While there are a number of average anthologies of classic Hot Tuna recordings, Best of Grunt: Trimmed and Burning is arguably the most diverse single disc to have been culled from their "classic" late-'60s and '70s back catalog. With a running time of nearly 80 minutes, it is likewise one of the lengthiest as well. Keen-eyed enthusiasts might also note that song for song it matches the 1995 Edsel Records release Trimmed and Burning. One glaring omission is the dearth of any representation from    [ read more ]

CD $18.03

Originally formed by Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady in 1969 as a side project, Hot Tuna ended up outlasting its parent group by a country mile, logging up a four decade (and counting) run that has included some two dozen albums and over ten thousand live performances, making Tuna the reigning godfather of jam bands. Originally designed as an acoustic duo that would allow Kaukonen and Casady to explore their love of folk, blues and jazz, Hot Tuna   [ read more ]

CD $7.59

CD $11.38

CD $11.38

The budget Extended Versions series has been a mixed bag from the jump. The title implies one thing, but what it actually means is another. It simply means "live versions." Live records are always iffy propositions. Sometimes they are, but more often they've been doctored significantly in the studio and a live version can be significantly different from the familiar studio track. And while it's true they can be longer than those on a studio album, it's not always the case. Hot Tuna's edition is a case   [ read more ]

CD $6.63

CD $11.38

RCA's single-disc collection of Hot Tuna's early output isn't as expansive as their two-CD compilation, The Best of Hot Tuna, but provides a nice springboard for those looking to find out what they were all about. The majority of the focus is on the albums First Pull Up, Then Pull Down and Burgers, when leaders Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy joined up with fiddler Papa John Creach and drummer Sammy Piazza for electrified readings of classic blues numbers, but {^Platinum & Gold   [ read more ]

CD $7.59

This two-disc compilation of RCA recordings, made between 1969 and 1977, traces Hot Tuna's evolution from an acoustic folk-blues group to an electric blues-rock band, and then to a near-heavy metal ensemble, and from a repertoire dominated by covers of songs by blues guitarists like the Reverend Gary Davis to one consisting largely of original material written by guitarist/singer Jorma Kaukonen. Actually, the transitions are not that dramatic, since Kaukonen continues to favor the same kinds    [ read more ]

CD $15.19

When Hot Tuna's self-titled debut album was released in May 1970, it seemed like the perfect spin-off project for a major rock group, Jefferson Airplane's lead guitarist and bass player indulging in a genre exercise by playing a set of old folk-blues tunes in a Berkeley coffeehouse. The music seemed as far removed from the Airplane's acid rock roar as it did from commercial prospects, and thus, it allowed these sometimes overlooked bandmembers to blow off some steam musically without threa   [ read more ]

CD $7.59

Hot Tuna's first new album release in more than a decade, Pair a Dice Found was perhaps the band's most commercial, yet poorest selling, major-label effort. Unlike the Hot Tuna of the 1970s, this edition, again fronted by guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady, was not a groove-oriented showcase for Kaukonen's songwriting and guitar prowess on old blues standards. Instead, Kaukonen had only three compositions on the record, while the closest thing to the old repertoire was the   [ read more ]

CD $31.33

Issued in 1979, Final Vinyl gathers ten tracks from Hot Tuna's first eight LPs. While the tune stack is packed with enthusiast favorites, there are notable omissions and even a few questionable inclusions -- most particularly "Day to Day out the Window Blues" from the Phosphorescent Rat (1973) album. That small caveat aside, this single-disc release is an apt revisitation of the first eight-year run of what initially began as a Jefferson Airplane side project by Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar   [ read more ]

CD $43.68

Issued in 1979, Final Vinyl gathers ten tracks from Hot Tuna's first eight LPs. While the tune stack is packed with enthusiast favorites, there are notable omissions and even a few questionable inclusions -- most particularly "Day to Day out the Window Blues" from the Phosphorescent Rat (1973) album. That small caveat aside, this single-disc release is an apt revisitation of the first eight-year run of what initially began as a Jefferson Airplane side project by Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar   [ read more ]

CD $15.18