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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!


Please email me at Info@Bmansbluesreport.com
Showing posts with label Rick Derringer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Derringer. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Deguello Records artist: Jeff Pitchell - Brown Eyed Blues - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Brown Eyed Blues, from Jeff Pitchell and it's a lot of fun. Opening with thumping rocker, Now You Know, Jeff Pitchell on lead guitar and vocal sets a finite reference. With grinding guitar tone and solid bass line from John O'Boyle and Ephraim Lowell on drums, this is a powerful opener. Boogie, Wait, is driven by an aggressive bass line by Mike Nunno and Mike Levesque on drums. Pitchell really gets the track rocking with strong vocal lead and great guitar riffs, backed by Colin Tilton on sax, Dan Fontanella on piano, and John Robinson, Theresa Wright and Linda Ransom on backing vocals. Pop rocker, When We Kiss, has a light finky beat and features Duane Betts on guitar, adding the twin lead guitar closely associated with the famous Allman Brothers band. Jay Vernali on piano and organ, Tommy MacDonald on bass and Tom Hambridge on drums make this the radio choice for the release. Latin flavored, Stay While The Night Is Young, features some of Pitchell's best vocals and Santana like Mesa Boogie overdrive. With Nunno on bass, Mike Levesque on drums, Nick Longo on drums, Ivan Santiago on percussion, Kevin Berry on percussion, Bruce Feiner on keys and Vic Steffens on percussion, this is a cool track. Cool shuffle, When It All Comes Down. is one of my favorite tracks on the release, with Pitchell playing call and response with his vocal and guitar. With solid bass and drum backing this track just hits nicely in the slot. Wrapping the release is another Latin flavored track, Welcome To The Beat with Pictell on lead vocal, guitar and bass and Bill Holoman on  drums, keys sax and trumpet, backed by Jim and Gloria Pitchell on vocal. Solid closer. 



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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Deguello Records artist: Jeff Pitchell - Playin' With My Friends - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Playin' With My Friends, by Jeff Pitchell and it's a cool blues rocker. Opening with Eye For An Eye, Jeff Pitchell on lead vocal and guitar sets up a real nice shuffle. With smooth, Steve Miller like vocals and cool style Pitchell is joined by Wolf Ginandes on bass, Floyd Murphy Jr. on drums and Jeff Levine on keys. Solid opener. Your Magic Eyes, has a definite SRV/Johnny Lang feel with lush guitar rhythm and stinging riffs. One of my favorites on the release is  Magic Sam's  Out In The Cold with it's Rhumba rhythm, soulful vocals and solid guitar, paired up with Jimmie Vaughan's son Tyrone with a comparable sound to Wait's, Down In The Hole, used as the theme track for TV's The Wire. Very nice. Rick Derringer joins Pitchell on vocal and guitar on Unsung Hero of the Blues. Derringer was an early influence of mine from his early work with Johnny Winter And (blistering blues). A real nice track with the addition of Teo Leyasmeyer on keys. Claudette King adds some badass lead vocals on Playin' With My Friends, with it's cool shuffle rhythm. Pitchell lays down some real nice guitar riffs on this one and Dave Natale on bass, Steve Peck on drums and Danny Fontanella really makes this track shine. Wrapping the release is Bobby Blue Bland's classic, I Wouldn't Treat A Dog, just dripping with soul. Pitchell's vocals are strong and his guitar work is lush. Backed by Mike Nunno on bass and Ephraim on drums, this is an excellent closer.


View Bman Blueswriter's profile on LinkedIn

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! ”LIKE”

 For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE" 

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 “Like” Bman’s Facebook page and get support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE

For your convenience, you can click the title of this post above to be taken to a site where this cd can be purchased - Happy Listening

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Myles Goodwyn And Friends of the Blues - New release review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Myles Goodwyn and Friends of the Blues, from Myles Goodwyn and it's a lot of fun. Opening with I Hate To See You Go ( But I Love To Watch You Walk Away) Goodwyn shows super feel on lead vocal and keys with Shaun Verreault on slide guitar, Eric Khayt on sax. Blues ballad, It'll Take Time To Get Used To, has a super melody and Amos Garret's lush guitar work really hits the nail on the head, backed by Emily Lamarche on vocal. Very nice. Western styling on Tell Me Where I've Been (So I Don't Go There Anymore) is really nice with excellent piano work by Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne and twangy blues guitar riffs from Steve Segal. I'll Hate You (Till Death Do Us Part) shows continued story telling and tongue in cheek soulful tracks. Wayne really works the keys on this one as well (I mean he really works them) and Frank Marino cooks the strings on guitar with precise blues riffs giving the track added sting. very nice! Shuffle track, Good Man In A Bad Place, has a real nice feel and Garret lays in some really tasty guitar riffs under Goodwyn's always tight vocals. Rick Derringer adds real heat on Last Time I'll Ever Sing The Blues, an easy loaded shuffle with some warm returns and articulate lead guitar work. Jack De Keyser has the lead on guitar on Nobody Lies (About Having The Blues), another track with particularly smooth vocals and cool electric piano work by Goodwyn. Wrapping the release is You Never Got The Best Of Me featuring Steve Segal and Amos Garret on guitar and Dewey Reeds on harmonica. This is a cool package with good tunes, solid guitar and real nice vocals. 

View Bman Blueswriter's profile on LinkedIn

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! ”LIKE”

 For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE" 

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“Like” Bman’s Facebook page and get support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE

Thursday, August 14, 2014

T-Bone Walker Blues Fest September 12-13 Longview, Texas Announces Line-Up


9th Annual T-Bone Walker Blues Fest
September 12-13, 2014 * Longview, Texas

Legendary guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, along with blues vocalist Lou Ann Barton, will head
a power-packed musical lineup for the 9th annual T-Bone Walker Blues Fest. The two day
event features the Wells Fargo Advisors indoor stage with reserved seating, plus the
Patterson Nissan outdoor general admission stage. Performances begin at 4:00pm on Friday
and 12 Noon on Saturday. Tickets are available on the festival website.
Jimmie Vaughan
& the Tilt-a-Whirl Band
with Lou Ann Barton
Saturday 10:45pm - 12:00am
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Rick Derringer 
Friday 11:00pm - 12:00am
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Saturday 9:15pm - 10:30pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Eric Gales Trio
Friday 9:45pm - 10:45pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Saturday 11:00pm - 12:00am
Patterson Nissan Stage
Tony Joe White 
Saturday 7:45pm - 9:00pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Lurrie Bell
Chicago Blues Band
Friday 8:00pm - 9:15pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Saturday 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
Eddie "The Chief" Clearwater
Saturday 7:15pm - 8:15pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
Texas Flood 
Friday 10:45pm - 12:00am
Patterson Nissan Stage
Anson Funderburgh
& The Rockets
Saturday 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Saturday 9:45pm - 10:45pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
Cool John Ferguson 
Friday 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Saturday 2:45pm - 3:45pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Trudy Lynn with Steve Krase 
Saturday 12:15pm - 1:30pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Chris Cain Band 
Friday 9:15pm - 10:30pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
Saturday 8:30pm - 9:30pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne
Friday 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
Saturday 5:15pm - 6:15pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
The Peterson Brothers Band 
Saturday 4:45pm - 5:45pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
The Alan Fox Band
Saturday 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
Jimmy Wallace
& the Stratoblasters
Saturday 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Wells Fargo Advisors Stage
John McVey & The Stumble
Friday 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Patterson Nissan Stage
Sponsored in part by:


Tickets to the Wells Fargo Advisors Indoor Reserved Seating are available for purchase online.
Click the link below to be see the various ticket packages available.

Tickets for the Patterson Nissan Outdoor Stage General Admission will be sold at the gate only,
the day of the event only.

 

tbonewalkerbluesfest.com





Copyright 2014 by T-Bone Walker Blues Fest, Inc. a 5013c Non-profi t corporation.
 

Friday, March 30, 2012

Who Was Charles LoBue


Charles LoBue was one of the fathers of the custom electric guitar business. Charles came to the industry after taking classes from Michael Gurian, first working in and around the guitar repair business in NYC in the mid 60's. Charles' interest in the business began by doing basic repairs on factory made guitars. These were primarily made by Gibson and Fender, the "Gold Standard" for electric guitars, as well as any guitar including acoustics which came through the door. As a professional player in the U.S. in the 60's, Gibson and Fender were the most likely choices if you wanted an electric guitar. It is well known that the Brits used European made guitars as well, primarily due to their accessibility. By the mid late 60's both companies had been sold to larger corporations which were not primarily in the guitar business. The basic perception even today is that the guitars made by these companies during this period were inferior in quality and also lacked many options. Jimi Hendrix was making all kinds of weird (wonderful) sounds and more adventurous players wanted alternatives. Charles was a guy in NYC who had a strong interest in guitars and experimentation. By luck or by design, Charles ended up in a circle of brilliant people such as "Dan Armstrong" and "Matt Umanov" (plexiglass guitar), Carl Thompson ( "CT Basses" ), Larry DiMarzio (DiMarzio Pickups), Steve Bleucher ( "DiMarzio Pickups"), Michael Gurian ("Gurian Guitars"), Sherwood Phifer ( "Phifer Designs" ), Ralph Novak ( "Novax Guitars"), "Bill Lawrence" (custom pickup inventor) among others, building custom designed electric guitars and basses. LoBue and Thompson started a repair shop in the village and quickly became known as the "go to" shop for anyone who wanted the best repairs and setup. After only about a year, LoBue and Thompson split, Thompson indicating that LoBue wanted to build guitars and he was happy with the repair business. (Thompson of course went on to make world renown basses for such players as "Les Claypool" and "Stanley Clarke").
LoBue attracted a small group of apprentices and began customizing and building standard guitars for sale, but also designed custom guitars for "Rick Derringer" (at the time with Johnny Winter), "Steve Khan" , "Paul Stanley", "Gene Simmons", "Steve Hunter" and "Alfonso Johnson" (then with Weather Report). The well recognized picture of Rick from Guitar Player magazine with his famous explorer was a LoBue Guitar. Derringer commissioned this and many other instruments initially to protect a split head explorer which had become too valuable to take on the road.

This is a short list of players who had guitars built by LoBue and his band of men. DiMarzio and Bleucher worked at Guitar Lab very early. DiMarzio was doing setups and fretwork at the shop and ventured to "Jimmy D'Aquisto's" shop learning from the master about the finer arts of fret dressing. DiMarzio had gone through an electronics course and found working with Charles was a good fit. Charles had the natural curiosity of what could be done and Larry had the practical skill. It wasn't long before DiMarzio wanted to work on the electrical components and LoBue gave him a box of "broken" pickups that they experimented with for new sounds. DiMarzio came up with some revolutionary ideas. Bill Lawrence told me that LoBue is responsible for the replacement pickup industry. Prior to this time, there weren't replacement pickups available. DiMarzio was starting to experiment in his basement and it wasn't long before he opened his own shop across town doing setups and selling pickups not only to LoBue, but other shops who were doing repairs. Woody Phifer was a college student and hobbyist wood carver who wandered into the shop by accident. What he saw excited him and he immediately asked if he could apprentice with LoBue. At the time the only builders were LoBue and college student (architecture/ sculptor) "Bob Sindorf" . Sindorf had experimented with building his own guitar in high school. These were of modeled after current styles, but he had the head start on the geometry.
Sindorf completed his work at Columbia and became a world renown sculptor prior to his passing a few years ago. Phifer brought to the shop the thought that different contours may work.
LoBue was already making custom shapes but this brought another dimension to the formula as Phifer started to learn LoBue's craft. After only a few years Phifer started his own shop and now builds custom guitars in upstate New York (Phifer Designs). Another significant builder who worked in the shop was student, Ralph Novak. Ralph chose to stay around for quite some time and eventually become LoBue's partner. An unfortunate tragedy was when LoBue Guitars (Guitar Lab) was broken in to and a number of celebrity guitars were lost. LoBue replaced the guitars from his own pocket but this put him into a substantial financial bind.

After years of fending off Alex Musical's offer to add custom guitars to his line of factory guitars LoBue finally caved and sold the business to Alex. LoBue signed a 1 year contract and at the end of the period, he and Novax moved to San Francisco... another music capital at the time. After only a few years, loneliness for NYC got to Charles and he returned. Novak became a partner at Subway Guitars in San Francisco and shortly thereafter patented fanned fret technology for guitars starting his own company, Novax Guitars in Eugene Oregon. In 1985 Charles died after a short illness.