Joe Bonamassa : Clues to the Blues Music You Choose

Blues as an entity is somewhat underground in that you don't hear it on the radio everyday. Or at least you don't think so. There are special blues shows on weekends or late at night and the occasional stray station that runs a jazz and blues format, usually hidden in the harder to receive portions of your radio dial. The problem is blues is the music you'd choose if you knew that's what it was called. Hollywood realizes it featuring "blues" in soap operas, movies, prime time dramas, and during comedic breaks. You hear "blues" every day, at work, while shopping, standing in line at the bank, and piped overhead while you pump your gas. Why don't you recognize it? Because, blues by definition, is not one type of music but an amalgam of every kind of music.

Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form, which evolved from African American spirituals, work songs, shouts and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. Blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression in ragtime, jazz, big bands, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and country music, as well as conventional pop songs and even modern classical music.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_music

Joe Bonamassa is a driving force in Blues today. Not only for his musical contributions but for his support of an amazing Blues in Schools program and his position on the Board of Directors of The Blues Foundation. The purpose of The Blues Foundation is to preserve, celebrate, and educate so that blues will continue to grow as an American art form. He is personable, appreciative of his fans and talented beyond belief. An avid player by age ten he excelled past any reasonable expectations. By twelve he was invited to open for B.B. King and could count the legendary guitar god as a fan.

In 2000 Joe finished recording his solo album A New Day Yesterday. Testaments to his future position among the guitar legends are the guest appearances on the album by the legendary Gregg Allman and Rick Derringer. For me the stand out song on this album is the raspy, hard-edged, ballad Miss You Hate You. Rising and falling on a crescendo of emotion the song plays out the agony of feeling the fine line between love and hate. This song found it's way to limited rock radio station airtime. The entire album hums with the true guitar driven blues licks you would expect but with pulsating drums and a hard rock vocal.

The support tour for A New Day Yesterday ended in 2002. Joe headed back into the studio with another high-powered producer, Cliff Magness. The result was a billboard blues chart topper, So, It's Like That. Leading with a song destined to be classified as a power ballad, My Mistake, may seem less than impressive but you would be hard pressed to count the sheer number of notes in the song. While Joe's style and technique are showcased in this album so is his uniquely identifiable voice with its raspy undertone and soulful delivery. My personal favorite on this album is Waiting For Me followed closely by Never Say Goodbye. Both reflect on a life on the verge, chasing dreams while trying to hold onto meaningful relationships. Classic blues base lines in So It's Like That provide the perfect background for intricate lead guitar rifts to play through and Mountain Time is as classic rock as any off the best Allman Brothers songs. With the lyric "wild as eagles" this song soars out of the album and you'll wonder why you never heard it on your favorite rock radio station.

In 2003 Joe hit the studio with the production knowledge behind Bon Jovi, Jimmy Vaughn, and David Bowie as contained in the duo of producer Bob Held and engineer Gary Tole. In total nine outstanding classic blues songs were covered and three originals added to a package you can purchase as Blues Deluxe. At the speed of sound Burning Hell rockets out of the speakers and takes you deep into a sound identifiable as classic blues. With awe inspiring harmonics Blues Deluxe will have you second guessing that what you are hearing is actually a guitar and not some other stringed instrument at times. Man Of Many Words starts you toe tapping and your body swaying despite your best efforts to the contrary. And I Don't Live Anywhere will break your heart if you give it half a chance. Wild About You Baby can transport you to a smoke filled roadhouse on a steamy summer night. The final track, Mumbling Blues barely manages to contain the sound pioneered by Son House and carried on in early Led Zeppelin leaving you with the feeling that you've known this music all of your life and just didn't know what to call it. Saying this is a deluxe collection of the blues by a master of the guitar is an understatement.

Any other musician would have questioned what else was left in him after delivering such a quintessential and defining body of work as Blues Deluxe. What could he possibly do next? To find out all you have to do is get a copy of Had To Cry Today. If you had any doubts that blues was the all-encompassing style of music this album will erase them. From the rock-a-billy of the fifties, to the jazz infused blues of Chicago, across the pond for the roots of the British invasion and back to the U.S. for the generation of classic rock, Joe found the heart and soul of each and every style and put them all in one place. Travellin' South will tire you out with its speed and energy while Junction 61 will drop you into the melodic weeping of the guitar. I hate to say it but once again one of my favorites would be considered "slow". Around The Bend captivated me and no matter how many times I listen to it I always hear something different than the last and think that's what made it a favorite. Not to be overlooked is the lilting love song When She Dances. The title track, Had To Cry Today, take the reins of this runaway musical ride and fuses the last eight decades into six minutes and forty-nine seconds. Delta blues meets rock and roll in The River, a head-on collision that leaves only one amalgamated survivor.

The trip doesn't end there. In January 2006 You And Me hit stores and Joe opened up a whole new world of fusion to be marveled at and inspired by. The latest album leans toward rock and roll but then again there is such an undertone of familiar sound along with everything else I've mentioned in this article that you just can't put your finger on it. Asking Around For You gets my vote as number one on this album. Blues licks, orchestra sounds, power ballad vocals, and wailing guitar are the words a mere mortal uses to describe the ephemeral experience captured by this song. I defy you to not want to get up and dance when I Don't Believe plays. Reminiscent of Chuck Berry guitar and Jerry Lee Lewis piano you won't be able to stop yourself. As if to wet your appetite for more, Joe adds a treat for anyone already salivating over the talent he must have in one finger with the instrumental Palm Trees Helicopters and Gasoline.

I don't dare gush anymore for fear that those of you reading this would think it an over inflated rant by some infatuated fanatic. If nothing else go to his website and listen for a few minutes before you make up your mind about Joe. http://www.jbonamassa.com/index2.htm