Joe Bonamassa

Joe Bonamassa ‎- Black Rock - 2010 - J&R Adventures

It’s a sign of Joe Bonamassa’s increasing profile that he got blues legend B.B. King to guest on his eighth album Black Rock -- and if what you’re doing is good enough to rope B.B. in, there’s not much reason to change, so Bonamassa doesn’t tinker with his formula here, retaining a little of the folky undertow of The Ballad of John Henry, but with its remaining roots in a thick, heavy blues-rock more redolent of ‘60s London than the ‘50s Delta. Of course, Bonamassa has never shied away from his love of Brit-blues, even underscoring it with a good streamlined cover of Jeff Beck’s “Spanish Boots,” but he retains a healthy respect for all manners of classic blues, kicking out a Chicago groove on a cover of Otis Rush’s “Three Times a Fool,” reaching back to Blind Boy Fuller for “Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind” and ably replicating B.B.’s latter-day soul groove on a horn-smacked cover of Willie Nelson’s “Night Life.” Bonamassa has an ear for non-blues writers too, cherrypicking Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire” and John Hiatt’s “I Know a Place,” tying it all together with beefy lead lines, but the provocative moments on Black Rock are all self-penned, whether it’s the clattering stomp “When the Fire Hits the Sea,” the British folk lilt of “Quarryman’s Lament” and “Athens to Athens,” or the droning dramatic epic “Blue and Evil.” These are easily the most intriguing songs here, suggesting Bonamassa realizes that the familiar covers allow him to stretch out elsewhere, and while it might be interesting hearing him follow this path for a full album, what’s here on Black Rock is both satisfying and admirably, if reservedly, ambitious. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine © 2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/black-rock-mw0001959610

One of Joe Bonamassa's more diverse albums. The ace guitarist opened for his hero BB King when he was 12 years old. He's a big fan of 70s British blues rock and most of his albums reflect this style. However, "Black Rock" is a more varied album. Joe covers Leonard Cohen's "Bird On The Wire" with a nice Mediterranean style touch. John Hiatt’s “I Know a Place" is covered well, as is the Willie Nelson' soul flavoured "Night Life" helped out by B.B. King on guitar and vocals. Joe also covers Tom Waits' folksy "Quarryman's Lament". His own "Athens To Athens" is given a guitar-and-bouzouki blues treatment. If you like great guitar, you will enjoy Joe Bonamassa's covers of these songs. They certainly don't detract from the album in any way. However, overall the blues dominates, and when you listen to Joe's covers of Otis Rush's "Three Times A Fool", Blind Boy Fuller's "Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind", and his own "Blue And Evil" it is easy to see where Joe Bonamassa's heart lies. A great album and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to Black Country Communion's "2" album feat. Joe Bonamassa and support great blues rock [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 127 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Steal Your Heart Away - Bobby Parker 3:46
2 I Know A Place - John Hiatt 4:17
3 When The Fire Hits The Sea - Joe Bonamassa 3:53
4 Quarryman's Lament - Tom Waits 5:19
5 Spanish Boots - Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Ron Wood 4:35
6 Bird On A Wire - Leonard Cohen 5:17
7 Three Times A Fool - Otis Rush 2:00
8 Night Life - Paul Buskirk, Walter Breeland, Willie Nelson 3:23
9 Wandering Earth - Joe Bonamassa 4:17
10 Look Over Yonders Wall - James Clark 3:23
11 Athens To Athens - Joe Bonamassa 2:24
12 Blue And Evil - Joe Bonamassa 5:41
13 Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind - Blind Boy Fuller 4:24

MUSICIANS

Joe "The Stewart" Bonamassa - Guitar, Vocals
B.B. King - Guitar, Vocals on "Night Life"
"Bitter Dave" Pate - Technician [Guitar]
Carmine "Mint Jelly" Rojas - Bass
Rick "The Phoenician" Melick - Keyboards
Colin "Brett Denon" Moody - Technician [Bass, Keyboards]
Anton "The Mink" Fig, Bogie "The Nickel And Deuce" Bowles - Drums, Percussion
Aaron "Hambone" Lakner - Technician [Drums]
David Woodford - Saxophone
Manolis Karadinis - Bouzouki
Thanasis Vasilopoulos - Brass [Nei, Clarino]
Lee Thornburg - Brass, Arranged By [Brass]

SHORT BIO

Guitar mastermind Joe Bonamassa, a young player with the childhood dream of playing music similar to legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix, was 22 when he inked a deal with Epic. Hailing from Utica, New York, Bonamassa could play the blues before he could drive a car. He first heard Stevie Ray Vaughan at age four and was instantly taken by Vaughan's high-powered playing. At the age eight, he opened for B.B. King, and at age 12, he was playing regularly around upstate New York. It was soon thereafter that Bonamassa hooked up with the band Bloodline, which featured other musicians' sons: Waylon Krieger (Robby Krieger's son), Erin Davis (Miles Davis' drummer kid), and Berry Oakley, Jr. (son of the Allman Brothers bassist). Bloodline released a self-titled album, but Bonamassa wanted to move on. In summer 2000 he guested for Roger McGuinn on Jethro Tull's summer tour, later releasing his debut solo album, A New Day Yesterday. Produced by longtime fan Tom Dowd, the album marked a move toward a more organic and rock-sounding direction. He put together a power trio with drummer Kenny Kramme and bassist Eric Czar and hit the road to support the album. Upon returning from the road, he hooked up with Dowd to record the muscular and sweeping studio disc So, It's Like That and released a document of the tour, A New Day Yesterday Live. The following year, Bonamassa put out Blues Deluxe, featuring nine cover versions of blues classics alongside three originals. The muscular You & Me appeared in 2006, followed by the more acoustic-tinged Sloe Gin in 2007. A year later, Bonamassa released the two-disc live album Live from Nowhere in Particular, followed in 2009 by The Ballad of John Henry. Late in 2009 he released the DVD Live from the Royal Albert Hall with guest spots from Eric Clapton and Paul Jones. In 2010, the guitarist released his first disc for the Premier Artists label, Black Rock, featuring a guest appearance by B.B. King. It was followed by the debut album from Black Country Communion, a blues-rock supergroup which put him in the company of bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, drummer Jason Bonham, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Bonamassa, ever the overachiever, released his earthy Dust Bowl in March of 2011, followed by Black Country Communion's 2 in June and by his unique collaboration with vocalist Beth Hart on a searing collection of soul covers entitled Don't Explain in September. In May of 2012, Bonamassa released Driving Towards the Daylight. The album reunited the guitarist with producer Kevin Shirley, who brought in Aerosmith's Brad Whitford to play rhythm guitar on the 11 tracks. © MacKenzie Wilson © 2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved