When I was a schoolkid I loved Cream. Everybody loved Cream. And this was their signature song. They were the original “power trio” of guitar, bass and drums – Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

(more…)

This is a fantastic discovery If you like funky horn sections and you like powerful female voices. They don’t come much more powerful than Lydia Pense and her San Francisco-based band Cold Blood.

(more…)

Tim Hardin’s struggles with addiction are mirrored in Black Sheep Boy, his heartbreaking tale of alienation from his family.

(more…)

Samuel Maghett – “Maghett Sam” merging into Magic Sam – was a Chicago bluesman who had moved north from his Mississippi Delta birthplace in 1956 when he was 19.

(more…)

When it comes to The Shangri-Las, my knowledge doesn’t stretch much further than their greatest hits, led by the glorious Leader Of The Pack.

(more…)

Blimey! I had no idea The Kinks ever sounded like this. I’ve never heard it before, though seven million others seem to have watched it on YouTube.

(more…)

Today I’m feeling a little bit country and a little bit rock’n’roll, just like Donny and Marie once did. So here’s a bit of Buck Owens. This song never fails to put a big fat smile on my face. It just swings, and rocks, and twangs in all the right places.

(more…)

Here’s a sweet slice of Sixties psychedelia by a bunch of British teenagers, released in February 1968 to a chorus of indifference. Who would have expected it to launch a multi-million-selling band on a stellar career?

(more…)

It’s no exaggeration to say John Mayall is the most important figure in the development of rock music in Britain. 

(more…)

This Northern Soul classic is, as far as I know, the only single ever released by Lester Tipton, a one-miss wonder who met a tragic fate. No wonder they call it Rare Groove.

(more…)