Mojo’s Cold Shot »
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: 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: 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
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: R.L. Burnside, “First Recordings”
The blues aren’t dead yet. But, compared to, say, 1971, they’ve got one foot and two thirds of the other in the grave. Let’s admit that. Blues fans haven’t heard as much groundbreaking stuff
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, “I Thank You”
I’m not much of a modern blues guy; in fact a lot of my pals like to refer to me as a crusty-old, close-minded, purist curmudgeon. ‘Tis true, I’d much rather listen to old
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: The Scissormen, “Luck in a Hurry”
A couple months back, I interviewed the Scissormen for Popdose. They’re a raunchy blues-rock duo in the vein of Black Diamond Heavies or Black Keys, except masterminded by an even older soul, rock journalist
Read More »Mojo’s Cold Shot: Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, “A Man of Many Words”
I think I speak for all of Popdose, going through a painful migration to the latest version of WordPress, that we have had the freeeeeeekin’ blues this week. To my compadres at the site,
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