Even though his voice is deeper and huskier, the vocals (and the music) shine like the morning sun on Brian Wilson’s new album. It makes me feel good just like the Good Vibrations of the Beach Boys in the sixties.
‘That Lucky Old Sun’ just sounds like the Brian Wilson we all know and love. Some songs take me back to the ‘Pet Sounds’ album, like “Forever She’ll Be My Surfer Girl.” “Good Kind of Love” was inspired by Carol King, another awesome songwriter. And what a great muse to have, too.
The soaring harmonies and amazing instrumentation are still there, thanks to a great band…
Jeff Foskett (who also toured with the Beach Boys as a sideman, among many other projects)
Darian Sahanaja (who formed the L.A. pop group The Wondermints with Nick Walusko. Members Probyn Gregory and Mike D’Amico joined later for live performances)
Scott Bennett (who’s worked with Liz Phair and the Flaming Lips)
Probyn Gregory (a veteran of the Brian Wilson Band, he’s also performed/recorded with Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and Billy Joel)
Nicky Walusko (another veteran of Brian’s touring band and also a former member of The Wondermints)
Taylor Mills (who recorded on Wilson’s SMiLE project, and …

We just gotta say “Happy Birthday” to one of our favorite guitarists and band leaders, Carlos Santana. He just turned sixty-one years old on July 20th.
I remember getting blown away by Santana’s performance at Woodstock with the extended jam of “Soul Sacrifice.” The bite of his guitar riffs on “Jingo” off the first album. The awesome opening of the Abraxas album with “Singing Winds, Crying Beasts,” with it’s haunting solos and crashing cymbals. Grooving with “Black Magic Woman” as it rocks into “Gypsy Queen,” then segues into “Oye Coma Va.”
Santana concerts are always a thrill, whether it’s an arena show like the Crossroads Guitar Festival, or at an outside amphitheater, Carlos and band never fail to entertain.
I’ve always been impressed with how Santana could interpret other’s songs like Peter Green’s “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va” written by Tito Puente, and turn them into hit records.
At the turn of the century he rejuvenated his career by teaming up with other artists like Rob Thomas on “Smooth” and “The Calling” with Eric Clapton, for the Grammy Award winning album Supernatural. That’s great stuff, but nothing else quite does it for me like those early seventies hits …

I recently found a new music website called TuneGlue. The site is described as a Relationship Explorer. Hmm, interesting.
A little click and drag action brings up various applets for discography, news, artists websites and most importantly, relationships. That’s the one that really makes this site tick, because relationships shows the who’s who of each band and their influences. This is something of interest that we’ve talked about before, like a family history of classic rock.
However, it still has some glitches we’d like to see worked out. Exploring Relationships for Eric Clapton didn’t show anything for Steve Winwood after Blind Faith. And Releases only shows a partial listing of albums. TuneGlue didn’t even list the first few Beatle albums, which is a huge oversight as far as I’m concerned. Releases for Paul McCartney also shows a Japanese cover of Michelle, not at all a part of Macca’s discography.
But we really like the concept of TuneGlue, and will be checking it again for updates and upgrades. It’s associated with LastFM.com.
audiomap.tuneglue.net
www.last.fm
There used to be a classic rock family tree that showed all the rock bands of history, starting at the root level …

The world’s most famous drum head, the hand-painted bass drum skin for The Beatles’ album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” sold to a private buyer for $1.1 million on Thursday July 10th. That made it the star attraction at Christie’s rock and pop memorabilia auction in London, among other items from The Beatles, John Lennon, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and The Who.
Lennon’s hand-written song lyrics for “Give Peace A Chance” sold for $833,000. His sunglasses from the ‘lost weekend’ were also sold ($78K), along with The Best of The Beatles autographed magazine ($26K.) A 1967 Gibson SG Special, a guitar from Pete Townshend, commanded a price of $64,000.
Two famous amplifiers were also sold. A 1966 Marshall Super Lead 100 Watt amplifier head from The Jimi Hendrix Experience sold for $49,000, while a 1969 model Acoustic 361 bass stack from Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones went for $27,000.
A spokesperson at Christie’s commented that this was a record-breaking sale with the highest total ever for an entertainment memorabilia auction at Christie’s South Kensington. The Sgt. Pepper’s drum skin achieved the highest price for a piece of rock and roll memorabilia at Christie’s worldwide. That beats …

CD New Releases for week of May 20th:
“From the Reach” Sonny Landreth
Label: Landfall
A great new album of guitar collaborations with Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Dr. John and Jimmy Buffett.
www.sonnylandreth.com
“3 Doors Down” 3 Doors Down
Label: Universal Records
3 Doors Down will be the featured guests on the nationally syndicated radio show RockLine on Monday May 19th at 8:30pm PT/11:30pm ET.
Fans are encouraged to call to speak with the band toll free at 1-800-344-ROCK (7625). www.RocklineRadio.com
www.3doorsdown.com
“XV” King’s X
Label: Inside Out Music
One of my favorite South Texas metal bands.
www.kingsxrocks.com
“Floating Point” John McLaughlin
Label: Abstract Logix
Recorded in India, McLaughlin says this may be the best record he ever made!
www.johnmclaughlin.com
Greatest Hits (Original Recording Remastered)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Label: Geffen Records
18 of the band’s greatest hits, all remastered, with the additional track “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” which replaces the classic “Something in the Air” on the original Greatest Hits collection.
tompetty.com
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The amazing Sonny Landreth has a new album coming out on May 2oth. “From the Reach” is his new album of collaborations with other guitar greats. There are guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Dr. John and Jimmy Buffett.
Sonny had this to say about “From the Reach…”
“The guest thing/duet approach has already been done to no end. My hope was to make this different by writing songs specifically for each artist.
Because I’m so familiar with their styles, and they’ve all had such an impact on me, I used that connection to make these collaborations have chemistry.
I didn’t want this to sound like an album of ‘sit ins,’ I want it to sound more like these friends are in the band.”
Source: www.sonnylandreth.com
Watch any video of Sonny Landreth and you will see why we say he is amazing. So don’t wait too long to pick up his new release CD or any of his catalog albums, because they’re just as rare as his amazing talent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNFRWXDSA8

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Steve Winwood’s Nine Lives CD is finally available today! I’ve only heard a couple of tracks from it, because I bought the single from iTunes already. The “Dirty City” video is below, which features Eric Clapton on a smokin’ guitar solo.So I’m getting this CD today. It doesn’t matter that Winwood hasn’t released anything in years. He still sounds just as fresh and relevant today as yesterday. You know the shows Winwood recently played with Clapton at Madison Square Garden still sounds as good today as they did 30 years ago.
www.stevewinwood.com
PLUS…Steve Winwood is touring with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Wow, these will be great shows for sure! You just can’t miss with a double bill like this. And Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers always deliver the goods onstage. The band have created so many great tunes over the last thirty years, it’s hard to imagine how they stay so creative.
Tour Dates:
www.livenation.com
http://pollstar.com
Video for “Dirty City:”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FrFkE-sLsQ

Also, there is a great interview with Steve Winwood in the June 2008 issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine. www.vintageguitar.com
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This DVD is a fascinating look behind the board, inside the studio, and into the heart and soul of the music we all know and love. Again I have to say, if you’re really into collecting music, this is a historical document and a must have for any fan of classic rock, R&B and jazz. Tommy was there, in the right place, at the right time, making music magic for over fifty years.
Tom Dowd achieved many outstanding technical high points during his distinguished career in the music business as recording engineer, arranger and producer. His work with Atlantic and Stax Records is legendary, as is his pioneering work with eight-track recording.
‘Tom Dowd & the Language of Music’ features appearances by the Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton, Les Paul, Ray Charles, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Aretha Franklin.
Here’s a short list of some of my favorite hit songs & albums that Tom Dowd produced & recorded:
Singles:
“Walkin’ the Dog” by Rufus Thomas
“Good Lovin” by The Rascals
“Mr. Bojangles” by Jerry Jeff Walker
“Son Of A Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield
Albums:
Disraeli Gears & Wheels Of Fire by Cream
The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East & Eat A Peach
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs …

I finally got all the way through this double DVD set from Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival. This massive one day concert took place in Chicago last July, which is the second get together of these guitar legends. This follows slowhand’s first guitar festival, which stretched over a three day weekend in Dallas in 2004.
The idea then and now was to get together all the best players, have fun and raise funds to benefit the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. This DVD is a must have for all guitar and music fans! (Just like the previous DVD, also a double-disc.)
Featuring:
Bill Murray as emcee
Eric Clapton playing host & guitar (with just about everybody)
Steve Winwood
Sonny Landreth
John McLaughlin
Doyle Bramhall II
Susan Tedeschi
The Derek Trucks Band
Johnny Winter
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Robert Cray Band
Jimmie Vaughan
Hubert Sumlin
B.B. King
Vince Gill
Albert Lee
Sheryl Crow
Willie Nelson
Highlights:
Disc 1:
Sonny Landreth opens the show with a pair of red hot tunes with some smokin’ slide guitar playin’ plus a duet with Clapton. Landreth’s highly skilled style doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. His playing is right up there with Steve Vai & Derek Trucks.
The Derek Trucks Band with Susan Tedeschi sure picked some …

Video: “Dirty City” from Steve Winwood’s forthcoming album ‘Nine Lives,’ featuring Eric Clapton. The CD is set to release on April 29th. Video posted on YouTube by winwoodonline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsN9rTzz9aY

Two entire songs from the new album are streaming from Winwood’s website at stevewinwood.com. This song “Dirty City” reminds me of a cross between Blind Faith and Traffic.
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