Joe Bonamassa
Blues Deluxe

Bonamassa is a devotee; of blues, primarily. After a first and a second album decidedly rock blues, namely the debut "A New Day Yesterday" half filled with covers, followed by the excellent "So It’s Like That" assembled with all his original compositions except one, here he is in the third work (year 2003) intent on covering mostly stuff from the fifties and sixties. Precise and nerdy as he is, for each of the nine covers present, he takes care to indicate, in the album notes, the record that contains it and from which he drew inspiration... Without restraint and without fear.

Ugh... I don’t know about you but to me, blues, when it’s in its pure state, let’s say, quickly bores me. I like it contaminated; by rock, psychedelia, pop, folk, classical, reggae, by almost anything. Alone, it wears me out by the fourth consecutive piece, maximum. My tastes... after all, jazz does the same to me. So this first decidedly “orthodox” outing by Bonamassa, after all with clear intentions since the title given to this record, leaves someone like me, who, to say, has always been careful not to chase after works of the same philosophy like "The Cradle" by Eric Clapton or "Still Got The Blues" of the late Gary Moore, rather cold.

So I'll keep it short (I hope): The opener "You Upset Me Baby" is by B.B. King and dates back to 1953; "Burnin’ Hell" is by John Lee Hooker and traces back to 1959: Joe goes at it fiercely with the slide, supported by the harmonica player John Paris who’s equally possessed; the track that also gives the album its title is more "fresh," let’s say, dating back to the '68 debut of Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart together in the Jeff Beck Group: almost eight minutes of slow blues like there are hundreds, and Joe's voice to that of Rod Stewart doesn’t hold a candle.

"Man of Many Words" is even more recent: Buddy Guy recorded it in 1970, while with "Wild About You Baby" we fall back to 1956 and the honored one this time is Elmore James. With "Long Distance Blues" we’re in T-Bone Walker’s territory, and who knows what year it is, probably the early fifties. Then Freddie King cannot be missed, and here’s his still recent (1974...) "Pack It Up" presented again, then we have Albert Collins (but how many guitarists must he have taught too, this guy...) of whom the nimble "Left Overs" from 1986 is covered, then with Bonamassa already in this world back then, though just a kid. Towards the grand finale, there’s the homage to the father of all of us, Robert Johnson: his "Walking Blues" rendered with just a muddy Gibson Les Paul and an electrified harmonica (always Paris) is objectively cool.

In the midst of all this chaos, in tracks 5, 6, and 12, are three original compositions by the American guitarist. The first "Woke Up Dreaming" is a frenetic acoustic shuffle blues, a clear homage to Robert Johnson; the other "I Don’t Live Anywhere" is instead a supported and slow soul blues (as if to say: boring), wrapped in Hammond organ and lightly plucked guitars. The final "Mumbling World" is a primitive blues also in the manner of Johnson, with a guitar sound rather copied from "Hats Off to Roy Harper“ by Led Zeppelin.

Well, that’s what I had to say. Three stars, let's say... Bonamassa never creates trash. Just things a bit useless, now and then, but only because he arrived last, out of time, and is objectively devoid of a strong personality, too manipulated by the manic passion for those who did what he loves so much before him. It’s like screwing with Siffredi’s moves fresh in your mind... there may be variety and competence, but the ultimate "purpose" is lost, ahem.

All the other qualities, Bonamassa has them, and there are quite a few. One among many: his ever vintage guitars connected to even more vintage amplifiers sound cosmically good.