To speak of Steve Earle is to speak of a true legend of American country and folk rock, with an impeccable career spanning five decades, from the early 1970s, when he began working as a songwriter for RCA Records, until 2009, when he released his last solo work. However, his recording career didn't begin until the mid-1980s, with the release of his debut album, "Guitar Town", a masterpiece of American roots music. Surrounded by excellent musicians such as Bucky Baxter, Richard Bennett, Emory Gordy, John Barlow, Steve Nathan, Harry Stinson, and Paul Franklin, Earle showcased his immense talent as a songwriter and guitarist. On this first album, Earle masterfully blends country, bluegrass, folk, and rock. Songs like the one that gives the album its title, or others like "Goodbye's All We've Got Left", "Hillbilly Highway", "Someday" or "Down the Road", have transcended beyond the rich American musical culture, becoming a reference point for hundreds of artists from around the world.
To speak of Bob Dylan is to speak of one of the geniuses of the 20th century, a musician as pioneering as he was influential, who has paved the way for thousands of musicians and numerous subsequent styles. Approaching his 80th birthday, the Minnesota musician gave us another of his acclaimed works with his thirty-ninth album, "Rough and Rowdy Ways". Here, he once again displays a perfect inventory of his most genuine essence, his literary grandeur, and his profound poetry. He narrates the needs of his country with elegance and intelligence, exploring a diversity of styles and themes, from country and folk sounds to rhythm and blues, rural blues, and rockabilly. Songs like "I Contain Multitudes", "Key West", "False Prophet", "Crossing the Rubicon", "My Own Version of You", and "Murder Most Foul" reflect one of his most personal and retrospective albums.
It took John Fogerty three years to release his first solo album after leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival, aside from his short-lived project, The Blue Ridge Rangers, released the previous year. On this album, Fogerty returns to the swampy, raw rock of his original band, leaving behind the traditional country and folk sounds of The Blue Ridge Rangers. Here, he amply demonstrates that he was the heart and soul of Creedence, producing an album almost on par with his best work with the group. Composed of songs written by Fogerty, as well as several covers, the guitarist, singer, and songwriter crafts an immeasurable work featuring the catchy "Almost Saturday Night", the well-known and rock classic "Rockin' All Over The World", the jazzy "You Rascal You", the swampy "The Wall" and "Dream Song", and the melodic, country-tinged "Where The River Flows".
Rose's Pawn Shop are a band that gave a breath of fresh air to the American sound in 2005, when they were founded (this does not mean that there are not many others that have also contributed to keeping the legacy alive). They make everything from classical music ("classical" if you were born in the southern United States), from bluegrass to country to folk, rock and blues.
"Dancing On The Gallows" was the second album by this magnificent band released in 2010. By then the band consisted of Paul Givant, vocalist, guitar and banjo, Tim Weed, Mandolin, fiddle and vocals, John Kraus, banjo, mandolin and guitar, Stephen Andrews, bass and drums, Christian Hogan, Debtors of the sounds that The Byrds or The Band created in the sixties, Rose's Pawn Shop manifest their style in superb songs like "Strangers", "Debt Collector" or "Pine Box", themes that if they had been published in the 70s, we would speak of a jewel of the genre.
Led by Lowell George, a character of great charisma who began his career in Los Angeles playing for various groups, including the Standells and Factory, and later became part of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.
After leaving Frank Zappa's band and together with the bassist of the same band, Roy Estrada would found Little Feat, in addition to the drummer Richard Hayward and the pianist Bill Payne.
The group would perform for some time in Los Angeles and Houston, quickly attracting public attention, in part thanks to Lowell George's great reputation.
Little Feat's music is dense and careful, an original synthesis of blues, boogie, country, gospel, rhythm and blues from New Orleans and Memphis and echoes of Californian rock.
His definitive consecration would come with his second album "Sailin´Shoes", a superb album that contains the anguished "Trouble", the boogie-country "Tripe Face Boogie", the country blues "A Apocalitical Blues" and "Willin´" a song classic folk of the group. This album enthusiastically praised by the specialized press and especially by Rolling Stone magazine, has the collaboration of the graphic studio Neon Park, which would illustrate all its covers with an extravagant pop imagination.
They are one of the benchmarks in the world of double or twin guitars before the famous Wishbone Ash, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, practicing styles that ranged from acid blues and folk with mixtures of hard rock and heavy psych, but with jazz fusion influences throughout his career.
"Happy Trails" was the band's third album, released in 1969 and is their bluesiest album. The album is semi-conceptual, especially the first side, and in general it highlights the Western theme and among the most remarkable instruments, as can be seen on the back cover, the violin, further establishing the folk roots. The album is recorded in 1968 at the Fillmore West in California. This album for both the psychedelic blues and the cover reminds many of Pink Floyd's "More" as analogous in a way, although the latter is even more symphonic. The covers include the classic beat "Mona" and the excellent "How do you love".
"Against The Wind" was the eleventh album by Bob Seger with his band The Silver Bullet Band, and it achieved great success until it reached the top of the charts and was the album that had the honor to unseat that put to "The Wall" by Pink Floyd.
Full of slow and very quiet songs, they were the perfect claim to sell more than five million copies, songs like "Fire Lake", "Against The Wind" or "You´ll Accomp´ny Me", make this album a of Bob Seger's masterpieces.
However, it also shows, although to a lesser extent, powerful songs such as "Her Strut" or "Betty Lou's Gettin' Our Tonight", but that large number of ballads would imply a certain relaxation when it comes to continuing to compose powerful songs as before.
"Electric Dirt" was his ninth album, in a solo career that had begun in 1977 shortly after the dissolution of The Band, in this new release Helm manages to surpass the success of his predecessor the fantastic "Dirt Farmer" with which he had achieved like this "Electric Dirt" the Grammy award for the best album of American music.
However, here, who was then seventy years old, broadens the musical horizon to go a little further, introducing more electrical elements to continue with his gospel, blues and New Orleans jazz influences, all seasoned with his folk style and country.
With his already deteriorated voice (at that time he suffered from throat cancer) Helm is reeling from theme to theme with great sincerity and in an authentic way with versions of songs by The Band, Randy Newman, Staples Singers or Muddy Waters in addition to his own compositions.
_19.jpg)
