Music » Electric Guitar Music

Features a guest appearance from Ben Harper.

Japanese pressing limited edition price for Jack Johnson's 2003 album adds one bonus track. 17 tracks. Def Jam.

Born Under a Bad Sign dates back to a time when albums were collections of singles, and when singles, designed for radio and jukebox play, seldom ran more than three and a half minutes. That limitation meant that artists had to make an impact quickly and firmly. In blues, the tendency of songs to go on a bit had to be curbed to produce performances with punch and point. There are few better examples of this process in action than Albert King's 1960s tracks like "Crosscut Saw," "Born Under a Bad Sign," and his story of hot whispers during the hot-wash cycle, "Laundromat Blues." With his thick voice and no-nonsense guitar, King brought absolute blues credibility to the well-made commercial single, and even tracks that were recorded purely for the album, like the aching slow blues "As the Years Go Passing By," became classics. Reissued with the original funky cover art, Born Under a Bad Sign is one of the foundation stones of a blues collection. --Tony Russell

As emblematic of its time as of its sorcerer-like creator, 1967's Are You Experienced unleashed Jimi Hendrix onto a world in the midst of such cultural and musical shakeups that it really didn't seem as "far out" as it actually was. It wasn't just Hendrix's virtuosic skill as a pure player that was so impressive; it was, even more, the range and scope of sheer sound that he coaxed, cajoled, and ripped out of his instrument. "Purple Haze," "Manic Depression," and "I Don't Live Today" filled ears with indelible sonic images, and songs like "Foxey Lady" and "Fire" pointed the way toward a new brand of rock-charged soul music. And how about a hand for drummer Mitch Mitchell? --Billy Altman

Back in 1969, Muddy Waters and Otis Spann teamed with young guns Paul Butterfield and Michael Bloomfield to create Fathers & Sons. The idea was to match the sagacity of the "old timers" with the flash and commercial muscle of the upstarts. Nearly three decades later, Jimmy Rogers (like Spann, an alumnus of Waters's commanding '50s group) holed up in the studio with Butterfield-Bloomfield contemporaries Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Stephen Stills; the result is Blues Blues Blues, the late singer-guitarist's swan song. Here's something to ponder: Waters was 54 when Fathers & Sons was recorded, the same age as Jagger when he cut his two tracks for this set. So maybe this collection should've been called Great-Grandfathers & Grandfathers. That said, Jagger's two contributions to Blues Blues Blues highlight this effort; he sounds invigorated dueting with the steady-rollin' Rogers on "Trouble No More" and gooses up Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" with studied nonchalance. With other rock-era titans (Taj Mahal, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page) and blues stalwarts (Carey Bell, Johnnie Johnson, Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers drummer Ted Harvey) along to lend support, Blues Blues Blues is a star-studded sendoff to one of the blues' noble patriarchs. --Steven Stolder

On this thoroughly enjoyable outing, the elder blues statesman does not stray from the formula that made the Grammy-winning Blues on the Bayou such an artistic and commercial success. Recorded at Dockside Studios in Lafayette, Louisiana, and once again produced by B.B. himself, the disc features a similarly rough and tumble electric trad-blues style. The five new songs are up to his usual standards, and all 14 tracks benefit greatly from the lithe, assured support of B.B.'s touring band, the B.B. King Blues Boys. His voice and guitar playing are supple and slinky; if only we all could be doing such vital, wonderful work at the age of 74. --Mike McGonigal

Worried captures a 10-spot of the visceral Delta blues of the late Asie Payton, impoverished farmer and second-generation weekend country-grocery musician. The crew at Oxford, Mississippi-based Fat Possum Records intended to use these sessions as demo tapes to spark interest, yet they were unable to woo the gifted Payton from his tractor, on which he suffered a heart attack in the spring of 1997. Recorded at Junior Kimbrough's club, "Come Home with me" and "Skinny Legs & All" recall the lusty heat and wobbly cock-of-the-walk pride (minus the lewdness) of label-mate R.L. Burnside. Yet, as he spells out on the trippy progressive blues, "Asie's Jam," Payton's soulful herky-jerky guitar and ragged voice communicate from a place born of hardship, depth, and reckoned gentleness. In the spirit and tradition of Othar Turner's Everybody Hollerin' Goat, Worried becomes not a pity party at Payton's grave, but a celebration. From the top, his wide-open strum kicks off with Sam Carr's gorgeously ramshackle ass-wigglin' drumming, and "I Love You" soars and pops like a bottle rocket bearing a message of good will. --Paige La Grone

The third mouth-watering installment of Ace Records' series highlighting the post-Beatles era. 29 eclectic tracks, spanning 1963-1969, of soul, pop, lounge, & garage. Artists include Marvin Gaye, Jr. Walker, The Box Tops, Henry Mancini, Gale Garnett, Bobbie Gentry, Canned Heat, The Beach Boys, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Music Explosion, & many more. Includes 28-page booklet with extensive liner notes & photos of featured artists. 2003.

Of all the side projects cooked up by former cast members of Saturday Night Live, none had the creative legs of the Blues Brothers. Two whiteboy blues enthusiasts fronting the best band money could buy, the project spawned a hit movie and a No. 1 album (the debut, Briefcase Full of Blues). It also helped revive the moribund careers of revered heroes such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. What Belushi and Ackroyd lacked in technique--a lot, really--they made up for with enthusiasm and devotion to the music. The 20-track Definitive Collection compiles their best material, including "Soul Man," and "Who's Making Love," and "Rubber Biscuit." It's hardly the best blues album you'll ever buy, but there's plenty here to make you get up and shake your tailfeather. --Daniel Durchholz

"Sounds nice," Bo Diddley tongue-in-cheekily observes of his music in "The Story of Bo Diddley," one of three self-named tunes on this 20-track examination of his classic '50s and '60s Checker Records sides. Not only was the former Ellas McDaniels rhythmically sharp enough to have a beat named after himself; he had a great guitar sound and a seemingly endless supply of shaggy-dog stories, lover-man boasts, silly jokes, and complaints with which to fuse them. His Best boils down the two-CD Chess Box, including signature pieces like "Bo Diddley" and "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" alongside unjustly obscure tunes such as "Pills" (later covered by the New York Dolls) and "Dearest Darling." Great. --Rickey Wright