The title of this cd says it all. This is a collection of Jimmy Thackary's most intense instrumentals ever laid to tape. While his style has been compared to Tinsley Ellis, Thackery plays with as much emotion and flamboyance as the late Stevie Ray Vaughn.
As a former member of the Nighthawks, Jimmy Thackary honed his skill as a guitar virtuoso as the band would record 20 albums and tour 300 nights a year. In 1984 he left the group to pursue solo aspirations first forming Jimmy Thackary and the Assassins who toured heavily in the east coast until the band broke up in 1991. Since then, Thackary has been leading, recording and playing with the second incarnation, the Drivers. His albums for the San Francisco-based Blind Pig label include Empty Arms Motel (1992), Sideways in Paradise (Jimmy Thackery and John Mooney 1993), Trouble Man (1994), Wild Night Out (1995), Drive to Survive (1996), Switching Gears (1998), and Sinner Street (2000). Now with Telarc, Jimmy released We Got It in 2002 as well as teaming up with Tab Benoit for Whiskey Store.
Guitar is a compilation from his many years at Blind Pig which showcase Jimmy Thackary's range as a guitar player. Whether it is the screaming for vengeance rock-blues of "Hang Up & Drive", the Bop-Boogie of "Jump For Jerry" or the surf rock of "Apache", Thackary can seemingly do it all with an uncanny ease. Jimmy shows his sense of humor by interjecting the opening of Deep Purples classic "Smoke On The Water" during his rendition of "Last Night". Three gems of this collection are previously unreleased live tracks from 1994 as he pays homage to the late Stevie Ray with a version of "Rude Mood" and reworks ZZ Tops "Tush" into "Jimmy's Detroit Boogie".
If you have a soft spot for gritty, rowdy, balls to the wall guitar players, this collection will be a welcome addition to your record collection.
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