The late Tommy Bolin is one of the great lost guitar heroes of the 1970s. A player of amazing vision and imagination, Bolin was equally versatile in a diverse range of styles, whether it was blues, hard rock, funk, or freewheeling jazz, and he did so with an incredible fluidity of tone and emotion in his playing. From his roots with the blues-rock band Zephyr and his ground-breaking session work on Billy Cobham’s fusion classic Spectrum, to a two-album stint with the James Gang (replacing Domenic Troiano, who himself had replaced Joe Walsh) and a brief tenure with Deep Purple (admirably filling Ritchie Blackmore’s shoes), Tommy Bolin brightened up every recording he touched.
Tommy Bolin’s Great Gypsy Soul
Tragically, Bolin’s fledgling solo career was derailed by a heroin overdose in 1976, with only two proper studio albums – 1975’s Teaser and the following year’s Private Eyes – released during his lifetime. His younger brother Johnnie, himself a musician, has kept the flame burning through all the years since Bolin’s tragic death, and there have been a wealth of posthumous releases showcasing Bolin’s six-string skills in both live and studio settings released under the Tommy Bolin Archives label. Among the best of these is the Live At Ebbets Field album, which documents a 1974 performance by Bolin’s post-Zephyr band Energy with the guitarist proving himself the bridge between Jimi Hendrix’s jazzier six-string excursions and Jeff Beck’s later jazz-rock fusion.
There have also been a number of Bolin tribute albums released over the years. Great Gypsy Soul is the latest of these tributes designed to cement Bolin’s status, albeit with an interesting twist. Working from unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs previously recorded by Bolin, producers Greg Hampton and Warren Hayes brought in a cast of talented guest musicians to add their instrumental flavor to Bolin’s original vocals and guitar. The resulting effort is credited to “Tommy Bolin and friends.”
Pros & Cons
While I’m not personally convinced that this entire effort is necessary, one can’t deny the talents of the invitees to this party, a partial list which includes Haynes, Derek Trucks, Steve Morse, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather, and Bolin’s former Deep Purple bandmate Glenn Hughes. In the absence of detailed liner notes, it’s sometimes difficult to separate the original performance from new additions, but Trucks’ flourishes on Bolin’s “Smooth Fandango” sound mighty good; ditto for Sonny Landreth’s scorching slidework and Hughes’ throaty vocals on “Sugar Shack.” Hughes, with Bonamassa and Nels Cline, take “Lotus” to another spiritual plane altogether.
Other tracks fail to impress, however, Peter Frampton’s take on “The Grind” is lacking something seminal in its execution, while Myles Kennedy – singer with former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash’s band – falls flat on his face on Bolin’s “Dreamer,” a performance only partially redeemed by Nels Cline’s (too) sublime fretwork. Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford adds bombast to Bolin’s “Wild Dogs” where the late guitarist would have brought stealth, and even the great Warren Haynes experiences a rare misfire in taking on Bolin’s signature tune “Teaser.” Guitarist John Scofield seems entirely lost here, while Lukather seems to be still trying to find his way to the studio with a lukewarm reading of “Homeward Strut.” Bolin’s work is too often overshadowed by the contributions of his “friends,” and the listener would be better off slapping a well-worn vinyl copy of Private Eyes on the turntable.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
If you’re already a Bolin fanatic, you’re probably going to want to grab a copy of Great Gypsy Soul; I’m telling you that you should resist the urge to spend your money on an album that adds absolutely nothing to the guitarist’s legacy. I realize that there’s a legitimate dearth of quality Bolin material available, but you’d be better served in spending your money on one of the guitarist’s incredible ventures into the world of jazz-rock fusion, notable among these Billy Cobham’s Spectrum and/or Alphonse Mouzon’s Mind Transplant.
On the other hand, if you’re a newcomer to the Tommy Bolin mystique, pass this one by in favor of one of the several variations of Teaser that you’ll find available; even with a myriad of dodgy demo tracks and raw alternate takes on expanded versions of Teaser, you’ll fare better than you will with Great Gypsy Soul if you’re looking to discover Bolin’s enormous charms. (429 Records, released March 26, 2012)
The blues industry (what would Muddy think of that?) has been, well, singing the blues lately, and justifiably so. Seems that blues-oriented clubs and festivals are seeing audiences drift away, labels are experiencing reduced sales and many blues artists themselves are returning to their day jobs. It seems that in today’s go-go corporate music world, there’s just no room for the blues. Here’s a sage and humble prediction for y’all – all it’s going to take is one red-hot young guitarslinger with rock roots and a love for the blues to pull listeners away from their “new garage,” “nu metal” and “new pop” and back into the big muddy of the blues. This humble scribe nominates Joe Bonamassa, his So, It’s Like That every bit the tonic that the doctor prescribed.
Even at the tender age of 24, Bonamassa has spent better than half his life in the music biz, gaining valuable experience as a member of the short-lived band Bloodline and also playing with folks like Jethro Tull and B.B. King. Bonamassa’s storied pedigree has served him well, however, providing a confidence and maturity to So, It’s Like That, his second album, that contemporaries like Kenny Wayne Shepherd or Johnny Lang lack. His voice has developed into a warm, friendly ‘70s-styled rock ‘n’ roll yelp that is capable of both dizzying highs and mellow lows. Bonamassa’s songwriting has also grown since his solo debut two years ago, bringing fresh wordplay and perspective to the standard blues fare of love and betrayal.
Let’s be honest, tho’ – the reason that the casual listener will pick up on Joe Bonamassa is because of his six-string talents and So, It’s Like That offers a healthy dose of state-of-the-art guitar pyrotechnics. The fiery riffage that kicks off “Lie #1” is Hendrix-inspired and completely sanctified, Bonamassa adding multi-layered rhythmic flourishes beneath incendiary leads in this raging tale of betrayal. A hard rock beat opens “Takin’ The Hit” as Smokin’ Joe drops into a funky groove in this radio-ready rocker while “Under The Radar” uses overdubbed guitars to create a grand circular riff to smack you in the head. The title track kicks off with a Stevie Ray-influenced shuffle, Bonamassa trying on his best Texas drawl to drive the tale of woe home with some nimble fretwork and explosive rhythms.
A bright young talent that continues to amaze, the subtle phrasing, raw power and incredible tone that Joe Bonamassa brings to his playing reminds this humble scribe a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughan, an obvious influence running throughout So, It’s Like That. Short-term memories may not recall that the blues were in similar doldrums back in the mid-‘80s as the country embraced “new wave” and “nerf metal” and MTV. Stevie Ray came along, channeling influences like Jimi Hendrix, Albert King and Lightnin’ Hopkins through his two hands to create a rock-friendly, blues-based sound that rekindled interest in classic blues and ignited a decade-plus cycle of blues fandom that is only now weakening. Joe Bonamassa has a similar vibe to his playing, mixing ‘70s hard rock and ‘80s guitar fury to create a sound that is at once both fresh and familiar and quite capable of blowing the dust from the blues, dragging the art form screaming and kicking into the new century. (Medallist Entertainment, released August 13th, 2002)
The classic rock “supergroup” Black Country Communion was always destined to break bigger in the U.K. and across Europe than in the United States – less trend-mongering, more respect for music traditions, and so on – but that hasn’t stopped the band from steamrolling itself to notoriety and a modicum of stateside success. On the eve of the release of BCC’s Afterglow, their third studio effort in as many years, apparent discord had begun to surface as singer, songwriter, and bassist Glenn Hughes (Trapeze, Deep Purple) fretted publically over the future of the band in light of guitarist Joe Bonamassa’s crushing, never-ending solo roadwork. Hughes wants to be part of a touring band like ye olde Purple and other monsters of the ‘70s, while Bonamassa is satisfied with a few BCC side dates to compliment his busy schedule.
Black Country Communion’s Afterglow
Soap opera drama aside, it’s quite obvious from the eleven jams on Afterglow that something is amiss with the band’s world-beating sound. Don’t get me wrong – Hughes and Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian, along with producer and unofficial “fifth man” Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, are still one of the biggest-sounding, blustery, and bad-ass outfits on the rock ‘n’ roll highway today. But Hughes shouldered the lion’s share of the songwriting chores for this go-around while Bonamassa was traveling, and it shows in the final product. While Hughes may be an accomplished and skilled wordsmith in his own right, what made BCC so special in the first place was the creative tension between Hughes’ hard rock, soul, and funk tendencies and Bonamassa’s blues-infused rock ‘n’ roll fretburning.
As a result, Afterglow finds the material a slight bit fatigued, down a notch, perhaps, from the first two ground-breaking, earth-shaking albums. Not that you could tell from the all-in, full-blast instrumental assault here, BCC still delivering hurricane-strength thrills and chills for the listener who appreciates 1970s-era Sturm und Drang. There’s always been an air of Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin in the BCC sound, mainly through Bonamassa’s wiry fretwork and Bonham’s propulsive percussion and Afterglow offers up plenty of the musical chemistry that made the outfit special in the first place, songs like “Big Train,” with its staccato rhythmic intro and subsequent fluid groove atop which Hughes’ vocals soar godlike astride Bonamassa’s subtle six-string flourishes and Sherinian’s underlying keyboards. “Confessor” neatly ties a bow on a the classic rock decade, evoking memories of Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Scorpions, and even a bit of former Hughes bandmate David Coverdale’s Whitesnake.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
The lone Bonamassa vocal here, on the growling, howling “Cry Freedom,” mixes up some taut, Joe Walsh-styled guitar-wrangling (more James Gang than solo) with a measure of six-string stomp ‘n’ stammer reminiscent of Dust Bowl, while the album-closing “Crawl” is a sly bit of Zeppelinesque blues-funk with larger-than-life instrumentation and an overall impact like a sledge hammer to your medulla oblongata. Overall, with Afterglow, Black Country Communion delivers almost everything you could want from the band on a silver platter. Considering their haste at music-making and the fractured pace of the individual members’ careers, however, maybe they should take 2013 off and come raging back in 2014 with new fire and commitment (and Joe, take a day off every now and then, will ya?!). Grade: B (J&R Adventures, released October 30, 2012)
The late Tommy Bolin is one of the great lost guitar heroes of the 1970s. A player of amazing vision and imagination, Bolin was equally versatile in a diverse range of styles, whether it was blues, hard rock, funk, or freewheeling jazz, and he did so with an incredible fluidity of tone and emotion in his playing. From his roots with the blues-rock band Zephyr and his ground-breaking session work on Billy Cobham’s fusion classic Spectrum, to a two-album stint with the James Gang (replacing Domenic Troiano, who himself had replaced Joe Walsh) and a brief tenure with Deep Purple (admirably filling Ritchie Blackmore’s shoes), Tommy Bolin brightened up every recording he touched.
Tommy Bolin’s Great Gypsy Soul
Tragically, Bolin’s fledgling solo career was derailed by a heroin overdose in 1976, with only two proper studio albums – 1975’s Teaser and the following year’s Private Eyes – released during his lifetime. His younger brother Johnnie, himself a musician, has kept the flame burning through all the years since Bolin’s tragic death, and there have been a wealth of posthumous releases showcasing Bolin’s six-string skills in both live and studio settings released under the Tommy Bolin Archives label. Among the best of these is the Live At Ebbets Field album, which documents a 1974 performance by Bolin’s post-Zephyr band Energy, with the guitarist proving himself the bridge between Jimi Hendrix’s jazzier six-string excursions and Jeff Beck’s later jazz-rock fusion.
There have also been a number of Bolin tribute albums released over the years. Great Gypsy Soul is the latest of these tributes designed to cement Bolin’s status, albeit with an interesting twist. Working from unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs previously recorded by Bolin, producers Greg Hampton and Warren Hayes brought in a cast of talented guest musicians to add their instrumental flavor to Bolin’s original vocals and guitar. The resulting effort is credited to “Tommy Bolin and friends.”
Pros & Cons
While I’m not personally convinced that this entire effort is necessary, one can’t deny the talents of the invitees to this party, a partial list which includes Haynes, Derek Trucks, Steve Morse, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather, and Bolin’s former Deep Purple bandmate Glenn Hughes. In the absence of detailed liner notes, it’s sometimes difficult to separate the original performance from new additions, but Trucks’ flourishes on Bolin’s “Smooth Fandango” sound mighty good; ditto for Sonny Landreth’s scorching slidework and Hughes’ throaty vocals on “Sugar Shack.” Hughes, with Bonamassa and Nels Cline, take “Lotus” to another spiritual plane altogether.
Other tracks fail to impress, however, Peter Frampton’s take on “The Grind” lacking something seminal in its execution, while Myles Kennedy – singer with former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash’s band – falls flat on his face on Bolin’s “Dreamer,” a performance only partially redeemed by Nels Cline’s (too) sublime fretwork. Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford adds bombast to Bolin’s “Wild Dogs” where the late guitarist would have brought stealth, and even the great Warren Haynes experiences a rare misfire in taking on Bolin’s signature tune “Teaser.” Guitarist John Scofield seems entirely lost here, while Lukather seems to be still trying to find his way to the studio with a lukewarm reading of “Homeward Strut.” Bolin’s work is too often overshadowed by the contributions of his “friends,” and the listener would be better off slapping a well-worn vinyl copy of Private Eyes on the turntable.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
If you’re already a Bolin fanatic, you’re probably going to want to grab a copy of Great Gypsy Soul; I’m telling you that you should resist the urge to spend your money on an album that adds absolutely nothing to the guitarist’s legacy. I realize that there’s a legitimate dearth of quality Bolin material available, but you’d be better served in spending your money on one of the guitarist’s incredible ventures into the world of jazz-rock fusion, notable among these Billy Cobham’s Spectrum and/or Alphonse Mouzon’s Mind Transplant.
On the other hand, if you’re a newcomer to the Tommy Bolin mystique, pass this one by in favor of one of the several variations of Teaser that you’ll find available; even with a myriad of dodgy demo tracks and raw alternate takes on expanded versions of Teaser, you’ll fare better than you will with Great Gypsy Soul if you’re looking to discover Bolin’s enormous charms. (429 Records, released March 26th, 2012)
Joe Bonamassa – Redemption (J&R Adventures)
The second album this year from the blues-rock guitarist (the first being the live British Blues Explosion), Redemption is also Joe Bonamassa’s first studio work since 2016’s Blues of Desperation. Working again with producer Kevin Shirley and writing with some of Nashville’s finest wordsmiths, Bonamassa leans heavily towards his rock ‘n’ roll side, delivering an explosive set of songs that push against the boundaries of the blues with a scorching blend of classic rock and soul. “King Bee Shakedown” offers rollicking roadhouse boogie, “Deep In the Blues Again” is a blustery Celtic-tinged blues tune, “Pick Up the Pieces” is a sleazy Tom Waits slice-of-life, and the tortured title track welds haunting Delta blues to Rory Gallagher’s shivering ghost. None of the material strays far from Bonamassa’s tried-and-true blues template, but he could use an update and new musical challenges. Still, Redemption is an exciting collection that will thrill the Bona-fan. Grade: B BUY!
Peter Holsapple & Alex Chilton – The Death of Rock (Omnivore Recordings)
Months before hooking up with the dB’s, Peter Holsapple sojourned down to Memphis to record some demos at Sam Phillips’ studio, hoping to capture a spark of the ol’ Big Star magic. That band’s Alex Chilton was working on his Like Flies On Sherbert album and the two ended up playing together. The Death of Rock is drawn from those long-lost 1978 recordings, featuring Holsapple and Chilton collaborating on songs like the latter’s poppy “Tennis Bum” and the former’s “Take Me Back.” The recordings have a raw, immediate feel with some of Holsapple’s tunes like “Bad Reputation” and “We Were Happy There” later recorded by the dB’s. Chilton’s “Martial Law” is provided a chaotic, delightfully-messy performance while a ramshackle cover of “Train Kept A Rollin’” recklessly runs off the rails. More than a mere historical curiosity, The Death of Rock showcases two legendary artists trying to find musical common ground. Grade: B BUY!
Winston Jarrett & the Righteous Flames – Jonestown (Nighthawk Records/Omnivore Recordings)
Winston Jarrett was a veteran of 1960s-era ska legends Alton & the Flames; when frontman Alton Ellis went solo, Jarrett formed the Righteous Flames from the ashes. Recording a number of albums during the 1970s with producers like Joe Gibb, Sir Coxsone, and Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jarrett landed on Nighthawk Records for this 1983 release. Recorded with a new version of the Righteous Flames, including talented guitarist Chinna Smith, Jonestown – named for the Kingston neighborhood where he was raised – showcases Jarrett’s silky vocals and the Flames’ gorgeous harmonies. Jarrett provides socially-conscious lyrics on the dub-tinged “Knotty Got To Find A Way” and “Jonestown” with a fierce voice while “Spanish Town Road” is more akin to Bob Marley. The rhythms of “Run To the Rock” are a throwback to the early ska sound while “Lover’s Making Love” is a pure-hearted R&B jam, Jonestown an album worth discovering for the reggae fanatic. Grade: A BUY!
Permanent Green Light – Hallucinations (Omnivore Recordings)
At the end of his legendary “Paisley Underground” band the Three O’Clock in 1989, Michael Quercio went looking for new rock ‘n’ roll cheap thrills. He formed obscure psych-rockers Permanent Green Light, which released a handful of singles and a full-length album, building a loyal West Coast following before breaking up. Hallucinations compiles 16 of the band’s best performances, including three previously-unreleased demos and, to be honest, as much as I liked the Three O’Clock, this stuff rocks with an urgency, creativity, and honesty directly in opposition to most ‘90s bands. While the deliciously psych-pop “We Could Just Die” or the jangly “Street Love” display Quercio’s 1960s-era musical influences, tunes like “The Truth This Time” (with its funky groove) and the somber “Portmanteau” (with its exotic intro) showcase a welcome willingness to experiment musically. Hallucinations is an exceptional collection of guitar-rock from one of the best bands you never heard. Grade: A+ BUY!
The Posies – Frosting On the Beater (Omnivore Recordings)
The second of Omnivore’s restoration of power-pop pioneers the Posies’ major label catalog, Frosting On the Beater picks up where the band’s debut Dear 23 ended. Expanding the Posies’ sound to offer a harder-edge with more prominent guitars and dense instrumentation, the album’s brilliant original tracks offer more joyous noise in the grooves. Red-hot numbers like the psych-flavored “Dream All Day” or the smoldering “Burn & Shine” sound like R.E.M. on steroids. The band didn’t catapult its power-pop roots, though, as the lovely “Flavor of the Month” will attest, and the first disc of the two here offers nine bonus tracks in the form of demos and outtakes. The second disc will delight the faithful, featuring a whopping 21 unreleased songs, my faves being the charming, melodic “21” and the mesmerizing yet raucous “Magnifying Mirror.” Unfairly neglected in their day, the Posies were true heir-apparent to the Big Star legacy. Grade: A BUY!
Rolling River Royalty – Rolling River Royalty (Kingfish Records/New Bohemian Records)
Nashvillian Robert Jetton has been making great music since he landed in Tennessee from Texas 40 years ago. He partners with multi-instrumentalist Wendell Tilley as Rolling River Royalty, the two raising a helluva ruckus and having a grand ol’ time rocking a mix of original and traditional songs with a couple of Merle Haggard covers ‘cause why not? The duo’s self-titled debut is a sprightly collection of country, folk, blues, and bluegrass music delivered with no little authenticity. The laid-back “What A Country” is a twangy tale of love on the 4th of July and their “Man of Constant Sorrow” skews closer to the Stanley Brothers than contemporary versions. Jetton’s “Something’s Gonna Break” matches clever lyrics with “Black Betty” foot-stompin’ rhythms while Haggard’s “Mama Tried” displays a hauntingly beautiful performance. With plenty of high-lonesome vocals, spry guitar pickin’, and wailing harmonicas to entertain any listener, Rolling River Royalty defines Americana. Grade: A BUY!
More musical goodness than one person can handle is coming your way in September, and if last month didn't bust yer bankroll, you just weren't trying! Take out a home loan or hit up your local neighborhood loan shark 'cause this month brings new albums by folks like Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Eric Lindell, Richard Thompson, Billy Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, R&B legend Swamp Dogg, and the great Alejandro Escovedo that you know you're gonna want. Throw in CD and vinyl reissues and archive releases from talents like J.D. Souther, Moby Grape's Skip Spence, Bob Seger, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Tom Petty, and the Ramones and you'll be raiding your kid's college fund before the month is through...
If we wrote about it here on the site, there will be a link to it in the
album title; if you want an album, hit the 'Buy!' link to get it from
Amazon.com...it's just that damn easy! Your purchase puts money in the
Reverend's pocket that he'll use to buy more music to write about in a
never-ending loop of rock 'n' roll ecstasy!
SEPTEMBER 7
Clutch - Book of Bad Decisions BUY!
Mike Farris - Silver and Stone BUY!
JEFF the Brotherhood - Magick Songs BUY!
Lenny Kravitz - Raise Vibration BUY!
L7 - Hungry for Stink [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Eric Lindell - Revolution In Your Heart BUY!
Paul McCartney - Egypt Station BUY!
Mirah - Understanding BUY!
Pentangle - Sweet Child [vinyl reissue] BUY! Bob Seger & the Last Heard - Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-1967BUY!
Paul Simon - In the Blue Light BUY!
Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt BUY!
Swamp Dogg - Love, Loss and Auto-Tune BUY!
SEPTEMBER 14
Eric Burdon & the Animals - Winds of Change [mono vinyl reissue] BUY!
The Doors - Waiting For the Sun: 50th Anniversary Edition BUY!
Alejandro Escovedo - The Crossing BUY!
Hawkwind - Road To Utopia BUY!
Malcolm Holcombe - Come Hell or High Water BUY!
Low - Double Negative BUY!
Monster Truck - True Rockers BUY!
Jorge Santana - Love the Way: The Solo 70s Recordings BUY!
Richard Thompson - 13 Rivers BUY!
Uriah Heep - Living the Dream BUY!
Various Artists - Chicago Plays the Stones BUY!
We Were Promised Jetpacks - The More I Sleep The Less I Dream BUY!
Paul Weller - True Meanings BUY!
Ann Wilson - Immortal BUY!
SEPTEMBER 28
All Them Witches - ATW BUY! King Crimson - Meltdown In MexicoBUY!
Mudhoney - Digital Garbage BUY!
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - An American Treasure [box set] BUY!
Skip Spence - AndOarAgain [3-CD reissue] BUY!
U2 - The Best of 1990-2000 [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Tony Joe White - Bad Mouthin' BUY!
Release dates are subject to change, so don't blame us...
Album of the Month: The Textones' Old Stone Gang...after better than three decades, Textones' frontwoman Carla Olson put the original band together (sans Phil Seymour, R.I.P.) to record a few tracks and see if the old band magic still exists (hint: it does...). The result was Old Stone Gang, the Textones’ third official studio album and their first in 30+ years. If you were ever a fan of the band, you definitely need to hear this 'cause it's really like they never left!
Joe Bonamassa fans rejoice, for the Reverend and Excitable Press are happy to announce the publication of Blues Deluxe: The Joe Bonamassa Buying Guide. The latest literary effort by the Reverend, Blues Deluxe is an album by album guide to the music of popular blues
guitarist Joe Bonamassa. Profusely illustrated with dozens of color
photos, including album cover artwork for every release, the guide also features eighteen album reviews covering many of Bonamassa’s solo efforts as well as albums recorded with Beth Hart, Black Country Communion, and Rock Candy Funk Party. The book also reprints a
rare, long out-of-print 2011 Bonamassa interview previously-published by Blues Revue magazine.
The “Reverend of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Rev. Keith A. Gordon has been writing about music for 45+ years. A former contributor to the All Music Guide
books and website, and the former Blues Expert for About.com, Rev. Gordon has also written for Blurt magazine, Creem, High Times, Blues Music magazine, and The Blues (U.K.), among many other publications, and has written fifteen previous music-related books, including The Other Side of Nashville and Scorched Earth: A Jason & the Scorchers Scrapbook and several volumes in The Rock ‘n’ Roll Archives series (including Southern Rock, Punk Rock, and the upcoming Heavy Metal).
Blues Deluxe: The Joe Bonamassa Buying Guide is a 188-page 5.5” x 8.5” trade paperback printed with gorgeous full-color photos and is available as a $26.99 print edition (sorry, but color ain't cheap) and as a less-expensive $4.99 eBook for your Kindle. Signed copies of Blues Deluxe are available from the Reverend through the PayPal link (with free shipping), or get your copy from Amazon with the handy links below.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a year since blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa has released a new album, with Live At Carnegie Hall: An Acoustic Evening still a vibrant reflection in our rear-view mirror. Still, Joe loves the stage, and at this point in a career that has spanned nearly three decades, he’s released more live albums as a solo artist (14 counting this one) than he has studio works (a dozen as of 2016)…and don’t get me started on his band efforts with Black Country Communion or collaborations with singer Beth Hart. Releasing at least an album a year, he’s as prolific as any artist currently working.
Joe’s latest live set is yet another expansive two-disc collection where the guitarist lets his British blues-rock flag proudly fly. Guessing that Joe’s dad is of a similar vintage as myself (i.e. early 60s in age), we probably shared a lot of the same records – records that young Joe B. grew up listening to. Joe’s love of British blues-rock has been quite evident on his albums through the years, as he’s covered songs by a lot of his fave artists, but British Blues Explosion Live brings the guitarist’s fascination with bands like Cream, the Jeff Beck Group, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and Led Zeppelin to a boiling point.
Joe Bonamassa’s British Blues Explosion Live
Recorded live in July 2016 at The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich U.K. this fourteen-track collection may be the heaviest guitar album that Bonamassa has made in years. Joe’s done his homework here as well, mixing in covers of the usual suspects (Jeff Beck’s “Beck’s Bolero,” Zep’s “Boogie With Stu,” Cream’s “SWLABR”) with a few deep cuts of lesser renown. Although Eric Clapton’s reading of the traditional “Motherless Children” is a familiar favorite from his acclaimed 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard, his cover of songwriter George Terry’s “Mainline Florida” is obscure by any measure. Bonamassa funks the tune up with a loping groove and soulful vocals while the band recreates the original soundtrack to perfection.
Willie Dixon’s classic “Let Me Love You Baby” has been recorded by everybody from Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blodwyin Pig, and Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack. I’m not sure whose version inspired young Joe, but I’m going with Savoy Brown’s, as Bonamassa’s raucous fretwork here reminds of young Kim Simmonds (tho’ Joe is a fan of Blodwyn Pig’s Mick Abrahams). The Jeff Beck Group’s “Plynth (Water Down the Drain),” from the 1969 album Beck-Ola, was a tailor-made showcase for Bonamassa’s rockin’ “Guitar God” persona, and while his hurried vocals don’t capture much of the soul innate in Rod Stewart’s original performance, his fretwork burns with the intensity of a collapsing star.
How Many More Times
The vastly influential John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers is represented by “Double Crossing Time” and “Little Girl” from their classic 1966 LP Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. The former is a sizzling Chicago-styled blues romp with plenty of Reese Wynans’ tinkling piano keys and Bonamassa’s fatback fretwork while the latter is a more up-tempo jaunt with stinging guitar and rollicking instrumentation. A cover of Beck’s “Spanish Boots” is simply breathtaking, Bonamassa’s voice soaring above the staggering rhythms while his guitar rages like a hurricane fiercely eyeing landfall.
Bonamassa sneaks his own instrumental “Black Winter/Django” onto the set list, and it’s a testament to his British blues-rock influences that his nimble-fingered guitar playing reminds of both Beck and Jimmy Page. The guitarist’s duel with drummer Anton Fig here is particularly exhilarating, the two artists parrying and thrusting their instruments like skilled fencers gone mad. Fig’s bombastic percussion opens Zeppelin’s “How Many More Times,” Bonamassa’s vocals flowing more naturally than Plant’s original efforts, and while he’s not bowing his fretboard, he’s tearing it up like Albert King at his peak.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Joe Bonamassa never ceases to surprise, and British Blues Explosion Live is certainly no exception. The inspiration for these performances leaps out of the grooves with a vengeance, leaving Bonamassa’s talented veteran road band to catch up. There’s nary a wrong note to be found among these fourteen tracks, and the immense contributions here of keyboard wrangler Reese Wynans – himself a veteran of bands like Captain Beyond and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble – remind listeners of the role that piano-pounders like Nicky Hopkins and Ian Stewart playing on the original recordings of these songs.
Altogether, British Blues Explosion Live is another triumph for Bonamassa’s restless muse, serving as a solid addition to the guitarist’s ever-growing catalog of music as well as a fine introduction to the artist’s considerable talents. Grade: A (J&R Adventures, released May 18, 2018)
Flamethrower soul vocalist Beth Hart sang on blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa’s 2011 album Dust Bowl, thus beginning a beautiful relationship that has since resulted in a bevy of mighty fine studio collaborations, beginning with 2011’s critically-acclaimed Don’t Explain and followed by 2013’s Grammy® Award-nominated Seesaw. The duo added a stunning live disc, Live In Amsterdam, to their growing catalog in 2014.
Black Coffee is the third studio album recorded by Hart and Bonamassa, and the pair’s first work together in five years, during which time Hart released a pair of well-received solo albums in 2015’s Better Than Home and the following year’s Fire On the Floor while Bonamassa released something like a zillion live and studio LPs. With producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley back on the boards for round three, and much like their first two albums, Black Coffee is a collection of well-chosen cover tunes that run the gamut from pure blues to R&B and even Americana. With Joey B. holding down the six-string chores, the pair is backed by Bonamassa’s talented, road-tested touring band of veteran musicians.
Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa’s Black Coffee
Hart and Bonamassa dug deep into the annals of rock ‘n’ blues for Black Coffee, kicking the album off with “Give It Everything You Got,” a minor 1971 FM radio hit for Edgar Winter’s White Trash. Hart’s voice is more soulful than White Trash vocalist Jerry Lacroix, if not quite as funky, but a full-blown, gale-force horn section provides the groove atop of which Bonamassa embroiders his molten fretwork while Hart punches out the lyrics like a champion prizefighter. The title track is an obscure Ike & Tina Turner deep cut from a 1972 album, but a rocker like Bonamassa would be more familiar with the Humble Pie version from their 1973 album Eat It. The Hart/Bonamassa version treads much closer to Steve Marriott’s reading of the song, from the sludgy, bass-heavy instrumentation and shimmering guitar to Hart’s gritty, whiskey-soaked vox.
Not everything on Black Coffee works, or even rocks – a cover of the 1960 Teri Thornton jazz classic “Lullaby of the Leaves” allows Hart to indulge in her torch singer persona, which displays a lot of emotion but seldom moves the meter for me, even with Bonamassa’s nuanced and melodious guitar solos. In a similar vein, but much tastier, is a cover of “Kansas Joe” McCoy’s 1936 blues/jazz standard “Why Don’t You Do Right.” Originally recorded by the Harlem Hamfats as “The Weed Smoker’s Dream,” Hamfats member McCoy later rewrote the song, which later became a 1941 hit for Lil Green, with Big Bill Broonzy on guitar, and an even bigger hit a year later for Peggy Lee and Bennie Goodman. In Hart’s hands, the jazzy big band arrangement offers her blustery, albeit playful vocals and stunning guitar playing as an integral part of the song’s lush instrumentation.
Hart and Bonamassa blow up Howlin’ Wolf’s “Sitting On Top of the World” with brassy hornplay, scorching guitar licks, and Reese Wynans’ honky-tonk keyboards. There’s no way that Hart could blow gruffer and grittier than the legendary Wolf; instead she brings a subtle but strong soulfulness to the lyrics rather than duel with history. Their cover of Lucinda Williams’ “Joy” takes the Americana legend’s original, pumps up the volume and paints it blue with slithery guitarplay, vocal gymnastics, and a menacing rhythmic soundtrack. Their version has taken some heat from Williams’ hardcore fans for its funky reconstruction, but Hart and Bonamassa bring a punkish blues vibe to the song while still capturing the heartbeat of the original. The LaVern Baker 1953 single “Soul On Fire” is the sort of emotionally-singed R&B that Hart cut her teeth on, and her rendition here is simply priceless, the singer paying tribute to Baker’s original while exorcising a few demons of her own with the performance.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
In its heart (no pun intended), Black Coffee is retro as hell…Hart and Bonamassa wear their love of these songs and the artists that originally sang them on their sleeves, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They imbue their performances with enough old-school tradition to honor the O.G. recordings, but bring an energy, musical chemistry, and contemporary edge that helps pull the songs into the second decade of the 21st century.
Hart is at her very best when she’s paired with Bonamassa, belting out these tunes like she’s singing for her supper, and he gladly relinquishes the glare of the spotlight for a while, content to channel his restless creative muse through his fingertips. Black Coffee is the pair’s most accomplished effort yet, a too-quick romp through the great American rock ‘n’ soul songbook by a pair of talented artists that have found magic in the music. Grade: A (J&R Adventures, released January 26, 2018)
For no good reason, a lot of people just don’t like Joe Bonamassa; for many good reasons, there are more people that do like the popular blues-rock guitarist. Haters gonna hate, I suppose, ‘cause there’s really quite a lot about Bonamassa’s career to admire. Young Joey B. was mentored by the late, great Danny Gatton and opened for the legendary B.B. King when he was only 13 years old. After a short-lived mid-‘90s stint with the blues-rock ‘supergroup’ Bloodline with the sons of Miles Davis, Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers Band), and Robby Krieger (The Doors), Bonamassa launched his career as a solo artist with the underrated major label album A New Day Yesterday in 2000.
In the seventeen years since, Bonamassa has established an extremely successful cottage industry that includes his own independent record label (J&R Adventures), which has released roughly three-dozen Bonamassa live and studio albums and concert videos as well as collaborations with singer Beth Hart and L.A. friends Rock Candy Funk Party. He’s part of the classic rock supergroup Black Country Communion with Glenn Hughes, Derek Sherinian, and Jason Bonham, and he’s played on stage with giants like Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Warren Haynes, among others – none of which are likely to share the spotlight with just any old scrub. Bonamassa has lent his talents to recordings by a dozen or more artists, and he founded the Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation to fund scholarships and music education resources to young musicians-to-be.
Joe Bonamassa’s Live At Carnegie Hall: An Acoustic Evening
Yeah, Bonamassa is merchandised to the hilt, and any old cheesy product you can dream up, you can probably buy it with JB’s logo or cartoon visage inked on the surface somewhere. But Joey B. also delivers value for his fans’ money with deluxe album and video packages, and he and his long-time manager Roy Weisman (along with producer Kevin Shirley, the third part of this mega-million trio) don’t skimp on filming concerts for video release, ponying up the bucks to provide the best multi-camera product possible. I suspect that it’s his ubiquitous success that has so many people denying Bonamassa the respect he so richly deserves, success that he’s earned onstage a couple hundred nights a year for a couple of decades now.
Bonamassa is neither a great singer nor songwriter, though he’s taken huge steps in improving his skills in both areas and, truthfully, he’s better at both than many of his contemporaries. He’s a traditionally-styled blues guitarist with great chops who typically stays in the groove but every now and then takes an inspired, imaginative flight of instrumental fancy. More to the point, Bonamassa is an adventurer, a capital ‘A’ Artist who continues to grow, evolve, and challenge himself in ways that few blues or rock musicians attempt these days. Case in point, Bonamassa’s recently-released Live At Carnegie Hall: An Acoustic Evening set, two discs capturing a sublime performance at yet another historic venue that JB can cross off his bucket list (along with Royal Albert Hall, the Beacon Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, and the Vienna Opera House).
Driving Towards the Daylight
It’s not the first time that the guitarist has waxed acoustic (there are at least a half-dozen other albums in Bonamassa’s rapidly-growing catalog that have been created sans electricity), nor is it the first time he’s taken to a legendary stage. It’s his efforts to re-contextualize his songs, to place them in a different light that is so admirable from an artistic perspective. More than merely performing his trademark electric blues with a beat-up old Martin guitar, Bonamassa re-imagines the material, sometimes in vastly different ways. To join him on the Carnegie Hall stage, the guitarist enlisted a multi-racial, multi-ethnic group of talented musicians like cellist Tina Guo (China), percussionist Hossam Ramzy (Egypt), and singers Gary Pinto, Juanita Tippins, and Mahalia Barnes (Australia) alongside longtime musical foils like pianist Reese Wynans and drummer Anton Fig along with multi-instrumentalist Eric Bazilian (The Hooters).
Although Bonamassa is center-stage here, he frequently shares the spotlight in service of the performance, especially with Bazilian’s nimble mandolin and Guo, who often looks like a woman possessed with her furious style of play. By fleshing out his original songs with unusual acoustic instrumentation alongside his nuanced fretwork, Bonamassa alchemically transforms songs like “This Train” – from his 2015 album Blues of Desperation – into entirely new works. With Wynans’ piano intro nicking a few licks from an old Jethro Tull song, “This Train” crystalizes into a country-flavored rustic rave-up with Guo’s cello sounding like a fiddle, Wynans’ honky-tonk piano-pounding accompanied by a choogling rhythm on top of which Bonamassa adds a bit of chicken pickin’ and the background singers sound like a church choir.
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?
Joe Bonamassa photo by Robert Knight, Jr.
The magic is everywhere in these grooves – “Black Lung Heartache,” a bluesy dirge from 2011’s Dust Bowl album – is reimagined as a fierce, Delta blues death letter with exotic instrumental flourishes. “Driving Towards the Daylight,” from his 2012 album of the same name, is made even more wistful courtesy of Guo’s mournful cello and Bonamassa’s anguished vocal performance while “Mountain Time,” from way back on JB’s 2001 sophomore album So, It’s Like That, is afforded a lush, beautiful performance that showcases the various instrumentalists’ immense talents. There are only three cover tunes among the fifteen tracks on Live At Carnegie Hall, among them the Depression-era country ramble “How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?,” which offers a blues vibe but is delivered with gospel fervor, bolstered by soaring solos from Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins, and Gary Pinto, three very fine vocalists, indeed.
The Black Country Communion tune “Song of Yesterday,” off the band’s 2010 self-titled debut, is shed of its classic rock bombast but made all the more powerful by the song’s sparse arrangement, which increases the ambient claustrophobia and allows the backing harmonies to shine above Guo’s melancholy cello and Bonamassa’s darkly elegant fretwork. A cover of the late Leon Russell’s classic “Hummingbird” benefits from Wynans’ skilled piano-play and while Bonamassa’s vox will never be mistaken for Russell’s soulful grittiness, he acquits himself well, providing an emotional foundation for the instrumentalists to build on. Better yet is the album-closing cover of Bette Midler’s hit “The Rose,” which provides a showcase for Bonamassa’s underrated vocals alongside Wynans’ lovely piano accompaniment with crescendos of gorgeous instrumentation and Barnes’ soul-drenched backing vocals.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Joe Bonamassa has built a large (and still-growing) worldwide audience precisely because of artistic gambles like Live At Carnegie Hall: An Acoustic Evening. It takes an artist willing to subsume their ego and share the spotlight with equally-talented instrumentalists to make great music, and in an effort to satisfy his wandering muse, Bonamassa is willing to risk alienating his fans to continue challenging himself by exploring different facets of his art. That so many people come along for the ride is a testament not only to Bonamassa’s skills but also to the honesty and reverence with which his music is imbued.
Inspired by guitarists like Eric Clapton and Rory Gallagher, Joey B. never strays far from the blues-rock sounds he grew up with. But with each new album and every fresh challenge he submits himself to; Joe Bonamassa not only expands his own musical palette but also quietly broadens the definition of blues music unlike all but a handful of his contemporaries. Love him or hate him, Joey B. is the stone cold real deal. Grade: A+ (J&R Adventures, released June 23, 2017)
Blues-rock guitarist Walter Trout has been mighty busy since undergoing a life-saving liver transplant in late 2013. Whereas lesser musicians might have been tempted to hang up their running shoes, Trout was back on the road in early 2015 and has been touring ever since, performing with the fervor and energy of a man half his age. Somewhere along the way, Walter found time to chronicle his dance with the reaper on the brutally honest and musically-powerful 2015 album Battle Scars. He followed it up in 2016 with the equally impressive concert LP Alive In Amsterdam, a testament to his renewed effort as an ambassador for the blues.
I have the feeling that the talented Mr. Trout is really just getting started…on August 25th, 2017 Provogue Records will release the guitarist’s new studio album, We’re All In This Together, his 26th recording to date. With nearly a half-century of performing under his belt, Trout takes nothing for granted, and We’re All In This Together is filled with guest appearances from Walter’s friends and former bandmates like John Mayall, Joe Bonamassa, Sonny Landreth, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Louis Walker, Charlie Musselwhite, Edgar Winter, Mike Zito, and others. The album also showcases the talents of Trout’s son Jon, a talented string-bender in his own right who is beginning to give his old man a run for his money.
Unlike Trout’s previous (and critically-acclaimed) cameo-filled album, 2006’s Full Circle, the sequel-of-sorts We’re All In This Together pays tribute to his friends and collaborators as Trout wrote an original song for each one of his fourteen special guests to perform on. The material is less heavy in nature than his previous studio album, which is to be expected as Trout moves away from his trial by fire with a renewed sense of purpose. “Now was the right time for this record,” Trout says in a press release for the new album. “Battle Scars was such an intense piece of work, written with tears coming down my face. I needed a break from that, to do something fun and light-hearted. This album was joyous for me.”
Trout reunites with friends from the recent all-star Supersonic Blues Machine project, with six-string talents Warren Hayes, Robben Ford, and Eric Gales all contributing to We’re All In This Together. It wouldn’t be a Walter Trout album without the larger-than-life presence of British blues legend John Mayall, who enlisted the guitarist into his Bluesbreakers band way back in 1985. Mayall displays his underrated harp skills on “Blues For Jimmy T.” Says Trout, “am I proud to call myself a former Bluesbreaker? Yeah, of course. What a credential. That is a very exclusive club, and I know that when I’m gone, that’s gonna be one of the big things that they’ll remember me for: that I was a Bluesbreaker for five years.”
Much of We’re All In This Together was created with modern, cutting-edge recording technology, many of Trout’s collaborators sending in their contributions to be incorporated with performances by Trout and his band – keyboardist Sammy Avila, bassist Johnny Griparic, and drummer Mike Leasure – who appear on every track. Producer Eric Corne put together a seamless mix that sounds electrifyingly live in the studio. Says Trout, “it’s very hard to tell we’re not in the studio together. If you listen to the Warren Haynes track, when we get into that guitar conversation on the end – it sounds like we’re looking each other right in the face, y’know?” Prog-rock musicians have been working this way for years and creating innovative and entertaining albums, so why not blues musicians?
We’re All In This Together promises to represent another milestone in a career littered with such. With 25+ years as a solo artist under his belt, Trout is still rockin’ and shooting for the stars, winning over new fans one live show at a time. “I’m 66 years old,” says Trout, “but I feel like I’m in the best years of my life right now. I feel better than I have in years physically. I have more energy. I have a whole different appreciation of being alive, of the world, of my family, of my career. I want life to be exciting and celebratory. I want to dig in. I want to grab life by the balls and not let go...”
We’re All In This Together track listing:
1. Gonna Hurt Like Hell (featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
2. Ain’t Goin’ Back (featuring Sonny Landreth)
3. The Other Side of the Pillow (featuring Charlie Musselwhite)
4. She Listens To the Blackbird Song (featuring Mike Zito)
5. Mr. Davis (featuring Robben Ford)
6. The Sky Is Crying (featuring Warren Haynes)
7. Somebody Goin’ Down (featuring Eric Gales)
8. She Steals My Heart Away (featuring Edgar Winter)
9. Crash and Burn (featuring Joe Louis Walker)
10. Too Much To Carry (featuring John Nemeth)
11. Do You Still See Me At All (featuring Jon Trout)
12. Got Nothin’ Left (featuring Randy Bachman)
13. Blues For Jimmy T. (featuring John Mayall)
14. We’re All In This Together (featuring Joe Bonamassa)
It's hard to believe, but another 30 days have passed by and it's time to roll up your coins, cash in those pop bottles, and raid the piggy bank to go out and buy some new music! June promises to be the best month yet in 2017 as far as new music, with anticipated albums from Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Roger Waters (ex-Pink Floyd), punk legends Rancid, blues giant Joe Bonamassa and Chicago's Cash Box Kings, among others. Throw in some very cool reissue and archive releases from the likes of Prince, Jesse Ed Davis, Game Theory, Bob Marley, and David Bowie as well as vinyl reissues from Alex Chilton and the Spinto Band, and June may be the month that breaks the bank...
JUNE 2 Dan Auerbach - Waiting On A Song BUY! Benjamin Booker - Witness BUY! Jesse Ed Davis - Red Dirt Boogie: The Atco Recordings 1970-1972 BUY! Hawkwind - Live Chronicles BUY! Bob Marley & the Wailers - Exodus 40: The Movement Continues BUY! U2 - The Joshua Tree: 30th Anniversary BUY! Roger Waters - Is This The Life We Really Want? BUY!
JUNE 9 Game Theory - 2 Steps From The Middle Ages BUY! Rainbow - Live In Birmingham BUY! Rancid - Trouble Maker BUY!
JUNE 16 Chuck Berry - Chuck BUY! Alex Chilton - Take Me Home & Make Me Like It [vinyl] BUY! David Bowie - Cracked Actor: Live In Los Angeles 1974 BUY! Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw BUY! Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up BUY! Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound BUY! Spinto Band - Nice and Nicely Done [vinyl reissue] BUY!
JUNE 23 Joe Bonamassa - Live at Carnegie Hall BUY! King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Murder of the UniverseBUY!
Glenn Morrow - Cry For HelpBUY! Prince - Purple Rain Deluxe BUY! Jeff Tweedy - Together At Last BUY!
JUNE 30 Chris Bell - Looking Forward (pre-Big Star recordings) BUY! The Cash Box Kings - Royal Mint BUY! Willie Nile - Positively Bob: Willie Nile Sings Bob DylanBUY!
Album of the Month: Chuck Berry's Chuck...the rock 'n' roll pioneers first studio album in nearly 40 years is already garnering rave reviews, and whether as comeback album or a self-conscious goodbye, Berry's legacy is already indelibly carved in granite. Chuck offers up ten mostly new, original songs produced by Berry, who is backed by both his children – guitarist Charles Berry Jr. and harmonica player Ingrid Berry – as well as his longtime stage band from the Blueberry Hill Club in St. Louis. Heck, it's Chuck Berry...what more do you need to know?
The Blues Foundation held its annual Blues Music Awards ceremony in Memphis, Tennessee over the weekend. The event honors those talented bluesmen-and-women that are too often ignored by mainstream awards programs (cough *Grammys*) and if you’re a blues fan and you find yourself in the Bluff City in early May, it’s well worth your time to check out the BMAs ‘cause The Blues Foundation really knows how to throw a shindig!
Blues legend Bobby Rush deservedly earned a pair of Blues Music Awards for both his new album (Porcupine Meat) and his earlier work (the archival Chicken Heads: A 50 Year History of Bobby Rush). The Tedeschi Trucks Band were also big winners this year, winning BMAs for their album Let Me Get By as well as “Band of the Year” and “Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year” for Susan Tedeschi. Lest we forget, dynamite bluesman Kenny Neal won both “Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year” and “Contemporary Blues Album of the Year” for his fantastic Bloodline disc.
Blues-rock guitar prodigy Joe Bonamassa turned 40 years old this past week (he’s been performing since he was opening for B.B. King at the age of 13), and The Blues Foundation voters recognized the prolific, hard-touring bluesman’s contributions to the genre with the coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award.
We have a partial list of BMA winners below, with links to buy the winning albums from Amazon.com. Check out the full list of Blues Music Award winners on The Blues Foundation website!
Welcome to the first edition of a new regular addition to That Devil Music – our "New Music Monthly" column. Each month the Reverend will compile a list of new CD and vinyl releases of interest and post it here along with links to buy the albums from Amazon.com. Links within the album's titles are to our 'preview' of the album. Lots of good stuff coming out in September – rock 'n' roll, blues, punk, and funk – so start saving your pennies!
SEPTEMBER 16
• Devon Allman - Ride or Die Buy
• Led Zeppelin - The Complete BBC SessionsBuy
• Meat Loaf - Braver Than We AreBuy
• Bobby Rush - Porcupine MeatBuy
SEPTEMBER 23
• Joe Bonamassa - Live At The Greek TheatreBuy
• Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials - The Big Sound of Lil' Ed & the Blues ImperialsBuy
• Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Must Be Free Buy
• Bruce Springsteen - Chapter and VerseBuy
• The Sword - Low CountryBuy
SEPTEMBER 30th
• Drive-By Truckers - American BandBuy
• Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69Buy
• Van Morrison - Keep Me Singing!Buy
• Bob Weir - Blue Mountain Buy
Album of the Month: Bruce Springsteen's Chapter and Verse, an audio companion to the Boss's upcoming autobiography, Born to Run. Springsteen selected the songs on Chapter and Verse to reflect the themes of his book, and the compilation includes two rare tracks from Bruce's teenage band the Castiles and a total of five of the album's eighteen tracks are previously unreleased.
