DOG: What Are You Listening To Now? #9

All 4 of you who read this blog have seen my musical tastes run the gamut from Rock to Roll to Rhythm to Blues to Jazz to African JuJu and back again. But I know what you're saying... "Don't the Dog listen to no Country?"

Why Hell yes I listen to Country. But I don't listen to this over produced bullshit they call "Country" nowadays. No Kenny Chesney for me. I listen to the real pickers and have been into bluegrass for many many years thanks to Jerry Gray of WAMU-FM 88.5 in Washington DC. Don't try to find him. They took Jerry and his private collection of rare bluegrass albums off the air several years ago.

So what you're going to see is a list of what I've been listening to most generally along the border of the curious hinterland where country, bluegrass, blues, and rock-a-billy merged. You see, back in the 1950s (like the song says) the blues had a baby and they called the baby rock and roll. But the blues also had twins named gospel and soul. And if you listen to the country records from that time there was a whole lot of blues in there. What I've been running across lately are a good number of vinyl rips of Various Artist albums from the 1950s that contain an amazing blend of artists. It is not uncommon to see Surf Guitar king Dick Dale on the same album as people as diverse as Carl Perkins, Jerry Reed, Johnny Otis, Conway Twitty, Champion Jack DuPree, and even Roy Buchanan. Everybody tried to get in on the gravy train that was Rock and Roll it seems. Anyway, as a result I've discovered some jaw-dropping stuff in addition to my usual forays into blues-jazz etc. So here's what I'm listening to for right now:

10. Joanne Shaw Taylor - White Sugar. I'd describe it as top-notch blues-rock.

9. John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Road Dogs.

8. Super Chikan - Sum' Mo' Chikan. All I can say is check the dude out.

7. Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - History of The Future. Cowboy hat's off to Ricky who gave up making big Nashville $$ for the chance to make real American bluegrass music.

6. Cab Calloway - Are You Hep To The Jive?

5. Waylon Jennings - Waylon Live. Boy, this is 40 tracks of smokin' Outlaw Country.

4. Doc & Merle Watson - Two Nights In November. I used to think that Doc Watson was the greatest flat picker ever... until I heard the guys at 3, 2, & 1 on this list!

3. Joe & Rose Maphis - Hot Time In Nashville.

2. Joe Maphis - Fast Fingers. This is hotter than any metal shred you ever heard. It's like the man invented shred guitar... except he also plays fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, and banjo AND he shreds on all of them!!

And #1 (and it ain't close folks)... Merle Travis & Joe Maphis - Country Guitar Giants.

This album, released in 1979, is quite likely one of the greatest guitar albums ever recorded. These two are virtuosos no doubt. But they blend together seamlessly. Maphis on his custom Mosrite double neck sounds like two guitarists at once. And when Travis joins in on his hollow body Gibson, it sometimes sounds like 4 guitar parts! I know about Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Roy Clark, and of course I grew up on Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Roy Buchanan, and Danny Gatton. I am familiar with Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery. But I've never heard the guitar played like these two play it on here. I started spinning records when I was 3 years old and I ain't never heard nothin' like this.