Year: 2014

Joe Louis Walker’s latest covers a lot of ground and proves once again that he can’t be pigeonholed like some of the straight blues players of his generation.

The title cut kicks things off with a pure shot of rock and roll suffused with loud, roaring guitars and gritty vocals. Before he’s done, Walker touches on soul music, some country blues, and even a pop/soul ditty (“Soul City”) that features a Sly and the Family Stone vibe and a solo squeezed out of a wah-wah pedal.

While Walker evokes the Who and Springsteen in several other cuts, the highlight is a cover of the Jesse Stone chestnut “Don’t Let Go.” A perfect rockabilly boogie beat and matched vocals make it a standout.

Credit should also be given to Walker’s fellow musicians as he’s put together a great cast here. Tom Hambridge plays drums and produced. Tommy McDonald is on bass, Reese Wynans on various keyboards, and the exquisite Rob McNelley fills in the guitar parts Walker doesn’t handle.

While Walker has always been a force in the R&B world, since signing with Alligator he’s produced music that puts him at the top of the list.

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

In 1950, Hank Williams and fellow Grand Ole Opry stars George Morgan and Milton Estes recorded programs in Nashville for Garden Spot, a Texas-based plant-nursery company. Most recently released Williams radio and stage performances were known to historians and collectors, but these four programs, in pristine sound, were only discovered last year.

The repertoire blends hits (“Lovesick Blues,” “Mansion On The Hill,” “Mind Your Own Business”), ballads (“I’ve Just Told Mama Goodbye”), and gospel – both original (“Jesus Remembered Me”) and timeless (“Farther Along”).

“Mind Your Own Business” includes some sardonic lyrics not on the studio version. Hank’s elemental rhythm guitar drives the music, but the Drifting Cowboys, especially the distinct, upper-register steel guitar of Don Helms, are conspicuously absent. Hank, Morgan, and Estes probably used the same sidemen here.

It’s likely Don Davis playing the subtle steel accompaniment on “Lovesick Blues,” “Wedding Bells,” and “Farther Along.” On “I’ve Just Told Mama Goodbye” and “I Don’t Care (If Tomorrow Never Comes),” the primitive amplified licks sound like Estes sideman Clell Summey, who’d been Roy Acuff’s first Dobro player.

Hank’s well known demons aside, his performances here are loose, yet focused and intense.

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

How many times and in how many ways can you call a band charming? Doesn’t matter who the players are, that word describes the ’Q to a T.

This is the second record by this version of the band, which features founder and keyboardist Terry Adams, Scott Ligon on guitar and banjo, bassist Casey McDonough, and drummer Conrad Choucroun. But it doesn’t seem to matter who the members are; the sound doesn’t change.

“Waitin’ For My Sweetie Pie” has the feel of a ’50s love song. “Sit In My Lap” is a lovely pop tune with a twangy guitar solo that brings the Beach Boys to mind. “Fightin’ Back” sounds like an outtake from the Buck Owens catalog. “Places Far Away” is a quirky piano tune with an odd guitar solo that matches the musical feel. And what other band could get away with a sincere, beautiful take on the old Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut “Getting To Know You”?

A few years back, it looked like the band may have reached the end of the road. But 45 years after the first NRBQ record, Brass Tacks proves they’re still going strong with their irresistible mix of great music and plain-old fun.

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

Jim and Jesse’s music, with signature tunes like “The Flame Of Love” and Paradise,” never crossed over to pop success. But from their first broadcast on a Virginia radio station in 1947 through their many years with the Grand Ole Opry starting in 1964 until guitarist Jim McReynolds passed away in 2002, they were a weekly presence in the homes of bluegrass and country fans.

This famous collection was originally released in 1978 as a double-LP, but has been long out of print. Happily, it’s back, with 24 tracks from 1962 radio shows. Best yet, it captures songs that Jim and Jesse had never before recorded.

The musicianship here is superb. Guitarists and multi-instrumentalists Allen Shelton and Randall Franks, fiddle great Jimmy Buchanan, and family talent kept the high level of musicianship in Jim and Jesse’s Virginia Boys band a constant. And brother Jesse’s unique “McReynolds style” of mandolin picking is always front and center.

This collection offers insight into a musical world that sadly no longer exists. Luckily someone remembered to flip the recording switch.

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