From the opening sweep of strings on “United We Stand” – the cut leading off Elton John’s Spirit In The Sky – there’s little doubt we’re back in the 1960s. It’s sunshine personified and stands in stark contrast to the brooding paranoia that would flow through soon-to-be classics such as “Madman Across The Water” just [...]
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By the time Jeff Healey and band mates Joe Rockman (bass) and Tom Stephen (drums) returned to Toronto in 1994 for a two-night gig at Grossman’s Tavern, they were a well-known recording and live outfit. Healey had captivated and thrilled audiences with his “lap-style” guitar technique and also scored a big hit with “Angel Eyes.” [...]
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Canada, the country that puts the “north” in North America, is proud parent to some of the most influential and innovative guitarists in the history of music. From Nova Scotia to Quebec, Ontario to Manitoba and beyond, here are a baker’s dozen of homegrown guitar greats from the Great White North, and tunes you should [...]
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Peter Frampton‘s reputation as a guitar player has sometimes overshadowed his strength as a songwriter, and I find it curious. Frampton was never a guitar god the likes of a Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix or John McLaughlin – players who inspired awe with their fierce attack, pyrotechnics and virtuosity. Instead, Frampton let his guitar serve [...]
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Before I begin this review, let us please dispense with the term “grunge” as a way to describe music and stuff it aside as a word for the resinous build-up inside of a weed smoker’s bong. “Grunge” has always been a media creation for lazy journalists to lump the music of all bands from Seattle [...]
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John Mayer’s Continuum really opened my ears. I came across this record by accident – not that I didn’t know Mayer, it just seemed I always had somebody else to listen to. Continuum is a special album. I love its moods – snaking along through blues, soul, R&B and pop. Tunes such as “Dreaming With [...]
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The Internet has opened up a new world market for record and CD collectors, where one can search for any LP by U2, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, or import CDs by Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles or Grateful Dead. If you want it, chances are you can find it. Websites such as eBay, Amazon.com and [...]
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One of the biggest cliches in the music business is “best-kept secret.” But when it comes to the Minnesota-based band The Honeydogs, the cliché is true. For more than 15 years, the ‘dogs have built a loyal fan base across the upper Midwest, who were drawn initially to the band’s country rock efforts. Over time, [...]
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Guitarist Robin Trower made a seamless jump from Procol Harum in the early 1970s to a solo career, exciting new audiences with his Jimi Hendrix-tinged sound and stylings. Trower turned up the reverb and unleashed walls of brooding, powerful sound from his Fender Stratocaster. Though it would be his sophomore release, Bridge Of Sighs, that [...]
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I can’t think of another rock band whose first two releases were double albums. Talk about ambitious! Chicago were that band, and their sophomore effort, Chicago II, is my favorite from the Windy City outfit. The opening “Movin’ In” features a fantastic horn arrangement and is one of many Chicago tunes that should have been [...]
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