Review: Joe Bonamassa Returns to the Blues That Initially Inspired Him

Joe Bonamassa
Blues Deluxe Vol. 2
(J&R Adventures)
3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Blues Deluxe, released in 2003, presented a cocky (his word) 26-year-old Joe Bonamassa as a relatively unknown blues guitarist covering some of his favorite tunes and adding a few new ones. Twenty years later, he’s one of the biggest draws in contemporary blues and blues-based music. He owns the Keeping the Blues Alive label and foundation, a marketing company that sells merchandise adorned with his initials and even a sea cruise under his name. Basically, he has become a mini-industry.

Like any serious musician looking for artistic growth though, Bonamassa has expanded his artistic reach throughout the decades on over a few dozen live and studio titles, along with side projects into surf rock and jazz fusion. His most recent release found him edging into the progressive and space rock-influenced territory of 2021s Time Clocks and its live follow-up Tales of Times.

To commemorate the anniversary of the first Blues Deluxe, which remains Bonamassa’s biggest seller, it is being reissued along with this newly recorded second volume. As its title implies, it’s the same concept. Bonamassa rearranges some relatively obscure blues gems from the Peter Green fronted Fleetwood Mac (“Lazy Poker Blues”), Bobby Blue Bland (“Twenty-Four Hour Blues”), Albert King (“You Sure Drive a Hard Bargain”), Guitar Slim (“Well, I Done Got Over It”) and others. Producer Josh Smith generally adheres to the initial arrangements but brings in strings, horns, and backing singers to bolster and modernize the approach.

Unlike some of the guitarist’s more serious collections, he seems to be having a blast here. His vocals, which were at best serviceable, have developed to sound somewhat like a combination of The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Kim Wilson and Paul Rodgers (but not as powerful as either). As usual, stellar backing musicians are employed as support.

He clearly loves these songs, delivering them with class and fire. Guitar solos are kept in check, stabbing through without the excessive flash he has been criticized for. Selections such as Bobby Parker’s “It’s Hard But It’s Fair” and Ronnie Earle’s “I Want to Shout About It” are tough and obscure enough to drive Bonamassa’s larger fan base to search out the originals. The horns that punch out the beat on Slim’s “Done Got Over It” help push it into a more propulsive rocker.

The new composition “Hope You Realize It (Goodbye Again)” could easily be mistaken for a Tower of Power deep track as the band gets funky and frisky. The closing, Smith penned, “Is It Safe to Go Home” finds Bonamassa stretching out on a six-minute-plus slow, melodic blues similar to Gary Moore’s classic “Parisienne Walkways,” complete with full, perhaps overly ostentatious, orchestration.

There’s no grand concept other than Bonamassa returning to the music that initially inspired him, playing it with the maturity and talent that 20 additional years brings. Whether it becomes as popular as the first volume remains to be seen, but the guitarist is best when he’s most comfortable as he is on this impressive set.        

Photo by Adam Kennedy / Prospect PR