Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Playing Out The String , from Arlen Roth and it's great display of Arlen's acoustic guitar talents. I've been listening to Roth since early in his career with tele in hand and this is a cool and interesting departure. Opening with Gus Cannon's Walk Right In , Roth on vocal and guitar sets a more pop pace but the album gets pretty deep in acoustic/blues presentation. Norman Blake's Randall Collins is a terrific track with fleet fingered playing accompanying Roth's vocals. Very cool. Brownie McGhee's Gonna Move Across The River gives Roth a great opportunity to play acoustic slide on a terrific country blues track and Townes Van Zandt's classic, Pancho and Lefty is a strong addition with melody handled purely on guitar. Very nice. Louis Jordan's crowd favorite, You Can't Get That Stuff No More , features Roth on slide acoustic and vocal. Blind Blake's rag track, Diddy Wah Diddy ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Tele Masters , from Arlen Roth and it's super. Featuring a who's who of telecaster players, this release has it all. Opening with Remington Ride with Steve Wariner and Cindy Cashdollar, this track has a lot of country spice and great picking. Wariner and Roth each take turns showing their chops and Cashdollar's lap steel work is impeccable as always. backed by Tom Hambridge on drums, Tommy MacDonald on bass and Billy Panda on acoustic guitar, this is a super opener. A funky, lumbering arrangement to Big Bill Broonzy's Key To The Highway gives it a fresh new life. Jack Pearson has a great voice on lead and sharing lead guitar  with Roth, this track has really digs in. One of my favorites. A track featuring a great finger picking shoot out is Bunky with Brad Paisley. If you are wondering if this release is a guitar players album...oh yeah! Will Ray and Roth strut tall with Link Wray's Rumble . Keep...

I just received the newest release, Slide Guitar Summit , from Arlen Roth and it definitely lives up to all the pre hype. Roth, well known for his own guitar styling, especially on the tele with the likes of Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton, has put together a group of the best known slide players on the planet for a full blown celebration of all things slide. Opening with Do What's Right , Roth teams up with Jack Pearson on vocal and slide guitar as well as Tom Hambridge on drums and backing vocal and Tommy MacDonald for a country two step rocker. This track moves along nicely with lead and harmonic sliding... a terrific opener. Robert Johnson's Dust My Broom is next featuring Lee Roy Parnell on vocal and slide and adding Kevin McKendree on piano. With the feel of Elmore James and a nice thick slide texture, this track is hot. McKendree adds significantly to the mix with hot piano riffs. Much like a live recording, Parnell and Roth take turns on lead slide making for a hot t...