Johnny Winter “Illustrated Man” (1991)
At the time that Johnny Winter signed his first recording contract with Columbia Records in 1968, his advance of $600,000 was reportedly the largest in the history of the music industry. Throughout his life, he did most everything else to excess as well... Read More
Gary Moore “Still Got The Blues” (1990)
Sure, I wish I’d seen Jimi Hendrix. And Duane Allman. And a handful of other guitar gods gone before my time too. But the guitarist I most regret missing, Gary Moore, probably wouldn’t make many people’s list. A native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Moore died of a heart attack in 2011 at just 58 years...... Read More
The Sheepdogs “The Way It Is” (2012)
Many of the longest and closest friendships of my life derive directly from the softball teams I played on in my just-post-college years, particularly the legendary Polera’s Demolition Crew, winners of back-to-back (and belly-to-belly) league championships and continuous crusher of our arch-rival, Ted’s Auto Body. So I’m dedicating this post – for reasons that will... Read More
Gatemouth Brown “Born In Louisiana” (1989)
Sunday, May 5th at 7:00PM CST another New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival came to an end at the Fair Grounds racetrack. Over 8 days and across 2 weekends, for attendees numbering around 475,000, a lineup of 688 acts performed – and notwithstanding the presence of some of the biggest names in music, roughly 600 of...... Read More
Whitey Morgan & The 78’s “Waitin’ ‘Round To Die” (2015)
One of my favorite regular reads is “Saving Country Music” penned with an acerbic wit and what can only be described as righteous indignation by a dude named Kyle Coroneos, aka “Trigger”, with whom I agree on just about everything he writes in defending his self-imposed, virtuous cause. Some time ago, in regard to the...... Read More
J. Geils Band “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party” (1973)
Not that long ago the rock world lost a great, a guy whose name everyone knows, but I’m not sure whether everyone knows he was that name. Huh? John Warren Geils Jr., better known professionally as J. Geils, was, of course, the namesake for the long-time blues/rock powerhouse, the J. Geils Band, the group he...... Read More
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes “Wake Up Everybody”
For starters, fuck Harold Melvin. There actually was a Harold Melvin in the Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes band, the founder and very briefly the lead singer when they were unknowns just starting out. But everyone knows it was the incomparable Teddy Pendergrass who put them on the map after joining (originally as the...... Read More
Guster “Do You Love Me” (2010)
It was about 11:00PM on a warm, late-summer night last August at Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine, the smell of salt air and spilled IPAs still present, as the starlit sky guided a muddy path for an eclectic group of giddy patrons departing the just-concluded concert by the band Guster. I was meandering slowly with...... Read More
Dan Baird & Homemade Sin “Licka Sense” (2017)
Dan Baird is everything I love about rock and roll. “Three chords and a cloud of dust,” as his website proclaims. Including his stint as a solo artist, he’s occupied the lead spot in four of my favorite bands of the last 4 decades. If you wanted to package up his work in a time...... Read More
Gregg Allman “My Only True Friend” (2017)
The Midnight Rider's final ride: with "My Only True Friend" Gregg Allman wrote his own farewell song.... Read More