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JAY GORDON AND THE PENETRATORS: GOLD RINGS, SILVER BULLETS (SHUTTLE MUSIC) Thank God for Jay Gordon. He’s one of he last True Guitar-Slingers who run on a high-octane blend of Scorching Blues and Rock’n Roll delivered with both ferocity and passion. I’m always amazed by this Man’s stratospheric Boogies and peerless picking. While others may occupy the same genre as Gordon, no one in Hard Rock-Blues can go the distance with him. Jay’s been around and he’s got Deep Blues roots, besides being a Chicago native and digesting all of the great 1960s/70s live Blues in the Windy City, he’s also recorded with Phillip Walker and was invited by ‘Slowhand’ Clapton himself to play at The Crossroads Festival. Europe sure knows about Jay Gordon as the audiences in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Poland etc. are right ‘on-top’ of things when it comes to North American guitar talent. Jay’s had several CDs distributed over there and he’s done hugely successful tours. Everything was going great for Jay Gordon’s career until a vicious assault in 2005 by Chicago Police put his career in jeopardy. It took over a year for him to regain sensation in his fingers and, of course, the emotional/psychological damage (The City of Chicago is facing a Big LawSuit and quite rightly so…), he endured was devastating. So, it’s fitting this CD opens with “Pain”, a tune that Jay passionately emotes vocally and guitar-wise. He’s got his slide on his finger and his prowess is frighteningly awesome. I can picture tens of thousands of young air-guitar players going ga-ga over this tune’s stunning runs. Track #2, “Lost In Time”, takes it up a notch and goes for broke. The Power Trio format has always worked best for Jay and on “Lost…” ‘Hard-driving and muscular’ is an understatement and before you have time to say, “Wow!” we’re into “Fire And Brimstone Boogie”, a breakneck tribute to John Lee Hooker. I’ve heard lots of guitarists over the years and dozens have impressed with pyrotechnics, speed, talent and creativity, but Jay’s Ace-up-his-sleeve is definitely his Blue Heart and a never-say-die attitude. It wasn’t too long ago that he played to 250,000 screaming fans at Sturgess, S.D. and it’s easy to visualize why the audience was so pumped. “Six-String Outlaw” is his signature tune and it’s a raucous, infectious rockin’ Blues that cries out for a video. No doubt, this tune has been burning up the airwaves in Europe. If you loved Johnny Winter’s slide work in the early 1970s, you’ll know what to expect from Gordon. He also shows his contempt for the current Big Brother-like U.S. Government with a scathing “Propaganda” and explores ‘The Roots’ with “The Original Sin”. Other stand out barn-burners include “My Heart Is Heavy”, “Freight Train” (which lives up to its’ title) and the crowd pleasing “Black Sheep”. We’ve given Jay Gordon the REAL BLUES ANNUAL AWARD for Best Blues/Rock Guitarist several times over the years and if you want to find out why, “Gold Rings, Silver Bullets” is the best place to start. While the old-school Blues audience will run away screaming ‘sacrilege!’, any of you who still love to Rock and can appreciate cutting-edge Guitar Power at its’ most raucous will Bow Down to Jay Gordon. This is Jay’s BEST so far and we can all be thankful he survived his near-death encounter with Chicago’s ‘finest’(?). Jay’s come back even stronger and we can Thank God for that. 6 Bottles of Jack for one of the finest post-1970 Hard Rockin’ Blues-based Guitar albums you’ll ever hear. (This is a CD that you’ll need a stereo with BIG speakers for. One wonders how anyone gets sonic enjoyment from computer downloads…). …A. Grigg