divided than anytime since his heyday of the 1960s. The songs are mostly built around the 75-year-old’s acoustic guitar and voice, harkening back to the sounds of CSNY. Beau- tiful music, although the subject matter can often be dark lyrically – it remains honest, personal and above all, uniquely Crosby… She & Him are truly a fun band, but for some reason, they are even better during the Christmas season. On their second Holiday record, Christmas Party (Columbia) ac- tress/singer Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward dish out more of the vintage warmth that feels like a hot cup of choco- late and a warm
blanket on a snowy night. The album is filled with Zooey’s sweet vocal interpretations of classics like “All I Want for Christmas is You,” “Let it Snow,” “Happy Holidays to You,” “The Coldest Night of the Year,” and more. Twelve tracks that could make Scrooge himself get into the Christmas spirit… Eric Clapton has released a very nice live one, Live In San Diego:March 15, 2007 (Reprise) the record features several appearances by and tunes written by Eric’s buddy JJ Cale, who at the time, was touring with Clapton in support of their new studio album, 2006's Road to Es- condido. Cale died July 26, 2013, and these tunes only serve to enhance the Cale legacy. Cale appears on five tracks, including "Co- caine" and “After Midnight,” two Cale tunes Clapton covered in the 1970’s. Derek Trucks also appears on the album, playing the late Duane Allman's slide parts on the album's Derek and the Dominos tunes. Also along for the ride are Doyle Bramhall II and Robert Cray, who guests on "Crossroads." An amaz- ing rocking live moment in time that is well worth the price of admission… Meat Loaf is
back, and he has again reunited with songwriter Jim Steinman. To- gether, the duo broke records world wide with album sales for Bat Out of Hell, and the sequel records were also quite intriguing. Braver Than We Are (Savoy) features 10 new Steinman songs performed as only Meat Loaf deliver them. In another exciting move, vocalists Ellen Foley and Karla DeVito (vocalists from the smash hit “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” on record and live onstage ) both join in on on the powerful song (and first single) “Going All The Way.” It’s very exciting for us Meat Loaf fans. There’s only one problem, and it is quite sad. Meat Loaf’s voice is kind of shot. Oddly enough, the music is so exciting, most of us true Meat fans will overlook the vocal digression and look at the glass as “half full,” simply because Mr. Loaf and Mr. Steinman are back together. I know I will…. Billy Crain is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest guitarists to come out of the southern rock world. His work with The Henry Paul Band and The Outlaws is a testament to that fact. These days, Billy is turning solo albums out at a rate of about one a year, and his lat- est, Hard Places (Slidebilly Records) may be his best yet. Crain vacilates between what might be called contemporary Christian music and straight up southern rock. The music itself always has that southern rock vibe, but the lyrics can go either way. The album kicks off with “Holy Wraith,” begin- ning with some impressive guitar soloing over a background storm and moving into a musi- cal sermon on the choices we all face between “Amazing Grace” and “Holy Wraith.” Maybe my favorite song on the set is the distinctly southern rock “Dying Breed,” about the life of a working and touring guitarist – it may even
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