Nineteen hundred and seventy-two is one of those rare years -- like, say, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1991 -- that saw the release of several seminal rock albums. As we wrote last year in our 1971 story, "even for a year that falls squarely in the heart of the 'classic rock' era, it was a particularly classic year."

B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck will be among the headliners for a February 21 appearance at the White House. The performance is part of the "In Performance at the White House" series, and the show will be televised 9 p.m. EST February 27 on PBS.

Legendary blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin died of heart failure at a hospital in Wayne, New Jersey, last night, December 4. He was 80. As bluesman Howlin' Wolf's guitarist in the 1950s, Sumlin influenced several generations of blues and rock guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmy Page. What made Sumlin's resume even more impressive was that he also was Muddy Waters' for a brief period in the mid-'50s before rejoining Howlin' Wolf's band.