When it comes to queen of slide guitar Bonnie Raitt, we’ve got something to talk about. On her rootsy first albums—Bonnie Raitt, Give It Up, and Takin’ My Time—she set a bluesy vibe, but covers like Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House” and Del Shannon’s “Runaway” showed she had more to say. By the late ’80s, she was a pop radio superstar.
So if you’re looking for Raitt’s best guitar tracks and records, we can get you started and give you a few deep cuts along the way.
Thanks to our Sponsor, Rocky Mountain Slides Company!
Recording live at the Blue Front: from left to right, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Ryan Lee Crosby, and Grant Smith.
What would possess someone to fill a station wagon with fragile, heavy, vintage audio gear and drive 3,000 miles for an unrehearsed recording session when you could just as well fly with a laptop, an interface, and a few microphones for a fraction of the effort, time, and space?
The way I see it, if you’re traveling across the U.S. to record in the country’s oldest juke joint with the greatest living practitioner of an esoteric regional tradition, there’s no doing things halfway. I don’t want to preach a kind of analog dogma, but after years of listening to recordings of Jack Owens, Junior Kimbrough, and Fred McDowell on labels like Wolf, Fat Possum, and Arhoolie, I wanted to make every effort to produce my own sessions in the footsteps of David Evans, Bruce Watson, and Alan Lomax, which included using a portable analog setup to capture traditional music in the space where it is authentically made.
So, I brought a Tascam 22-4 reel-to-reel tape machine, several tube preamps, a mixer, and five microphones to produce two albums in two days with 77-year-old Jimmy “Duck” Holmes at the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. They are, essentially, modern field recordings done in the old style, produced in the country’s longest-running blues club—hallowed ground where legends like Skip James, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Howlin’ Wolf all played back in the day. And the feeling of the room, the location itself, is part of not only the sound, but also the atmosphere we caught on tape.
Our approach to recording was simple. Essentially, we followed Jimmy’s ethos of no rehearsals or discussions. (“That’s how the old man does it,” he said.) This was doable because I have been a student of Duck’s for years. When playing with Jimmy, you have to follow each and every note, because he doesn’t adhere to the 12-bar form. It’s truly old school. Fortunately, we also had Grant Smith on calabash, who is a world class musician and an exceptional listener, for our rhythmic anchor.
Fender electric 12-string Jazzmaster (vintage neck/modern body)
Homemade T-stye thinline
Evil Twin custom tube amp
Peavey Delta Blues
And so, over two afternoons, we worked for about four hours to produce both the new Jimmy “Duck” Holmes collection Bentonia Blues/Right Nowand my own record, At the Blue Front. The method was to do one take per song, aim to get it right the first time, and keep on going. This approach continued into mixing. I recorded and mixed the Holmes album entirely analog, without overdubs. On my album we added shakere (a West African percussion instrument), some harmonica, and a few vocal edits. I chose to do this with a DAW, for the flexibility as well as the fidelity, because although I prefer to stay all-analog whenever possible, I won’t forgo the use of a computer on principle. It’s important to do what’s best for the music and the recording, ultimately.
“I find, as a listener, player and producer, that analog can draw us into the present, into the heart of direct, physical, musical experience.”
I believe there is a lot to learn from working this way. When the tone of the album comes from live performance, then what’s compelling about the work is the spirit, chemistry, and ability of the people behind it. The tracks on these albums aren’t perfect and I wouldn’t want them to be. They are, however, unquestionably human. If I want perfection, I’ll ask AI to do it for me.
This is not my first analog project. Almost every recording I’ve made over the last 20 years has involved a tape machine, to varying degrees. I find there is something so inspiring about having the limited parameters that come with analog, and I relish working in real time, away from the distractions of a computer screen. I find, as a listener, player, and producer, that analog can draw us into the present, into the heart of direct, physical, musical experience. In short, it is all about the playing and the sound.
The editing capabilities of the computer cannot be matched, and they have their place. But I believe that nothing compares to the sound and feeling of people making music in a room together. And nothing captures this quite like tape. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be real. And, besides, isn’t perfection boring?
Are you looking for a flexible amp modeler for the stage, studio, or home? In this in-depth demo, PG contributor Tom Butwin takes you through gigging, practicing, and recording with two compelling options: the touchscreen-powered Hotone Ampero II and the tactile, amp-style Blackstar AMPED 3.
Following his historic three-night stand at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom earlier this year — hailed by BILLBOARD as “a religious experience” and moving NPR to rave “Paul McCartney has so much swag it’s ridiculous” — Paul McCartney and his acclaimed Got Back Tour will make their wildly anticipated return to North America this fall.
Got Back’s 2025 run of 19 newly announced dates marks Paul’s first extensive series of shows across the US and Canada since 2022. The tour kicks off September 29th with Paul’s Greater Palm Springs area live debut at Acrisure Arena and runs through to a November 24-25th finale at the United Center in Chicago. Got Back 2025 will feature Paul’s long-awaited return to Las Vegas, Denver, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Tulsa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Montreal, and Hamilton – plus a few cities that will be hosting their first-ever Paul McCartney concerts, Albuquerque and the aforementioned Greater Palm Springs area.
General on sale for these Got Back tour dates will begin July 18th at 10am local time. For further information, pre-sales etc., check paulmccartneygotback.com.
Irrefutably one of the most successful and influential singer-songwriters and performers of all time, McCartney’s concerts bring to life the most beloved catalogue in music. With songs like “Hey Jude,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Let It Be” and so many more, the Paul McCartney live experience is everything any music lover could ever want from a rock show and more: hours of the greatest moments from the last 60 years of music – dozens of songs from Paul’s solo, Wings and of course Beatles songbooks that have formed the soundtracks of our lives.
Paul McCartney launched his Got Back tour in 2022 with16 sold out shows across the US that led up to his history-making set at Glastonbury in June 2022. In 2023 Paul performed 18 shows as Got Back rocked through Australia, Mexico and Brazil. In 2024, Paul amazed capacity crowds at more than 20 dates spanning from South America and Mexico to the UK and Europe.
Paul and his band have performed in an unparalleled range of venues and locations worldwide: From outside the Colosseum in Rome, Moscow’s Red Square, Buckingham Palace, The White House and a free show in Mexico for over 400,000 people to the last ever show at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park where The Beatles played their final concert in 1966, a 2016 week in the California desert that included two headline sets at the historic Desert Trip festival and a jam-packed club gig for a few hundred lucky fans at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, two Glastonbury Festival headline slots, rocking the Bowery in New York City for a week of spontaneous club shows, and even one performance broadcast live into Space!
Featuring Paul’s longtime band – Paul “Wix” Wickens (keyboards), Brian Ray (bass/guitar), Rusty Anderson (guitar) and Abe Laboriel Jr (drums) – and constantly upgraded state of the art audio and video technology that ensures an unforgettable experience from every seat in the house, a Paul McCartney concert is never anything short of life-changing. The Got Back Tour also features the Hot City Horns — Mike Davis (trumpet), Kenji Fenton (saxes) and Paul Burton (trombone) — who first joined Paul in 2018 to perform at Grand Central Station ahead of embarking on the Freshen Up World Tour in the same year.
PAUL McCARTNEY – GOT BACK 2025
September 29 — Palm Desert, CA — Acrisure Arena October 4 – Las Vegas, NV — Allegiant Stadium October 7 – Albuquerque, NM — Isleta Amphitheater October 11 – Denver, CO — Coors Field October 14 – Des Moines, IA — Casey’s Center October 17 – Minneapolis, MN — U.S. Bank Stadium October 22 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center October 29 – New Orleans, LA — Smoothie King Center November 2 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena November 3 – Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena November 6 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle November 8 – Columbus, OH — Nationwide Arena November 11 – Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena November 14 – Buffalo, NY — KeyBank Center November 17 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre November 18 – Montreal, QC — Bell Centre November 21 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum November 24 – Chicago, IL — United Center November 25 – Chicago, IL — United Center
This Fujigen-built import required emergency surgery after an unfortunate break.
The designers of this import felt that its 4-pickup configuration warranted its longer, 27" scale length.
Have you ever broken a bone? Strange question, I know, but my son, on the second day of football practice, broke his big toe. They were doing “bear crawls” on all fours when his left sneaker flew off and his big toe drove into the gym floor. It’s such a bummer since he loves sports, and he’s going to be recovering for most of the summer. But as we were sitting in the ER, it occurred to me that I’ve never broken a bone. I’ve had torn ACLs and other knee issues from playing sports, but never busted a bone. My mom used to say that if you could separate me in half, I would be two normal-sized people! Maybe my bones were built to hold two people or maybe I’ve been lucky, especially given how many contact sports I played into my 20s.
It all made me think of vintage-style guitar-neck profiles. If you’ve ever held or played a guitar from the ’40s, ’50s, or early ’60s, you know that there was great variation in neck depth and shape in those days. Back then you’d find wide fretboards and deep-V shapes—all sorts of interesting feels, in comparison to the standard-sized necks we experience today. Even if you want a guitar with a so-called ’50s profile, it’s still not often a true representation. When you examine the early import guitars, especially from Japan, you’ll see a wide variation that can give rise to nice little surprises if you’re looking for something different.
Quite often, the wood factories that were churning out guitars back in the day were simply converted furniture plants. They knew how to build stuff right. I know, because my literal superpower is breaking stuff, and I’ve never broken a single Japanese import neck on any guitar I serviced, except for the guitar presented here.
“The VN-4 hails from around 1964 and was among the first electric guitars made by the two Japanese factories.”
Many of these early imports had weak and ineffective truss rods, or even no truss rods at all. Rather, the neck thickness and wood quality provided sufficient strength. Adjustability? Well, once you understand neck angle, a few shims in the neck pocket can get you rockin’. All this stuff I learned from my favorite guitar tech, Dave D’Amelio. He showed me most of what I know about neck issues, but I always lacked his finesse. And while trying to adjust the neck on this Lindell VN-4, the headstock just snapped off, a truly awful feeling. (Imagine that happening to a vintage Les Paul!) Maybe it was because these old Fujigen-made guitars employed a 27" scale on any model that used four pickups. Why? Because the designers thought that a longer neck with four pickups simply looked more pleasing. (That’s information told to me from the actual designers.)
This Lindell-badged guitar had its wood made at the Matsumoku factory in Matsumoto City. Then the guitar was finished at the Fujigen factory, which was also in Matsumoto. Switches galore and pickups that carry a punch, the VN-4 hails from around 1964 and was among the first electric guitars made by the two Japanese factories. These “clam-shell” tremolo units are kinda awful, but I really like the raised metal pickguards, which help cut down on noise. The plates that house the electronics (complete with on/off for each pickup and two roller volumes) act as a great ground for everything and I sometimes wonder why the idea fell out of favor. I mean, raised pickguards like these minimize wood removal. You can use a standard guitar body and simply attach any pickup and electronics configurations. Then again, I have weird tastes, so….
Right now I have a few of these sitting around in my basement studio. I would always save parts and guitar bits and simply reuse everything to create something new, which I believe every player should try. I think of Eddie Van Halen and Brian May and their handiwork. My son has a six-week recovery ahead, and I was thinking about projects for us. Maybe I’ll enlist him as an apprentice in my guitar laboratory. At least it’s safer than football!
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The designers of this import felt that its 4-pickup configuration warranted its longer, 27" scale length.