Macon Review Archives
Back To The Woods
Review of: Chuck Leavell
(Evergreen Arts) Chuck Leavell, no doubt, stands as one of the finest piano players on the planet. His musical resume includes working with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Chuck read more...
A Good Country Mile
Review of: Kevn Kinney
(Drivin N Cryin) Recorded in Brooklyn, A Good Country Mile counts as the first album Kevn Kinney has recorded outside of his group Drivin N Cryin since 2004. This album revolves read more...
Highway Call
Review of: Dickey Betts
(Polydor) Released in 1974, Highway Call counted as the first solo album by Dickey Betts.
Old Clinton BAR-B-Q House
Review of: Old Clinton BAR-B-Q
James Calemine's "Never Ending Soul Food Tour" includes documented visits to barbecue joints, catfish dens, chicken shacks and any establishment serving memorable vittles. All Photos by James Calemine Old Clinton BAR-B-Q House 4214 Gray read more...
Confederate Buddha
Review of: Jimbo Mathus
(Memphis International) Sometimes it is hard to keep pace with Jimbo Mathus's creative path, but he's always made it worth the effort to try. This prolific Mississippian has been making music for decades now, connecting and promoting southern music traditions every read more...
Ugly Ways
Review of: Tina McElroy Ansa
(Harcourt Brace & Company) Macon, Georgia, native Tina McElroy Ansa published her second novel, Ugly Ways, in 1993. Ansa ranks as an influential novelist, teacher, filmmaker and journalist who lives on the Georgia coast. Ugly Ways tells the story of read more...
Live at Fillmore West
Review of: King Curtis
(Koch International) King Curtis, born Curtis Ousley, was a seminal saxophonist from Texas. Curtis turned down scholarships to join the great Lionel Hampton’s jazz band. Curtis later became a session musician in New York where he recorded with Buddy Holly, Andy read more...
Low Country Blues
Review of: Gregg Allman
(Rounder) Sometimes it is hard to believe that it takes an average of a decade or so for Gregg Allman to release a solo record. It was about 9 years between Playin' Up A Storm and I'm No Angel and then another 9 years between Just Before The Bullets read more...
Dirty Side Down
Review of: Widespread Panic
(ATO Records) Dirty Side Down, Widespread Panic’s 11th studio album, returns to the read more...
Live On The Sunset Strip
Review of: Otis Redding
(Concord Music Group) This 2-CD collection documents Otis Redding’s historic 1966 performance at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles.
Please Call Home: The Big House Years
Review of: The Allman Brothers Band
A few years back I paid a visit to the famous “Big House” on Vineville Avenue in Macon, Georgia. Kirk and Kirsten West made me feel at home in this beautiful place, and I enjoyed every single moment I spent visiting. Even then, the house was beginning to become a museum. read more...
Street Singers, Soul Shakers, Rebels With A Cause
Review of: Candice Dyer
Street Singers, Soul Shakers, Rebels With A Cause : Music From Macon This amazing coffee table book weighs in at nearly 300 pages, and is chock full of beautiful photographs and articles on the many great artists who called Macon, Georgia home. read more...
Juke Joint Jump/Struttin' My Stuff
Review of: Elvin Bishop
(Raven) Elvin Bishop was right in the middle of that whole Capricorn Records scene in Macon during the seventies, and although I already knew him as a primo guitarist with Paul Butterfield's Blues Band, it wasn’t until he “went country” that I became a die read more...
Already Free
Review of: The Derek Trucks Band
Already Free The Derek Trucks Band RCA/Victor Records By James Calemine Already Free, Derek Trucks’ sixth studio release opens with an absolutely killer rendition of
Piece Of My Heart: The Best of 1969 - 1978
Review of: Bonnie Bramlett
(Raven/Australia) I maintain my opinion that Bonnie Bramlett is still the "Queen of Southern Rock and Soul." If you don’t believe me, just check out this new compilation disc from Raven Records in Australia. It’s enough to make a brother shout.
Lucky Old Sun (Deluxe Version)
Review of: Kenny Chesney
(Blue Chair) I have seen a lot of other reviews of Kenny Chesney’s new album that berated him for the lack of what they call “country music” on his new album, and kind of dismissing it as “island music.” well, truth be known, it read more...
Live In London and Paris
Review of: Otis Redding
Live In London and Paris Otis Redding Stax/Concord By James Calemine In March of 1967 Otis Redding, at the peak of his career, crossed the Atlantic to perform for his read more...
Doc Holliday
Review of: Doc Holliday
(Rock Candy) After building a reputation throughout the south for nine years as Roadhouse, Doc Holliday changed their name and came blazing out of Warner Robbins, Georgia in 1979 with read more...
The Very Best of Little Richard
Review of: Little Richard
(Specialty) People are always asking me, "Buffalo, who were the original Southern Rockers?" Well, I always say The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The truth, however, is that Southern Rock and Roll was born as far back as 1955, when read more...
Forever Green
Review of: Chuck Leavell
Forever Green: The History and Hope of the American Forest Chuck Leavell Longstreet Press By James Calemine “The Earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed accordingly read more...
Dog Eat Dog World
Review of: Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks has paid his dues and more. First, as lead guitarist and vocalist for Loose Change, a band that caught the ear of music mogul Alan Walden, who maintains even today that Hicks is the “best undiscovered artist of our time.” Then Hicks was hired to play read more...
Brothers of the Southland
Review of: Brothers of the Southland
Brothers of The Southland is one of the best of the plethora of “all star” bands playing today, and their debut CD is a sheer joy from beginning to end. This is the kind of music that gets me downright excited. Maybe that’s why I named it as the best Southern Rock read more...
Song of America
Review of: Various Artists
Song of America Various Artists 31 Tigers Records By James Calemine This 50-song, 3 CD collection tells the story of America through songs from the year 1492 through modern times. Song of America contains a diverse line-up of artists read more...
Feast of Snakes
Review of: Harry Crews
Feast of Snakes Harry Crews Macmillan Publishing By James Calemine November in Mystic, Georgia, means it's time for the Feast of Snakes. This novel remains one of the Georgia writer
Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding
Review of: Otis Redding
Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding Otis Redding STAX Records By James Calemine Dreams To Remember emerges as the first full-length Otis Redding DVD. December 10, 2007, represents the 40th Anniversary of Redding's death. This read more...
Relentless
Review of: Jason Aldean
(Broken Bow) Georgia boy Jason Aldean, the Academy of Country Music's Top New Male Vocalist for 2006, is back with a brilliant second release that features several tunes co-written with John Rich. Aldean is once again produced by Michael Knox. Jason read more...
Atlanta Twelve String
Review of: Blind Willie McTell
Atlanta Twelve String Blind Willie McTell Atlantic Records By James Calemine Perhaps the most gifted of all blues artists, Blind Willie McTell ranks as a seminal figure in American music. Born in Thomson, Georgia, in May of 1898 (some say 1901); McTell's read more...
Rich Someday
Review of: Randall Bramblett
I was first introduced to Randall Bramblett during his days with Sea Level, and his prowess on sax, vocals and keyboards have only grown throughout the years. His current band is super funky, as witnessed during their set for the Big House Foundation gala a few months back. read more...
Georgia Drumbeat
Review of: James Davis
Georgia Drumbeat James Davis Music Maker Relief Foundation By James Calemine Born in 1931, James Davis grew up on a farm in Perry, Georgia, located in rural Houston County, near Macon. He began playing guitar as a child. His sister is the read more...
The Next Adventure
Review of: Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band revives the old school “brotherhood” on their latest album, The Next Adventure, bringing in family and friends to help out in the grandest tradition established back in the 1970’s Capricorn Records era. The core band is read more...
Bonnie Bramlett w/ The Capricorn Rhythm Section -
Review of: Bonnie Bramlett
BONNIE BRAMLETT THE CAPRICORN RHYTHM SECTION Nashville Station, Macon, GA March 25, 2006 “Oh, how I wish that I had written this song,” lamented Bonnie Bramlett, from the stage of the Nashville read more...
H & H Restaurant, Macon, GA
Review of:
H & H Restaurant Macon, Georgia by Michael Buffalo Smith How many times have we heard the old adage, "don't judge a book by it's cover?" Never has that statement held more truth than in the case of The H & H read more...
No Saints, No Saviors
Review of: The Allman Brothers Band
No Saints, No Saviors My Years With The Allman Brothers Band by Willie Perkins (Mercer University Press) Between the years of 1970 and 1989, Willie Perkins worked for the Allman Brother’s Band and as read more...
Between Rock And A Hard Place: Chuck Leavell
Review of: Chuck Leavell
Between Rock And A Hard Place Chuck Leavell with J. Marshall Craig (Mercer University Press) Chuck Leavell is a musician that has been around to see a lot of music history, and has been a big part of music history. In his new read more...
Skydog: The Duane Allman Story
Review of: The Allman Brothers Band
Skydog The Duane Allman Story by Randy Poe (Backbeat Books) I have been waiting on this book for years, and to coin a cliche, it was well worth the wait. Randy Poe has gone deep, digging through source material with read more...
Live at The Beacon
Review of: The Allman Brothers Band
( Sanctuary) The Allman Brothers Band’s annual spring pilgrimage to New York’s Beacon Theatre has become a rock-n-roll ritual, and in 2003, the band returned again to the Beacon for another series of sold out shows featuring the current lineup of read more...
Tom Dowd & The Language of Music
Review of: Tom Dowd
(Palm Pictures) thelanguageofmusic.com The documentary Rolling Stone calls “brilliant” and rock critic Dave Marsh cites as “ a truly beautiful picture,” pays read more...
Live From The Garden State
Review of: Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band Live From The Garden State 1981 (Shout! Factory) During it’s very first year on television, MTV brought us real music, everything from punk to new wave, pop to Southern rock. It was during that read more...
Back Where It All Begins
Review of: Dickey Betts & Great Southern
Back Where It All Begins - Live At The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum (Eaglevision) Like many, I was really and truly bummed out a few years ago when Dickey Betts left the Allman Brothers Band. I just knew it would read more...
Live At The Atlanta International Pop Festival
Review of: The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band Live At The Atlanta International Pop Festival (Columbia/Legacy) At the risk of sounding cliche, or even worse, like a fan-boy who lives and breathes in peach hues and mushroom induced hallucinations of grandeur, I just gotta say read more...
Anthology
Review of: Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band Anthology (Shout! Factory) As a homeboy fan of The Tucker Boys, I have seen the collected “hits” packaged, repackaged, and repackaged again. Some were winners, some were just more rehashes. But now, read more...
Rebel Souls
Review of: Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday Rebel Souls (Phoenix) Doc Holliday pays apt tribute to some of their own musical heroes on their latest outing, Rebel Souls, including not only Southern brothers like The Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker and Lynyrd read more...
Beyond The Horizon
Review of: Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band Beyond The Horizon (Shout! Factory) It’s been a while since we’ve heard a new album from The Marshall Tucker Band, but boy howdy - it was worth the wait, sports fans. The current lineup read more...
Hard Luck Guy
Review of: Eddie Hinton
Eddie Hinton, the Muscle Shoals singer/songwriter, did not live to complete the 1999 Capricorn release Hard Luck Guy. In July 1995, Hinton died of a heart attack during the sessions. Hard Luck Guy should be a contender for soul album of the year.
Southscape
Review of: Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell commands respect in the music world. He’s played piano with the Rolling Stones (for half the band’s history), Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Dr. John, The Allman Brothers, Sea Level, The Black Crowes and many others. Leavell’s read more...
Bougainvillea's Call
Review of: Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts Bougainvillea’s Call The Very Best of 1973-1988 (Raven) This excellent compilation includes all the best of Dickey Betts’ best work between the mid-seventy and late 1980’s. The lone Allman read more...
Where A Country Boy Belongs
Review of: Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band Where A Country Boy Belongs (Shout!Factory) This compilation collects the cream of the crop of country flavored tracks from The Marshall Tucker Band, from the beginning in 1972 all the way up to 2006 read more...
Where We All Belong
Review of: Marshall Tucker Band
Where We All Belong The Marshall Tucker Band (CD Shout! Factory) (Review of Vinyl) MTB singer Doug Gray says that this is his favorite MTB album, and I can see why. Released in 1974 on Capricorn Records as a two read more...
Lady's Choice
Review of: Bonnie Bramlett
Lady's Choice Bonnie Bramlett (Capricorn Records CP-0169) 1976 Produced by Johnny Sandlin Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Engineered by Sam Whiteside and Carolyn Harris Talk about a read more...
You're Gonna Need That Pure Religion
Review of: Reverend Pearly Brown
Born August 18, 1915 in Abbeville, Georgia, Reverend Pearly Brown lived his life preaching and singing about the word of God to common folk in the streets. Rev. Brown spoke of his childhood: “I was born blind so I have never seen the world. My mother died when I was quite read more...
Stompin' Room Only
Review of: Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band Stompin’ Room Only (Shout! Factory) Who says you can’t go back? With Stompin’ Room Only, we get a chance to read more...
Say It One Time For The Brokenhearted
Review of: Barney Hoskyns
In the wake of Ray Charles's new country music box set as well as Lambchop's recent soul dabbling both on their own and with Vic Chestnutt, this reprint of Barney Hoskyns's "country soul" study couldn't have come at a better time. "Say It One Time For the read more...