H - J

All Things Must Pass is fantastic album. It takes elements of  rock, blues, pop, and even country. It is not country in the style of say Dylan's Nashville Skyline, but the pedal steel riffs when used, do give the music country undertones, sometimes in a Hawaiian kind of way like on "Behind Those Closed Doors."  There is a full review of this album and more George Harrison solo material including video in our George Harrison section

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Warren Haynes is one of the busiest guitarist serving as a member of the Allman Brothers, The Dead, his own band, Gov't Mule, and even some solo gigs. In 2004, he will perform 36 gigs with The Dead, 50 with the Allman Brothers Band, in addition to some solo performances as Gov't Mule shows.

Live at Bonnaroo is a 2003 solo acoustic set at the annual jam band gig. The material includes ABB, Gov't Mule, Phil and Friends, as well as many covers of some Jerry Garcia songs, U2's "One" The Eagles "Wasted Time" and many others. Folk-like arrangements in an intimate setting sums this one up. Supplemental versions rather than a replacements.

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Allman Brothers Band

Hendrix is one of the greatest guitarist and earned a spot on our short list of guitar greats. His natural feel of music came across whether he was  playing blues, rock, jazz, or gospel. 

Hendrix has a few sides to his career, but it can first be broken down between his studio and live recordings. We typically prefer listening to his studio material of which he has five main albums. Three with his band The Experience and we consider them all essential. Then there are two compilations of various studio sessions; most of this material was previously issued under various album names.

Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix does a good job of collecting some classic Hendrix songs, primarily from his first three albums with The Experience.  

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Guitar greats
Hendrix Profile

The Honeytribe is led by Devon Allman, Gregg Allman's son. Their debut album is entitled Torch. The music is not southern rock, rather it leans more to hard rock with an emphasis on blues. Devon voice is not sensational, but it fits the music quite well. His vocals sounds a bit like Elvis Costello on "When I Call Home," and "Nothing to Be Sad About," but more like Rainbow's Ronnie James Dio (without the high range) on "Perfect World." 

Torch includes two instrumentals, "Mahalo," and "511 Texas Avenue" both are quite good and among the best material on the album. "Mahalo" is a jammed out rocker while "511 Texas Avenue" is an acoustic song bringing back memories of Eat a Peach's "Little Martha."

The band and songwriting is good yielding a solid band that has a solid future. Get a microscope out to read the album cover notes.

We created a page that breaks the Texas Thunderbolt box set by session and personnel. Also on that page we note a few other overlooked releases that we enjoy.

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Lightnin' Hopkins profile

An excellent songwriter with numerous albums to his credit, Hornsby released an excellent compilation Greatest Radio Hits, capturing much of the best of it on one disc.

In addition to his solo career, he was a member of the Grateful Dead for a few years, and in our opinion did a superb job. Not only did he add fills and melody, he shined strong during the jams. He even took the initiative to lead the band into new territory. The video  View From the Vault II captures the Grateful Dead in concert when Hornsby was a member of the group. 

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Bruce Hornsby with the Grateful Dead

Mississippi John Hurt is one of the most enjoyable acoustic blues guitarist to listen to. Not so much for his brilliance as a guitar player, but the combination of how he blends his finger picking technique, with his heartfelt vocals.   

His early music focuses more more on traditional folk and blues, where his later music expands his repertoire with plenty of gospel songs.

His album Avalon Blues: Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings would be our top recommendation from Mississippi John Hurt's modest catalogue. Many of the tracks from that album are standards that are performed from such diverse artists as Doc Watson to Jerry Garcia. 

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Acoustic Blues Innovators

Elmore James has numerous compilations and reissues of his work. If you are looking for a single disc, The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James offers the best value as it includes 21 tracks and covers his career. A similar release, Blues Masters: The Very Best of Elmore James includes  16 songs.

Just released in 2006, Slide Guitar Master, is priced nice and is packed with 27 cuts from the early 1950's. 

A good supplement to either of the releases noted above is Blues Kingpins  that focuses on lesser known tracks.

The best of the more comprehensive and  niche releases. 
Shake Your Moneymaker: The Best of the Fire Sessions  - Niche releases from 1959 and 1961 - One disc

Early Recordings 51-56

King of the Slide Guitar - Two Discs 50 tracks with alternate versions of the latter years 

It is my favorite Jefferson Airplane album. They have several notable guests, Jerry Garcia plays pedal steel on "The Farm," not an essential track. Instead, it is Nicky Hopkins' piano contributions throughout the album that make it rise. As an aside, Nicky Hopkins played in Garcia's band in 1975, presently there are no concerts of the line-up released, but Hopkins is present on a few songs on Reflections, and the same Dylan cover is present on both Garcia Plays Dylan and The Very Best of Jerry Garcia. 

Paul Kantner co-wrote "Wooden Ships" with Crosby and Stills. CSN's version is more recognizable, but this rendition has much to enjoy and is completely different sounding.

Grace Slick leads the band through a lengthy power building ballad "Hey Frederick" that allows the band to stretch out. Hopkins adds his melodic touch nicely throughout. He highlights both Slick during the vocals, and gets behind Jorma and Kantner's guitars. 

Jorma adds a few tracks, and "Good Shepherd" rises to the top.

Their are five bonus live tracks from a their Nov. 28 and 29, 1969 Fillmore East shows. The sound quality is good and the performance are biting, electric, and power driven.

The re-mastered Volunteers has exhaustiveliner notes by Jeff Tamarkin.

If you're seeking a compilation
The Worst of Jefferson Airplane - 1 disc
The Essential Jefferson Airplane - 2 discs

I'm not the biggest fan of Dr. John, but he's got some essential material. Actually I love his piano skills, but am lukewarm on his songwriting. Having him sit in with some blues bands allowing him some improvisation would be excellent. He does appear on part of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Live at Carnegie Hall. 

I've highlighted a few  of the top Dr. John compilations. 

The Definitive Pop Collection is a budget oriented double disc anthology. I believe that it begins with material from 1968 from his Gris-Gris album and concludes with the title track from, Goin' Back to New Orleans. There is another worthwhile anthology, which I'm more familiar with, Mos' Scocious: The Dr. John Anthology. This 1993 release is more expensive than The Definitive Pop Collection; covering the period 1959 through 1989. It has very good liner with a 20 page essay, notes from Dr. John, on every track, and credits.

The Very Best Of Dr. John is a solid choice for a single disc Dr. John compilation.

Delta Blues doesn't get any better that Robert Johnson, blending his rhythmic patterns, melodic lines, and combination of finger picking and strumming.  

There is only a limited amount Robert Johnson on record. In total there are 41 tracks; 29 different songs, with 12 alternative versions recorded in 1936 and '37. 

The two-disc The Complete Recordings  contains all of Johnson's 41 recordings, and also includes a handsome book with annotations and would be our top Robert Johnson recommendation. 

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Acoustic Blues Innovators
Me and Mr. Johnson (Eric Clapton's R. J. tribute)

We'll add more Norah Jones content soon.

Her band is really good offering a really fresh sound. Bassist Lee Alexander and guitarist Jesse Harris write a fair number of the original material, and Jones adds a few as well. A few guests appear on various songs including guitar master Bill Frisell.

Note: I've read that the SACD version of Come Away With Me is flawed, stick with original.