_____________________________ TIMBO'S PICK: FAVORITE CD OF 2006 SNOWY WHITE & THE WHITE FLAMES, THE WAY IT IS   Snowy has been around the UK music scene for a long time, serving as guitarist for the Roger Waters band, Thin Lizzy, and others. Over the years he's released some great CDs. In the early 90's, he returned to his British blues roots with Snowy White's Blues Agency. After two albums of straight electric blues, he began experimenting with the time-honored genre. The results were often startling and always multi-textured.   This time out, the experimental aspects of his 90's work finally make peace with his more melodic and structured early work. Snowy White is one of the few guitarists out there who is doing anything new with the blues as a musical form. With The Way It Is, all of his past innovations bear fruit.  Snowy is a precise, daring, toneful and emotive  guitarist in the mold of Peter Green and Carlos Santana (the two men are almost certainly his main influences).  In truth, most would probably appreciate his guitar playing more than his singing. However, I think that the wounded, almost Dylan-esque quality of his voice perfectly compliments the soulful sound of his guitar.     Besides being well-played, the CD sounds amazing. Along with Snowy's well-engineered guitar sounds, we get hear hear some of the best-recorded bass tone in recent memory and some truly incredible drumming. The engineering and mastering is textbook tight.   All told, great stuff. Check it out. If you like it, I highly recommend his CD's Restless and Keep Out: We Are Toxic.   (<--Snowy's trusty, work-worn Les Paul Standard "gold top"-- his main guitar for the last couple of decades.) ____________________ "FAVORITE CD OF 2005": ALVIN YOUNGBLOOD HART'S "MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER" Amped up, cranked up American music, soul-fried in a heapin' helpin' of delta blues and cold-filtered through a Marshall amplifier stack's worth of 70's Brit Blues.

TIMBO'S STUDIO JAMS (MARCH 8, 2007) What's on the CD player in the studio: NEW- GREGOR HILDEN (VARIOUS CDS):  Through the half dozen or so CDs he's released in Europe, German guitarist Gregor Hilden answers the burning, eternal question: "What if Crsauder era Larry Carlton had played blues on Peter Green's Les Paul?" All right, OK, maybe it's been a burning question with just me.) I strumbled across Hildern's stuff during one of my late night excursions checking out MP3 samples at www.Guitarnine.com. (His music is also available through iTunes, and I've found a few videos of his live show on Youtube.) Like so many other guitarists whose styles I get attached to, Gregor's technique is rooted in tone, timing, and feel. As much as I love the full-throated roar of European and American blues rock, Gregor presents another option: tasty, tasteful, jazzy, blues-based music played through a half-cranked tube amp on tunes that suggest a mating of great 60's soul-jazz and late 60's Blue Horizon label british blues. Favorite CDs thus far: his instrumental releases Golden Voice Blues, Sweet Rain: The Best of the Guitar Instrumentals, and Guitar Deluxe. He's also done a couple of CDs with vocalists. Fine stuff.     PAUL ROSE BAND, HALF ALIVE:  One of the coolest things about the internet is the access it provides to musicians one might not have heard otherwise. Newcastle guitarist Paul Rose is yet another player I discovered at the great online CD ordering site, Guitar Nine (www.guitarnine.com). I'm glad I did. Paul is one of the most blazing electric six-string players out there-- one of those guys who gigs and records in relative obscurity, playing the music because he simply has to, doing it mainly on a no-frills 1980's Japanese Fender Squire Stratocaster, and releasing CDS on a homespun label. As the title implies, Half Alive mixes live tunes with pieces recorded in his home studio. The CD is largely instrumental, which might be for the best. Rose has a passable voice but his his musicianship is truly exceptional. "Blazing guitar work" has become an easy catchphrase, but, by the ghost of Rory Gallagher, that's just what we have here. Rose's technique is a perfect combination of speed, emotion, and taste. That the man is a Hendrix devotee is obvious-- no less than three Hendrix covers are represented here, and they happen to be the three Hendrix tunes that most Jimi disciples usually co-opt: "Red House", "Hey Joe", and "All Along the Watchtower". Rose has Saint Jimi's technique down cold. While he sticks to Hendrix's basic arrangements, Paul doesn't ape Hendrix so much as channel him, infusing the tunes with his own style, transforming them into his own personal statements.  To prove that his CD library contains more than Experience discs, Paul also covers "Rollin' and Tumblin'", the delta blues tune that Cream electrified on the classic Wheels of Fire album. Rose's power trio's retooling of the song comes blasting out of the speakers like barely controlled electrical fire. Paul also throws a time-honored Roy Buchanan chestnut onto the hearth, "Cajun", via a  careful, fast-fingered Hellecaster-like arrangement. All told, a fine album by a fine player. Guitar-lovers, do yourself a favor and order the CD. (It's also available for download at both iTunes and eMusic.com.) CLAS YNGSTROM, FAT GUITAR AND SKY HIGH:  European fretburner Clas Yngstrom is another Hendrix devotee, and he wears Jimi's influences even more plainly on his shoulders. Admittedly, there are a lot of Hendrix-styled guitarists out there, for sure, but Clas sets himself apart from the pack with original, blues based arrangements, fine musicianship, big tone (he didn't call his 1995 release Fat Guitar for nothin'.) He's released several CDs over the years and I've found some of them to be a bit uneven. However, I can't these two particular efforts highly enough. I really love them and have been listening to them a a lot. A BAND TO WATCH OUT FOR: RUFUS HUFF, fronted by Kentucky Headhunters lead guitarist.  Remember when Gov't Mule ushered 70's hard rock heads back to the Marshall-driven, bluesified sonic glories of bands like Mountain, Cream, Cactus, Free and early ZZ Top? Well, It looks like Greg Martin has decided to step into that lamentedly vacated void, expanding on the hard rock sound of the Headhunters Big Boss Man.  There are at least nine MP3's of the band's work tapes on the 'net. Check out  www.gregmartin.com  and  www.rufushuff.com. Also look for Rufus Huff's MySpace page. These are full songs, not samples.  Supposedly, the band's first CD is finished and they're shopping the masters around. I can't wait to heaer the finished prodiut. I haven't been this excited about an upcoming release in years.    _____________________________ TIMBO'S STUDIO JAMS (ARCHIVES) (#3, AUGUST, 2005) What's on the CD player: WISHBONE ASH- 10TH ANNIVERSAY TOUR, BBC, LONDON, 2/2/80:  I first discovered Wishbone Ash through their "Live Dates" album  in 1972 or '73. Their subsequent studio album "There's the Rub" solidified them as one of my favorite guitar bands-- a position they hold to this day. This concert was one of the last appearances of my favorite incarnation of the band: Andy Powell and Laurie Wisefield on lead guitars, Martin Turner on bass, and Steve Upton on drums. I have a lot of shows from the '74-'80 period and this one might be my favorite. The playing is tight, the improvisations exciting, and the guitar tones  blistering. Powell and Wisefield elevated the art of dual guitar interplay into an artform that few six-string tag teams have matched, realizing that it's not only the notes you play, but the tone you're getting. Man, I love these guys. ROLLING STONES- "STRIPPED" OUTTAKES:  To my lil' ol' way of thinking, 1995'S "Stripped" album and live show returned the Stones to classic form. Originally intended as their contribution to the mid-90's "unplugged" movement, Keef and Woody ended up bringing  electric guitars and some small amps onto stage as well. The tubes heated up, the guitar strings (and, no doubt, the players) got hammered and boys ended up recapturing their stripped-back early 60's English club sound. Hence the title, I reckon. "Stripped" is a great album. What amazed me is that the outtakes are even better! This is one of my favorite Stones recordings of all time. I listen to it lots.  MOUNTAIN- LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST, 12-27-70:  A few years ago I picked up a 2 CD set called "Mountain Live Millenium Edition" for $3.99 at a Big Lots discount department store in West Virginia. I was expecting it to be a repackaged compilation CD of Mountain's previously released live stuff. To my joyous surprise, it wasn't. Here was a full show Mountain's classic "Climbing" and  "Nantucket Sleighride" period, and the sound quality was really good! Though some careful investigation I decided that the show was from either their Dec. '70 or Jan. '71 Fillmore East concert. Last year the 12-27-70 show was finally released in "official" (albeit muchly edited) form and my detective work was confirmed. All in a day's work for Muso Geek, CD Detective. I just ran the two CD "Millenium" set through some Cakewalk mastering software and tweaked the sound-- bumped up the his, smoothed out the midrange, added a tiny hint of "hall" slapback delay, stuff like that. Came out right nice, if I do say so myself. This one's in heavy rotation-- perfect music to draw Conan to, don'tcha know. Leslie West has eternally made "Timbo's Top Ten Geetarists" list, and the Man Mountain is in full glory on this one. Unreal.         -TT

______ (#2, JULY, 2005) What's on the CD player: ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND- VARIOUS CONCERTS, 1996: Just about anyone who knows me is aware of the the fact that I'm a hopeless Allman Brothers fan. The Allman's 1996 concerts are, for me, a high point in the band's Post-Duane Allman catalog. This was right before Warren Haynes split from the band to devore full time to Gov't Mule. Insiders have told me that there was a lot of tension between Haynes and Allman vet Dickey Betts during this time. The tension shows itself in some particularly aggressive guitar cometition between the two six-string gunslingers. Despite the ill feelings that were going on between the two, the band is tight and professional and Brother Gregg's voice is at it's best and blueiest during the '96 tours. As for the guitars: TONE, TONE, TONE! Trying to fill out my collection of '96 shows, so if anyone out there has some for tradin'...  CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL-  FIRST ALBUM & LIVE IN EUROPE (REMASTERED VERSIONS):  Let me tell ya, Creedence was one of the very first bands I ever got into when I was learning to play guitar back in the 9th grade.  Almost all of Fogerty's songs strike a nerve. As one reviewer once said, "John Fogerty is one of the few songwriters who can write a protest song and make it sound like patriotism." Too true. I remember amazing people during the waning, pre-dawn hours of at one of our infamous Kubert era birthday parties by being able to sing every last word of every Creedence song that anyone dared  plop onto the turntable. This week I've been listening to the remastered versions of the band's very first album from 1968 as well as their very last release, Live in Europe. The debut album is a great little slice of r&r heaven, flawlessly recorded at the old Fantasy Studios. It features the extended, post-psyche jam that launched them to fame, "Suzie Q", and seven other lesser-known gems.  The live album shows features the band as a three-piece rock'n'roots power trio, following the less-than-friendly split of John's brother, Tom. The version I'm listening to is from the Creedence box set, which was itself taken from a newly remixed and remastered Japanese edition of the release. The Japanese remaster sounds incredibly better than previous US versions of Live in Europe.  Thanks mainly to the genius of John Fogerty, these guys were the perfect American band. Highly recommended.      STEPHEN STILLS-  STILLS & ILLEGAL STILLS: I remember being a bit disappointed with the Stills album when it was first released in the 70's. Steve Stills' previous solo albums, his work with CSN&Y and his glorious but short-lived country-rock band Manassas had hit me hard. Those days, Stills didn't have enough guitar work for me. Or so I thought. These days, the CD really impresses me. It contains some of Still's best songs and most mature writing, and now that I've spent a few more years playing guitar and messing around in the recording studio, I find the the six-string interplay between Stills and co-guitarist Donnie Dacus quite remarkable. All in all, Pound for pound, song for song, this CD can stand up to Stills' first solo CD. A great little slice of fully harmonized country rock.   For some reason, I'd always passed up Illegal Stills and finally picked it up a few years back. Glad I did. I was surprised what a fine (and guitar-heavy!) CD it is. Lyriclly the writing is a bit less engaging than some of Stephen's prior material, but the album has tons of passion. Really enjoyable and very well recorded. Plus there's a killer version of Neil Young's "The Loner"-- a delightfully strange choice for Young's erstwhile partner to cover, since Neil reputedly wrote the song about Stills following their halycon days in Buffalo Springfield.            MARY ANN REDMOND- LIVE:  Mary Ann is one of the best kept secrets in blues music. HQ'd on the east coast, you can catch Mary Ann's gigs mainly at bars along the beach in Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland and at various summer festivals. She is without a doubt my favorite female vocalist-- a singer who can literally bring tears to my eyes at her live shows. I'd looked for this CD for awhile. Imagine my pleasure when I discovered it is now available at iTunes. Mary Ann has a powerful, Aretha Franklin-esque voice that belies her small stature and mellow, pleasant manner. Her bands are always hard rockin' but as tight as any hard-nosed jazz combo you've ever heard. She picks great guitarists-- real maestros-- and unlike most lead singers she actually gives them room to really strut their stuff. Visit her website at http://www.Maryannredmond.com and try out some samples. Do it now. I'll wait.) TEMPEST- 15TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION BOXED SET : Tempest is a Celtic rock unit led by electric mandolinist/vocalist/mastermind Lief Sorbye. They have become one of my favorite bands. Tempest specializes in taking traditional Irish, Brit, Scottish and Scandanavian traditional stuff and rocking it up. They also write original tunes that sound as classic and eternal as the most ancient Scottish border ballad.  Though they sometimes take pleasant forays into acoustic arrangements, they are an electric band, make no mistake. Their middle period albums remind me a bit of Jethro Tull-- if Jethro tull had plied a bit more deeply into their traditional roots and kept things really, really rockin'. This 3-CD set collects some great tunes from their many studio albums and throws in a heapin' helpin' of live and radio material. Fine stuff. Check out their great website at http://www.tempestmusic.com to hear samples. There's also a longboat load of of fantastic live concert videos to check out. Watch them work.  THE P.E.R.R.O. SESSIONS: THE STEPHEN BARNCARD MIXES- DAVID CROSBY, PAUL KANTNER, JERRY GARCIA, JORMA KAUKONEN, PHIL LESH, JACK CASSADY,GRACE SLICK, AND FRIENDS:  Finding these legendary sessions was the end of a long quest for me. PERRO stands for Planet Earth Rock & Roll Orchestra. These are mainly jams, outtakes, and rehearsals at Wally Heider's studio in San Francisco in 1970-71 that gave birth to such classic albums as Crosby's If Only I could Remember My Name, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick's Blows Against the Empire and Sunfighter, Jefferson Airplane's Bark, the first Jerry Garcia solo album, and various songs on Hot Tuna's second and third albums. The feel is loose and jammy. These are the wizards of San Francisco music at play, creating great works and magic. Incredible. Simply incredible.)

______________ #1-(JUNE, 2005) PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC-  JUMPING AT SHADOWS: THE BLUES YEARS (I'd passsed this one up for awhile, thinking it was some sort of "best of" package. It ain't.This is a remarkable selection of really rare and hard-to-find cuts from the greatest of the 60's Brit blues bands.)  KIRK ELI FLETCHER-  SHADES OF BLUE (Really great blues guitarist from California. Kim Wilson of the Fabulous T-Birds guests on vocals on many cuts. Fletcher evokes the feeling of the great Chicago lead players but puts his own spin on things. Blazin', no-effects, no tube screamer, straight out of the amp riffs.) COSMOSQUAD- LIVE AT THE BAKED POTATO and SQUADROPHENIA (Instrumental group featuring Jeff Kollman on guitar. Some of the best progressive rock fusion I've heard in ages. Kollman's playing is astounding. Check them out at www.CDbaby.com or www.Guitar9.com.) TEN YEARS AFTER- ROCK & ROLL MUSIC TO THE WORLD (Ahhhhh! Most excellent early 70's Brit blues-rock. My favorite flavuh.) JEFF KOLLMAN- SHREDDING SKIN (Jeff Kollman of Cosmosquad again. This man can play. JK gots the Three T's: Taste, Tone and Touch.  Search for samples at my favorite sites for hard-to-find, indy-label guitar-based rock, www.CDBaby.com or www.Guitar9.com. Go. Go now.) DAVE WEINER- SHOVE THE SUN ASIDE (Another jaw-dropping rock fusion player. Really fine instrumental rock CD. Check it at  www.guitar9.com.) GERALD GRADWOHL- ABQ (Complex, well-played, but in-the-pocket rock fusion with a complex, thoroughly jazzy edge and a welcome sense of fun. Guitar playing that will blow you away from the speakers and make you ask "how the heck did he do that?" Sterling production and engineering, too.  Hard to find at just about anyplace but   www.guitar9.com.) PLANKTON- HUMBLE COLLOSUS (Second CD by this European band. Plankton plays guitar-driven instrumental rock that draws equally from progressive rock, Hendrix, and 70's Brit blues. I love it lots. You won't find it in Walmart, Brucie. Check www.guitar9.com or www.cdbaby.com.)  TONY VEGA BAND (I'm listening to a couple of live CD's by this great Texas band.  Cranked up north of the Rio blues rock with soulsy vocals and a slightly countrified tinge. Not to be confused with the Latino crooner by the same name, Tony has a fine voice and can really play that there dang ol' Stratocaster geetar. Check him out at www.CDBaby.com.) THUNDER- THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENTH (Reunion album by one of Europe's most popular rock bands. The CD is hard to find in the US, but I downloaded these tracks at iTunes. I miss rock bands like Bad Company, Humble Pie, and  Free, and these guys capture that old 1970's hard rock magic. Nicely produced and recorded, too.) SAVOY TRUFFLE- TAKE TO THE SKY AND FLY (Some of the best hard-edged southern rock I've heard in a long time. The real surprise: these guys are from Japan! I swear by the ghosts of Allan Collins and Ronnie Van Zandt, you'd never know it. Their lead guitarist is a soulful ripper in the great southern rock and 70's brit rock tradition. Another iTunes score. Can't wait for their second CD. Hear extended cuts at www.cdbaby.com.) JOHN MAYALL- BACK TO THE ROOTS, extended version  (Reissue of the classic Mayall sessions wherein he assembled some of the guys who'd been in his band in the past-- Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor, most notably-- and let'em rip. Great stuff. When other music gets stale to me, I find that I always go back to Brit blues or San Francisco rock. And speaking of the latter...) QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, various bootlegs  (A fan-turned-buddy turned me on to several great QMS live shows and studio jams. Freeform psychedic guitar bliss. For a long time, the group had two lead guitarists, John Cippolina and Gary Duncan. Most fans seem to prefer Cippolina's playing, but I'm a bigger fan of Duncan. His style seems bluesier, deeper and more emotive. Most of these discs feature shows after Cippolina had left and Duncan was still fightin' the fight, with Dino Valenti on vocals. Have another hit of fresh air...)