original with a heavy dose of attention-grab- bing blues licks. It’s absolutely wonderful and doesn’t get much better than this. “Texas Girl” is great too, as it kicks off with an amaz- ing intro. The song fearlessly follows suit with Athas injecting heaping helpings of fan- tastic guitar into a crushing wave of catchy hooks. I love the Neil Young grunge vibe Athas affixes to “Time Flies” and how the bal- lad seems to gently tumble by like time itself. His revved-up cover of the Calvin
Carter penned classic “I Ain’t Got You” is a sweet amalgam of the versions rendered by The Yardbirds and Aerosmith. Athas breathes new life into Johnny “Guitar” Wat- son’s “Looking Back”. I get a big smile on my face every time I hear it. The album closes out with a spectacular mind-bending per- formance, taking on Jimi Hendrix’s “Vil- lanova Junction”. This one is beautifully played.
The cohesive flow on Shakin’ the Dust
makes an appreciable call-back to the heyday of album rock. It’s put together really well. Rocky Athas scores big with this album, and I look very much forward to hearing what is in store down the road.
-Phillip Smith (
phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com)
Jeff Beck Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2 CDs and DVD) (Eagle Vision) In the summer of
2016, Jeff Beck cele- brated 50 years as a
professional guitarist with a concert staged at at the famous Hollywood Bowl. The set list in- cluded songs from as far back as his first recordings with The Yardbirds in 1966 all the
Savoy Brown Witchy Feelin’ (Ruf Records)
It’s been fifty years
since the first Savoy Brown album, Shake
Down, hit the streets in England, and Kim Simmonds shows no signs of slowing down. The man is definitely on a roll right now. Be- sides his brand new solo instrumental album Jazzin’ on the Blues, which is absolutely won- derful by the way, he has the all new off-the-
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way up to tracks from his most recent album Loud Hailer. The show included appearances from
musicians he has collaborated with over the years including Jimmy Hall, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Jan Hammer, Beth Hart and Steven Tyler. Of course, even with the plethora of tal- ented guest stars, it was Beck and his guitar who stood front and center. Amazing performances were abundant.
It was truly a joy hearing sixties classics like “Heart Full of Soul” and “For Your Love,” mixed in with the timeless “Beck’s Bolero,” “Freeway Jam” (with Jam Hammer), and a great cover of ZZ Top’s “Rough Boy” with Rev. Billy Gibbons on guitar. Wowzer. Steven Tyler rocks a song he did with Aerosmith, “Train Kept a Rolling” and also sings on the classic “Shapes of Things.” There’s an off the chain good version of the Beatles “A Day in the Life,” and the show finale features all the guests all joining forces for an exhilarating encore performance of “Purple Rain” in trib- ute to Prince, who had recently died. An amazing tribute. An outstanding concert. For those about to rock, I salute you.
-Michael Buffalo Smith
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