JOE BONAMASSA
''BLUES OF DESPERATION''
MARCH 25 2016
61:49
**********
01 - This Train 04:20 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
02 - Mountain Climbing 05:43 (Joe Bonamassa, Tom Hambridge)
03 - Drive 05:47 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
04 - No Good Place For The Lonely 08:38 (Joe Bonamassa, Gary Nicholson)
05 - Blues Of Desperation 06:27 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
06 - The Valley Runs Low 04:03 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
07 - You Left Me Nothin' But The Bill And The Blues 04:10 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
08 - Distant Lonesome Train 05:53 (Joe Bonamassa, Tom Hambridge)
09 - How Deep This River Runs 06:30 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
10 - Livin' Easy 04:37 (Joe Bonamassa, Jerry Flowers, Jeffery Steele)
11 - What I've Know For A Very Long Time 05:33 (Joe Bonamassa)
**********
**********
Mahalia Barnes/Vocals (Background)
Joe Bonamassa/Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Jeff Bova/String Arrangements
Paulie Cerra/Saxophone
Mark Douthit/Soloist
Anton Fig/Drums, Percussion
Jade McRae/Vocals (Background)
Greg Morrow/Drums, Percussion
Michael Rhodes/Bass
Lee Thornburg/Horn Arrangements, Trumpet
Juanita Tippins/Vocals (Background)
Reese Wynans/Organ, Piano
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Despite its hardscrabble title -- a sentiment mirrored by the deeply etched black & white cover art -- 2016's Blues of Desperation is very much a continuation of the bright, varied blues-rock heard on Different Shades of Blue. On that 2014 album, Joe Bonamassa made a conscious decision to pair with a bunch of Nashville songsmiths to help sharpen his original material, and he brings most of them back for Blues of Desperation, too. The tenor of the tunes is somewhat heavy -- there are lonesome trains, low valleys, no places for the lonely -- and the production also carries a ballast, something that comes into sharp relief on the Zep-flavored title track but can be heard throughout the record. Often, he returns to this revved-up blues -- something that's more appealing when it boogies ("You Left Me Nothin' But the Bill and the Blues") than when it slams ("Distant Lonesome Train") -- and while that anchors the bulk of the record, the moments that linger are the departures. Usually, this arrives in the form of some flirtation with soul -- it's an undercurrent on "No Good Place for the Lonely" but it comes to the surface on the gilded "The Valley Runs Low" -- but the most fun is the vintage New Orleans shuffle of "Livin' Easy," a song that suggests Bonamassa may have surprises in store if he ever decides to shelve his trusty Les Pauls for the course of a full record.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
MacKenzie Wilson
A New Day Yesterday
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 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.
So, It's Like That
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 that 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.
Driving Towards the Daylight
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. Driving Towards the Daylight was a significant blues hit -- it topped the Billboard blues chart and debuted at number two on the overall British chart -- and Bonamassa didn't slow down. Early in 2013, he released a live CD/DVD set called An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House and prepared SeeSaw, a studio album of classic covers with vocalist Beth Hart. SeeSaw was released later in 2013, and Bonamassa and Hart followed it up with Live in Amsterdam in March of 2014. After the release of SeeSaw, Bonamassa returned to the studio once again with producer Shirley to record what would be his 11th solo studio album. As a thank-you to his fans for their continued support, Bonamassa announced that the album would be his first release to feature entirely original material. Different Shades of Blue appeared in the fall of 2014, featuring 11 new songs co-written by Bonamassa with various veteran Nashville songwriters. Another busy year followed in 2015, with Bonamassa playing on Mahalia Barnes' Betty Davis tribute Ooh Yea! The Betty Davis Songbook and releasing two separate live collections: Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks in the spring and Live at Radio City Music Hall in the fall. Returning to Nashville, he recorded his studio follow-up to the highly successful Different Shades of Blue. The album, Blues of Desperation, was slated for release in March 2016.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
********************
''BLUES OF DESPERATION''
MARCH 25 2016
61:49
**********
01 - This Train 04:20 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
02 - Mountain Climbing 05:43 (Joe Bonamassa, Tom Hambridge)
03 - Drive 05:47 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
04 - No Good Place For The Lonely 08:38 (Joe Bonamassa, Gary Nicholson)
05 - Blues Of Desperation 06:27 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
06 - The Valley Runs Low 04:03 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
07 - You Left Me Nothin' But The Bill And The Blues 04:10 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
08 - Distant Lonesome Train 05:53 (Joe Bonamassa, Tom Hambridge)
09 - How Deep This River Runs 06:30 (Joe Bonamassa, James House)
10 - Livin' Easy 04:37 (Joe Bonamassa, Jerry Flowers, Jeffery Steele)
11 - What I've Know For A Very Long Time 05:33 (Joe Bonamassa)
**********
Mahalia Barnes/Vocals (Background)
Joe Bonamassa/Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Jeff Bova/String Arrangements
Paulie Cerra/Saxophone
Mark Douthit/Soloist
Anton Fig/Drums, Percussion
Jade McRae/Vocals (Background)
Greg Morrow/Drums, Percussion
Michael Rhodes/Bass
Lee Thornburg/Horn Arrangements, Trumpet
Juanita Tippins/Vocals (Background)
Reese Wynans/Organ, Piano
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Despite its hardscrabble title -- a sentiment mirrored by the deeply etched black & white cover art -- 2016's Blues of Desperation is very much a continuation of the bright, varied blues-rock heard on Different Shades of Blue. On that 2014 album, Joe Bonamassa made a conscious decision to pair with a bunch of Nashville songsmiths to help sharpen his original material, and he brings most of them back for Blues of Desperation, too. The tenor of the tunes is somewhat heavy -- there are lonesome trains, low valleys, no places for the lonely -- and the production also carries a ballast, something that comes into sharp relief on the Zep-flavored title track but can be heard throughout the record. Often, he returns to this revved-up blues -- something that's more appealing when it boogies ("You Left Me Nothin' But the Bill and the Blues") than when it slams ("Distant Lonesome Train") -- and while that anchors the bulk of the record, the moments that linger are the departures. Usually, this arrives in the form of some flirtation with soul -- it's an undercurrent on "No Good Place for the Lonely" but it comes to the surface on the gilded "The Valley Runs Low" -- but the most fun is the vintage New Orleans shuffle of "Livin' Easy," a song that suggests Bonamassa may have surprises in store if he ever decides to shelve his trusty Les Pauls for the course of a full record.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
MacKenzie Wilson
A New Day Yesterday
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 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.
So, It's Like That
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 that 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.
Driving Towards the Daylight
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. Driving Towards the Daylight was a significant blues hit -- it topped the Billboard blues chart and debuted at number two on the overall British chart -- and Bonamassa didn't slow down. Early in 2013, he released a live CD/DVD set called An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House and prepared SeeSaw, a studio album of classic covers with vocalist Beth Hart. SeeSaw was released later in 2013, and Bonamassa and Hart followed it up with Live in Amsterdam in March of 2014. After the release of SeeSaw, Bonamassa returned to the studio once again with producer Shirley to record what would be his 11th solo studio album. As a thank-you to his fans for their continued support, Bonamassa announced that the album would be his first release to feature entirely original material. Different Shades of Blue appeared in the fall of 2014, featuring 11 new songs co-written by Bonamassa with various veteran Nashville songwriters. Another busy year followed in 2015, with Bonamassa playing on Mahalia Barnes' Betty Davis tribute Ooh Yea! The Betty Davis Songbook and releasing two separate live collections: Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks in the spring and Live at Radio City Music Hall in the fall. Returning to Nashville, he recorded his studio follow-up to the highly successful Different Shades of Blue. The album, Blues of Desperation, was slated for release in March 2016.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
********************
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