Diminutive Welsh guitarist, singer and producer Dave Edmunds is a giant of British rock music - I salute him

Yes, I've heard all the criticisms - he's derivative, predictable, stuck in a time-warp, hasn't written any classic songs, and, au fond, he's a heads-down-no-nonsense-mindless twelve-bar pub-rocker whose terrible twin, lanky Nick Lowe, was the truly creative force in their erstwhile partnership. Some of that's partly true, I think - but if it is, it's because Edmunds has always been a hugely obsessive music fan, in awe of the wonderful noise produced by his heroes and determined to discover how they managed it - and to recreate it using any means at hand, including his own considerable talents as a guitar-picker and a vastly under-rated singer.

Ennio Morricone, The Yardbirds and Brad Paisley - how Spaghetti Western Music conquered the world

In a way, it all started in 1961, with Italian composer Ennio Morricone's arrangement for this version of a Woody Guthrie song by American folk-singer Peter Tevis (which I heard for the first time this morning):

Jimmy Rodgers to Stevie Ray Vaughan - twelve terrific tunes toasting Texas

Thomas Sowell once mocked alarmist claims about the threat of overpopulation by pointing out that every single person on earth would fit into the state of Texas - in fact, given the Obama administration's love affair with illegals and its unwillingness to protect America's borders, I'm not sure the experiment hasn't already begun. Having once travelled across Texas in a Greyhound bus, I can quite believe Sowell's claim: damn thing seemed to go on forever. The only city I spent any time in was San Antonio, which was pretty, and I seem to remember stopping off in Dallas - but if I did, I can remember nothing about it. The problem is, I love greenery and hills and sea and geographical diversity - and all I remember about Texas (at least, what I saw of it) was endless, monotonous flatness unleavened apart from the occasional cow, oil derrick or truck-stop.

A dozen of my favourite car songs which mention brand names and are mostly about cars

The first time I heard "Jaguar and Thunderbird" was on the Chuck Berry On Stage LP in a friend's bedroom in Thornton Road, Wimbledon, circa 1964 (the album was released in '63). The long-player consisted of 13 already released tracks with a fake announcement at the start and audience noise throughout (my friend actually figured out the subterfuge - not bad for a 13-year old). Presumably Berry's record company decided to recycle his old stuff in this way because he was in prison for transporting a 14-year old girl across a state line. "Maybelline" was on the same album, but I've always preferred "Jaguar and Thunderbird":

The Fender Telecaster is THE electric guitar – no ifs, ands or buts: here’s the proof...

Sixty-three years old, devoid of airs and graces, solid as a rock, plain as a pikestaff, sporting two picks-ups, two “pots” (volume and treble), a three-way selector switch – and nothing else (unless you’re Country picker and get one with a B-bender, so you can use your elbow to raise the B-string a tone to C-sharp, resulting in twangtastic mayhem). The Telecaster is the manly, no frills Ur-guitar. Obviously there are many other makes which do certain things better – crunchier, sweeter, fatter, janglier, jazzier etc – but the Tele’s versatility is without parallel: it features on everything from “Suzie Q” to Tubular Bells to the “Stairway to Heaven” solo.

Hulk! Choke! Sob! – my favourite rock and roll, country and soul tribute songs

"Good morning, America, how are you?" - train songs are the best

Five of my favourite Mississippi-born musicians – maybe it’s something in the water

Recent comments from Jackson, Mississippi resident E.F. Bartiam led me to look up a list of well-known 20th Century musicians born in the state. I knew there were a lot of them – but the list is so long, the quality so ridiculously high, and there are so many personal favourites on it that even this lifelong fan of American “Roots” music was astonished. (You can read the list here.) Apart from Bo Diddley, there’s Elvis, Sam Cooke, Jimmy Reed, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner, Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf and on and on and on.

Six great acts I discovered thanks to Jools Holland and "Later..."

The late great Jerry Reed" a tribute to the Alabama Wild Man

The story goes that when Elvis Presley was in Nashville in 1967 trying to record “Guitar Man”, his brilliant lead guitarist, James Burton, simply couldn’t nail the acoustic guitar part, so he suggested contacting the composer, Jerry Reed, who’d had a minor hit with the song the previous year, and asking him to come in and play the damn thing on the session. Which Reed duly did, resulting in one of Elvis’s best singles.

James Burton: the self-effacing guitar genius who changed music