In retrospect, the Grateful Dead’s 1979 recruitment of the late Brent Mydland was the first in a series of purposeful steps the group took to reconfigure its band chemistry in
While Johnnie Johnson was the leader of guitarist Albert King’s rhythm section (during the blues icon’s most prolific and musically significant period) and also served as one of the cornerstones
No figure has had a more profound effect on blues music than Robert Johnson. A grand(iose) statement, to be sure, but given the rarity of film footage and photographs of
In deserved recognition of the seminal Southern band’s final concert a decade ago, The Allman Brothers Band: Live—Beacon Theatre New York City 10-28-14 has been issued digitally and as a set of
Hearing Ballad of Easy Rider from a fifty-five-year perspective no doubt evokes the same reaction as it did at its original release: ‘This doesn’t sound like the Byrds!?!’ And indeed, with the
With over a half-century retrospect, it’s altogether mind-boggling that Live/Dead is the first of what would subsequently become a plethora of concert recordings by The Grateful Dead. And, in the density of
In a performance just shy of three and a half-minutes, Junior Wells fully demonstrates why he’s held in such high regard as a progenitor of blues music at its most stylish and deeply
The dominant blue color scheme of the cover of Davy Knowles’ The Invisible Man is similar to that of his prior album. The two records are companion pieces of a sort, but
With fifty-five years’ hindsight, the relatively minimal impact of The Allman Brothers Band’s self-titled debut record (released 11/4/69) was out of proportion to the band’s potential, eventual commercial success, and
Long before Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee were slotted into the opening of Dave Chapelle’s short-lived series on Comedy Central, their winning charm had earned them accolades for their authenticity, not
