Mojo’s Cold Shot »
Mojo’s Cold Shot: Do We Call What White Rockers Play “Blues?”
Since I started listening to blues, that’s been a hard question for me to answer. It’s important, because it speaks to what blues is, really. Can Clapton play the blues, really? Sure he knows
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Happy 70th, Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson
This column, sadly, sometimes looks like the blues obituary page. Well, forget that for now! This Shot, we’re celebrating the life Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, a ripping-good Chicago-style guitarist who cut his teeth with
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens
Be still my soul. Lawd have mercy. When soul first came out, so many social issues made so many people so PO’d (civil rights, Vietnam, rioting in seemingly every urban area, drug abuse, the
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Left Lane Cruiser
On one hand, Jon Spencer, in my book, has a lot to answer for. The half-baked, half-rehearsed stuff he sometimes releases is offensive to the people who work for a living for actual money
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Setting the Record Straight on Etta James
To the hardcore fan of 1950s blues, R&B, and soul, Etta James can be vexing. To anyone following the news lately, her calling out of Beyonce for singing “At Last” at an Obama inaugural
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: John Cephas, 1930-2009
Last summer, I gave y’alls a Cephas & Wiggins Cold Shot that had no news peg, no current-events hook that made it relevant to that time, just a nice little cut to get you
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Los Lobos, “That Train Don’t Stop Here”
Los Lobos‘ 1992 album Kiko is nothing short of fabulous. A tour de force of primitive rhythms, Latino percussion, gorgeous acoustic and muddy electric guitars, and melodic variance of epic Sgt. Pepper scale. Oh,
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, “Gonna Get Old Someday”
Even in these crushing economic times, blues fans can count on three things: Death, taxes, and until they spend every last red cent they fish from the ashtrays and couch cushions in Mississippi, Fat
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Nathaniel Mayer, RIP
Nathaniel Mayer passed away last Saturday, from complications due to a stroke suffered back on April 13. The Detroit soul singer was a powerful voice on the scene during the years the Motor City’s
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Restaurant, “Joe D”
Meet Restaurant, or Restavrant, depending on how the person writing about this crazy Texas duo interprets the band’s logo. Equal parts Flat Duo Jets, Timbuk 3, Black Keys and Chickasaw Mudd Puppies (yeah, you
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