Tommy Castro's debut CD on 33rd Street Records is one of his best. Guilty of Love features 11 cuts of full-throttle blues that don't let up from the opening "Guilty of Love," through one of my favorite songs done by Delbert McClinton, "Somebody to Love You" and the slow, easy blues of the set's closer, "Dirt Road Blues." The funky instrumental "Naugahyde" lets Castro get more than a little bit funky, and the title cut features the final recording session made by the late, great John Lee Hooker before he passed away on June 21, 2001. If you like your blues a little tinged with rockabilly like I do, check out "Shakin' The Hard Times Loose," which features a rollicking piano by sax man Keith Crossan and the powerful rhythm section of drummer Billy Lee Lewis and bassist Randy McDonald laying a strong foundation for Castro's muscular band of guitar-driven blues. Guilty of Love is one of the best blues releases of 2001, and continues Tommy Castro's fine recording career as one of America's top contemporary bluesmen.
01. Guilty Of Love
02. Stay With Me Tonight
03. Somebody To Love You
04. Blinded In The Face Of Love
05. Whole Lotta Soul
06. Shakin The Hard Times Loose
07. I Ain't Gonna Make That Call
08. Naughahyde
09. Ain't No Fun To Me
10. If You Ain't Lovin You Ain't Livin
11. Dirt Road Blues
Tommy Castro - Vocals, Guitar
Randy McDonald - Bass, Backing Vocals
Billy Lee Lewis - Drums, Percussion
Keith Crossan - Saxophone, Backing Vocals
Andy Aledort & Lucky Peterson - Tete a Tete - 2007
Andy Aledort has been a significant figure in the international music scene over the last 20 years. As a senior editor for the top guitar-oriented music magazines Guitar World, Guitar For The Practicing Musician, Guitar Extra, Guitar Legends and Guitar World Acoustic, among others, his work is unsurpassed as a music transcriber, instructional columnist and journalist.
He has authored over 200 books of guitar transcriptions as well as a series of guitar-related instructional books and videos/DVDs, all of which are distributed worldwide, for the leading music publishers Hal Leonard Corp., Warner Brothers Publishing and Cherry Lane Music.
Aledort is a performing musician as well: along with leading his own ensembles in the New York/tri-state area, he is often tapped for high-profile appearances with artists such as Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and the Allman Brothers band.
As a session player, Andy Aledort was called upon to recreate the Band Of Gypsys -era playing of Hendrix for recording sessions with the original Gypsys themselves, Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles, where Aledort was required to recreate note-for-note renditions of Hendrix’s incendiary live performances of “Machine Gun” and “Power of Soul” from the classic Band of Gypsys album. He performed with the Band of Gypsys at both the 2001 and 2002 Street Scene concerts in San Diego, CA, as part of two ambitious Tribute to Hendrix concerts featuring such guest guitarists as Andy Summers of the Police, Slash, Stephen Stills, Mick Taylor of Rolling Stones fame, Vernon Reid (Living Color) and others, as well as the big Jimi Hendrix 60th birthday bash at the EMP Museum, created by Microsoft’s Paul Allen, in November of 2002.
In the summer of 2001, Aledort was tapped for session work with Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon, bass, and Chris Layton, drums), bandmates of Stevie Ray Vaughan, in order to recreate the guitar work of Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Freddie King, and Johnny Winter. He also appears with Double Trouble on two Hot Licks instructional videos.
Lucky Peterson was born in Buffalo New York and played his first
gig at age three. By the time he was five, he had already recorded his
first single, produced by none other than the legendary Willie Dixon.
Before Lucky turned six, his career had been propelled into the national
spotlight with television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The
Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and even What’s My Line?
As a
child prodigy, Lucky was somewhat of a novelty act. Now he is a true
blues veteran. Over the last three decades, Lucky has played to
audiences all over the world, dazzling both fans and critics with his
multi-instrumental talents (he plays keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and
trumpet), his soulful vocal style and his youthful approach to the
blues.
Born Judge Kenneth Peterson in 1963, Lucky was raised
on music in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, His father, James
Peterson, was a blues singer and owner of the Governor’s Inn, a northern
version of a Deep South “chitlin’ circuit” roadhouse club. Artists like
Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters and Koko Taylor played there
regularly. Virtually growing up on stage, little Lucky began playing
almost before he began talking.
He started on drums, but after
hearing the famed Bill Doggett one night, Lucky became fascinated by the
huge Hammond B-3 organ. “Bill had a fit trying to keep me from it,”
recalls Lucky. After some lessons from Doggett and the legendary Jimmy
Smith, Lucky focused most of his musical energy on the organ. In his
spare time, he also mastered bass and piano, becoming good enough to sit
in with his father’s band and back touring artists like Lightnin’
Hopkins and Jimmy Reed. “At first, people wouldn’t believe he could play
so well,” says James Peterson. “They would think the organ was rigged.”
By
the time Lucky was five, word of this child prodigy had spread among
the blues community. Willie Dixon, a friend of James Peterson, heard
little Lucky and produced the boy’s first record, a single entitled
1,2,3,4 and a follow-up album for Chicago’s Today Records. The single
hit the airwaves with a bang and the national television appearances
followed.
As Lucky continued to grow, he honed his instrumental
skills by learning from and jamming with some of the best blues players
in the world. When Little Milton’s band came up short an organ player
one night, Milton asked the then 17-year-old Lucky to sit in. One gig
was all it took for Milton to fall in love with Lucky’s playing. He
asked Lucky to join the band permanently. After seven months, Lucky had
become Milton’s bandleader. Opening shows with his own 45-minute set on
vocals and keyboards, Lucky’s three-year stint with Milton led to an
equally long gig with Bobby “Blue” Bland as Bobby’s featured soloist.
During
a break in Bobby’s touring schedule, Lucky headed to Europe on a
package tour billed as “Young Blues Giants.” There he recorded his
second career album this time for the French label Isabel Records. In
1988, Lucky left Bland’s touring band, relocated to Florida’s Tampa Bay
area and began concentrating on a solo career. His reputation quickly
led to regular session work for tiny Florida-based King Snake Records.
His funky keyboards sparked Kenny Neal’s Big New From Baton Rouge!!,
Rufus Thomas’ That Woman Is Poison! and Lazy Lester’s Harp And Soul,
which were all released by the more visible Alligator Records label. In
1989, Alligator released Lucky’s third solo outing, Lucky Strikes! Lucky
co-wrote three songs for the album and played all of the keyboard parts
and all but one of the guitar solos.
Alligator’s promotion
helped to bring Lucky’s music to the attention of radio stations and
music critics nationwide. They liked what they heard. Billboard called
Lucky “…a prodigy whose raw talent bodes well for his future as a
leader.” Keyboard said, “Peterson is a 26-year-old blues master.” The
album received airplay on nearly 200 radio stations nationwide, and
Lucky toured the U.S. several times.
Lucky’s next Alligator
recording, 1990’s Triple Play, picked up right where Lucky Strikes! left
off, again featuring his dynamic organ fills and leads with equal
emphasis on his stinging lead guitar and soulful vocals. The material
blended straight-ahead blues, Memphis soul and funky grooves that placed
Lucky Peterson on the cutting edge of the blues.
01. 'Til My Dyin' Day
02. No More
03. Leavin' to Stay
04. Get Outta My Bed!
05. Not Guilty
06. Tete a Tete
07. C'Mon
08. Talk Is Cheap
09. Tribute to Albert Collins
Lucky Peterson - Guitar, Organ, Vocals
Andy Aledort - Guitar, Vocals
Larry McCray - Guitar, Vocals (7)
Burt Teague - Guitar (2,4,5,8,9)
Froc - Guitar (1)
Mary Taylor - Vocals (1)
Mike Nunno- Bass
John Pell - Drums (2,3,5,7,8)
Jason Arnold - Drums (4,6,9)
Trevor Somerville - Drums (1)
Bruce Feiner - Piano (5), Tenor Sax (9)
Robert Feiner - Tenor Sax
Jamie Finegan - Trumpet
Char is considered one of Japan’s most influential guitarists and an elder statesman of the Japanese music scene. Born Hisato Takenaka in 1955, he took up guitar at age 8 after hearing the Ventures and assembled his first band, Fox, at age 11. Regarded as something of a prodigy, he was heavily influenced by the Ventures and the U.K. blues-rock of the Yardbirds, Cream, Free and Led Zeppelin.
Char started his career as a session player and backing guitarist while still in junior high school before forming Smoky Medicine in 1973 at age 17. He moved to the United States when the group disbanded, but returned to Japan and released his debut solo single (“Navy Blue”) and eponymous first solo album (Char) in 1976. A succession of pop-rock hits followed before Char formed seminal Japanese power trio Johnny, Louis & Char in fall 1978.
01. Help
02. Ticket To Ride
03. Crossroads
04. Going Down
05. Your Time Is Gonna Come
06. Sunshine Of Your Love
07. Jumpin' Jack Flash
08. Purple Haze
Stud began as a trio with Jim Cregan (ex Blossom Toes) (vocals, guitar), Richard McCracken (bass) and John Wilson (drums), the latter pair having split with Rory Gallagher's Taste on 31st December 1970. They were signed by Deram Records. Ex Family violinist John Weider joined the band in June 1971, in time to appear on the debut LP which was released to little acclaim. While the musicianship on show is top notch, some of the material lacks distinction and meanders too often. The LP sold poorly and Deram declined the option of a follow up.
The band had more success in Germany, where Polydor had released the debut in different cover artwork. After some very succesful German tours and TV appearances, Stud signed to the BASF label and released their second album "September" in 1972, housed in a memorable gatefold cover, but they split soon after: Jim Cregan left to join Family on bass in August 1972 and was later in Cockney Rebel and Rod Stewart's band; Richard McCracken left for the Spencer Davis Group. BASF released a posthumous third album "Gooodbye" in 1973, containing a live in the studio performance recorded in May 1972. Wilson joined Brush Shiels mid-70s incarnation of Skid Row, and continued to work as a musician based in Belfast, playing both sessions and live work
Jim Cregan - vocals, guitar
John Weider - violin, guitar (June 1971 onwards)
Richard McCracken - bass
John Wilson - drums
01. Sail On
02. Turn Over the Pages
03. 1112235
04. Harpo's Head
05. Horizon: Part 1: Here - Part 2: There
06. Song
