Jan Davis was an unheralded guitar slinger who haunted the Los Angeles studio scene in the early ‘60s and cut a number of blazing solo instrumental sides along the way. Boss Guitar collects 20 singles that Davis released during this period. Many guitarists of the era found a successful style early in their careers and stuck with it, like the nimble-fingered minor-key surf rock of Dick Dale, the tightly wound fuzztone of Travis Wammack, or the distortion-drenched biker tunes of Davie Allan. For his part, Davis impatiently leapt from style to style. One moment he’d turn out something like “Watusi Zombie”—a truly zonked-out bit of rockabilly-inflected camp—and then he’d slow down the pace for the likes of “The Unwanted,” a noir-ish mood piece combining the glowering distortion of Davie Allan with the grandiose theatrics of Ennio Morricone. Davis’ stylistic restlessness lends a compelling eclecticism to Boss Guitar, which will continue to surprise listeners long after most compilations of guitar instrumentals would have worn out their welcome.