bearfoot

The teenagers who began the Bearfoot Bluegrass Band in 2006 have matured into young adults. As they’ve matured, so has their music. Even their name has changed slightly; it’s been shortened to Bearfoot.…

Evan Johns & The H-Bombs with Danny Gatton – Showdown At The Hoedown

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…

The Misunderstood, Fat Mattress, and others

The 1972 Lenny Kaye-compiled Elektra double-LP Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 spawned the Pebbles series, Rhino’s various regional Nuggets volumes, and eventually 2001’s Nuggets, Vol. 2: Original Artyfacts From…

Dave Alvin – West of the West

The Great American Music Galaxy

Dave Alvin is one of America’s best songwriters, and as such runs the risk of alienating casual fans when he does an album of covers. But then again, maybe not… The idea with…

Newport Folk Festival – Best of Bluegrass 1959-1966

Before Farm Aid, Telluride, or even Woodstock, there was the Newport Folk Festival. Begun in the late ’50s, this yearly gathering molded and defined a generation’s tastes in music. It was the all-star…

Willie Nelson – Willie & The Wheel

Willie, The Wheel, and Wexler

Aside from Jerry Wexler’s standing as a titan of R&B, soul and rock, his musical range extended far beyond. A lifelong country fan, Wexler enjoyed Hank Williams and Bob Wills when they were…

John Munnerlyn & Lee Jeffries

Old-Pro Records

For savvy record collectors, this CD should jump off the rack, with its cover homage to The Swinging Guitar Of Tal Farlow – not to mention Munnerlyn’s National California archtop (a ’53) and…

Sam Bush

Radio John: Songs Of John Hartford

One of the greatest bluegrass musicians, singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Bush – playing mandolin, fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and banjo here – pushed the genre’s boundaries in the ’70s with the aptly…

Glenn Phillips – Angel Sparks

Angel Sparks

Glenn?! What’s up, you ol’ squirrelly Atlanta devil? You haven’t released an album since 1996; it’s good to hear from you again. I never figured you’d given up music, it’s much too important…

Gustav Lundgren

Gustav Lundgren is boldly going where few other Gypsy jazz guitarists dare: the daunting and little-known world of Django Reinhardt’s later bebop music. Swede Lundgren is prolific in both the worlds of standard…

Dave Biller – LeRoy’s Swing

LeRoy’s Swing is a stylish collection of Djangocentric music played with a Texas twist. Biller’s backing band is modeled after Django’s wartime Nouveau Quintette, with clarinet (played here by Ben Saffer) replacing the…

Paul Reed Smith

Lions Roaring in Quicksand

The new album by guitar builder Paul Reed Smith and his band, Eightlock, offers soul-based sounds with deep grooves, three drummers, and three guitarists. Veteran drummer Dennis Chambers, bassist Gary Grainger, and guitarists…

George Benson – The Essential George Benson

Sony/BMG’s Legacy division has released single- and double-CD retrospectives on everyone from Igor Stravinsky to Earl Scruggs as part of its “Essential” series. It has spanned 50-plus years, surveying giants like Dave Brubeck,…

Gary Moore

A Different Beat

Today, the mashup of fiery, blues-based guitar and techno beats is fairly commonplace, but 24 years ago it was a radical move for Gary Moore. Now reissued on vinyl, 1999’s A Different Beat…

Markus James

James is Virginia-born but has spent time in Northern California and West Africa. His work with three Malian musicians resulted in the documentary film Timbuktoubab. He points out the too-similar-to-be-coincidence similarity between the…

Various artists – Crossroads Guitar Festival

Talk about piquing one’s curiosity. The promos for the truncated pledge-drive version of the Crossroads Festival that aired on PBS in December began, “Sixty-five guitarists… 87 guitars … came to play with one…