For those who don't know or don't remember, in 2007-2008 I hosted a "music log" on my website. Every week for a whole year, I picked a theme, and then each day of the week I posted a classic rock or blues song that relates to that theme. It was a fun way to celebrate my love of music, and satisfy my creative and organizational mind, similar to what I used to do as a college radio DJ.
After the series concluded in July of 2008, I added a handful of extra themes as they came to me. I call this the Redux. Then there was a long break, and in 2018 I added the first new theme in six years. It was meant to be the conclusion of the Redux and the final theme. But thinking about the music log again, and also sharing it with a friend, got my creative juices flowing, and I started working on a new series of themes.
Over the past six years, those themes have been stewing in my head. I put a lot of groundwork down on them in 2021, before turning my attention to other things. But early this year, I began to feel inspired, and I decided it was finally time to launch the "third season" of Zharth's Music Log - which I refer to as Threedux. I've been publishing themes low key since February, and have already filled out two new "quarters" (a quarter year's worth of weeks, or 13 themes), when combined with Redux.
I thought that would be the end once and for all. But since I've been polishing and finalizing these themes, I've been coming up with new ones left and right, which I am now working on. I think that I will comfortably be able to fill out a full second year (added to the original run), with 26 more themes than what I have currently published. After that, I plan to stop, but who can say what the future will bring? (The longer I go, the harder it is to avoid repeating songs). But until then, there'll be lots of music to (re-)discover as the weeks go by!
See all the themes at zharth.net/zml.
Showing posts with label blues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blues. Show all posts
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Friday, March 22, 2019
Joe Bonamassa - Redemption Tour (2019)
Introduction
It would have been hard for me to have topped the enthusiasm I had in anticipation of the last time I saw Joe Bonamassa live in concert - which sparked my desire to review his entire discography (an unfinished project; although time may give me the perspective I need to continue - I can't say "finish" so long as Joe is still releasing material). The truth is, having just seen Joe about a year and a half prior to the announcement of his next tour in the area, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I questioned whether I wanted to go and see him again so soon. (Obvious spoiler: I ended up going). Part of that is due to the novelty wearing out of going to live concerts, after I've been to so many, and the logistics of scheduling a night in the city - when the truth is, Joe Bonamassa puts out so many concert DVDs, that if I have the hankering to watch him perform live, I can just pop one in and enjoy it from the comfort of my living room couch (and with a much better view of the stage, at that). Obviously, being there in person is a different experience, but as I grow older, I am also starting to grow concerned about pesky things like taking care of my hearing. But, in spite of my doubts and worries, it seems that fate conspired to send me to that concert anyway, as I was very thoughtfully gifted tickets over the holidays - and I am very grateful that things turned out this way.
Retrospective
This was the fifth time I've seen Joe Bonamassa live in concert, in a year that marks the fifteenth that I've been a fan. All the way back in 2004, three years after Joe began his solo recording career, I discovered the live companion to his first album A New Day Yesterday through the Grooveyard Records label (the patron saint of independent guitar rock). It was his cover of the Jethro Tull title track that blew me away and turned me into an instant fan. But his virtuosic talent, unwavering work ethic, and dedication to the same music that made me a music fan (blues-based rock from the '60s and '70s) is what fuels my undying loyalty to his career and musical output.
During the course of this concert, Joe mentioned (and not for the first time) how he started out playing (in this area) at a small bar named Moondogs. I've been there, but it wasn't until he played the Rex Theatre (a small, converted one-screen theater) that I first saw him live in 2006. He was at the tail end of the first leg of his career, on the verge of initiating what has become a very lucrative creative partnership with famed record producer Kevin Shirley. A yet relative unknown at the time, I remember Joe walking amongst the crowd before and after the show, as if he were one of us, and not the absolute guitar legend he's proven time and time again to be.
The second time I saw Joe live was at an open-air arts festival the following year, which was a lot of fun. It's hard to believe now, but that was the first time I'd ever heard the epic showstopper Sloe Gin (which I earmarked, even at the time, as being "maybe Joe's best song yet"). I also heard for the first time Joe's rendition of Just Got Paid, complete with the instrumental midsection from Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused interspersed into the middle. I remember thinking, "I hope there's an album released on this tour, so this song will be immortalized, in case it's just a one-off." Little did I know, there would be several live versions released over the years, starting with the one from 2008's Live From Nowhere in Particular.
The next time I saw Joe live in concert was in 2011, and he'd made his way to Carnegie Hall. He'd matured noticeably as a musician since the last time I saw him, at this point having also played his first show at the Royal Albert Hall in London (available on CD and DVD), which was a landmark for his career. It was the Dust Bowl tour, and I could tell that his music was evolving, with more musical experimentation. Following that was a gap of nearly six years, when I saw him again for the Blues of Desperation tour (two years ago), marking yet another new era for Joe - who has evolved considerably as a songwriter, and is still every bit the consummate performer, also engaged in myriad side projects paying homage to the greats of blues history, on both sides of the pond (between Muddy Wolf, The Three Kings - billed as Live At The Greek Theatre - and the British Blues Explosion). This latest show, touring for the following album, Redemption - which I call one of the best of his career - is in a similar vein.
The Show
Legend: MW = Muddy Wolf, 3K = Three Kings (a.k.a. Greek Theatre), BBE = British Blues Explosion, BoD = Blues of Desperation, R = Redemption, and unmarked tracks are classics from albums predating 2015
Two years and thirteen days after the previous concert, we returned to the Benedum Center for a repeat performance. We arrived on time for a change (after a pleasant dinner with family), and had to line up around the corner of the building to get in (on a very cold and blustery Saturday evening on which most of the city was preemptively celebrating St. Patrick's Day). A staffer announced as we walked past that there would (once again) be no opening act, just two hours and fifteen minutes of Joe and nothing else - and that's precisely what we got. After briefly reviewing the merch table (I went back and bought a nice tour shirt on the way out after the concert), and failing to spot a group of my other relatives that I knew were attending the concert (it was a big crowd - sold out), we climbed the stairs all the way up to our seats in the balcony, three rows from the back wall. No complaints - the music is absolutely loud enough to enjoy equally throughout the auditorium, and ticket prices have risen since the days of the Rex Theatre, now that Joe Bonamassa is a chart-topping artist (the blues chart, at least).
The show opened with a track from the Muddy Wolf album - Tiger In Your Tank. It's not my favorite opener (that would be the first one I heard - Takin' The Hit - from the Rex Theatre show), but I imagine it must be comforting to Joe to have a recording of Muddy Waters kicking off the action. Next we had a healthy set of four tracks from Joe's latest album - what I was most looking forward to, being that I hadn't heard any of them live yet. It started with King Bee Shakedown and Evil Mama making a rollicking pair, followed by Just 'Cos You Can Don't Mean You Should. This subset culminated with Self-Inflicted Wounds (probably my favorite song from the Redemption album), and one of the highlights of the night. It's a downhearted number, with some excellent guitar fretwork, and self-reflective lyrics. This live version concluded with an impressive and unexpected vocal solo (by Jade MacRae. if I'm not mistaken) reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Great Gig In The Sky.
After that, we had a few tunes from Joe's previous album, Blues of Desperation (which we'd heard the last time he came to town). The first one was This Train; although Joe teased us all by kicking it off with the opening section to Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath (another train-themed song). I'm not gonna lie, This Train isn't my favorite song about trains that Joe plays (I'm partial to So Many Roads, myself, and I'd rather have heard Joe play Mountain Climbing again, from the same album), and judging from the buzz rising through the audience, I think we all would have been more excited to hear the rest of Locomotive Breath instead. Sorry, Joe. The next song was the title track from the album, but neat as it sounds, I have to admit it feels a bit loose in a live context, and I really would have rather heard the title track to Redemption - him not playing that song at all was the only regret I had for the night. I was very excited, on the other hand, to hear No Good Place For The Lonely again - a song containing one of Joe's best and most off-the-hook guitar solos in recent years.
I didn't think I would be so quickly impressed while basking in the glow of satisfaction from hearing that last song, but then Joe followed it up with his old standby, Sloe Gin, which I count as the Stairway To Heaven of Joe's repertoire. It's an amazing song - a very soulful blues, with an incredible guitar part. No matter how many times I've heard it, I don't think I could get tired of it. Since he didn't play it at the last concert, I thought he'd kinda retired it after it had (admittedly) had its fair share of time in the limelight. So I was surprised to hear it again, but very happy that he hasn't given up on it. For a man capable of shredding licks at lightning speed, there's a lot of soul in Joe's playing (moreso than some guitarists who merely regurgitate scales without knowing which notes to hang on), but what I like about the guitar part in Sloe Gin is that it's slower and more meditated and, well, more lucid than a lot of the other solos Joe plays. It's always a treat to hear.
At this point, Joe took a break to introduce his band - the same one, I believe, as on the last tour. Anton Fig on drums, Michael Rhodes on bass. Reese Wynans on keyboards. Paulie Cerra and Lee Thornburg on horns. Jade MacRae and Juanita Tippins on backup vocals. Truly a world-class band - as the level of Joe's talent demands (let alone earns) the best in musical support. At this time, Joe also made a little small talk, about turning the stage into a triage center - apparently he'd cut his finger, and was joking about the day he would become such a diva that he'd have to cancel a show over such a thing ("hashtag goals"); but we all know that would never happen. He also referenced having a cold the last time he played this town, but as then, if the cut on his finger detracted from his performance at all, I couldn't tell, and if he hadn't have mentioned it, I wouldn't have even noticed.
The introductions concluded with a surprise, when Joe drew the audience's attention to an extra amp set up on stage. On walked guitarist David Grissom (who has played for John Mellencamp among others), who joined Joe on a song from the Three Kings tour, Breaking Up Somebody's Home. Playing with one of his idols (like Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall, or B.B. King on the Black Rock album) is one thing, but I was skeptical as to how well anyone could hold their own against a guitarist the caliber of Joe Bonamassa, who could play circles around most anyone on the planet. But David Grissom added some real fire to the song in an exciting duel in which the two guitarists traded licks, building up to a crashing crescendo. It was positively thrilling!
The regular portion of the show concluded with a set from the British Blues Explosion tour, two out of three songs of which I'd heard two years ago. The "Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton" song Little Girl started it off, followed by a double shot from Led Zeppelin's debut album. I think I enjoyed I Can't Quit You Baby more than when I first heard Joe's rendition of it on the live album. It starts with the opening section from a different Led Zeppelin blues, Tea For One (which Joe has previously covered). I felt that it was a little disjointed on the album, trying to combine two songs and losing the conviction of either one, but it was more thrilling to hear it live and in person, being one of my favorite (and not quite as popular, at least inasmuch as a Zeppelin song can be "underrated") bluesy Zeppelin songs.
As on Zep's original album, I Can't Quit You Baby segued into the album (and now show) closer, How Many More Times. This is an epic track (and such a delight to hear live, as if rock history were coming to life right before you) - surely the replacement for Just Got Paid (with its own ode to Zep's first album) in earlier concerts. As you listen to it, you slowly begin to realize that this must be the last song, because you can't imagine anything more bombastic, and anything played after it would be an anticlimax. Excepting the encore of course, for which Joe drug out his acoustic guitar, and played Woke Up Dreaming - the song he uses to stun the audience by playing faster and faster, until it no longer seems humanly possible.
After that, the rest of the band returned to the stage to play the true final song, Mountain Time - another epic number that has matured considerably from its humble days as a sub-four minute track from Joe's oft-overlooked (albeit not without some justification) sophomore studio album. I hadn't heard either of these final two songs at the concert two years ago, so I was a little bit surprised to hear them again, but looking back at the setlists from all the other times I've seen Joe live, they've been played at four out of five concerts, so they can definitely be considered staples of Joe's live setlist, at least as much as Sloe Gin is (if not even more so). It's fascinating to find out what songs stand the test of time, both from the standpoint of fan appreciation, and also what the artist continues to enjoy playing year after year after year.
I know Joe Bonamassa has been hinting at retirement lately, and my opinion as a longtime fan is that he deserves a rest. I don't call him the hardest working musician alive for no reason - he's been incredibly prolific - and "always on the road" is barely an exaggeration. I don't want to see him quit music entirely (I don't know how he could, it's so enmeshed in his DNA); I hope he continues to write and record throughout his life. But I would consider him fully justified in slowing down, quitting touring for a while, not pushing himself but waiting until the inspiration strikes to get back in the studio. Surely he's carved a name for himself (at least within the right circles), though I wish his songs would get more play - whether on the radio, or in movies, or what have you. Not out of any popularity/competition thing, but just because the music is so good. Beyond being a guitar virtuoso - which he's been from day one - his craft has matured and his songs have been very smooth and polished of late, yet without diminishing the raw force of his talent. Anything he puts out between now and retirement I will continue to gobble up hungrily; and if he does come back for another show in a year or two or three (or ten or twenty!), I'll still be game for it. It's always exciting to see what Joe Bonamassa will do next!
It would have been hard for me to have topped the enthusiasm I had in anticipation of the last time I saw Joe Bonamassa live in concert - which sparked my desire to review his entire discography (an unfinished project; although time may give me the perspective I need to continue - I can't say "finish" so long as Joe is still releasing material). The truth is, having just seen Joe about a year and a half prior to the announcement of his next tour in the area, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I questioned whether I wanted to go and see him again so soon. (Obvious spoiler: I ended up going). Part of that is due to the novelty wearing out of going to live concerts, after I've been to so many, and the logistics of scheduling a night in the city - when the truth is, Joe Bonamassa puts out so many concert DVDs, that if I have the hankering to watch him perform live, I can just pop one in and enjoy it from the comfort of my living room couch (and with a much better view of the stage, at that). Obviously, being there in person is a different experience, but as I grow older, I am also starting to grow concerned about pesky things like taking care of my hearing. But, in spite of my doubts and worries, it seems that fate conspired to send me to that concert anyway, as I was very thoughtfully gifted tickets over the holidays - and I am very grateful that things turned out this way.
Retrospective
This was the fifth time I've seen Joe Bonamassa live in concert, in a year that marks the fifteenth that I've been a fan. All the way back in 2004, three years after Joe began his solo recording career, I discovered the live companion to his first album A New Day Yesterday through the Grooveyard Records label (the patron saint of independent guitar rock). It was his cover of the Jethro Tull title track that blew me away and turned me into an instant fan. But his virtuosic talent, unwavering work ethic, and dedication to the same music that made me a music fan (blues-based rock from the '60s and '70s) is what fuels my undying loyalty to his career and musical output.
During the course of this concert, Joe mentioned (and not for the first time) how he started out playing (in this area) at a small bar named Moondogs. I've been there, but it wasn't until he played the Rex Theatre (a small, converted one-screen theater) that I first saw him live in 2006. He was at the tail end of the first leg of his career, on the verge of initiating what has become a very lucrative creative partnership with famed record producer Kevin Shirley. A yet relative unknown at the time, I remember Joe walking amongst the crowd before and after the show, as if he were one of us, and not the absolute guitar legend he's proven time and time again to be.
The second time I saw Joe live was at an open-air arts festival the following year, which was a lot of fun. It's hard to believe now, but that was the first time I'd ever heard the epic showstopper Sloe Gin (which I earmarked, even at the time, as being "maybe Joe's best song yet"). I also heard for the first time Joe's rendition of Just Got Paid, complete with the instrumental midsection from Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused interspersed into the middle. I remember thinking, "I hope there's an album released on this tour, so this song will be immortalized, in case it's just a one-off." Little did I know, there would be several live versions released over the years, starting with the one from 2008's Live From Nowhere in Particular.
The next time I saw Joe live in concert was in 2011, and he'd made his way to Carnegie Hall. He'd matured noticeably as a musician since the last time I saw him, at this point having also played his first show at the Royal Albert Hall in London (available on CD and DVD), which was a landmark for his career. It was the Dust Bowl tour, and I could tell that his music was evolving, with more musical experimentation. Following that was a gap of nearly six years, when I saw him again for the Blues of Desperation tour (two years ago), marking yet another new era for Joe - who has evolved considerably as a songwriter, and is still every bit the consummate performer, also engaged in myriad side projects paying homage to the greats of blues history, on both sides of the pond (between Muddy Wolf, The Three Kings - billed as Live At The Greek Theatre - and the British Blues Explosion). This latest show, touring for the following album, Redemption - which I call one of the best of his career - is in a similar vein.
The Show
| Setlist: | |
| [MW] | Tiger In Your Tank |
| [R] | King Bee Shakedown |
| [R] | Evil Mama |
| [R] | Just 'Cos You Can Don't Mean You Should |
| [R] | Self-Inflicted Wounds (incl. vocal solo) |
| [BoD] | Locomotive Breath Intro/This Train |
| [BoD] | Blues of Desperation |
| [BoD] | No Good Place For The Lonely |
| Sloe Gin | |
| (Introductions) | |
| [3K] | Breaking Up Somebody's Home (feat. David Grissom) |
| [BBE] | Little Girl |
| [BBE] | I Can't Quit You Baby |
| [BBE] | How Many More Times |
| Encore: | |
| Woke Up Dreaming (acoustic) | |
| Mountain Time |
Legend: MW = Muddy Wolf, 3K = Three Kings (a.k.a. Greek Theatre), BBE = British Blues Explosion, BoD = Blues of Desperation, R = Redemption, and unmarked tracks are classics from albums predating 2015
Two years and thirteen days after the previous concert, we returned to the Benedum Center for a repeat performance. We arrived on time for a change (after a pleasant dinner with family), and had to line up around the corner of the building to get in (on a very cold and blustery Saturday evening on which most of the city was preemptively celebrating St. Patrick's Day). A staffer announced as we walked past that there would (once again) be no opening act, just two hours and fifteen minutes of Joe and nothing else - and that's precisely what we got. After briefly reviewing the merch table (I went back and bought a nice tour shirt on the way out after the concert), and failing to spot a group of my other relatives that I knew were attending the concert (it was a big crowd - sold out), we climbed the stairs all the way up to our seats in the balcony, three rows from the back wall. No complaints - the music is absolutely loud enough to enjoy equally throughout the auditorium, and ticket prices have risen since the days of the Rex Theatre, now that Joe Bonamassa is a chart-topping artist (the blues chart, at least).
The show opened with a track from the Muddy Wolf album - Tiger In Your Tank. It's not my favorite opener (that would be the first one I heard - Takin' The Hit - from the Rex Theatre show), but I imagine it must be comforting to Joe to have a recording of Muddy Waters kicking off the action. Next we had a healthy set of four tracks from Joe's latest album - what I was most looking forward to, being that I hadn't heard any of them live yet. It started with King Bee Shakedown and Evil Mama making a rollicking pair, followed by Just 'Cos You Can Don't Mean You Should. This subset culminated with Self-Inflicted Wounds (probably my favorite song from the Redemption album), and one of the highlights of the night. It's a downhearted number, with some excellent guitar fretwork, and self-reflective lyrics. This live version concluded with an impressive and unexpected vocal solo (by Jade MacRae. if I'm not mistaken) reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Great Gig In The Sky.
After that, we had a few tunes from Joe's previous album, Blues of Desperation (which we'd heard the last time he came to town). The first one was This Train; although Joe teased us all by kicking it off with the opening section to Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath (another train-themed song). I'm not gonna lie, This Train isn't my favorite song about trains that Joe plays (I'm partial to So Many Roads, myself, and I'd rather have heard Joe play Mountain Climbing again, from the same album), and judging from the buzz rising through the audience, I think we all would have been more excited to hear the rest of Locomotive Breath instead. Sorry, Joe. The next song was the title track from the album, but neat as it sounds, I have to admit it feels a bit loose in a live context, and I really would have rather heard the title track to Redemption - him not playing that song at all was the only regret I had for the night. I was very excited, on the other hand, to hear No Good Place For The Lonely again - a song containing one of Joe's best and most off-the-hook guitar solos in recent years.
I didn't think I would be so quickly impressed while basking in the glow of satisfaction from hearing that last song, but then Joe followed it up with his old standby, Sloe Gin, which I count as the Stairway To Heaven of Joe's repertoire. It's an amazing song - a very soulful blues, with an incredible guitar part. No matter how many times I've heard it, I don't think I could get tired of it. Since he didn't play it at the last concert, I thought he'd kinda retired it after it had (admittedly) had its fair share of time in the limelight. So I was surprised to hear it again, but very happy that he hasn't given up on it. For a man capable of shredding licks at lightning speed, there's a lot of soul in Joe's playing (moreso than some guitarists who merely regurgitate scales without knowing which notes to hang on), but what I like about the guitar part in Sloe Gin is that it's slower and more meditated and, well, more lucid than a lot of the other solos Joe plays. It's always a treat to hear.
At this point, Joe took a break to introduce his band - the same one, I believe, as on the last tour. Anton Fig on drums, Michael Rhodes on bass. Reese Wynans on keyboards. Paulie Cerra and Lee Thornburg on horns. Jade MacRae and Juanita Tippins on backup vocals. Truly a world-class band - as the level of Joe's talent demands (let alone earns) the best in musical support. At this time, Joe also made a little small talk, about turning the stage into a triage center - apparently he'd cut his finger, and was joking about the day he would become such a diva that he'd have to cancel a show over such a thing ("hashtag goals"); but we all know that would never happen. He also referenced having a cold the last time he played this town, but as then, if the cut on his finger detracted from his performance at all, I couldn't tell, and if he hadn't have mentioned it, I wouldn't have even noticed.
The introductions concluded with a surprise, when Joe drew the audience's attention to an extra amp set up on stage. On walked guitarist David Grissom (who has played for John Mellencamp among others), who joined Joe on a song from the Three Kings tour, Breaking Up Somebody's Home. Playing with one of his idols (like Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall, or B.B. King on the Black Rock album) is one thing, but I was skeptical as to how well anyone could hold their own against a guitarist the caliber of Joe Bonamassa, who could play circles around most anyone on the planet. But David Grissom added some real fire to the song in an exciting duel in which the two guitarists traded licks, building up to a crashing crescendo. It was positively thrilling!
The regular portion of the show concluded with a set from the British Blues Explosion tour, two out of three songs of which I'd heard two years ago. The "Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton" song Little Girl started it off, followed by a double shot from Led Zeppelin's debut album. I think I enjoyed I Can't Quit You Baby more than when I first heard Joe's rendition of it on the live album. It starts with the opening section from a different Led Zeppelin blues, Tea For One (which Joe has previously covered). I felt that it was a little disjointed on the album, trying to combine two songs and losing the conviction of either one, but it was more thrilling to hear it live and in person, being one of my favorite (and not quite as popular, at least inasmuch as a Zeppelin song can be "underrated") bluesy Zeppelin songs.
As on Zep's original album, I Can't Quit You Baby segued into the album (and now show) closer, How Many More Times. This is an epic track (and such a delight to hear live, as if rock history were coming to life right before you) - surely the replacement for Just Got Paid (with its own ode to Zep's first album) in earlier concerts. As you listen to it, you slowly begin to realize that this must be the last song, because you can't imagine anything more bombastic, and anything played after it would be an anticlimax. Excepting the encore of course, for which Joe drug out his acoustic guitar, and played Woke Up Dreaming - the song he uses to stun the audience by playing faster and faster, until it no longer seems humanly possible.
After that, the rest of the band returned to the stage to play the true final song, Mountain Time - another epic number that has matured considerably from its humble days as a sub-four minute track from Joe's oft-overlooked (albeit not without some justification) sophomore studio album. I hadn't heard either of these final two songs at the concert two years ago, so I was a little bit surprised to hear them again, but looking back at the setlists from all the other times I've seen Joe live, they've been played at four out of five concerts, so they can definitely be considered staples of Joe's live setlist, at least as much as Sloe Gin is (if not even more so). It's fascinating to find out what songs stand the test of time, both from the standpoint of fan appreciation, and also what the artist continues to enjoy playing year after year after year.
I know Joe Bonamassa has been hinting at retirement lately, and my opinion as a longtime fan is that he deserves a rest. I don't call him the hardest working musician alive for no reason - he's been incredibly prolific - and "always on the road" is barely an exaggeration. I don't want to see him quit music entirely (I don't know how he could, it's so enmeshed in his DNA); I hope he continues to write and record throughout his life. But I would consider him fully justified in slowing down, quitting touring for a while, not pushing himself but waiting until the inspiration strikes to get back in the studio. Surely he's carved a name for himself (at least within the right circles), though I wish his songs would get more play - whether on the radio, or in movies, or what have you. Not out of any popularity/competition thing, but just because the music is so good. Beyond being a guitar virtuoso - which he's been from day one - his craft has matured and his songs have been very smooth and polished of late, yet without diminishing the raw force of his talent. Anything he puts out between now and retirement I will continue to gobble up hungrily; and if he does come back for another show in a year or two or three (or ten or twenty!), I'll still be game for it. It's always exciting to see what Joe Bonamassa will do next!
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Joe Bonamassa - Blues of Desperation Tour (2017)
Joe Bonamassa - March 3, 2017 - Benedum Center
"The Guitar Event of the Year" may sound like promotional hyperbole - and with most acts, that would be the case - but when Joe Bonamassa is involved, it's nothing but the stone cold truth. I'd even go so far as to call it "the guitar event of your life", although I've now had four such events in my life (going back 11 years to 2006, when I saw Joe Bonamassa live for the first time), and I hope to have still more in the future.
| Setlist: | ||
| This Train | (om) | Blues of Desperation |
| Mainline Florida | (BB) | Eric Clapton |
| Mountain Climbing | (om) | Blues of Desperation |
| Blues of Desperation | (om) | Blues of Desperation |
| No Good Place For The Lonely | (om) | Blues of Desperation |
| How Deep This River Runs | (om) | Blues of Desperation |
| Boogie With Stu | (BB) | Led Zeppelin |
| Never Make Your Move Too Soon | (3K) | B.B. King |
| Angel of Mercy | (3K) | Albert King |
| (Introductions) | ||
| Love Ain't A Love Song | (om) | Different Shades of Blue |
| Dust Bowl | (om) | Dust Bowl |
| Little Girl | (BB) | John Mayall's Bluesbreakers |
| Pretending | (BB) | Eric Clapton |
| Black Winter/Django | (BB) | Led Zeppelin[-ish] |
| How Many More Times | (BB) | Led Zeppelin |
| Encore: | ||
| Hummingbird | (3K) | B.B. King |
(om) = original material, (3K) = Three Kings, (BB) = British Blues Explosion
I made a prediction for this concert. Judging from the trajectory of his career (and rumors that he was ejecting long-time staples such as Sloe Gin from his repertoire), I predicted that Joe would play nothing but original songs on this tour. In spite of the fact that he rose to prominence as a singularly talented cover artist, for his last couple of studio albums, Joe Bonamassa has dedicated himself solely to original compositions (with a little professional assistance). Presumably, if one is to play in the big leagues, one has to develop a songwriting craft, and not rely indefinitely on borrowing others' tunes (if we look at the history of The Rolling Stones, for example, we see a group that started out as a blues cover band, and only really hit it big when frontrunners Jagger and Richards decided to start writing their own tunes - and discovered they were pretty good at it). And if ever there was a time for Joe to take off the water wings (for better or worse), and see if he would sink or swim on the strength of his music alone, it seemed to me that this was the time.
But I was dead wrong. And I'm a little bit embarrassed, because I of all people should know Joe better than that. Leave it to him to eschew the traditional path to mainstream notoriety. I had forgotten one critical fact - Joe Bonamassa is not just a musician. He's also a music lover. And while a good half of the concert's setlist consists of original tunes - the vast majority of which hail from his latest studio album, Blues of Desperation - and none of them digging any further back than from the album Dust Bowl, I had underestimated the extent to which this tour would be an advertisement for Joe's other recent projects: the Three Kings and British Blues Explosion concept tours (featuring nothing but covers). The former has already been released under the title Live At The Greek Theatre (at least two of its highlights are represented here, including the encore, which was that show's climax). The latter is still on the way, explaining the fact that it brought all of the big surprises at this show, including the few songs I was not immediately able to identify.
In fairness, Joe played a good half of his latest album Blues of Desperation - and all the songs I'd have been most interested to hear (especially Mountain Climbing with its mean riff, and No Good Place For The Lonely with its off-the-hook outro solo). The show actually began with an audio recording of Muddy Waters playing Mean Old Frisco as the band took to the stage, before blasting into This Train, hinting back at Joe's other recent concept tour, Muddy Wolf, and emphasizing the fact that, basically - at its heart - the blues hasn't changed in the last 50+ years. It's just grown and evolved. The title track from Blues of Desperation sounded really good, as did How Deep This River Runs - leave it to a live performance (as ever) to enhance my appreciation for a song. I'm surprised Joe didn't play Drive - a mellower track, but one that I sense has been getting good press. I also would have expected to hear You Left Me Nothing But The Bill and the Blues and/or Livin' Easy, but I'm not disappointed, because what we did hear was probably even better.
I am, however, disappointed that I didn't get to hear either Oh Beautiful or Never Give All Your Heart - two of my favorite of Joe's more recent songs, from the preceding album, Different Shades of Blue - live and in person. I have to admit I'm surprised that he didn't play more tracks from that album, dragging out only Love Ain't A Love Song (albeit a popular one), while leaving off such songs as the title track, Living On The Moon, and I Gave Up Everything For You, 'Cept The Blues (all of which turned up on the recent Live At Radio City Music Hall album). Nor was there an acoustic set (not that I cried any tears over that development). The only other original tune Joe played - and the only song pre-dating 2014's Tour de Force - was the title track from Dust Bowl, which has received a bit of a makeover.
Clearly, I'm more of a thinker than a feeler - as I have an easier time analyzing the show than explaining how it made me feel. But what can I say? Joe Bonamassa is an amazing guitar player. I actually caught myself wondering a few songs into the show, is it possible to play a guitar solo in every song without it eventually getting stale? I guess that's a stupid thing for me to wonder, because I'm a huge guitar fan, and I could listen to an artist as talented as Joe play guitar for hours nonstop (and this show went for a full two plus hours from start to finish, without more than a minute or two's break before the encore). But a great show isn't just about the guitar (did I really just say that?) - it's also about the songs.
And the backing band. Joe's got a world class band backing him up - Anton Fig on drums, Michael Rhodes on bass, Reese Wynans on piano/organ. He's also got Lee Thornburg on trumpet, and Paulie Cerra on sax, plus Jade McRae and Juanita Tippins singing backup. The music veers a little more toward the horns and piano than I'd prefer, but that seems to be the direction Joe's going these days. When the band pulled out Never Make Your Move Too Soon (from the Three Kings tour - although Joe also previously recorded this song - in a slightly different arrangement - for his Had To Cry Today album), Joe left plenty of room for the band to shine, and I could just imagine B.B. King smiling down proudly from his lofty perch in blues heaven.
If pressed to choose a favorite song from this show, I'd be tempted to name Angel of Mercy, another remnant from the Three Kings tour. I noted when I listened to the recent Live At The Greek Theatre album that Joe has recycled the formerly-retired riff from A New Day Yesterday for this song, much to my delight. When he started playing it in concert, I recognized it, but couldn't quite place it, on account of it being such an old song in Joe's repertoire (that I hadn't heard live since the first time I saw him). But it came to me at the last minute before the first verse started, and for a brief moment, I thought that Joe was playing the first song of his that I ever heard, and the song that turned me into a lifelong fan. Alas, it was "only" Angel of Mercy (still a good song, though), but it was a thrill to hear nonetheless, as it's an incredible riff, and Joe plays it well. The song ended with an extended drum solo, so I think that Joe was intentionally channeling his earlier power trio days. Hats off to you, Joe, for not turning your back on your past, even if you have to cloak it in the vestiges of the ever-advancing present. (Isn't that just a metaphor for Joe's entire career?).
But there was more than one highlight that night - another one being the encore, Hummingbird, another song from the Three Kings tour (penned by Leon Russell and later recorded by B.B. King), which highlights the backup singers well. I didn't put two and two together at first, so much of the British Blues Explosion material threw me for a loop. I didn't recognize Mainline Florida (an Eric Clapton song), and though I heard Robert Plant singing in my head during Boogie With Stu, I naively presumed that Joe was covering an older song (Ooh, My Head/Soul?). I also recognized the lyrics from Little Girl, but couldn't place it as one of the 'b' tracks from the otherwise infamous "Beano" album by John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, featuring Eric Clapton on guitar. (Some obscure choices for covers - but they sounded pretty good in concert, providing some lighter rock fare between Joe's heavier, bluesy numbers).
It wasn't until Joe started playing the Eric Clapton song Pretending - which I recognized from having spied the British Blues Explosion tracklist previously - that I figured out what was going on. Surprisingly, there didn't appear to be any representation from either Freddie King or Jeff Beck (both of which could have been accomplished in one blow if Joe had played the song Going Down, which I've heard he played the night before - alas), but there's only so much time in one night. The show's climax was a spectacular rendition of Led Zeppelin's How Many More Times - another song that muddies up the distinction between these artists and tours (what with Albert King's The Hunter mixed into that song; on a related note, did you know that Jimmy Page recorded a version of Hummingbird for the 1988 album Outrider? I'll bet you could write up a setlist that you could just as easily call a tribute to American Blues as British Rock!). Hailing from the band's first album, it fills the hole left in the concert setlist by the removal of Just Got Paid, during the extended solo of which Joe liked to throw in the guitar solo from Dazed and Confused.
But before Joe broke into the very recognizable riff from How Many More Times, he spent several minutes in one corner of the stage playing guitar furiously and nonstop, culminating in a run-through of the instrumental Django that he recorded for You & Me (which really sounds great, by the way), and would usually play in concert as an intro to either Just Got Paid or Mountain Time. Researching other setlists, it would appear that this extended intro is a track Joe (or his fans) has taken to calling "Black Winter" - mimicking Jimmy Page's White Summer/Black Mountain Side. I wouldn't have made the comparison from the song alone - I don't know how similar musically they are - but as an extended solo instrumental emphasizing the player's virtuosity, they serve an identical role.
You know, when Joe addressed the audience midway through the night, he told us he had a terrible cold and was pumped up on prescription meds, but honestly, if he hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have even noticed. It didn't detract from his playing at all. And he seemed to be enjoying himself, in spite of it, as the audience was, too - enthusiastically. I know I was. This time around, I had the opportunity to bring my brother back to see Joe again for his second time, and to introduce a new fan who is now begging me to see him again the next time he comes around. I know musical tastes can be very individual - which is why I really enjoy being able to share what has become my all-time favorite guitarist and musical act with other people. Keep doing what you do, Joe Bonamassa - I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with next. (More Peter Green and Ten Years After covers, hint hint!)
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards The Daylight (2012)
1. Dislocated Boy
2. Stones In My Passway
3. Driving Towards The Daylight
4. Who's Been Talking
5. I Got All You Need
6. A Place In My Heart
7. Lonely Town Lonely Street
8. Heavenly Soul
9. New Coat Of Paint
10. Somewhere Trouble Don't Go
11. Too Much Ain't Enough Love
(w/Jimmy Barnes)
This is Joe's last studio album of his middle period (what I would call - at this point - his "golden age") - though this period also includes a following acoustic live album, and the monumental 8-disc Tour de Force. Afterward, Joe will redirect his efforts more fully toward producing original material, but we'll talk about that when the time comes. Like Blues Deluxe and Had To Cry Today, I like to group this album together contextually with Dust Bowl. Although the maturity of Joe's original songs (once again among the album's highlights) point toward his future reinvention, the record radiates a loose and effortless virtuosity that stands in contrast to the more deliberate craftsmanship that Joe will apply on his next studio album. This album also contains more covers than Dust Bowl (so, in inverted chronology, this would be the Blues Deluxe to Dust Bowl's Had To Cry Today) - yet the best ones are again those that are less obvious (e.g., surprisingly not the Robert Johnson or Howlin' Wolf covers).
Of the three original Bonamassa songs on this album, at least two are all-time greats. The album opens with Dislocated Boy, a different kind of slow rocker coming from Joe Bonamassa. The song starts with Arlan Schierbaum's organ, which is a welcome presence on the entirety of the album. There are some acoustic strings in the background, but the focus of the song is entirely on the electric rhythm. It has a bit of a Dust Bowl flavor, but the punctuated lyrics evoke images of a bar brawl ("knock down, drag out, bar fight - knuckles on the floor; and there's shattered glass, and one hell of a scar") - perhaps a modernized version of an Old West shootout. I'd call it a perfect compromise between Joe's musicianship, and listener accessibility.
Driving Towards The Daylight - the album's title track - is a more melodic, subdued affair, but no less seductive. I'd call it gently melancholic, but more wistful than your typical down-hearted blues. Joe's voice sounds fantastic, and the lyrics are perhaps even stronger yet (Danny Kortchmar shares a writing credit) - but I'll refrain from typing up half the song in my review. It's a stronger balance towards songwriting than virtuosity this time, but it still sounds damn fine. The other original on this album, Heavenly Soul, is more upbeat and plodding, with a good guitar tone and some vocal echo on the chorus. It sounds good; I like it. But I can't say it's a song that has left a very lasting impression on me.
Now on to the blues covers. Stones In My Passway is a good rock adaptation of one of my favorite Robert Johnson tunes, but I feel that it lacks the pathos of the original - which, to me, is a song about anxiety and depression ("I got stones in my passway, and my road seems dark at night; I have pains in my heart, and they're takin' my appetite") as much as the blues cliché of "bad luck and trouble". Lance Lopez - another guitar virtuoso I discovered through Grooveyard Records - also covered this song, and this is one of the rare cases where I prefer his high-octane version. Sonically speaking, Joe's recording may be more loyal to the original, but there's a reason I like British rock more than the blues legends upon whose music an empire was built. In Led Zeppelin terms, this song is less Whole Lotta Love and more Traveling Riverside Blues.
And on that note, we come to a cover of Who's Been Talking? by Howlin' Wolf - featuring an audio clip of the original bluesman talking in the intro (leading us into the call-and-response nature of the tune). It's got a swinging rhythm (some would say suspiciously reminiscent of a certain riff in Whole Lotta Love - or, rather, vice versa), but honestly it's a bit of a one-trick pony, and at only three and a half minutes (more than thirty seconds of which is just Howlin' Wolf talking), it doesn't stick around long enough to accomplish anything substantial. It is, however, an excellent preview (if but a small taste) of the "Muddy Wolf" tribute concert Joe would go on to perform in a few years.
Next up is a Willie Dixon tune originally recorded by Koko Taylor, an upbeat song filled with brazen confidence - I Got All You Need. The guitar part is bluesy, but I wouldn't be uncomfortable categorizing it as another of Joe's "junk food rockers". Following that, A Place In My Heart (originally by Bernie Marsden - guitarist of Whitesnake fame) carves out a nice, slow groove, proving that ballads ("no matter who you are, no matter what you do; there's a place in my heart for you") are so much better with a soulful blues guitar lead. Like Dust Bowl's Heartbreaker, this was another great choice for a cover by a surprisingly obvious artist. I suppose even Joe's "classic rock" covers are growing up.
Like Dust Bowl, this album closes with one of its strongest tracks, and this time it's one of Joe's covers featuring the original artist as a special guest. The song is Too Much Ain't Enough Love, and the guest is Jimmy Barnes. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you might not have heard of him, but he's one of the elder statesmen of Australian rock, past and current member of the band Cold Chisel. He's a fantastic singer, and this is an excellent song, to which Joe's guitar serves as stirring accompaniment. Time and age haven't dulled Barnes' talent, and Joe is in top form, at a point in his career when he's accomplished much, but still has further to go. It's a perfect time for him to release a killer live album - or four - but first, he'll experiment with an all-acoustic show.
Rating: 💿💿💿 Frequent Spin
Friday, February 17, 2017
Joe Bonamassa - Beacon Theatre: Live From New York (2012)
1-1. 72nd St. Subway Blues
1-2. Slow Train
1-3. Cradle Rock
1-4. When The Fire Hits The Sea
1-5. Midnight Blues
1-6. Dust Bowl
1-7. The River
1-8. I'll Take Care Of You (with Beth Hart)
1-9. Sinner's Prayer (with Beth Hart)
1-10. You Better Watch Yourself
1-11. Steal Your Heart Away
2-1. Bird On A Wire
2-2. Down Around My Place (with John Hiatt)
2-3. I Know A Place (with John Hiatt)
2-4. Blue And Evil
2-5. Walk In My Shadows (with Paul Rodgers)
2-6. Fire And Water (with Paul Rodgers)
2-7. Mountain Time
2-8. Young Man Blues
2-9. [Bonus] If Heartaches Were Nickels
Beacon Theatre is another live album that originally flew under my radar, at a point when Joe's creative output was beginning to exceed the typical one album per year - what with all the side projects he was getting involved in, between Black Country Communion, Beth Hart, and in another year or so, Rock Candy Funk Party. Compared to his last live album, this one feels less like a coherent show than a collection of live tracks, although that might just be because there's no real centerpiece. Sloe Gin is conspicuously absent - although, to be fair, we've heard two live versions by this point already (and will get two more on the soon to come Tour de Force) - as is the showstopping Just Got Paid. This may be a blessing in disguise, however, as you wouldn't really want every live album to have the same tracklist (and Joe has been really great about this). Instead, the spotlight here is spread out between three special guests (I like to informally refer to this album as "Joe Bonamassa & Friends"), none with quite the clout of Eric Clapton (who appeared on Live From The Royal Albert Hall), although I suppose Paul Rodgers comes pretty close.
The setlist for this concert consists largely of tracks from Joe's latest two albums, Black Rock and Dust Bowl - which is just as you would want. The show opens with a live version of Slow Train, giving you a chance to hear what it sounds like in concert. Then Joe dips back to his first album for the Rory Gallagher cover Cradle Rock, before pulling out Black Rock's When The Fire Hits The Sea, plowing through these songs like he's just getting warmed up. Following that is a cover of Gary Moore's Midnight Blues ("in the darkest hour of the darkest night, it's a million miles to the morning light"), which is a moody, slow blues with a searing guitar solo, that won't turn up on any of Joe's studio albums, but that we'll hear again on the Tour de Force.
It's definitely one of the highlights of this show, as is the title track from Dust Bowl, which, in my personal opinion, sounds even better live, with more emphasis on the electric instruments, and an extended solo. Joe also digs out The River, one of my favorites from his earlier days, but, while still sounding good, most of Joe's songs peak early in concert, as Joe continuously turns his attentions to his contemporary material. You might consider this a shame if you like those old songs (as I do), but it's good that so far Joe hasn't had to fall back and rely on past glories. (Even the nostalgia-heavy Tour de Force could be viewed as a ritual to honor the past in order to give Joe the freedom to move forward into a new era). Maybe a day like that will eventually come - although with his talent, I can't imagine Joe ever plateauing, just changing directions - but it hasn't come yet.
The first special guest on this album is Beth Hart (who I would describe as a "gloomy" soul singer), with whom Joe has recorded a couple of albums. I've voiced my opinions on her before; suffice to say, she's a very talented singer, but I don't enjoy Joe Bonamassa's collaborative material with her as much as his solo output. That having been said, this live album features the two best tracks from their first album together, Don't Explain, which are the two that feature Joe most prominently (which makes sense, as this isn't a Beth Hart concert). Those two tracks are I'll Take Care Of You - a dramatic, slow burner - and the rocking blues, Sinner's Prayer - which you might remember Eric Clapton covering on his '90s blues album, From The Cradle. Simply put, it's Beth Hart for Joe Bonamassa fans, which is just the introduction you'd expect from this live album.
The show continues with Dust Bowl's You Better Watch Yourself, which, like most songs in Joe's repertoire, is improved by its live energy. It has a great solo, falling into the tradition of what I like to refer to as "junk food rockers". These are songs that aren't showstoppers, and could even be called "filler" - but not because they're boring. They fill you up and never let you down. In contrast, Steal Your Heart Away, from Black Rock, is more of a "take it or leave it" track - it has a good chorus, but the guitar part pales in direct comparison to the last song. Disc two of this album opens with a cover of Leonard Cohen's Bird on a Wire. On Black Rock, this was a pretty acoustic ballad that didn't do much for me, personally. It's still not one of my favorites, but this live version is interesting, because, though still pretty laidback, it's fully electric.
Special guest number two is John Hiatt. You'd think he'd be performing Tennessee Plates, which he recorded with Joe on Dust Bowl. But instead, he pulls out a haunting acoustic number called Down Around My Place, to which Joe applies a thrilling electric crescendo. I'd say we got the benefit of that substitution. The duo also plays I Know A Place, a song that Hiatt wrote, and that Joe recorded for Black Rock. Following that is a live version of a song I wouldn't have expected to hear in concert - my favorite track from Black Rock, Blue And Evil. It skips the acoustic part completely (ironically, in one of the few cases where I think it adds to the song), making me wonder if Joe consciously steered clear of acoustic music on this live album because he was anticipating the full acoustic tour he'd be doing in the near future. Regardless, this is one of those rare cases where I actually prefer the polish of the studio version.
Joe's third guest is none other than Paul Rodgers of Bad Company fame - although Joe's interest in the musician goes back further, primarily to his days with the underappreciated band Free (which is, I'm discovering, a whole lot more than the one hit wonder who put out All Right Now). Like Hiatt, Rodgers has another surprise for the audience. Instead of doing Heartbreaker, which Joe performed with Glenn Hughes on Dust Bowl, they pull out one of Joe's songs from his first album, Walk In My Shadows - which also happens to be a cover of a song by Free! Honestly, I think I would have preferred to hear Heartbreaker, but what can you say? Their second song together, Fire and Water, is a classic Free tune with a killer riff - and one that Joe hadn't previously covered.
The concert concludes with another soaring, twelve minute long version of Mountain Time - which still sounds fantastic. This is a song that hasn't yet begun to lose steam. Following that is an extended cover of The Who's Young Man Blues. Like Just Got Paid, it's a live-only song that Joe hasn't recorded in the studio. I suppose it should be considered Joe's next big classic rock cover, but it only goes to show that Joe's moved into another phase of his career, that I've never gotten as excited about this song as many of his earlier ones. I hate to say this, but it actually feels uncharacteristically sloppy (it really does sound like an encore). Not that it doesn't have a lot of rock energy (channeling the sort of wild abandon that might one day have concluded with Pete Townshend demolishing a guitar), but it's not as tight as The Who's best live performances were. Still, I'm glad it made it onto an album for posterity.
Bringing up the rear - and listed as a bonus track on my CD - is a unique version of one of my earliest favorites from Joe's repertoire, the slow blues If Heartaches Were Nickels ("if wine and pills were hundred dollar bills, I might keep you satisfied; if broken dreams were limousines, I might take you for a ride"). This version is sparser than the one found on A New Day Yesterday Live, with a heavy emphasis on the vocals (but not without a suitably searing guitar solo) - demonstrating how far Joe has come as a singer in the decade separating these two recordings. I love it. This is a song that consistently gives me goosebumps, and puts a lump in the back of my throat, even after all these years. It's amazing, but with the acoustic version on Live From Nowhere In Particular, this is the third distinct version of the song that I think is worth putting on a greatest hits collection (or, more likely, series of collections).
I couldn't call Beacon Theatre Joe's best or most characteristic concert, and it likely wouldn't be one of the first ones you'd turn to if you wanted to demonstrate to a prospective fan what a Joe Bonamassa concert could sound like. But it's still a very good live album; I might even rate it higher than Live From The Royal Albert Hall. Within the next few releases, however, we'll encounter both my top favorite, and least favorite live album in Joe's discography...so far.
Rating: 💿💿 Occasional Spin
Monday, February 13, 2017
Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl (2011)
1. Slow Train
2. Dust Bowl
3. Tennessee Plates (feat. John Hiatt)
4. The Meaning Of The Blues
5. Black Lung Heartache
6. You Better Watch Yourself
7. The Last Matador Of Bayonne
8. Heartbreaker (feat. Glenn Hughes)
9. No Love On The Street
10. The Whale That Swallowed Jonah
11. Sweet Rowena (feat. Vince Gill)
12. Prisoner
Following the experimental departure of Black Rock, Joe returns with another solid album in the vein of The Ballad of John Henry, even reviving its American frontier theme. There are some familiar beats here, but this is an album representative of another transitional period in Joe's career. Having attained the polish of a professional artist, Joe would play around for a couple more albums before striking out more confidently as a songwriter. But if his next studio album ends up feeling like a premonition of things to come, this album still features a blend of the themes from The Ballad of John Henry, with some of the instrumentation carried over from Black Rock.
This will not be Joe's last album to start with a song about trains, but as far as opening tracks go, Slow Train is one of the better ones. It revs up like a steam-powered locomotive, featuring sound effects (interestingly, producer/impresario Kevin Shirley shares a credit on this song) that, as I've written before, take the old blues tradition of simulating the sound of trains with one's instrument to its hard-rocking conclusion. The third time I saw Joe Bonamassa in concert was during his Dust Bowl tour, and in the years since, the most enduring memory from it was hearing the band bring this train to life (sonically speaking) right before our very ears. Joe stays in character for the next song - the title track, with its wistful guitar tone that evokes the melancholy mood of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game. A Bonamassa original, the lyrics are catchy ("lifting me up, tearing me down; all you give me is indecision, the classic runaround"), and it sounds just as good (if not better) both live and in acoustic form.
The two songs that rest inside the album's bookends are guest spots, and both veer toward country territory (also with piano accompaniment). The earlier one features John Hiatt (who wrote Black Rock's I Know A Place) on a lightweight ditty called Tennessee Plates; and the later one, called Sweet Rowena, balances the line between country and blues, as Joe plays his guitar very much in B.B. King mode over the contributions of Vince Gill. Neither of these tracks are among my favorites - not because they aren't any good, but simply because they wander outside of my musical comfort zone. My next least favorite song on the album would probably be Black Lung Heartache, despite its contribution to the album's overarching concept. It's bluesy, and it rocks pretty hard at times, but it marries the worst parts of my least favorite Bonamassa albums, utilizing the eclectic instruments of Black Rock with the acoustic/electric hybrid approach of Sloe Gin.
In the middle distance, we have a scattering of solid songs to fill out the album. The Meaning of the Blues has a good concept, and a crunchy guitar tone throughout, but it doesn't go that extra mile to distinguish itself, in my opinion. With heritage owing to Little Walter, You Better Watch Yourself is a classic blues rocker with a heavy emphasis on the wah pedal (and whatever Joe might say about the need for restraint, I've always enjoyed a good wah song - White Room, anyone?). The Last Matador of Bayonne (conjuring some of that European imagery from Black Rock) slows it down a bit, evoking a similar, mournful atmosphere to The Great Flood, but inevitably feels like a retread in the wake of that song (not that it isn't still fun to listen to). It's more imaginative, but less raw - and I like my blues raw. And then there's The Whale That Swallowed Jonah, with its upbeat tempo and a guitar part that reminds me of Lonesome Road Blues. It sounds good, but has otherwise not made a lasting impression in my mind.
Then we come to Heartbreaker - a cover of a song by Free (not Led Zeppelin - sorry!) - which is an exciting tune ("I said my maker must have been a heartbreaker"). It features guest vocals by Glenn Hughes, the Deep Purple alum with whom Joe was performing in rock supergroup Black Country Communion around that time. In spite of the musical pedigree of these two giants, I don't think this cover necessarily rivals the distinct sound and attack of Pauls Rodgers and Kossof on the original. I'd be inclined to put it on the shelf with One Of These Days as a cover that doesn't improve on the original. That having been said, it really does sound good, and the more I listen to it, the more I'm liking it.
Opening with sirens, No Love On The Street (also a Tim Curry cover) passes itself off as a direct coda to one of Joe's best recorded songs - Sloe Gin (as a matter of fact, I enjoy playing these two tracks back to back). It doesn't spend its time building up to a crescendo, but is instead solid guitar energy throughout, with Joe playing the way I like best - attacking those notes like sharpened steel. I rate it one of my all-time favorite "deep cuts" from Joe's discography, and my favorite track on this album. As much as I love the way Sloe Gin ends in concert, in my fantasies, I'd love to hear a live version of it with this song tacked on to the end.
The album closes with Prisoner, a dramatic Barbra Streisand cover ("I'm like a prisoner, captured in your eyes; I've been taken, I've been hypnotized") that lends itself surprisingly well to Joe's musical approach - although listening to the original now, Joe's guitar-heavy adaptation sounds like a natural evolution for the song. Without being a traditional blues, it has the kind of emotion and intensity you typically find in Joe's best slow blues. Along with Reconsider Baby from Had To Cry Today, I rate this as one of the all-time best unsung covers in Joe's discography. It's a stunning end to a stellar album from what I would consider Joe Bonamassa's "golden age" (the period that began with You & Me, and continues through the Tour de Force). I don't know if I'd prefer it to The Ballad of John Henry, but it's essential middle-period Bonamassa nonetheless.
Rating: 💿💿💿 Frequent Spin
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - Black Rock (2010)
1. Steal Your Heart Away
2. I Know A Place
3. When The Fire Hits The Sea
4. Quarryman's Lament
5. Spanish Boots
6. Bird On A Wire
7. Three Times A Fool
8. Night Life
9. Wandering Earth
10. Look Over Yonders Wall
11. Athens To Athens
12. Blue And Evil
13. Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind
Like Sloe Gin, Black Rock is another experimental departure for Joe. It was recorded in Greece (at Black Rock Studios in Santorini), and features a mediterranean, "world music" sort of flavor, with the addition of various folk instruments. It rocks considerably harder than Sloe Gin, but the songs feel a little disjointed, and in my opinion actually suffer from an attempt to fuse different musical forms, instead of planting themselves firmly in one camp or the other. Prior to reminding myself of the extent to which Sloe Gin is an acoustic album during this retrospective listening marathon, I had considered Black Rock to be my least favorite Joe Bonamassa album (even below So, It's Like That), and it's still among those I listen to the least frequently, surpassed only by the likes of An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House.
But saying that I don't especially like the album doesn't mean that it is entirely without merit. Notable highlights might include the Jeff Beck cover, Spanish Boots (though appropriately European-themed, it pales in comparison to the best of Joe's earlier period classic rock covers); Joe's "long time coming" duet with lifetime mentor and celebrated blues legend B.B. King on Night Life (although, as with Eric Clapton's guest appearance on Live From The Royal Albert Hall, the recording cannot hope to reflect the momentousness of the occasion); and my personal favorite, Blue And Evil, which opens with an acoustic riff but quickly blasts into full electric force (with the meanest riff since Cream's Politician), reminding me of an earlier favorite: The River from Had To Cry Today.
The album opens on what is probably its strongest foot, with Steal Your Heart Away, a solid rocker, and the John Hiatt-penned I Know A Place, followed by When The Fire Hits The Sea (a title that evokes mental images of Greek fire). That last one has a strong vocal part, but like much on this album, I don't feel that it reaches the extra mile to distinguish itself as "great". Upon repeated listening, Quarryman's Lament (possibly a sequel to Story of a Quarryman from The Ballad of John Henry) has grown on me the most, and is what I would call the best demonstration of the bouzouki and clarino accompaniment on this album (which, quite honestly, can get in the way on some of the other songs), giving it a flutey, stringy kind of sound.
For an album that features both a Freddie King and an Otis Rush cover (Look Over Yonders Wall and Three Times A Fool, respectively), I don't really feel that it brings the blues. Maybe it's just the context of the album they appear on, or that they're more blues fillers than showstoppers, but I like the original artist's version better in both cases. Wandering Earth (an original) is probably the most traditional-sounding Joe Bonamassa track on the album, but as an electric blues, it feels kind of lethargic. Joe's cover of Leonard Cohen's Bird on a Wire is sweet and gentle, but it makes me wonder if this is part of Kevin Shirley's ploy to expand Joe's popularity into the female demographic. The other strictly acoustic track on this album, Athens to Athens, similarly leaves me dry.
Finally, the album closes with a lightweight acoustic ditty - a cover of Blind Boy Fuller's Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind - that reminds me of Van Halen's Ice Cream Man, albeit not so gimmicky, and with less vocal theatrics (as opposed to, say, Joe's cover of Jelly Roll from Sloe Gin). It also kinda dulls the thunder of Blue and Evil, which directly precedes it, and would have made for a more climactic finish to the album. Coming to Black Rock as a fan of Joe Bonamassa the blues rock titan, it doesn't get me very excited. But you might find it considerably more interesting if you're someone with a deeper appreciation of Greek or "world" music. And, hey, every new fan of Joe helps to build his legacy as one of the greats! But if I had to choose, I'd just as soon put another of Joe's discs on the turntable for a spin.
Rating: 💿 Rare Spin
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - Live From The Royal Albert Hall (2009)
1-1. Django1-2. The Ballad Of John Henry
1-3. So, It's Like That
1-4. Last Kiss
1-5. So Many Roads
1-6. Stop!
1-7. Further On Up The Road
1-8. Woke Up Dreaming
1-9. High Water Everywhere
1-10. Sloe Gin
1-11. Lonesome Road Blues
2-1. Happier Times
2-2. Your Funeral My Trial
2-3. Blues Deluxe
2-4. Story Of A Quarryman
2-5. The Great Flood
2-6. Just Got Paid
2-7. Mountain Time
2-8. Asking Around For You
The theme of this era of Joe's career is making it as an established artist, and this concert is the crystallization of that concept - Joe's first performance at the esteemed Royal Albert Hall in London, proof positive that he had very well and truly "made it". I would actually recommend you get the DVD over the CD, because this is a concert that's more fun to watch than listen to, because the DVD really hammers home the personal significance of this show for Joe, and the road he's taken to get there. And though it may have been, as Joe says, the "greatest night of [his] life" (up to that point), I have to be completely brutal here, because sonically, it's not his best live album.
And I hate to say anything bad about a Joe Bonamassa concert (much less one as monumental as this), because he's a remarkably consistent musician, and even on his "off" days, he still delivers an incredible show, and is heads and shoulders above his competition. And I'm sure this would have been a phenomenal show to have attended (and the DVD gives you a better feel for that), but when you have many different concert recordings to choose from (including another one at the Royal Albert Hall during the fantastic Tour de Force), the merely good inevitably gets passed over for the great. That's just how it goes.
From the very first time I listened to this show, I felt that Joe seemed uncharacteristically nervous, and that it affected his playing. Now, this is completely understandable - being such a landmark show, and having the pressure of performing a song with a lifelong idol and one of his biggest inspirations. But it's like he's trying too hard to put on a good show, when most of his shows seem effortlessly flawless. A lot of the songs sound loose and untamed (but with less of a wild ferocity than an aimless wandering), he pushes his vocals a little harder than they really need to go, and some of the older songs (particularly from the power trio days) suffer from overinstrumentation.
To start with, Eric Clapton's guest spot on Further On Up The Road is a bit anticlimactic. I hate to say that, because I'm sure it meant the world to Joe, but I've always had the opinion that Eric Clapton is a little bit overrated as a guitarist, given how massively influential he was. And in the category of special guests, Paul Jones shows up to play harmonica on Your Funeral My Trial. A lot of the songs heard on Live From Nowhere In Particular are repeated here, and don't necessarily sound any better than they did before. The acoustic powerhouse Woke Up Dreaming has notably been extended a couple more minutes, with an interesting new opening section. And it's great to hear a live version of Blues Deluxe, but though the guitar part sounds fantastic, the rest of the song drowns in the brass and piano accompaniment.
The highlights of this concert, musically speaking, would have to be the new songs from The Ballad of John Henry, heard for the first time live. Among those is, of course, the title track, which is exciting to hear, but it will take some time yet for it to grow into an epic rivaling Joe's other showstoppers such as Mountain Time and Just Got Paid (here pushed back to the end of the concert), and the encore, Asking Around For You, which - itself at ten minutes - is beginning to grow a little unwieldy. The rest constitute the best tracks from the album, including Stop!, Last Kiss, Lonesome Road Blues, Happier Times, and The Great Flood, although many of these are worth waiting for their Tour de Force versions. I know it probably doesn't sound like it from my review, but this is by no means a bad album. (And I still recommend the DVD). It's just that there are better ones out there, and I don't listen to this one as frequently.
Rating: 💿💿 Occasional Spin
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - The Ballad of John Henry (2009)
1. The Ballad of John Henry
2. Stop!
3. Last Kiss
4. Jockey Full of Bourbon
5. Story of a Quarryman
6. Lonesome Road Blues
7. Happier Times
8. Feelin' Good
9. Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter
10. The Great Flood
11. From The Valley
12. As The Crow Flies
Whether or not you call it his best (there is a lot more greatness to come!), I feel like this is the quintessential Joe Bonamassa album. Upon reflection, John Henry is a perfect choice to symbolize what Joe stands for. A true American legend, John Henry was the steel-driving man who raced a steam-powered engine, and won. And though the effort conquered him, in The Ballad of John Henry, Joe Bonamassa sings, "bring me the hammer that killed John Henry, 'cause it won't kill me." What a show of bravado and confidence! And yet, coming from Joe - the hardest working musician alive - it sounds completely genuine. It's the reason why I count Joe Bonamassa not just an amazing artist whose music I enjoy listening to, but a genuine role model that I look up to in my life - someone with a dream, guided by a true passion for what he does, who just keeps on chugging along like a railroad train no matter what obstacles lie in his path. In my case, it may be a bit of wishful thinking, but we all need something to live up to, to drive us forward.
The Ballad of John Henry is a mature album. I said that Joe's music started sounding "modern" as far back as Had To Cry Today, but this is Joe as a professional musician, and not just a guitar wunderkind (as if that wasn't enough!). And if Joe demonstrated newfound control over his raw, unbridled talent on You & Me, on this album he displays a remarkable level of command - not just as a guitarist and singer, but as a songwriter, too, as a full half of the tracklist consists of Bonamassa originals (not including his contribution to adapting the title track from a blues ballad by Mississippi John Hurt). The music here is polished, with less reliance on clichés, and songs that aren't so easy to categorize into preconceived roles (such as "the slow blues", or "the pretty ballad"). Apart from the title track, there are less peaks (songs that immediately jump out at you), but the background quality of the album as a whole is higher than ever before.
Take The Great Flood, for example. This is a song I didn't even really notice until I was blindsided by the live version from Joe's Tour de Force. Now it's one of my favorites. It's unassuming, but it constructs a very melancholy atmosphere, before laying out a subdued (albeit less so on the live version) yet very soulful guitar solo, accompanied by a distant, wailing saxophone. It doesn't reach out and say "look at me!"; it's the man in the corner nursing a bottle whom you'd just as soon overlook, but given a chance, would regale you with incredible stories of woe from his life. And then there's Happier Times, which sounds like it would be more upbeat than it actually is, until you realize that it's not called "Happy Times". A couple albums ago, Joe was boasting that he'd go down any road there is, but now he's singing like a man who's already been around the block a few times, and has seen some things. But don't despair, for in the very next song, Joe sings about how he's Feelin' Good. And why not? He's managed to carve out success for himself with his own bare hands.
We've already been introduced to the recurring railroad theme in a lot of Joe's songs, but this album takes a detour from the cotton fields of the Mississippi delta, and the electric blues clubs up north in Chicago, to head out west, molding those influences with a reverence for the American frontier (which we'll hear more of on Dust Bowl). To wit, Jockey Full of Bourbon (a truly inspired Tom Waits cover) sounds like something straight out of a wild west saloon (if, you know, they had electric guitars back then). On that note, and perhaps inspired by the success of Sloe Gin, there are some less obvious choices for covers on this album, such as Ike & Tina Turner's humorously titled Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter. For better and worse, Joe has evolved beyond the stage where his albums are defined by big name classic rock covers. (And though I've always enjoyed those covers, I love the new direction he's gone in - and it's better for his career and reputation in the long run).
The Sam Brown cover Stop! is an infectious hit (I tell you, Joe is introducing me to some eclectic music), and the Bonamassa original Last Kiss is another one that tends to stick in you ear ("tell me how long supposed to keep a good man down, 'fore he packs his suitcase and gets the hell out of town?"). Story of a Quarryman rocks pretty hard, with a nice, chunky riff, while Lonesome Road Blues is the best rock filler track Joe's recorded yet - but hold out for live versions if you want to hear some even more frenetic solos. The album finishes with a sparse and airy gospel-flavored acoustic instrumental titled From The Valley, which sounds very much like something from Michael Bloomfield's collaboration with Woody Harris, followed by an electric cover of Tony Joe White's As The Crow Flies (which I remember hearing on Rory Gallagher's Irish Tour album from 1974). It's a mature album from a mature artist, and a great record to spin. What's next for Joe? Headlining one of the most prestigious concert halls in the world (a far cry from "nowhere in particular"!), and inviting one of his lifelong idols up onto the stage to play with him!
Rating: 💿💿💿 Frequent Spin
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - Live From Nowhere in Particular (2008)
1-1. Bridge To Better Days1-2. Walk In My Shadows
1-3. So Many Roads
1-4. India/Mountain Time
1-5. Another Kinda Love
1-6. Sloe Gin
1-7. One Of These Days
2-1. Ball Peen Hammer
2-2. If Heartaches Were Nickels
2-3. Woke Up Dreaming
2-4. Django/Just Got Paid
2-5. High Water Everywhere
2-6. Asking Around For You
2-7. A New Day Yesterday/
Starship Trooper/Wurm
This is an album that kind of snuck up on me. It was before the era when Joe would begin to pump out live albums almost as prolifically as he's done with studio albums. As far as I know, in 2008, there was only the live counterpart to Joe's debut album (which is, nevertheless, fantastic), and the much-forgotten (but not un-memorable) Live At Rockpalast concert video. As the title implies, this was not a "destination" live gig, like a lot of Joe's subsequent live albums (which read like a who's who of prestigious concert venues - Royal Albert Hall, Beacon Theatre, Vienna Opera House, Red Rocks, Radio City Music Hall, Greek Theatre, etc.), but sounds more like a hodgepodge of recordings gathered throughout a tour (which, sometimes, is the way you get the best live recordings, rather than staking everything on a single night - although Joe is a very consistent performer).
The second time I saw Joe Bonamassa live in concert (in 2007), he was still a small and relatively unknown act, playing an outdoor arts festival. But, already a huge fan by this time, I brought my dad and my brother out to hear him play. When he launched into the extended instrumental section of ZZ Top's Just Got Paid, and started jamming out on a solo lifted from Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused, I was blown away. I felt like I was listening to Led Zeppelin in concert during the '70s! I thought for sure this was going to be a limited concert special, as Joe had seemed to largely avoid the "obvious" choices for classic rock covers, whether to solidify his reputation as a "true" fan of the music (who doesn't just play the popular tracks), a "serious" artist, or otherwise. But I thought to myself, I hope he puts out a live album from this tour, because I want a recording of this song to listen to over and over again.
Little did I know, Just Got Paid (complete with its extended jam solo) would become one of Joe's enduring live staples (never recorded in the studio - not that there'd be anything to gain if it was), along with Sloe Gin, heard for the first time live here (as I heard it for the first time ever - even before the album came out - at that show I attended, and instantly pegged it as one of Joe's best songs), and one we won't hear until Joe's next studio album. Regardless, that's where Live From Nowhere in Particular came in, which also contains recorded evidence of the soaring, ten minute epic that Mountain Time had grown into, since its humble beginnings as a sweet but mostly forgettable track on So, It's Like That. And those are just the highlights of this incredible live album.
Even the acoustic set is capable of holding my attention, with an unplugged version of one of my favorite of Joe's electric blues, If Heartaches Were Nickels, and the much anticipated live version of Woke Up Dreaming (eight minutes long!), that I've been hyping up since Blues Deluxe. Meanwhile, the last two albums' opening tracks have been converted into full-on acoustic numbers (it's no wonder I have trouble remembering which of these songs are acoustic and which are electric sometimes). Ball Peen Hammer is a little too "jangly" for my tastes, but the stripped-back arrangement (not trying to be an electric song half the time) draws more attention to its lyrical merits. I still prefer High Water Everywhere, though, which makes for a pretty rollicking acoustic song, featuring some of that fancy fretwork that must have been left over from Woke Up Dreaming.
Hailing from You & Me, this album also features the first live version of Bridge To Better Days, which sounds great as a set opener, with its chunky riff and extended solo. Walk In My Shadows dips back into Joe's early catalog, proving that he's lost none of his fire in his recent attempt to branch out and reach wider audiences - even placed alongside a typically searing live version of the slow blues So Many Roads. Another Kinda Love fulfills its function as a satisfying filler song, and a funkier take on One Of These Days manages to improve upon its studio counterpart. The show's encore features an especially dynamic version of the pretty piano ballad Asking Around For You, which places keyboard player Rick Melick in the spotlight. (Joe's band at this time also includes Carmine Rojas on bass, and Bogie Bowles on drums).
Finally, we get to hear how Joe's first big hit - A New Day Yesterday - has evolved over the years, shortly before he would retire it from his live shows. It still sounds heavy, but it's not as pure and undiluted as it was before - almost as if Joe had gotten bored of playing it the same way so many times. Now he wanders off onto a musical tangent - albeit an interesting one, incorporating the instrumental portion from Yes' Starship Trooper/Wurm. It's an apt demonstration of the simultaneous principles of homeostasis and transistasis that Joe - ever the evolving musician - paradoxically embodies in his career. Every time you hear him, he's the same Joe you know and love, but he's always got something new and exciting to play for you.
Rating: 💿💿💿 Frequent Spin
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - Sloe Gin (2007)
1. Ball Peen Hammer
2. One Of These Days
3. Seagull
4. Dirt In My Pocket
5. Sloe Gin
6. Another Kind Of Love
7. Around The Bend
8. Black Night
9. Jelly Roll
10. Richmond
11. India
Kevin Shirley helped to mold Joe Bonamassa's sound, and hone his talent, but he also encouraged him to stretch out and experiment - which is good, and something that I think Joe liked to do anyway. Experiments are, by their very nature, hit or miss - and you can't know until you try. Also, diversifying your sound means two things: 1) some of the people who already liked the way you sound will be disappointed, and 2) other people who didn't particularly like the way you sounded will perk up their ears and start listening. So it's a double-edged sword, but I don't disparage Joe his musical experiments. And as far as experiments go, this album is a pretty safe one - featuring polished, commercial, more acoustic songs. But for me personally, it's too middle of the road. I'd rather listen to him doing what he does best (yes, again): hard rocking, soulful blues. I mean, it's like Neil Young performing with The Stray Gators. The music is pretty, and undeniably popular, but hell, give me Crazy Horse any day of the week!
Take One Of These Days as the first of many examples. After tackling Led Zeppelin on You & Me, I was ecstatic to learn that Joe had covered a song by one of my favorite lesser known rock bands from the '70s - Ten Years After. But, sadly, this is one of the few cases where one of Joe's classic rock covers does not improve on the original. Musically, it's very accomplished, but the performance lacks a certain raw energy that Alvin Lee delivered, that made the original so good. I'd say that's the flaw with this whole album - it's like that scene in the Johnny Cash biopic. These songs don't sound like they're being played as if somebody's life depended on it.
You know, it's ironic that this Ten Years After cover should turn up on this album, because I feel like it occupies a similar space as the album the original appeared on. A Space In Time is probably Ten Years After's biggest album (it contains probably the only song of theirs you've ever heard - I'd Love To Change The World - unless you've watched the Woodstock movie), yet I've always felt that it's not as strong an album as some of the ones that came before and after it. In Ten Years After's case, those would be Cricklewood Green and Rock & Roll Music To The World. For Joe, it's the albums that directly preceded and followed it (You & Me, and The Ballad of John Henry).
The album's one saving grace is its title track, an unlikely cover of a song originally recorded by actor/entertainer Tim Curry (yes, the man who was Lord Darkness in Legend, and also the "sweet transvestite" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show) - and what a saving grace it is. Even the tasteful piano/keyboard accompaniment serves the mood, rather than detracts from it (something that's hard to pull off in a rock/blues song). I would unflinchingly call it Joe's own "Stairway To Heaven", as it is a slow and soulful ballad that builds to an incredible guitar solo, and has become (at least up until recently) the anchor around which Joe's live concerts pivot. But I don't feel too bad about not listening to the album it hails from more often, because you can hear it on just about every live album Joe's put out since, and it's always quite good.
The rest of the album contains a combination of musically diverse "pretty" songs, and acoustic/electric hybrids (which are too electric for acoustic fans, and too acoustic for electric fans, so I'm not sure who they're designed to impress). In the first camp, there is the acoustic ballad Seagull - a Bad Company song, but you wouldn't know it - the album closing duo of Richmond, followed by the appropriately titled instrumental India, and the fairly boring Jelly Roll - it's a decent spot for Joe's singing, but it doesn't even feature the technical prowess that Joe's best acoustic songs have. In the second camp, there is Ball Peen Hammer - not as strong an opener as High Water Everywhere was, in my opinion - Dirt In My Pocket, which features the first hard rock riff on the album (and yet, is still half acoustic), and Another Kind Of Love - a John Mayall cover I like that I would call one of Joe's "junk food rockers".
Also featured is a re-recording (a studio first for Joe!) of Around The Bend, last heard on Had To Cry Today. Comparing the two versions is illustrative of the problem I have with this album. The new version displays a level of maturity and sophistication that is laudable. It's sparser, more gentle, and with subtler accompaniment. Joe's vocals have improved. But it's also softer, and though it represents an evolution for Joe as a musician, I'm not sure I like it better than the earlier version. After all, as rough as Joe was back on his debut album, it's still one of my favorites in his entire discography. Studio polish is nice - it's amazing what it can do sometimes - but the content is the thing, and sometimes the polish gets in the way, and becomes the story more than the story. It can really change the feel of a song - for better or worse.
Even Black Night - one of Joe's typical slow blues - has never made much of an impression on me. It's a breath of fresh air amongst all these acoustic numbers, but it lacks the energy and immediacy that makes these kinds of songs usually so good. I mean, compare it to Reconsider Baby. Joe wields more control over his talents on this record, but sometimes unbridled energy is exactly the thing you need. In time, Joe will learn how to produce controlled musical aggression (the title track on this album is a taste of what that can sound like) - like a martial artist practicing mindfulness in the midst of a spontaneous attack - but at this point, the genuine article is more compelling. Sloe Gin is undoubtedly the more polished and commercial-sounding record, but would it be absolutely terrible if I said I'd rather listen to So, It's Like That? I don't need complex arrangements, and I don't mind lovelorn clichés - all I need is a screaming rock and roll guitar.
Rating: 💿 Rare Spin
Friday, September 2, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - You & Me (2006)
1. High Water Everywhere
2. Bridge To Better Days
3. Asking Around For You
4. So Many Roads
5. I Don't Believe
6. Tamp Em Up Solid
7. Django
8. Tea For One
9. Palm Trees Helicopters And Gasoline
10. Your Funeral And My Trial
11. Torn Down
With his "power trio" days behind him (bidding a fond farewell to Eric Czar and Kenny Kramme), You & Me is undeniably a turning point in Joe's career - marking the beginning of a lucrative creative partnership between Joe Bonamassa and record producer Kevin Shirley (which is still going strong ten years later). I'd personally call this Joe's breakout album - it's his first record that sounds more like an "album" than just a collection of songs (notwithstanding the blues concept of Blues Deluxe, and the sonic consistency of A New Day Yesterday), representing a maturity and sophistication not heard before - as Joe audibly wields more control over both his singing and his guitar playing. This is the first album on which Joe's original (and co-written) material begins to rival (not surpass just yet - if So Many Roads and Tea For One have anything to say about it - but rival) his legendary covers. It's also the first of only two studio albums (as of 2016) not named for one of its tracks, although it could easily have been called Bridge To Better Days (except insofar as that would do an injustice to three of the four albums that preceded it).
The first half of You & Me practically plays like a greatest hits album, opening with the blues groove of High Water Everywhere, evoking the legendary floods of the Mississippi delta, then kicking into the phenomenal and inspirational Bridge To Better Days, with its infectious main riff, followed by Joe's best and sweetest ballad yet, which makes tasteful use of its symphonic accompaniment, Asking Around For You ("if I ever get to Heaven, the first thing that I'll do, is tap an angel on the shoulder, and I'll be asking around for you"), with So Many Roads on cleanup. That last song is credited as an Otis Rush cover, but given Joe's familiarity with the British blues, I like to believe he had John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in mind at the time, who recorded this song (and another that turns up on this album - Your Funeral And My Trial) with Peter Green on guitar. Regardless, whether by way of John Mayall and Peter Green, or Otis Rush (and you can't go wrong either way), So Many Roads is one of Joe's best slow blues covers, and one of his first in a long line of songs about trains.
The album mellows out a little bit at this point - but we haven't even gotten to the best song yet! I Don't Believe is another rollicking rocker, although it plays on a riff that I think has been used to better effect in some of Joe's later songs. Tamp Em Up Solid (credited to Ry Cooder) is an acoustic piece with a bit of a sparse, "church revival" kind of sound, that shows off Joe's melodic range as a singer, and Django (as in jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt) is a sublime and roomy electric instrumental that I've been trained to expect as the opener to another song - usually one of Joe's live epics, such as Mountain Time or Just Got Paid - as heard in concerts from Joe's middle period. Both serve as a nice foil to much of the heavier material on this album (and Joe's discography in general). Then we come to Joe's classic rock cover du jour (or album), which is an ambitious take on one of rock royalty's lesser sung gems, the slow blues of Led Zeppelin's Tea For One. It's a perfect fit, and with guest vocalist Doug Henthorn taking over the singing, Joe does an incredible job evoking the sound and feeling of Jimmy Page's liquid leads. As a huge fan of the band, I rate it one of the finest Zeppelin covers I've heard.
Finishing up the album is a trio of tracks that each carry their weight, even if they don't earn themselves a place on any of my greatest hits discs. Palm Trees Helicopters And Gasoline (I'm thinking that must be some kind of reference to the Vietnam War?) is this album's acoustic showpiece - as well as its instrumental filler with a funny name. Your Funeral And My Trial (a song credited to Sonny Boy Williamson) is one of those "junk food rockers" - short, simple, but oh so satisfying, with a searing guitar solo. Nobody makes filler that tastes so good like Joe Bonamassa. Finally, Torn Down (not to be confused with Freddie King's I'm Tore Down, which was also covered by Eric Clapton) starts off with a lot of promise, but loses a little of its swagger in the breakdown - which is really a shame, because it has the makings of being an even better song. Even so, it's a strong finish to a strong album by a burgeoning artist who had nowhere to go but up.
Rating: 💿💿💿 Frequent Spin
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - Had To Cry Today (2004)
1. Never Make Your Move Too Soon
2. Travellin' South
3. Junction 61
4. Reconsider Baby
5. Around The Bend
6. Revenge Of The 10 Gallon Hat
7. When She Dances
8. Had To Cry Today
9. The River
10. When The Sun Goes Down
11. Faux Mantini
Although Joe's previous album distinguishes itself as "the blues album" (not that that doesn't describe over half his discography!), I like to think of this as Blues Deluxe 2. The balance is tipped more towards original songs than blues covers this time, but there are a lot of similarities that can be drawn between these two albums (starting with the fact that they both open with a B.B. King cover - which I think is pretty cool), and they seem to fit into the same more or less indistinguishable groove in my mind. Which is not a bad thing - Blues Deluxe was a good album, and so too is Had To Cry Today. Both albums were named for their British blues rock covers; this album venerates another of Joe's biggest influences - Eric Clapton, via the short-lived supergroup Blind Faith. By direct comparison, Had To Cry Today may not cook as hot as Blues Deluxe, but it's a great rock n roll jam, and still one of the standout tracks on this album, as well as among Joe's early period classic rock covers.
And the praise doesn't stop there. I already mentioned The River in my last review, which Joe would pair up with Burning Hell in concerts around this time - this was, for me, one of the highlights of Joe's early live shows. The River starts out with a quiet acoustic part, before breaking out into full electric mode, complete with slide guitar and harmonica (think Led Zeppelin's When The Levee Breaks). And then there's Reconsider Baby, a searing cover of a slow blues by Lowell Fulson, also featuring another great vocal performance by Joe. I'm surprised this track hasn't gotten more attention - it's always been one of my early favorites from Joe's discography. It's the first song in Joe's catalogue that really sounds "modern" to my ears (from this point forward, the music begins to sound more and more like the Joe I know from his more contemporary material). He's put out more than his fair share of guitar-heavy slow blues (which is alright by me, as that's my favorite kind of blues), and it may be that it gets to a point later on when there are too many to keep track of, but at this point, this song stands out like a beacon on the album, as a testament to the depth of emotion that fuels the blues in its finest moments.
Continuing with the comparisons to Blues Deluxe, Around The Bend seems to follow in the footsteps of I Don't Live Anywhere, with another statement on Joe's roadbound lifestyle ("I'll go down any road there is, to see what's around the bend"). And Faux Mantini could well be the spiritual successor to Woke Up Dreaming, falling firmly in the camp that features fancy acoustic fretwork. When She Dances is a sweet ballad ("when she dances, I see where my only chance is") that fashions itself as the Wonderful Tonight of Joe's catalogue (minus the arguably overrated popularity that the Clapton track courts), and reminds me of Neil Young's When You Dance You Can Really Love (thematically, if not strictly musically). Travellin' South (another Albert Collins cover) is a rollicking rocker, Revenge of the 10 Gallon Hat (with its almost country flavor) would seem to pioneer Joe's habit of recording musically interesting (yet arguably filler) tracks with goofy names, and the upbeat, mostly acoustic When The Sun Goes Down keeps the slide guitar and harmonica of The River going for just a little bit longer. All of these tracks come together to create an enjoyable listening experience, crafted by an artist who was - as history would show - on the verge of entering a new phase of his career.
Rating: 💿💿 Occasional Spin
Friday, August 19, 2016
Joe Bonamassa - Blues Deluxe (2003)
1. You Upset Me Baby2. Burning Hell
3. Blues Deluxe
4. Man Of Many Words
5. Woke Up Dreaming
6. I Don't Live Anywhere
7. Wild About You Baby
8. Long Distance Blues
9. Pack It Up
10. Left Overs
11. Walking Blues
12. Mumbling Word
Going back and listening through Joe's discography in chronological order is fascinating. On his first album he sounds like the new kid on the block, going head to head with every other guitar virtuoso in town (and coming out in front). On his second album he tries out a more mainstream, pop(-ish) sound, so that by the time you get to Blues Deluxe - an album filled with blues covers to celebrate "the year of the blues" - it's a refreshing reminder of what Joe is all about - playing the blues. And while Joe has always been into experimenting with how far he can stretch the limitations of the blues format, this is going straight to the root of what the blues is. And he needed this - before pushing the blues into new frontiers, he had to establish a base of operations - a control variable, if you will.
And it doesn't get much more traditional than this. Featuring covers of songs by no less than B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, and T-Bone Walker, this is a great record to spin if you love the blues - even if the fact that it's a little more eclectic, and features a few slower and/or acoustic tracks, means I don't listen to it quite as often as A New Day Yesterday. The title track - a cover of a song recorded by Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart, of all people (British blues represent!) - is the clear standout, with not only a scorching guitar part, but a remarkable vocal performance, marking the first moment it became clear that Joe Bonamassa was serious about improving his singing (I remember this song distinctly from the first time I saw Joe in concert, in a small, repurposed movie theater).
I'm also a fan of the John Lee Hooker cover, Burning Hell, featuring a mean slide guitar and harmonica accompaniment, which Joe had a habit of slinging together with the song The River from his next album, during concerts from this era. Woke Up Dreaming is a great acoustic showcase (it's basically Joe saying, "I don't always play acoustic guitar, but when I do, I play the shit out of it"), although once you've heard Joe play this one live, you'll feel like the studio version cuts off short. Another of the few original tracks on this album, I Don't Live Anywhere is the first in a series of softer, slower ballads that Joe will record. It's another great showcase for his singing, and could well be Joe "Always On The Road" Bonamassa's theme song - "I don't live anywhere, I live everywhere; this road is my home."
I would rate Long Distance Blues - a slow, mournful blues penned by T-Bone Walker, who wrote Stormy Monday - one of the premier unsung "deep cuts" in Joe Bonamassa's catalogue, but at under four minutes, it unfortunately doesn't stick around long enough to make a better case for itself. The rest of the album consists of slightly less memorable tracks, that are nevertheless still perfectly solid songs to fill out the album. And it's fun to hear Joe play in more or less the styles of different blues legends - which, incidentally, is the subject of some of his recent concerts. I've read that Blues Deluxe is one of Joe's fan-favorite, best-selling albums - and it's understandable: the blues is popular (in its own way). I may not rate it one of my top favorites, but it's definitely in the upper half, and it's a good early representation of what Joe is all about.
Rating: 💿💿 Occasional Spin
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