ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 15, 2001 By Steve Newton When I ask famous musicians who they’ve been listening to, half the time they brush the question off, claiming that they’ve just been focusing on their own material. Other times you get people—like Taj Mahal—who like to name names. When I track the blues legend down … Continue reading Blues great Taj Mahal is quick to name names
Tag: Taj Mahal
Johnny Winter showed blues traveler Ellen McIlwaine how to go in her own direction
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 13, 2001 By Steve Newton Singer-songwriter and slide-guitar specialist Ellen McIlwaine is best known as a blues artist, but she’s always been willing to let her muse drift away from the Mississippi Delta or the south side of Chicago. For her latest CD, Spontaneous Combustion, McIlwaine wrote a … Continue reading Johnny Winter showed blues traveler Ellen McIlwaine how to go in her own direction
Guitar great Steve Cropper helps helm Joe Louis Walker’s Great Guitars
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 20, 1997 Any bozo can pick up a guitar and trace out a simple pentatonic blues scale. I should know, I’ve been tracing out blues scales like a bozo for years. But while the most basic techniques of blues guitar are accessible to the beginner, it’s not nearly … Continue reading Guitar great Steve Cropper helps helm Joe Louis Walker’s Great Guitars
Ex-Cars guitarist Elliot Easton denies going mercenary for Fogerty-less CCR
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 2, 1996 By Steve Newton When a band calling itself Creedence Clearwater Revisited comes to the Pacific Coliseum on Friday (May 3), former Creedence Clearwater Revival leader John Fogerty will not be along for the ride. The lifeblood of the original CCR had been drained during a … Continue reading Ex-Cars guitarist Elliot Easton denies going mercenary for Fogerty-less CCR
Taj Mahal and Robert Cray deliver soulfully smokin’ blues to a sold-out Commodore crowd
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 27, 1994 By Steve Newton If there’s one thing that’s a sure cure for the sad-eyed, rain-soaked January blahs, it’s a blues show at the Commodore. And when that show’s on a Friday night (January 21), the headliner is Robert Cray, and the opener is Taj Mahal, then cryin’ time is … Continue reading Taj Mahal and Robert Cray deliver soulfully smokin’ blues to a sold-out Commodore crowd
Rockers say the darndest things: top quotes of 2013
Dave Wyndorf (above) "probably would have made more money." I interviewed quite a few rockers last year. Here's some of the things they said. "To me stoner rock is just non-commercial rock that pulls from every great era... And as far as the stoner element, I mean, yeah, it’s always cool to smoke pot.” --Brant Bjork … Continue reading Rockers say the darndest things: top quotes of 2013
Taj Mahal wasn’t so much shocked as pissed off by Jesse Ed Davis’s death
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 24, 2013 By Steve Newton When music legend Taj Mahal calls from a tour stop in Phoenix, it’s been just a few days since he played Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival at Madison Square Garden in New York. He’d been asked to play the event before, and never had the … Continue reading Taj Mahal wasn’t so much shocked as pissed off by Jesse Ed Davis’s death