Year: 2014

Irish chanteuse Imelda May proved she could sing on her first discs of retro rockabilly originals. Her new album shows she can also rock.

May is backed as usual by her husband, guitarman Darrel Higham. And again as usual, his playing is twang perfect.

This album stretches the band’s repertoire. From classic rockabilly and jazz, their original cuts here tend to more in-your-face rock and roll. But the sound is still exuberant, still vintage.

The duo of May and Higham is high octane all the way. The opening, title track features a noir-ish guitar riff that could have come straight from a ’60s spy film. “Wild Woman” may be a May anthem, but Higham laces it with twanging riffs. “Little Pixie” is a ’50s-style ballad.

Toting a Gretsch 6120 in emulation of his guitar hero, Eddie Cochran, Higham is one of the most exciting rockabilly fretmen extant. A walking, picking encyclopedia of classic music and licks, he knows his history and puts it to good use making modern music.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s October’14 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Yes fans have long been waiting for the legendary prog band to deliver a comeback album. Rest assured, this is not it.

Even with platinum producer Roy Thomas Baker and a Jon Anderson knock-off on vocals, this soft-pop collection barely resembles Yes’ thundering progressive rock from 40 years ago.

Heaven & Earth kicks off with “Believe Again,” a tune with sunny, major-key chord changes and a clean, scalar guitar solo from Steve Howe. “The Game” is a reasonably catchy piece of synth-pop with acoustic guitar arpeggios and more of Howe’s lead work, this time with more gain. It’s a pleasure to hear his soaring steel guitar on “Light Of The Ages.”

What’s missing here are any of the thrilling stürm und drang theatrics, dense lyrics, and instrumental virtuosity of classic ’70s and early ’80s Yes. The music here is about as far away from “Roundabout,” “Siberian Khatru,” and “The Gates Of Delerium” as you can imagine.

And if you’re looking for legendary guitar and bass performances, Howe’s guitar work is mellow at best while four-string ace Chris Squire barely shows up until the final track, “Subway Walls.”

While Heaven & Earth might not be the last Yes album, in some ways, you might wish it was.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s October ’14 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Jack White was recently crowned the Willy Wonka of the rock and roll world by Rolling Stone, and a better description of the man, his music, and his Third Man Records enterprise would be tough to come by. White revels in weird; the unexpected, the unexplained, and the uncategorizable all seem to come naturally. Or at least, fashionably.

The former professional upholsterer has become one of the moving forces in rock today. From the White Stripes to his production work, side-project bands to his solo career, John Anthony Gillis is a touchstone for pop rawk.

Thus, the arrival of his second solo album is as big a deal as they come, with an overload of TV appearances, press, and tabloid reports. Lazaretto follows on the heels of White’s equally heralded Blunderbuss from 2012.

Happily, this ain’t all just smoke and mirrors. Whether you’re a diehard fan or a standback admirer a tad bit tired of the hype, this is a fine album.

The first hint we all had of the CD’s sound came from the teaser release of the sole instrumental, “High Ball Stepper.” And that may indeed be the coolest cut here.

The tune is a sonic stew of styles. Through it all – the stops and starts, the bizarre and funky interruptions – there’s some killer heavy-guitar riffing. Call it gothic blues or call it punk funk, White makes full use of his guitar à la Hendrix, as well as a heady selection of effects. Great stuff.

The title track is high-energy R&B with in-your-face vocals and guitar work. Some complain that White’s production work is heavy-handed, whether on his own albums or his work with folks from Wanda Jackson to Loretta Lynn. Whatever. Put it this way: the guy likes to explore the full spectrum of sound.

“Entitlement” is an R&B ballad, soulful and lilting. “That Black Bat Licorice” is strutting and funky.

And through it all, it’s obvious that White appreciates his guitars, amps, and effects. He toys with them, trying this and that, creating new sounds even if just for a quick moment, before moving on to something new.

This is a true guitar album. It’s creative. It’s fresh. It’s idiosyncratic.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s October ’14 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Every garage band owes Bert Berns. Without him 1960s radio would have been almost as dull as it is today.

Berns shepherded the early careers of Van Morrison and Neil Diamond, and his production of the Isley Brother’s hit on his (as “Bert Russell”) and Phil Medley’s “Twist And Shout,” spurred the development of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound technique.

A more than serviceable player, Berns was sometimes both author and executor of memorable guitar moments like the rolling chords framing Richie Valens’ rocking “La Bamba” and Jimmy Page’s bright solo on Morrison and Them’s version of his “Here Comes The Night.”

Selvin has wrought a fascinating history of Berns’ musical world before and during his tragically short – yet marvelously productive – life.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s October ’14 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Since he first emerged as a songwriter more than 40 years ago, Billy Joe Shaver has remained an authentic country rebel, a far cry from contemporary Nashville’s bogus, self-proclaimed young “outlaws” who use the term as a marketing hook.

As a recording artist, Shaver found success in the ’90s with an outstanding series of rough-hewn albums. Turning 75 this year, he affirms that feisty independence on this collection of 10 new originals.

The sound this time is a bit more nuanced. Shaver waxes tender on “I’ll Love You As Much As I Can” and “I’m In Love.” But the fearless, wry humor that’s long been his trademark remains intact. He confronts advancing age on “Long In The Tooth.”

Willie Nelson joins him on “Hard To Be An Outlaw,” protesting changing musical times while “The Git Go” and “Checkers and Chess” offer broader social commentary.

He recalls earlier, idyllic rural times with “The Sunbeam Special” and evokes a long-ago Nashville on “Music City USA.”
Reliable session players Dan Dugmore and Jedd Hughes handle most of the guitar work, with Tony Joe White adding guitar and vocals to “Long In The Tooth.”

This article originally appeared in VG‘s October ’14 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.