Editorial Review

The churchy organ that opens and closes Jonny Lang's fifth album reveals its direction. After 2003's Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative CCM    2. Blues-Rock    3. CCM    4. Christian Rock    5. Contemporary Blues    6. Contemporary Gospel    7. Guitar Virtuoso    8. Pop    9. Rock    10. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

The simple blues-informed pop charms of L.A. songwriter Kevin Moore remain unchanged on his eighth album. All twelve of these songs about romance and its triumphs and failures go down easy, thanks to his unhurried and unmannered singing, and arrangements that run slow and spare. That openness allows Moore's slide playing, perfected on the porch of Mississippi delta bluesman Eugene Powell, to add subtle, pretty decoration to tunes like "Your Love" and "Eileen." He's got a sympathetic cohort in John Porter, who also produced Moore's debut album and is especially adept at capturing the sounds of the acoustic instruments that dominate this disc. After pursuing all the twists and turns of love and its baggage on Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Blues    3. Contemporary Blues    4. Modern Acoustic Blues    5. Modern Electric Blues    6. Pop   

Editorial Review

Subtlety is both a blessing and curse for Robert Cray. In the studio, his increasingly restrained arrangements have served to frame his growing mastery of classic Memphis soul, allowing his soaring, vibrato-rich voice to carry tunes that directly echo the Stax years. That can work well live, too, and does so here in "Phone Booth" and the funky distillation "Back Door Slam," an ode to sexy down-home belters like Little Johnnie Taylor. But too often Cray downplays his incendiary guitar abilities on stage, which makes long numbers like "The One in the Middle" interminable, and leaves this two-disc live set--recorded during a week of shows opening for Eric Clapton at London's Royal Albert Hall in May 2006--full of cold spots. Things heat up whenever Cray picks up his Stratocaster in earnest, whether he's plucking out fat, singing notes à la Albert Collins in his radio hit "I Guess I Showed Her" or weaving a slow, soulful path through the bridge of the ballad "The Things You Do to Me," using his whammy bar and unpredictable variations on the melody to conjure shades of introspection. Overall, this set will please Cray's die-hard fans, but is unlikely to lure new listeners. Read more

Features

• Live

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Modern Electric Blues    4. Pop    5. Rock    6. Soul-Blues   

Editorial Review

Like a human infusion of chamomile tea, hearing Van Morrison's voice has the effect of instantly soothing even the most stressed listener. That said, some of his releases have been so mellow that they muted the '60s soul influences that had been a part of Van's appeal. Not so with Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Adult Contemporary    3. Blue-Eyed Soul    4. Celtic Rock    5. Contemporary Blues    6. Country-Rock    7. Ireland    8. Pop    9. R&B    10. Rock    11. Rock/Pop    12. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

"I can't even crack a frown since the blues slipped out of town," sings Keb' Mo' on "Prosperity Blues," with a patented big wide grin you can practically hear. It's a witty and accurate assessment of his approach to the often lowdown genre. Even on the album's title track, where Mo's tough National steel slide playing is most prominent, he's concerned with the daunting amount of coffee choices at his local java emporium. Call it the middle-class blues then, as Mo' wraps his grits-and-honey voice around another set of gently rolling, melodic, and warm compositions. Similar to, say, James Taylor, he spins beautifully crafted, meticulously produced, uncluttered roots-influenced music that is no less satisfying because of its smooth qualities. Traces of gospel, folk, and even bluegrass sprinkle these pop-oriented tunes, and while most of the edges here are sanded off--nobody will mistake him for Howlin' Wolf--Mo's cushy voice and charm create another winning entry in his catalog. Sophisticated and burnished, Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Modern Acoustic Blues    4. Modern Electric Blues    5. Pop   

Editorial Review

Jonny Lang cut his debut album in Memphis when he was just 15, and, upon its release in 1996, the guitar prodigy from Minneapolis instantly became one of the leading lights of modern blues. He's a fast and flashy player whose approach rests equally on technical assurance and musical intelligence. Sizing up a dozen songs, he gets a pleasing, razor-sharp sound out of his ax while building excitement in his lead lines--thankfully, he steers clear of cliché and bombast. As a fledging singer, he acts out the lyrics of Ike Turner's age-old shuffle "Matchbox" and his own romantic ballad "Missing Your Love" with surprising poise and believability. Kudos to producer David Z for surrounding Lang with alert, first-rate sidemen and for helping select good material from Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson, Tinsley Ellis, and others. Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Blues-Rock    4. Contemporary Blues    5. Modern Electric Blues    6. Pop    7. Rock/Pop   

Subjects:  1. Album Rock    2. Blues-Rock    3. Contemporary Blues    4. Electric Texas Blues    5. Modern Electric Blues    6. Modern Electric Texas Blues    7. Pop    8. Popular Music    9. Rock    10. Rock/Pop    11. Texas Blues   

Editorial Review

The sweet, husky mix of sugar and sandpaper in two-time Grammy nominee Susan Tedeschi's voice breathes sultry life into the art of classic soul singing on Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Modern Electric Blues    4. Pop    5. United States of America   

Editorial Review

Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. African Folk    3. Int'l & World Music    4. Mali    5. Pop    6. Rock/Pop    7. World Fusion    8. World Music   

Editorial Review

Every few years, an acoustic guitar player decides he wants to be the next Robert Johnson and endears himself to the blues world--Rory Block, John Hammond Jr., and Taj Mahal have crossed this road in the past. Veteran backup guitarist Kevin "Keb' Mo'" Moore has the freshest approach to pulling it off, turning Johnson's devil-obsessed classics "Come on in My Kitchen" and "Kindhearted Woman Blues" into friendly folk music on this 1994 debut. Unlike many of the great bluesmen, the personable Moore doesn't aspire to be evil or even rebellious; he writes terrific songs (most notably the opening "Every Morning" and "Dirty Low Down and Bad") and performs them with talent and charisma. Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Contemporary Blues    4. Modern Acoustic Blues    5. Pop   

Editorial Review

Hazmat Modine is the kind of ensemble that could have come only from New York. The core group consists of harmonica virtuosos Wade Schuman and Randy Weinstein, tuba player Joseph Daly, drummer Richard Huntley, guitarist Pete Smith, and Pamela Fleming on trumpet and flugelhorn. The fifteen-track CD presents an ensemble with a Sybil complex of multiple musical personalities."Yesterday Morning" resembles a New Orleans funeral dirge with a reggae beat. "It Calls Me" melds the Mississippi Delta with Huun-Huur-Tu's Asian-born Tuvan throat singing. The exotic array of instruments includes the Romanian Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Pop    4. Rock   

Features

• Limited Edition
• Original recording remastered

Subjects:  1. Album Rock    2. Blues-Rock    3. Electric Texas Blues    4. Modern Electric Blues    5. Modern Electric Texas Blues    6. Pop    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop    9. Texas Blues   

Editorial Review

Recording for forty years now, Rory Block has devoted the entirety of her newest album to the songs of Robert Johnson. This is no mere dalliance or bandwagon jumping for her, as this music has informed her own musical path from the outset, starting with her love of his records when she was just a child. Her subsequent studies of Rev. Gary Davis, Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt and others put her in good stead for understanding the dynamics of one guitar and voice. Like some of those blues masters, Block uses the subtle complexities of fingerpicking combined with occasional slide work to create a whole that has the range of a small combo. What's amazing in hearing these thirteen songs is how fully they became part of the blues lexicon -- not just the individual songs, but their entire bearing. Read more

Reviews (2)

Rory's Best--(so far)
Unless you've been living on another planet you've heard of Robert Johnson and heard these songs.They've been covered more times by more people than anyone can count-but never like this!Rory Block herself has even recorded them in the past-but never like this!
BluesLady
After seeing Rory perform in July, I eagerly anticipated this release. A number of artists have done justice to this collection of Robert Johnson songs, notably Eric Clapton, Peter Green, John Hammond and recently Dion. I really believe that Rory matches or exceeds these guys in getting into Robert's skin/soul. Rory's slide guitar is easily as good as Bonnie Raitt and her vocal delivery really communicates. She does not "sing" these songs: she wears them, owns them and breathes them in a most authentic way.Rory is not limited to the blues---check out her cd Tornado. Also look ahead to her collaboration with Robert Johnson's grandson. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Delta Blues    4. Modern Acoustic Blues    5. Pop    6. Slide Guitar Blues   

Subjects:  1. Blues-Rock    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Contemporary Singer/Songwriter    4. Country-Folk    5. Honky Tonk    6. New Orleans Blues    7. Pop    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop    10. Singer/Songwriter    11. Slide Guitar Blues   

Editorial Review

A million or so collections, all from different record labels, document this Detroit blues guitarist's influential boogie-woogie career. This 16-song Rhino CD is an excellent starting point, with definitive versions of Hooker's classics "Boom Boom," "Boogie Chillen'," "I'm in the Mood," and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer." It's interesting to hear the singer's voice progress from a deep, growling slur to the more polished later material, such as his collaboration with slide guitarist Roy Rogers on Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues," but he never lost his bottom-line rawness. Read more

Reviews (19)

Boogie King
John Lee Hooker, "king of the boogie," is one of the most influential guitarists to ever record. He is also one of the most unique, as his rhythmic and dynamic senses are more free than what one may be accustomed to... he also changes chords rarely, if ever, in some songs. Now i myself have complained about 3 chord bands... this is different, this man hypnotizes you with his awesome, entrancing riffs and licks. This collection is probably the finest one disc compilation of this master's work and belongs in any music lover's collection. If you think that all blue sounds the same and all is 12 bars etc etc (any blues aficionado knows much better than to pay any heed to these ridiculously ill-informed stereotypes), John Lee Hooker is a good place to see that the blues is one of the forms most open for free expression and experimentation.

A Legendary and Prolific Bluesman!
Some of John Lee Hooker's best known songs are compiled from his many years and albums onto this budget CD, with not one being one you will skip over.From "Boogie Chillen'" to "Boom, Boom,"they are all here.Even the songs which made others famous, such as "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."
one cd, one artist, one to have!
Every serious blues collection needs something from John Lee Hooker, and this cd is a great place to start. It is a great variety of all his early classics, and the sound quality is very good as well. From Dimples to Boom Boom to Boogie Chillen to One Scotch... they are all here. You cant go wrong with this one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Music    4. Blues Revival    5. Blues Traditional    6. Country Blues    7. Delta Blues    8. Detroit Blues    9. Electric Blues    10. Electric Delta Blues    11. Juke Joint Blues    12. Pop    13. United States of America   

Features

• Soundtrack

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Pop/Rock    3. Soundtrack    4. Soundtracks & Film Scores   

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Modern Electric Blues    4. Pop    5. Popular Music    6. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

One would think that jumping into the pop-rock marketplace after being branded a blues player might confuse a 17-year-old guitar whiz. No way. Jonny Lang, with the lucid advice of ace producer David Z, understands the role of the blues as solid ground for someone who wants to take flight with intelligent, well-crafted music that has a wide audience. His second album's strengths lie with his gruffly appealing singing voice and his lean, razor-edged guitar phrases. The material is solid, with songs that range stylistically from the ingratiating funk number "I Am" (a hitherto unrecorded David Z and Prince composition), to the it-sure-sounds-like-a-rock-hit "Still Rainin'" (complete with thunderous chords and soulful female backup singers), to a griddle-hot take on the late Chicago blues guitarist Luther Allison's "Cherry Red Wine." All 12 songs are of a piece, tied together by Lang's unassailable musical integrity and his freshness of vision. And R&B master guitarist Steve Cropper is on hand in the Minneapolis recording studio to insure the soulful vibe. Read more

Reviews (170)

Top 5 album in the last decade
Simply put, this is one of the best blues albums made in the last 10 years....If you rated this anything lower than a 5 star album, put the Madonna back in your player because you obviously do not like blues...This ranks up there with KWS debut album, Ledbetter Heights, anything by Bonamassa (who i love).Put this one back in and listen to it again.There are at least 5 outstanding songs....PERIOD.

Wander this world
An early Jonny Lang CD.A little harsh but still a great CD

Refined Raw Emotion
After buying his previous cassette (Lie To Me), I had to have another Jonny Lang. This happened several years ago, but I have recently upgraded my music to CDs and this CD was a MUST HAVE. I found his voice had mellowed just a bit since Lie To Me, but the raw emotion seemed even more intense. If you love blues, this album will satisfy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues Music    2. Blues-Rock    3. Contemporary Blues    4. Modern Electric Blues    5. Pop    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Like a rootsier Jimmy Buffett, Delbert McClinton is an established, hard-touring veteran whose audience doesn't expect from him too much out of the norm. Regardless, the Texan's quintessential mix of country, R&B, Tex-Mex, blues, honky-tonk, New Orleans bump, lounge jazz, and good-time rock and roll is durable enough to sustain a career, especially since nobody does it nearly as well as he does. In the spirit of "don't fix what isn't broken," this album of 13 McClinton originals preserves the established formula. But to his credit, the leathery-voiced singer, now in his mid-60s, never seems to be going through the motions. He delivers this good-natured Americana with gutsy enthusiasm and enough raw energy to power the ocean liner on one of his famous blues cruises. Just as comfortable tearing into the Stonesy rock of "Dead Wrong" as the soft, Spanish guitar-driven folk of "Down into Mexico"--a tale of a robbery/relationship gone bad that flawlessly mixes his tender and tough sides--McClinton revels in his element. Fiddles, sax, and pedal steel augment the arrangements, highlighting the country and blues at the heart of Read more

Reviews (22)

His best album in years
I've been a Delbert fan for more than 20 years, and this is his best release in a long time. There is no voice like Delbert's; man, can he sing. From the raucous "Hammerhead Stew" to some welcome country songs like "Midnight Communion" and "Two Step Too" this CD rocks. As for those reviewers who dislike the country element here, they aren't true Delbert fans, since real aficiandos know that some of Delbert's early works were
cost of living
I can find nothing bad about this cd. It's like Springsteen lyrics, guitar strains of Marty Robbins and maybe a little touch of John Fogerty. I can recall sitting in a bar thirty years ago with some of my military buds and listening to this kind of music, wishing we were someplace else. What memories this cd evolked! All in all I can say that Delbert McClinton is becoming part of my blues collection and will continue to add more.

lone star star
Texas music is more than music from Texas. It's an alchemy of apparently disparate essences - blues, soul, rock'n'roll - and Delbert McClinton is a master chemist. Like his fellow Lone Star Staters Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Doug Sahm, McClinton's defiance of definition may have denied him a wider audience, but those who know him can consider themselves, to quote one of his songs, "one of the fortunate few". McClinton wrote most of the 13 songs here and anything he doesn't write he makes his own (I'll Change My Style, associated with Jimmy Reed, becomes wonderfully greasy swamp R&B). For tragic, noirish adventure with a femme fatale, try Down into Mexico ("Sherrie was a dancer / she was a schemer / we came up with a foolproof plan"). Those who have lost love will share the ache of Kiss Her Once For Me ("and there's a part of her life I won't be there to see / when you're holding her tonight, kiss her once for me"). McClinton just turned 65 and shows no sign of decline. Start here and work back to such gems as Genuine Cowhide (1976) and The Jealous Kind (1980).(This review appeared in The Age newspaper in Melbourne, Australia.) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Americana    2. Blues-Rock    3. Country-Rock    4. Modern Electric Blues    5. Pop    6. Progressive Country    7. R&B    8. Rock    9. Rock & Roll    10. Rock/Pop    11. Roots Rock    12. Soul-Blues    13. Southern Soul    14. United States of America   

Editorial Review

It's impossible to overemphasize the importance of singer-guitarist-songwriter Robert Johnson's contribution to blues music. The same can be said of Eric Clapton, one of Mr. Johnson's most dedicated interpreters. From his work with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to Cream and beyond, Clapton has arguably attracted more widespread attention to Johnson's music than any other living musician. A decade after his all-blues Read more

Reviews (249)

Virtuoso Guitar Playing, Complex Musical Structures!
Here we go again....another tortured collection of three chord, twelve barre Delta Blues. In truth, these songs were redundant and whiny when the very limited Robert Johnson first recorded them; now hearing Clapton ressurect them is just plain annoying. How many times can we hear "I woke up this morning, baby; My cow just up and died.....da dum, da dum, da dum.....I woke up this morning, baby. My cow just up and died. Da dum, da dum, da dum.... So I drank a bottle of hooch and I began to cry....da dum, da dum, da dum...." Come on, people! If this is genius songwriting and guitar playing then we should all simply throw in the towel on civilization. When Eric Clapton plays Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and Rogers and Hart on his guitar---unaccompanied----chords, melody and bass line----like Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, and Joe Pass----then maybe I'll consider him a great guitarist. Today's youth are clueless about almost everything, and guitar virtuosity is no exception. I don't believe Clapton has ever heard of key modulation, arpeggios, or chord substitutions. In truth, he is an average rock guitarist, and considering the primative structure of rock and roll guitar playing, that's not saying much. For anyone to call him a great guitarist, let alone the greatest guitarist whoever lived, is indicative of either juvenile delinquency or just plain stupidity. It's like saying Madonna is the greatest singer of all time. Odds are those who make such vacuous, ludicrous statements are the children or grandchildren of the druggie Woodstock generation who wouldn't know a great guitarist if he/she tripped over him (which would be likely since they were all drugged out of their minds most of the time). I know we're living in the age of grand mediocrity, but enough is enough. Go buy a Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt or Barney Kessel album and listen to sophisticated, nuanced, and soulful guitar viruosity. If you have half a brain, you'll throw away your collection of rock guitar icons and beg foregiveness for being such an uneducated, unsophisticated nitwit who once claimed that one-dimensional druggies like Clapton and Hendrix were great guitarists. If after listening to these truly talented guitarists who actually play more than three chords you still hold to your position that Clapton is a great guitarist, here's what you do: pick up your Fender Strat, turn the amp volume up to 10, smoke a joint, and go stick your head between your distortion chambers and fuzz boxes and make a lot of noise and pretend you too are a great guitarist. Eric Clapton is a great guitarist! What a dumb society we have wrought since the late 1960s.

Clapton returns what he does best
Clapton returns what he does best (lately anyway).A less reverent, more relaxed and enjoyable blues set than the prior From the Cradle, the sense of joy and love of this music shines through.
Hate to admit it
Hate to admit it but this just isn't very good.Been a fan since 'Slowhand' so i've been frequently disappointed and underwhelmed by Clapton, but this is just amazing.This has everything going for it but it just doesn't come together.The featured review by 'Woomer' mirrors my feelings that nothing since 'From the Cradle' has been worthwhile barring 'Riding with the King' and that was helped immensely by King himself.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Album Rock    2. Blues-Rock    3. British Blues    4. Contemporary Blues    5. Modern Electric Blues    6. Pop    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop