• Paul Johnson

    Music

    Paul Johnson

    The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company

    This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…

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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,…

Leon Ware – Moon Ride

This album has an instant familiarity, and Leon Ware’s background makes it easy to see why – he has written and produced music for the likes of Quincy Jones, Maxwell, the Average White…

The Coal Men

The Coal Men – guitarist Dave Coleman and drummer Dave Ray – boast a cowboy romanticism that comes alive on their fourth album, Escalator. Coleman wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on…

Vince Gill & Paul Franklin

Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys

Ray Price (1926-2013) created a distinctive hard-country sound in the ’50s, combining his powerful vocals with the iconic Cherokee Cowboys, a fiddle/pedal-steel band echoing the honky-tonk and Western swing of Price’s native Texas.…

Byther Smith – Hold That Train

Byther Smith is bad in the best sense of the word. Nicknamed “The Mississippi Kid,” Smith is a former boxer and manual laborer who later learned to wield an axe. As a guitar…

Chuck Berry

Live from Blueberry Hill

If you saw a Chuck Berry performance during the final 20 years of his life, it was likely at a club called Blueberry Hill, in his native St. Louis, where he played more…

Little Charlie and the Nightcats – That’s Big

That's Big

Charlie Baty and company come through again. If you’re not familiar with Charlie and the boys, where you been? Since the late ’80s, they’ve put out a batch of excellent blues records that…

Sloan – Parallel Play

Beyond "Just" Hooks

Every song on this latest album by the Canadian quartet Sloan has a great hook; the simple “woo-oows” in “Witch’s Wand” are impossible to forget while “Down In the Basement” speaks like some…

David Gilmour

Interlude

This is David Gilmour’s fourth solo album – although some argue that the last three Pink Floyd albums (recorded without Roger Waters) were ostensibly Gilmour solo sets. Floyd or not, this record captures…

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…

The Mike Eldridge Trio

Self-released

Mike Eldred is an L.A. guitarslinger with a strong taste for Americana. His power trio includes Blasters’ backline men John Bazz (bass) and Jerry Angel (drums), and together they serve up a tasty…

Jaakonaho

Ghost Riot

A well-known Finnish guitarist and producer, this is Jussi Jaakonaho’s solo debut, and it’s mesmerizing. All instrumental, the album has roots in surf and instro guitar, but Jaakonaho is drawing influences from all…

Delbert McClinton – Rocking the Boat: A Musical Conversation & Journey

Depicting several of the acts on Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beaches Cruise from ’06, this film was recognized at a host of film festivals. Both the conversation and music throughout are thoroughly engaging; McClinton…

Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers – Drive to Survive

Jimmy Thackery may hold the record for having played the most bars and clubs ever. After years propelling that quintessential bar band, the Nighthawks, and now with his power trio, the Drivers, this…

David Weigel

The Show That Never Ends: The Rise And Fall Of Prog Rock

This journalistic dive into the history of prog-rock follows the music from its Beatlesque origins through the explosion of the Moody Blues, the Nice, Genesis, Rush, and dozens more. It’s not all original…

Geoff Muldaur – The Guitar Artistry Of

Vestapol/Rounder

When an 18-year-old Geoff Muldaur cut his first album – 1963’s Sleepy Man Blues for Prestige – you could practically count on your fingers the number of white performers recording blues – Koerner,…

Cherryholmes – Black and White

Skaggs Family Records

From mandolin playing mom, Sandy, and bass player pop, Jere, to 14-year-old Molly, the six-person Cherryholmes family band picks and sings like they were born to it. Was it the air or water…

B.B. King

In France

By 1977, when this French live album was recorded at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival, the “King of the Blues” had truly crossed over. He’d played Fillmores West and East and won a…

Yasmin Williams

Urban Driftwood

Acoustic fingerstylist Yasmin Williams takes ambidextrous musicianship to new and adventurous places on her second album. Urban Driftwood finds Williams manifesting meditative soundscapes through alternate tunings, hypnotic chord progressions, and percussive polyrhythms –…

Don Diego

The Guitar Album, Volume #1

The title might sound generic, but even a cursory perusing of the repertoire and execution explains why it’s so fitting. Eclecticism can be dangerous, but Italy’s Diego Geraci has the versatility to pull…

John 5 – The Devil Knows My Name

The third solo album from the guy with the Tele, platinum hair, and heavy makeup, best known for his work with Marilyn Manson, David Lee Roth, Rob Halford, and Rob Zombie. Several of…

Jim Byrnes

Black Hen

On the heels of 2009’s Walking Stick, Byrnes once again displays his expertise at all aspects of making blues and soul music. Byrnes is an excellent guitarist as he proves here, particularly on…

Jackson Browne & David Lindley

Inside Recordings

In his 40-year recording career, Jackson Browne has used a battalion of guitar greats, from Clarence White to Mark Goldenberg. But from ’71 to ’81, his guitarist (and fiddler and steel player and,…

Robert Shaw and Peter Szego

To start with the conclusion, this is hands-down one of the all-around best books on guitars ever published. From the scope of the coverage to the quality of the text and photos, the…

David Dondero

Ghostmeat

Folkie Dondero ranges from eclectic originals (“Not Everybody Loves Your Doggie Like You Do”) to uniquely interpreted covers including Lowell George’s hippie trucker ballad “Willin.’” Though it’s been done in just about every…

Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers

Some retro acts are more concerned with image and outfits than music. This record is a bit theatrical but with enough substance to give it staying power. A charming, versatile singer, Erin Harpe’s…

Raul Malo

From the opening trumpet notes, you know Sinners and Saints won’t be your ordinary country CD. The title cut sounds like the end result of a Ventures meeting with Nino Rota at a…

Johnny Winter – Pieces and Bits

The long-awaited authorized video from blues/rock guitar icon Johnny Winter has finally arrived. Compiled in part by Winter’s manager, Teddy Slatus, who asked fans to send video clips, the set includes TV clips…

Kid Ramos – Greasy Kid Stuff

The Kid’s got it goin’ on here; 17 cuts steeped in the blues, but sounding as fresh as the day T-Bone Walker first strapped on an electric. The concept here finds Ramos with…

Marty Robbins – The Essential Mary Robbins

With a repertoire so extensive and wide-ranging, it would be impossible to track down, let alone list, all the session players backing this country icon on this two-disc retrospective. The Mottola/Caiola crew played…