Joe Bonamassa

Had To Cry Today

BluesWax Rating: 7 out of 10

Power Guitar Hero

Once again Joe Bonamassa and the boys prove they are prime Blues/Rock artists that can interpret Country Boogie, Blues, R&B, plus long form album Rock, and do it through a '60s British Invasion filter, better than anyone. You don't even need to read the liner notes to realize this fact; he's been doing it his whole career. Remember his Jethro Tull period with his cover of "A New Day Yesterday"?

If guitar heroes are your thing, here is your new favorite power trio (with occasional added musicians). Joe isn't afraid to experiment either. "Around The Bend" and "When She Dances" show his Rock-ballad sensitive songwriting skills. Looks like that four letter word has invaded Joe's psyche, L-O-V-E! Man, that will take years to overcome.

One of his favorite influences, for me, is the late great Danny Gatton. Danny befriended the young Joe and imparted his love of redneck Telecaster pickin.' Danny would have loved Joe's tribute, "Return of the 10 Gallon Hat," a high speed Gatton-esque twang fest. But the real meat and potatoes are his covers of Blind Faith's "Had To Cry Today," Lowell Fulsom's re-vamped classic, "Reconsider Baby," and Albert Collins' "Travelin' South."

Whether you think its Blues or not, the man is following his art and certainly knows his way around a fret board. This CD is not for the faint of heart and should be played loud! Bellbottoms are optional!

Note: I mistakenly thought I'd submitted this review months ago. Now, after winning BluesWax Album of the Year, I can only assume there are significantly more readers of BluesWax under 40 than I had thought. If this is what it takes to capture a younger audience, thereby prompting people to look deeper into where these songs originated, so be it! The British Invasion did it for my generation; perhaps Joe can help do it for theirs. Cream hasn't re-formed because people dislike this stuff! Can I get an Amen?

Beardo is a senior contributing editor at BluesWax

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