Category: Music Life

Joe Bonamassa – Black Rock on a “Blues Wednesday”

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Joe Bonamassa - Black Rock

So today started out a lot like yesterday, still no coffee at the 7-Eleven due to remodeling! Then I listened to tracks from several different blues albums and again nothing caught my attention.

Joe Bonamassa – Black Rock Catches My Attention

So at lunch I checked out the Billboard Blues charts and there are number one sat Joe Bonamassa’s new album Black Rock and at Number 9 Derek Trucks new album Already Free so I loaded both on the mp3 player and set out for a site to do some testing and listening on the way!

Now Bonamassa was a name I’d always heard (seems like I say this a lot!) but never listened to, my mistake! Anyway since I heard one of his albums about a year ago his music gets steady play.

So I anticipated that I would enjoy Bonamassa’s great playing and good vocals and all around strong sound.

Black Rock Doesn’t Disappoint

The first two tracks did not disappoint me and on the third track “When the Fire Hits the Sea” I caught myself saying is he playing slide guitar on this track – yep – and it was good!

Then came “Quarryman’s Lament” which opened with a different sounding instrument, which I have since learned was a clarino (a Greek type clarinet) and I said this is a great album.

“Bird on a Wire” is a Highlight!

But the best was yet to come probably the best cover I have ever heard of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire” which opens with Greek musician Thanasis Vasilopoulos on the nei, a Greek flute-like instrument. Bonamassa took  a favorite Leonard Cohen song of mine and made it a favorite Joe Bonamassa song of mine!! It just blew me away!

Other highlights on the album include a cover of Jeff Beck’s “Spanish Boots” and Otis Rush’s “Three Times a Fool”  and a great duet with B.B. King  as they covered “Night Life”

Greek Influences Galore!

More Greek influences (a result of the album being recorded at Black Rock studios in Greece, hence the name of the album) are heard on “Athens to Athens” and the opening of a Bonamassa original “Blue and Evil”  that opens with Joe on acoustic guitar trading licks with Manolis Karadinis playing bouzouki (think mandolin or Indian instrument sarod), which quickly changes to hard guitar and sounds a little like Led Zeppelin!

Final Thoughts

Throughout the album Bonamassa’s guitar playing is awesome as usual and I think his vocals are some of the best I’ve heard from him. But the cover of “Bird on a Wire” and the use of the Greek instruments and some of the acoustic stuff just sends this album a whole different level, definitely a  5 out of 5 if not higher! I am sure this album will get lots of plays over the next few months!

Now like I said I also downloaded and listened to Derek Trucks CD Already Free which I also liked but can’t put in the same class as Black Rock. but I don’t think it’s fair to comment on that CD today so I will listen to it again and comment on it tomorrow!

The Video

Here’s “Bird on a Wire” – I think Leonard would Approve!

Ten Years After – Then and Now

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Ten Years After –  Then and Now

One of my favorite bands from the 60’s and early 70’s was Ten Years After and not just because of Alvin Lee’s guitar wizardry. No, while I liked the overall blues rock feel of the band and loved tracks like “Good Morning, Little School Girl” and “Woke up this Morning”

‘ I also liked that the rest of the bands members could play and  the strong  jazz influences on their early  albums particularly on the second release  Undead. I loved the track  “Woodchopper’s Ball”. A cover of the Woody Herman hit.

Ten Years After Then

The band was the first band booked by the  Chrysalis Agency and their performance at the Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967 led to their contract with Deram Records.  I have their albums from the first release Ten Years After throughCricklewood Green. Which was their fifth album and contained the hit “Love Like a Man”.

After that album the band took a more commercial turn with A Space in Time which contained the song “I’d Love to Change the World and I kind of drifted away.  The band ultimately broke up in 1974 when Alvin Lee embarked on a solo career.

Ten  Years After Now

I was happy in find out a few years ago that the band had reformed in 2004 without Alvin Lee. His replacement on guitar is Joe Gooch. They released a fine album entitled Now. I occasionally play tracks from that album but haven’t really kept up with the band, but was searching around the other day I  discovered that the band had released two more albums. Roadworks a collection of tracks of material from their tours and a 2008 release Evolution. I put that album on the mp3 player today and color me a fan of Ten Years After again.

Evolution

Evolution is a great album from the opening track “I Think it’s Going to Rain All Night” which opens with Gooch’s great guitar and Chick Churchill’s keyboards and features nice keyboard and guitar solos! Almost ever track on this ten track CD is a standout in it’s own way.

The ballads are as good as the rocking songs and the vocals and lyrics are outstanding throughout the album.  Of the ballads I like ” I Never Saw it Coming” and I also like “Slip Slide Away” which features some more fine keyboard work by Chick Churchill and more guitar from Gooch. Alvin Lee who?

“Tail Lights” has a kinda’ country feel and the album ends with two great songs “Angry Words” again Gooch shines and “That’s Alright” a great rocking closing number. I know that this album will get many listens over the coming weeks! So if you were a Ten Years After fan check out their new stuff and if you don’t remember them other than at Woodstock and “I’m Coming Home” check out their early albums and certainly check out some of their best work which is on Evolution.  

Definitely a 4.5 and maybe a 5.

2016 Update: 

In 2014 both Joe Gooch and long-time bassist Leo Lyons left the band. Leo was replaced by Colin Hodgkinson, The part of Alvin Lee and Joe Gooch is now played by Marcus Bonfanti. The other original members of the band Chick Churchill on keyboards and Ric Lee on drums remain the same. The new group is still touring and have yet to release an album with the new lineup.

This morning I was listening to the band’s 2014 release The Name Remains the Same. What I  heard I really liked and will be listening to it some more. The band on that release still included: Leo Lyons and Joe Gooch. What I heard from Gooch’s guitar was great!!

Old Note

Oh, and I never knew where the band name came from but from Wikipedia: the band formed in 1966 ten years after Elvis Presley’s break out year of 1956!

Here’s a video of the song “Angry Words” from Evolution

6httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuFtz8SYirw