The Hellecasters: John Jorgenson (guitar, keyboards, vibraphone, bass, percussion); Jerry Donahue (guitar, keyboards); Will Ray (guitar).
Additional personnel: John Davis, Bob Birch, Dennis Belfield (bass); Steve Duncan, Donald Lindley, Charlie Morgan (drums); Luis Conte (percussion).
Recorded in Hollywood, California and London, England between 1995 & 2002. Includes liner notes by Jim Cowan.
Personnel: Jerry Donahue (guitar, acoustic guitar, coral sitar, keyboards, gong); John Jorgenson (guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, vibraphone, percussion); Will Ray (guitar, sitar); Guy Babylon , John Hobbs (keyboards); Steve Duncan (drums, percussion); Donald Lindley, Charlie Morgan (drums); Luis Conte (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Jerry Donahue; John Jorgenson; Michael McDonald ; Will Ray.
Arrangers: Jerry Donahue; John Jorgenson; The Hellecasters; Will Ray.
The Hellecasters play some fierce guitar. Their decade and three albums are keenly summed up on this fine collection, which stuffs in representative chunks of jazz, blues, pop, rock, and country. The thing is, these vets are pretty fluid in just about everything they do, so it's occasionally tough to discern one track from another (or one player from another, for that matter). A couple of unreleased cuts and a rarity are bait for fans, but novices will get the most from Essential Listening. While it helps to be a guitar freak, this trio's blend of Allman Brothers-style jams and playful heavy metal rips solidly convinces that even prodigious technical wizards are capable of having fun. ~ Michael Gallucci
