The lyrics have changed over these many years, but the mythical journey of Stagger Lee — “that bad man, oh, cru-el Stagolee” who shot a card-playing companion over a five-dollar Stetson hat — remains this talismanic tale. You May Also Like: Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ – Tajmo (2017)

Blues records used to routinely sound like this: Loose and fun, almost anarchic in their pursuit of nothing more than good-time joy and real-time emotion. You May Also Like: How Pee Wee Ellis Finally Stepped Into the Spotlight With ‘Blues Mission’

Asked to describe this new album, Canadian guitarist Tim Vaughn said: “It’s like Prince, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Radiohead all met Los Lobos at a bar in “From Dusk Til’ Dawn,” and Jack White was playing there with Elvis Costello.” Thing is, as knee-slappingly over-the-top asRead More

Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, a former sideman with Muddy Waters who became a Grammy-winning performer in his own right, has died. You May Also Like: How Muddy Waters Came Roaring Back With ‘Hard Again’

I came in expecting blues grit, something kind of dangerous — after all, New Orleans singer Olga Wilhelmine Munding has been doing that for a while. You May Also Like: Why Bruce Dickinson’s ‘Tattooed Millionaire’ Keeps Revealing New Layers Little Freddie King – ‘Fried Rice & Chicken’ (2018)

They used to call what Muddy Waters did electric blues. What would that make this sizzling new arc-flash of Todd Rundgren-played Robert Johnson tunes? Electrocuted blues? You May Also Like: Why Todd Rundgren’s ‘Back to the Bars’ Remains So Powerful

by Derrick Lord Faith is a difficult and complicated thing. If you understand that much you likely also realize that even the strongest faith is doomed to eventually be tested by hard times. You May Also Like: The Blind Boys of Alabama’s Down in New Orleans added a new musicalRead More

Here’s a look back at the Top 10 stories from last month on SomethingElseReviews.com, based on page views from our readers. Click through the titles for complete details … No. 10 — ONE TRACK MIND: ALEX MACHACEK, ‘VERY SAD’: Alex Machacek, whose thrilling pyrotechnic brilliance we’ve already raved about, peelsRead More

For Junior Wells, there was just something about working with Buddy Guy. On Hoodoo Man Blues, a spark-filled mid-1960s Chicago blues album, Wells stops on more than one occasion, while letting loose these flying shards of harmonica blasts You May Also Like: John Mayall – ‘Road Show Blues’ (1980; 2022Read More

Joe Moss starts in an eyeball-deep groove on Drive Time: Live at Chans, hitting the same gravy-dripped chord for a full minute on the opening “Black Boots.” You May Also Like: Linda and Richard Thompson, “The Great Valerio” (1974): One Track Mind Brownout – Presents Brown Sabbath Vol. II (2016)