Joe Bonamassa: The Ballad of John Henry

No musician ever sets out to create a CD their fan base doesn't love. The truth of the matter is it just happens sometimes. It's not that the music or the direction they are going in is flawed in any way it just isn't what the public has come to expect and want from them. It's extremely difficult to live up to someone else's expectation of you especially when it's not just one someone but thousands of them who all agree on one philosophy, that you are phenomenal and produce the exceptional.

Joe Bonamassa'sThe Ballad Of John Henry released on February 24, 2009 and immediately captured the number one slot on Billboard's blues chart knocking back legendary Johnny Winter, proven prodigy Derek Trucks and legacy laden Shamekia Copeland. Joe has had a string of albums debuting in the number one slot and with good reason; we just can't get enough of him. When my copy arrived in the mail February 23 I thought for sure I'd be knocking out 600 words on why it was Joe's greatest CD to date within an hour. That didn't happen. By no means is this album a flop but it certainly isn't what I expected. I thought it was perhaps my own expectation and not the general consensus but on message boards and in discussions I've had others seem to be having the same problem connecting.

This is much more of a full on blues album from start to finish than the usual amalgam Joe produces, which generally jump full tilt into multiple musical genres and styles. It is heavy with virtuoso quality guitar that is nothing short of amazing. The musicianship is unparalleled, the arrangements mind boggling, and the vocals just get better with every recording and I find myself paying close attention to the horns. My overall impression is of a soldier marching through a quagmire hoping for some kind of armistice at the other side. As in real life there are bright spots you can't avoid no matter how bogged down you are in the human condition.

I liked the title track TheBallad of John Henry when I first heard it live in October and nothing has changed. It is a marching rhythm that draws you in and makes you pay attention to the story being told. Stop is your real blues classic with heavy drums and wailing guitar. Jockey Full Of Bourbon opens with a vaudevillian piano prompting the visualization of saloon girls in corsets, full skirts, striped stockings and ankle high lace up boots dancing on stage and tumbling over customers at round smoky tables while spot lights blaze paths through the sawdust laden air. Lonesome Road Blues grooves in the same vein as Clapton's cover of Robert Johnson's Crossroads. At the halfway point in the album something lighter and more recognizable is a breather. Happier Times marches on in a slow rhythmic step through the darkness of a broken heart; it could be Miami Vice background music as Crockett and Tubbs cruise the highway in route to the final confrontation with the bad guys who have some how caused them to be more affected individuals.

Feelin' Good is a heavy song. Joe keeps the juxtaposition of the music and the message intact while deepening it with heavy guitar over whomping bass lines. Think of the rock rendition of the You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch by Gary Hoey and you'll be in the right stratosphere. The mind trip of this track is the tinkling keyboard in the quiet spots. Michael Bubble, look out! Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter is my favorite. I can't get enough of this Teptations-esque 60's groove. It's the unexpected, unbridled, feel good, crazily spinning comet unexpectedly crashing through the latter third of the album.

While this isn't an entire album of songs I want to listen to on a continuous loop there are enough good ones to keep me listening while only forwarding over a few. I will most certainly be buying tickets and waiting for the next out of the box, beyond extraordinary project to surface so I can be blown away again.