Most guitar players arguably hold a soft spot for the British Blues trailblazers Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, but none more so than the hardest working man in music, Joe Bonamassa. In mid 2016, he recorded a concert at the Greenwich Music Time at the Old Royal Naval College in London, now being released in multiple formats as British Blues Explosion Live. Now, you might say to yourself, 'not another Joe Bonamassa live album', but, as he has showed us many times in the past, the guitarist/vocalist never releases the same album twice, so for this latest set, you get a wealth of covers of classic tracks from Clapton, Beck, and Page that they recorded throughout their careers, all done in fine fashion by Bonamassa and his crack band that includes drummer Anton Fig, keyboard player Reese Wynans, bassist Michael Rhodes, and rhythm guitarist Russ Irwin.
For Clapton, Bonamassa tackles not only his days with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Cream, but also his '70s & '80s solo albums. "SWLABR", "Little Girl", and "Double Crossing Time" of course blister in the hands of the talented Bonamassa, but instead of overdosing on Clapton's '60s material, he also dips into tracks such as "Mainline Florida", "Motherless Children", and "Pretending" from Clapton's various solo albums. "Let Me Love You Baby" , the Willie Dixon classic, has been done by everyone from Clapton, to Beck, Buddy, Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Savoy Brown, but Bonamassa makes it all his own here, complete with screaming lead guitar and potent lead vocals from Joe and Irwin. Various Led Zeppelin tunes are tackled here, such as a rockabilly version of "Boogie With Stu" , a bluesy rave-up for "Tea For One / I Can't Quit You Baby", and a herculean take on "How Many More Times", which includes a great drum solo from Fig and Joe doing his best Jimmy Page impression. The hottest tracks here though are the tributes to Beck, including blistering versions of "Beck's Bolero/Rice Pudding", "Plynth (Water Down The Drain)", and a raucous "Spanish Boots", Bonamassa's tone fiery & aggressive, with the band cooking underneath it all. A nice addition is Joe's "Black Winter / Django", a real guitar workout that fits right into the set quite seamlessly.
Using a vintage Gibson Les Paul, Firebird III, and ES-335, Fender Telecaster, Nocaster & Stratocaster, Joe of course manages to do whatever it takes to recreate the classic sounds of Page, Clapton, and Beck on those classic recordings, and he does a fantastic job. British Blues Explosion Live is another in a fine live of killer live albums from one of our current guitar treasures who never fails to pay homage to his heroes.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Tracklisting:
Disc 1:
1. Beck's Bolero / Rice Pudding
2. Mainline Florida
3. Boogie With Stu
4. Let Me Love You Baby
5. Plynth (Water Down The Drain)
6. Spanish Boots
7. Double Crossing Time
8. Motherless Children
Disc 2:
1. SWLABR
2. Tea For One / I Can't Quit You Baby
3. Little Girl
4. Pretending
5. Black Winter / Django
6. How Many More Times
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