Blues-rock super-legend JOE BONAMASSA has released “Hope You Realize It (Goodbye Again),” the latest single from his forthcoming album, titled Blues Deluxe Vol. 2.
This original song, written by Bonamassa and Tom Hambridge, demonstrates the 26x Billboard chart-topper’s commitment to innovation within the blues genre.
“This is a song that I wrote with (producer/ drummer) Tom Hambridge, and we did a real Tower Of Power treatment on it,” Bonamassa explains.
“Now, the whole thing about ‘Blues Deluxe, Vol. 2,’ we tried to keep the same ratio of covers to originals as on Blues Deluxe, Vol. 1, so we needed an upbeat song and I had this song kind of laying around for over a year. Calvin Turner wrote a killer funky horn part, and we just did like a Tower Of Power take on it and made no apologies about it. It’s just the nature of the groove and everything else – you have to tip the hat.”
The single (video shared below) boasts lively rhythms with juicy horns and a pinch of rippling guitars that gather momentum straight from the start. You might be reminded of Boz Scaggs performing a James Brown tune at a free-funk event in Oakland in the mid ’70s… and that’s thanks to the horn pattern’s cheery syncopation & those oh-so funky rhythms. A magnificent how-about-that sense of emancipation is created by the vivacious vocal patterns and the splashy liveliness of the guitar. And the groove is indeed squeezed into a sound that can be described as soulful yet danceable metropolitan blues.
With Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 Bonamassa pays heartfelt homage to the beginnings of his musical journey, giving timeless songs new life and capturing the development of the blues genre. The album, which is due out on October 6th via J&R Adventures, includes two new original songs, including the single shared (below) and eight new covers spanning some of the most important names in the blues – from Bobby “Blue” Bland to Albert King.
Also available for pre-order is the Platinum Edition Box Set (limited to 500 units worldwide), which includes the CD and Vinyl versions for both Vol. 2and Blues Deluxe Remastered along with exclusive items.
About the album, the superstar guitarist says, “Part of my approach to these new recordings was that I wanted to see if I had matured musically over the years, and if I had gotten better as a player,” Bonamassa says. “I’m happy to say that I am a much better singer than I was 20 years ago – though I still don’t really consider myself to be a legit ‘singer,’ I can now carry a tune a little better than I could back then.”
File alongside: Yellowjackets, or The J.B.’s circa ’72
Words: @neilmach 2023 ©
Photo Credit: © Adam Kennedy
Pre-order the album from the UK and Europe from https://lnk.to/joebonamassa
Pre-order the album from the USA from https://shop.jbonamassa.com/collections/blues-deluxe-vol-2
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