JOE BONAMASSA

Our pick of some of the guitar ace’s guest appearances with other artists……personal choices but worth sharing with our readers.

EUROPE ‘Bag of Bones’

Yes the ‘Final Countdown’ hitmaking hardrock outfit released an album track – the title track in fact – in April of 2014. It still sounds like Europe, a more versatile crew than their radio play cuts will suggest BUT includes slide guitar from none other than Joe B. Europe did at the time profess their admiration for Bonamassa’s music and guitar playing. Remind me to tell you my filthy ‘Europe’ story….

BERNIE MARSDEN ‘Shine’

I have a lot of time for Bernie, the Whitesnake and Alaska guitar stylist right back from the time in the late Eighties when I was playing mandolin with friends at a charity gig in a pub in Isleworth. Bernie happened to walk in and when he realised it was a benefit show, fished a sunburst Les Paul out of his car boot and joined in !

On his excellent ‘Shine’ album, Marsden invited our man to contribute to the title track of the 2014 collection as although the song ‘Bad Blood’ had in fact been written for Joe, there was a change of plan. As Bernie told us ‘I’ve become friends with Joe, who is a great musician and a really good bloke.’

It’s a busy stomper of a track with a vocal blend that sounds eerily like Status Quo

but in wistful mode..whatever, it works fine and the liquid guitars are sprightly and mean. Don Airey adds a racing keyboard solo that adds to a Purplish vibe. It gives me the same rush as Cream’s ‘Dance The Night Away’…

JOHNNY WINTER ‘Sweet Sixteen’

Around the time that I was working on a piece about JB’s ‘Different Shades of Blues’ and was due to speak to him about it, the legendary albino guitar champ had passed – incidentally not long after Johnny had been on a joint tour of Japan with our friend Sonny Landreth – so when we did connect on a phone line, the first chunk of the conversation was not about Joe but Johnny..in retrospect as much my fault as Joe’s, the very first guitar purchase I made was directly inspired by Rory Gallagher and Johnny as I had become fascinated with slide guitar playing.

On Johnny’s last album, released posthumously, Bonamassa guests along

with other stars. It’s great that the two got to play and record together, as so many blues rock players owe a lot to Winter, not least for his incendiary sweep through Dylan’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ and the second Columbia label album ‘Second Winter; which is a template for anyone playing this kind of music – guitar, bass or drums – in its attack and variety

BETH HART with JOE BONAMASSA ‘See Saw’

Maybe not a guest spot as such, as this was a joint album, but what a great example of a musical collaboration. We were at the pair’s Hampton Court Place show, even meeting him briefly before the performance when he reminisced about an early English gig at Mr Kyp’s down in Poole, this very number being include in the set that night. The band included Beach Boys axe king Blondie Chapman on his Les Paul and it was all in all a night to remember, a sell-out gig to boot.

Here the horns hit hard and the relentless guitar riffing drives the song along, the beat cannot be denied, meantime Hart emulates a young Tina Turner in her delivery and the result is a fine R&B song with a crisp middle eight and a Freddie King style Bonamassa axe break, sharp and short. Try the version on the ‘Live In Amsterdam’ set…Joe told us he thought he played slightly better on some other nights of this tour but the band sounded so good, this performance was put out on the double CD. It sounds damn good to us though !

JIMMY BARNES ‘Stone Cold’

Also including the fantastic singer – ‘Chains’ – Tina Arena, this cut appears on the amazing ‘Hindsight’ collection by the ex-Cold Chisel singer. The record also featured spots from Jimmy’s lovely daughter Mahalia, the guys from Journey, and Miami Steve van Zandt. On ‘Stone Cold’ we have Jackie Barnes on drums and Mahalia amongst the backing vocalists.The mood is reflective in a Little Willie John / Bobby Bland style. Jimmy’s vocal is of course authentic and Muscle Shoals attuned. Tina Arena sounds wonderful, having to toughen up to equal Barnes on the resolves. A Don Walker song done proud and at 3:19 Joe starts to wail on the guitar as the Hammond rolls along. Soul as it should be – electric and affecting. Bonamassa sounds like Cornell Dupree as the song ends.

MAHALIA BARNES & The Soul Mates ‘ Shoo-b-doop and Cop Him’

Joe is on guitar throughout this excellent album called ‘ Ooh Yea’ and being a run through the Betty Davis funk queen songbook. Bonamassa completely gets the essence of the music and integrates his guitar snaps, snarls and chokes into the bubbling funk backdrop. On this the closing number, he spits out runs completely in keeping with the vibe of the set, impolite and acidic and yet so very musical. The singing is gritty and driven and for a full review see elsewhere on our site. Maybe not for all hardline JB ( and ex Gary Moore) fans but for me one of the best examples of canny guesting on a record I’ll be playing for years to come.

LESLIE WEST ‘Third Degree’

Leslie is very proud that Joe played on a cut from West’s ‘Unusual Suspects’ record. When that very record includes spots from Slash, Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather and Billy Gibbons, the calibre of contributors can hardly be questioned ! It’s because many players admire the Mountain and West Bruce & Laing guitar man. He’s now 70 and rocking on.

West and Bonamassa spark off each other on this Eddie Boyd blues classic, which features that great dynamic where if you’re going to play an A tonic chord, you hit B flat hard first and ease down onto the A. I recall discussing this very emphasis/trick with Jack Bruce at his house, as he and West had recorded the song on the ‘Why Doncha’ album, along with drummer Corky Laing. Leslie told me that Joe asked to cut this particular song with him.

Pete Sargeant