Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1029 in the Series) is Rosanne Cash, The List When Rosanne Cash was 18, she was spending most of her time on tour with her famous father, Johnny.  One day, Johnny was checking out what she was listening to.  Most of her tastes, like most teenagers, were towards the music of the day.  He thought it was time to teach her a little bit about music. So he brought her into the tour bus, sat her down, and wrote out a list of, what he felt, were the 100 most essential country songs of American music history. She held onto that list. She would look at it year after year.  She became quite...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1010 in the Series) is Buddy Guy, Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues The process of selecting a blues album to review is not an easy one.  First of all, a lot of people will not think they like the blues or will say they don’t know enough about the blues.  The real answer to both of these questions is that if you listen to music at all, and like music, then you are by definition a fan of the blues.  All of the great rock & rollers of today were heavily influenced by the blues in one form or another. “I’m a King Bee,” “Walking the Dog,” and “Now I’ve Got a...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #11 – Cream: “Sunshine Of Your Love” b/w “SWLABR” – Atco 45 RPM Single 45-6544 (1967) (A2/B2) “The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within. Today’s Jukebox classic was the biggest hit single by classic rock supergroup Cream. While some were spray painting the buildings of England with proclamations that Eric Clapton was God, the real star of Cream was bassist Jack Bruce. Not only...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “SWLABR” by Cream While some were spray painting the buildings of England with proclamations that Eric Clapton was God, the real star of Cream was bassist Jack Bruce. Not only was Bruce the songwriter behind some of the group’s biggest hits, but it was his voice that defined the group’s sound. Ginger Baker, of course, laid down the backbeat that drove the machine to greatness, and as for Clapton, he’s been literally coasting on the stellar guitar work he laid down with this group for over 40 years ago. They were, indeed, one of the early “supergroups” with very high pedigree. Clapton had played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds and...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#850 in the Series) is Eric Clapton, Old Sock, but first we look at his 50th Anniversary Tour concert stop in Oklahoma City. It is hard for me to put into words the excitement I had going to see Eric Clapton in concert. This is the man who inspired me to pick up a guitar and learn to play.  At the same time, his playing can make me want to quit the guitar as there is no way I can imagine being able to sound that good. Whenever I feel like I can’t find any enjoyable music, I turn to Eric. The week before the show I made sure to have a...

  Eric Clapton kicks off 50th Anniversary Tour Eric Clapton kicked off his “50th Anniversary Tour in fine style last night in Phoenix, Arizona with a killer set that featured some great blues and rock and roll numbers.  This is one of the strongest sets I’ve seen EC bring to a show in many a year. Eric played a 20 song set and then returned for two encore songs. He opened with “Hello Old Friend.” This number had not been performed live in one of his shows since 1976. Paul Carrack is along on this tour and treated the crowd to a couple of his favorites “How Long” and “Temped.” The Wallflowers opened the show. Here is Eric’s band...

      OVER 30 OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST GUITARISTS PLAY SIDEMEN TO EACH OTHER OVER TWO NIGHTS AT THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS ARENA, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, APRIL 12-13 Two-Night Festival To Feature Legendary Music And Collaborations Including: Allman Brothers Band, BB King, Brad Paisley, Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Beck John Mayer, Keith Urban, Vince Gill and many more (November 19, 2012) – Widely considered one of the world’s all time greatest guitarists and known amongst his peers as a great collaborator, Eric Clapton announced today a major U.S. tour culminating in his fourth Crossroads Guitar Festival presented by Chase.  The Festival, which has become legendary in its own right for hosting performances and impromptu collaborations from the...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#798 in the Series) is Johnnie Johnson, Johnnie B. Bad On New Year’s Eve 1953, history was made when Check Berry walked on stage for the first time with the Sir John Trio creating an embryonic musical moment pairing up Johnnie Johnson, the Grand Poobah of the Piano, with arguably the greatest guitar player of all time, creating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup worthy blending of scorching three chord guitar rock with boogie woogie piano blues. Using the same “If Lee Harvey Oswald was never born would John F. Kennedy still be alive?” progression of thought, it would be relatively safe, albeit futile, to assume that had Chuck Berry not walked on...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#756 in the Series) is Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. One of the greatest albums of all time and one of the defining moments in Eric Clapton’s legacy is all you really need to know about this album. “The Layla Album” was released in 1970. It’s interesting to note that while it reached #16 in the US, the album did not chart in the UK.  What were they thinking? The band was made up of Eric Clapton on guitar vocals. Duane Allman on guitar; Carl Randle, bass; Bobby Whitlock, organ and vocals and Jim Gordon, Drums. Duane Allman did not play on three of the most popular songs....

  Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival coming to Madison Square Garden. No, we don’t have anything official from Eric’s camp yet.  What we do know is that Sonny Landreth has included a date in his itinerary showing that he will be playing the Festival.  The Dates will be April 12 and 13th 2013.  The only other act that has made a similar announcement at this point is Blake Mills. It was also been reported that Mills produced a letter with his invitation to play at the shows. As more news becomes available (such as line-up information) we’ll have it for you. This will be the fourth time that Sonny has played the Crossroads Guitar Festival which began at the...