Criminally Underrated Guitar Gods - Part I

Hey there, got a half hour or so to kill? Great! To start summer off right, we're going to shine a spotlight on some of the lost heroes of Rock-n-Roll -- namely, those guitar gods who never got the real recognition their talents truly warranted, and instead resorted to holding cult status for the entirety of their careers. For every millionaire Page or Clapton out there, there are scores of equally (or more) talented axe-men who never achieved mainstream success for any number of reasons - whether it was musical inaccessibility, refusal to sell out, addiction, or death. Here are a few of the best guitarists you may have never heard of: today's edition focuses on bluesy virtuosos lost to time...

Eddie Hazel


This master of searing, freak-out, funk-metal guitar excursions was Funkadelic's first (and best) lead guitarist, and helped to lay down the band's defining masterpiece in 1971, the soul-wrenching "Maggot Brain." But he disappeared into relative obscurity after that album for various reasons, including a prison stint for assault and drug possession. He died in 1992, and "Maggot Brain" was played at his funeral.

Funkadelic - "Super Stupid"

Ry Cooder

This is a musician who has never bothered with mainstream success, and instead choose to always follow his muse, wherever it may take him. As a result he is impossible to pin to any genre, as he has dabbled in everything from folk, blues and gospel to Cuban and African music. Though he has released many great solo albums, he is best known as a studio session man, having played with every act you can name, including Captain Beefheart, the Stones, John Lee Hooker, and most recently, Buena Vista Social Club. Rest assured, whatever he touches turns to gold, as he is a true master of his craft.

Ry Cooder - "Feelin' Bad Blues"

Peter Green

The leader and founder of the original Fleetwood Mac, Green has been lost to time as one of the most gifted guitarists to come out of the British blues explosion of the 60s. It has been nearly forgotten that while Clapton was being called "God," they were calling Green "The Green God." He was really that good. Tragically though, like Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett, he was an LSD casualty who dropped out of the band by 1970 due to schizophrenia. After years of obscurity, he's started performing again in recent years. At his peak, though, he rivaled anyone in the world with his searing, soulful guitar work.

Fleetwood Mac - "I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living/ All Over Again"

Roy Buchanan

Buchanan was an American blues guitarist with a tone that could break your heart. A true virtuoso, he recorded a couple of albums that went gold, but never achieved any type of real breakthrough success. He struggled with drinking problems and got sober at one point, but could never shake his demons. In 1988, after being arrested for public intoxication, he committed suicide in his jail cell.

Roy Buchanan - "Sweet Dreams"

Rory Gallagher

An Irish blues-rocker, Gallagher was a hometown hero in his own country. He achieved some success in the UK, but never really broke through outside of the British Isles, though he maintained a loyal cult fanbase throughout his career. His clean, furious playing is a joy to listen to, on par with Clapton at his dirtiest. Gallagher died in 1995 due to liver failure, at 47.

Rory Gallagher - "Walk on Hot Coals"

John Cipollina

A Bay Area hometown boy and the lead guitarist of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Cipollina is considered one of the fathers of the San Francisco psychedelic sound - that classic vibrato twang is his signature tone. For years he was considered the Bay Area's best kept secret, and was content to play around locally in a number of bands after Quicksilver broke up. He often sat in with the Dead during hometown shows, and was beloved by local fans and musicians alike. He died tragically at age 45 in 1989 of chronic emphysema.

Quicksilver Messenger Service - "How, Which, Who Do You Love"

Check back next week for Part II in the "Criminally Underrated Guitar Gods" series...

Lettuce / Soulive Review - Jambase.com

Need some greasy funk in your life? Look no further than Lettuce, the supergroup of all-star virtuosos which is guaranteed to slap you upside yo' head with a heavy dose of syncopated party groove. Lettuce recently headlined the Fillmore, sharing a triple-bill of epic proportions with Jazz-Funk trio Soulive and drummer extraordinaire Adam Deitch's Break Science. The coverage of this extravaganza is over at Jambase:

Royal Family Ball:: 05.14.11 :: The Fillmore :: San Francisco, CA

Here's a great clip of Soulive rockin' their Beatles medley. "She's So Heavy" is mutha-pluckin' heavy indeed:


There are a million clips of Lettuce getting dirty in your face, but this one from JazzFest 2010 gives a fine sense of the infectiousness of their grooves:

The Devil Makes Three Review - Jambase.com

One of the finest acoustic/Americana acts in the biz today, The Devil Makes Three possess a show-stopping catalog of near-classic anthems of and for the working man. Hailing out of Santa Cruz, this trio has got songwriting skills and three-part harmonies that slay, and when given a chance, are very likely to work their way into your "new favorite band" category very quickly.

I caught one of their two sold-out shows up north in the great little town of Petaluma, which they were using to record their new live album. Naturally, the crowd buzz was off-the-walls as a result. Here's my report back on the festivities, over at Jambase:

The Devil Makes Three:: 05.07.11 :: McNear's Mystic Theatre :: Petaluma, CA

To give a sense of the rowdy that permeated the evening, here's footage of one of their many numbers about drinking, "Beneath the Piano." The camera starts off shaky because of the moshpit that ensues, but it steadies out nicely:



But one of the band's most memorable, sing-along-worthy anthems is "All Hail," which contains a killer chorus that is guaranteed to have you unapologetically singing along by the second go-around. These guys are truly the real deal:

Beastie Boys - Essential Mix

So who's excited about the Beastie Boys' new album? Coming a full seven years after their last proper hip-hop album (a long time even for them), Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 is a much welcomed return to form for these three pioneers of cool, especially as Adam Yauch is coming off of a battle with throat cancer. To have these guys still making super-fresh beats in their 40s is certainly something we can all be thankful for, here on this first night of Pesach.

It seems like every time the Beasties release an album, it's considered a comeback of sorts, as their albums come so few and far between over the past fifteen years or so. And now that these guys are back in the collective consciousness, it's time to dust off all those old classics, which I know have fallen off my radar over the past few years. So now I'm inclined to revisit their discography, and re-discovering heaps of gems: deep album cuts and B-sides which don't always make it on to the typical Beastie playlist. Predictably, I've made a mix compiling the best of these "lost" Beastie tracks for your listening pleasure. This compilation is chock-full of obscure pop culture references, sliced-and-diced funky fresh beats, and of course, enough doodie rhymes to keep your body movin' for the rest of the day.

Beastie Boys - Essential Mix

1. Skills To Pay The Bills
2. The Grasshopper Unit (Keep Movin')
3. Beastie Groove
4. Unite
5. Stand Together
6. Flute Loop
7. Shadrach
8. Triple Trouble
9. Hey Ladies (Green Lantern Mix)
10. The Scoop
11. Alive
12. Oh Word?
13. Putting Shame In Your Game
14. Finger Lickin' Good
15. Now Get Busy
16. The Move
17. Shazam!
18. Car Thief
19. Boomin' Granny (ridiculous)
20. Professor Booty
21. Alright Hear This
22. The Brouhaha
23. Time To Get Ill
24. Rock Hard

Download Link

Hot Buttered Rum Review - Jambase.com

This week's review tackles some pipin' hot, shit-kickin' acoustic music. The bluegrass/country/ rock-ish ensemble Hot Buttered Rum put on a raucous show last week at the beautiful Great American Music Hall, where they showed us their musical stew of pickin' + drum n' bass grooves ain't nothin' to mess with. These guys tackle the Americana of string band music with a rock band approach, and do it with grace and precision. They know how to put on a hell of a party too, said party being documented over at Jambase:

Hot Buttered Rum:: 04.02.11 :: Great American Music Hall :: San Francisco, CA

To supplement the show review, we're lucky enough to have a pristine recording of the complete concert, available for streaming or download over at the Internet Archive. This site (which coincidentally is located in SF, in an amazing old building on Park Presidio and Clement) is an incredible resource for free live music and a million other forms of free media. I would advise you to spend a few minutes browsing its database, as it's got everything and then some.

But, back to bluegrass. Here's Hot Buttered Rum doing a pre-show pre-game performance in a liquor store in the Tenderloin before their headlining slot down the street at GAMH:

Chromeo Review - Glide Magazine

DJ performances are often hit-or-miss affairs for me, as I thrive on the act of spontaneous musical creation in the moment. But Chromeo is an exception of sorts, a hybrid "band" of two dudes who perform their songs accompanied by pre-programmed backing tracks. The experience is super-fun for those who come to dance their retro-butts off, though it left me somewhat wanting in musical creativity. But apples and oranges, I suppose. The guys are clearly talented musicians if they're cranking out track after track of insanely catchy, finely-honed retro-electro-pop. The fact of the matter is that they have a huge arsenal of sing-along worthy, funky-as-hell anthems that are guaranteed to please any crowd. Here's my review of their East Bay performance:

Chromeo:: 02.18.11 :: Fox Theater :: Oakland, CA

One element of Chromeo's music that is hard to put your finger on is the level of irony present in their deliberate nods to cheesy 80's music. At first, it seemed that they were clearly tongue-in-cheek with their music's smooth Yacht Rock references (soaring sax solos and analog synths). But as time went on and they blew up, the line of irony started to blur, especially when they collaborated with Daryl Hall himself. At this point in their career, the Chromeo sound seems pretty irony-free.

But that doesn't mean these guys now take themselves seriously or anything. Case in point, their appearance on Yo-Gabba-Gabba:



And here they are in a joint set with Daryl Hall at Bonnaroo 2010 in full-band mode, with a Chromeo-ized version of "I Can't Go For That." (The vocoder being Chromeo's signature stamp on the tune.)

Spotlight On Cactus - Another Phish Mix

As Phish summer tour plans start to take shape over the past week, it's easy to forget that bassist Mike Gordon is currently on his own big tour with his own band, which is getting tighter all the time. Gordo and his band of merry melody makers recently hit up the Northwest for a number of shows, and have been dusting off some old chestnuts in the process. (Mound, anyone?)

Seeing that Mike and his band are lighting it up onstage these days, I thought it an opportune time to dust off an old mix I made back in 2004. It was originally made to trade and share with other fans at the debacle that we know as Coventry. As fate would have it, I was actually able to personally give Mike a copy of this mix when he stopped his golf cart next to me in the concert field. I chatted him up for a couple of minutes before a crowd formed around us, and learned that his all-time favorite Phish show at that time was 6/20/04, at SPAC. I also asked him if the band would ever perform "Mound" again, and he said not likely, as they had forgotten how to play it (they busted it out this past December in Worcester).

From bluegrass to Jewish songs to straight dirty cow funk, these disks showcase some of the best stuff that Mike brings to the band we know as Phish. Enjoy.

Phish - Spotlight On Cactus

Set I:
1. Sneakin' Sally (12/30/97 MSG)
2. Ya Mar (11/27/98 Worcester, MA)
3. Ginseng Sullivan (12/31/93 Worcester, MA)
4. Mound (3/31/93 Portland, OR)
5. Moma Dance (9/17/00 Merriweather Post)
6. Weigh (3/1/97 Germany)
7. Scent of A Mule (6/11/94 Red Rocks)
8. Wolfman's Brother (12/1/03 Albany, NY)
9. I'm So Tired (10/31/94 Glen Falls, NY)
10. Yirushalayim Shel Zachav -> (7/8/94 Great Woods)
11. Avenu Malchenu (4/18/92 Palo Alto, CA)
12. Uncle Pen (2/20/97 Milan, Italy)

Set II:
1. Destiny Unbound (9/22/90 UMass Amherst)
2. Ghost (11/17/97 Denver, CO)
3. My Mind's Got A Mind of Its Own (12/7/97 Dayton, OH)
4. Train Song (11/20/98 Hampton, VA)
5. Round Room (2/28/03 Nassau Coliseum)
6. Mike's Song->
7. Old Home Place->
8. Weekapaug Groove (4/3/98 Nassau Coliseum)
9. E: Contact (1/3/03 Hampton, VA)

Download Links:

Disk One
Disk Two

Cake Review - Glide Magazine

Cake is simply a timeless band. Whatever they do, it is of a consistently high caliber, and is always catchy and fun. For the past 15 years or so, we've always been able to rely on them to deliver their own brand of dry-humored pop-funk-rock-country goodness.

Their sold-out four night run at the Fillmore was proof that everyone still loves Cake, even if they've been off the map recently. And they still deliver live, playing all the songs you loved in your adolescent days that still hold a place in your heart. The show I attended was an ecstatic sing-along affair, and went above and beyond my expectations, mostly due to the outpouring of love which the audience showered upon the band and their music. Cake responded with a fantastic show, which I got to cover on Glide:

Cake :: 02.16.11 :: The Fillmore :: San Francisco, CA

Here's a performance of their recent single, "Long Time." They're as tight as they ever were:



Now compare this to a 1994 cable-access performance of "Jolene," filmed in San Francisco:



They haven't changed much, have they? If anything, they've gotten better with age...