50 Electric Blues Guitar Licks

On his first album in four years and sixth for Alligator, blues guitarist Coco Montoya alters his musical M.O. a bit. Writing on the Wall marks the very first time that Montoya brought his live working quartet into the studio. Tony Braunagel returns as producer and guests on drums on four tracks. Keyboardist Jeff Paris co-produced and recorded at Jeff's Garage. In addition to Paris, the band includes bassist Nathan Brown and drummer Rena Beavers. Guests include guitarists Ronnie Baker Brooks, country star Lee Roy Parnell, and Dave Steen. The 13-track set includes five tunes composed or co-written by Montoya, four from Steen, and one from Paris – they co-wrote the title track with Montoya. The shared songwriting makes this, arguably, the most homegrown affair in Montoya's Alligator catalog. The contents intuitively balance electric blues, blues-rock, roots rock & roll, old-school, and R&B.

The hottest young rockin' blues guitarist in the South made his Alligator debut with this 1988 release. Like most of Tinsley Ellis' albums, Georgia Blue is filled with hot, blistering guitar, mediocre songs and flat vocals. For fans of blues guitar, there's plenty to hear on the album – the licks and solos burn with a wild, uncontrolled fury. Others might find the album a little tedious, but not without virtue. "One of the top blues guitarists in America today".

…Dave's new 2013 release "A Thousand Horses" is an exciting CD! With a mixture of Blues, Ballads and Freeform instrumentals, this CD will not disappoint! Dave has truly taken his gifts of songwriting and smoking guitar licks to a whole new level. As Dave says "This is music that moves you, music that heals you, music that is meant to be"…

Tom Principato has spent the last 40 years as a guitarist and singer based in his hometown of Washington, D.C. In the 1970's, Tom was leader of the legendary band Powerhouse, an East Coast phenomenom. He has toured nationally around the U.S., Canada, and Europe, but often the venues are clubs. His particular blend of blues-rock is highly specific; jazz guitar master Pat Metheny said of Principato, "He has an enormous talent at telling stories in his solos; he doesn't play 'standard' licks." Tom also did a one year stint with Geoff Muldaur and recorded an album "I Ain't Drunk" with the band Geoff Muldaur and His Bad Feet members of which included Andy Stein, Mark Kazanoff and Sarah Brown.

The cover's cutout silhouette of these guitar-slinging soul/blues women is a succinct visual overview of the rather ambiguous contents within. Recorded in preparation for 2007's Blues Caravan tour featuring journeywomen singer/songwriters Sue Foley and Deborah Coleman along with the comparatively fresh-faced Roxanne Potvin (whose first widely distributed set was released earlier the same year), the disc seems more like a respectable concert souvenir than an actual collaborative affair. The 11 tracks break down into three solo cuts from each participant, one shared and joyous effort on the closing cover of a Chess oldie, "In the Basement," and a crackling instrumental dominated by Foley's always impressive guitar. There are many fine moments here, especially as Coleman lays into an easy funk groove on James Brown's "Talking Loud" and on Potvin's emotionally charged ballad "Strong Enough to Hold You".

Vocalist/cornet player Al Basile's longtime friend Duke Robillard gets front cover billing, as well he should, as co-producer and guitarist on this impressive outing. The album, Basile's fifth, was even recorded at the guitarist's Pawtucket, RI studio called the Mood Room, hence the album's title. Musically, it's a combination of old-school R&B ("Baby Sister," "Be a Woman"), swamp-tinged rock & roll ("I'm in a Mood"), mid-tempo, Chuck Berry styled groovers ("Coffee and Cadillacs"), grinding blues ("Picked to Click") and even a jump blues throwback to the duo's Roomful of Blues days ("She's on the Mainline"). Robillard keeps the sound full yet stripped down – most of the tracks feature a standard three-piece – bass/drums/guitar setup – which leaves space for Basile's sly vocals and snappy lyrics. Basile, a teacher and fiction author who also has a Master's degree in creative writing, not surprisingly crafts lyrics that are far more imaginative and original than most blues artists'. But they never detract from these melodies that glide along sparked by Robillard's tasty licks.

After playing thousands of shows around the world, Matt Andersen has mastered the art of delivering captivating and commanding performances that audiences simply can't keep quiet about. Andersen's well-earned word-of-mouth reputation is backed up by two European Blues Awards, a Juno nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the year, six Maple Blues Awards for Male Vocalist of the year and over 10 million views on YouTube. With Live At Olympic Hall, Andersen's thunderous, one-of-a-kind voice is joined by his superbly talented friends from the 10-piece band, The Mellotones. Featuring danceable blasts of brass, slinky slide guitar solos and whirling organs, this live recording captures the unmistakable magic of seeing a master at work.

This 1979 effort finds B.B. interpreting a number of pop-blues tunes, many of them co-written by Will Jennings and co-producer Joe Sample, with King co-writing two of the songs aboard. Even with a large, contemporary backdrop (including a seven-piece horn section and female backup singers), there's still plenty of room for B.B.'s stinging guitar and stentorian vocals in the mix. Highlights include the gospel-tinged "Better Not Look Down," "Same Old Story (Same Old Song)," "Happy Birthday Blues," "The Beginning of the End" and the title track. As one of B.B.'s more pop-oriented offerings, this succeeds admirably.