Fabulous Thunderbirds “My Babe” (1982)
There’s an accepted code among musicians: Don’t horn in on another band’s gig. This rule is pretty absolute, and even more so if the prospective offender is already a known douchebag. My friend Tom “Clump” Clifford has been in bands most of his life; He’s fronted The Thangs, The Mistreaters, and currently King Soul, playing...... Read More
Gary Clark, Jr. “When My Train Pulls In” (2012)
In 2013 Eric Clapton presented the last – at least at the time it was announced as the last – of five iterations of what was billed as the Crossroads Guitar Festival, so named because they were events held to benefit the Crossroads Centre, a drug treatment facility in Antigua founded by Clapton (and, perhaps,...... Read More
Stevie Ray Vaughan “Testify” (1983)
Not long ago I was engaged in an important discussion at a Mets game with some old friends Ike, Petey and Sean about what our “walk up” music would be if we were major league ballplayers. I didn’t hesitate in naming ‘Testify’, this absolutely incendiary Stevie Ray Vaughan instrumental from his... Read More
George Thorogood “It Wasn’t Me” (1978)
As legend, or some old music magazine, has it, an interviewer once asked George Thorogood why he didn’t write more of his own songs, to which he replied “Because Chuck Berry already wrote all the f*cking songs that ever needed to be written.” I can’t quite call this a direct quote, but I’m pretty confident...... Read More
Ron Levy’s Wild Kingdom “Chicken Fried Snake” (1987)
It’s instrumental time again. Here’s a blues shuffle by an all-star grouping headed by one-time Albert King and B.B. King band member Ron Levy on organ, and including four members of Roomful Of Blues plus three-fourths of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. And most importantly, I don’t think you can go any lower than the guitar note at...... Read More
The Lone Star Cafe // Albert Collins “Iceman” (1991)
The best live music venue of my lifetime is The Lone Star Cafe, formerly located at the corner of 5th Avenue and 13th Street in New York City. When it closed in 1989, Manhattan music fans lost their only true honky-tonk and blues joint. They also lost a 40-foot iguana. More on that later. The...... Read More
Allman Brothers Band “Trouble No More” (1969)
Is it possible the most influential member of a band that existed for 45 years was in it for just it’s first 3? Duane Allman was one of 6 founding members of the Allman Brothers Band in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 – along with his brother Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and...... Read More
Stevie Ray Vaughan “Love Struck Baby”
The greatest guitarist I've ever heard, or will ever hear. This song changed my life.... Read More
Unanswered Questions of Anthony Bourdain
Why did we love Anthony Bourdain? The intriguing contradictions and unanswered questions of a cultural renegade.... Read More