"Black Coffee"

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mbembe Frets: 1840
Google have been spamming me with links to Joe Bonamassa's new album with Beth Hart.

Well, I heard a track on Radio 2 the other day and it was a cover from Ella Fitzgerald's repertoire. The vocal performance was sublime but the guitar solos on it were totally unoriginal 'meedly meedly' runs with no musical relation to the song.

Here's what Joe's website had to say about that track, "..one of the most surprising and effective tracks, "Lullaby of the Leaves." Written for Broadway in the early 1930s and recorded beautifully by Ella Fitzgerald in 1964, the ballad moves Hart into smoky torch-song territory, her low velvety tones choked with sublimated pain. It then grows into a dramatic rock tour-de-force as Bonamassa delivers a guitar solo over a rhythmic development reminiscent of Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses." 

It certainly didn't channel anything as innovative as Clapton's soloing with Cream.
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Comments

  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    edited January 2018 tFB Trader
    I just stuck the album on and ended up skipping the first track because the horrible wah wah guitar was so distracting.

    Track two is a bit overblown and the rhythm section isn't all that great, but it's generally OK in the "whoah bodyform" (as my old singer used to call it) school of female blues vocalists, but if you didn't know it was JoBo you'd be saying "that guitarist is really overplaying" during the solo.

    On to Black Coffee now, and the histrionic vocals and kitchen sink production is starting to grate a bit now.

    Not recommended.
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    I’ve been spammed with it as well. I did quite like the first JoBo and Hart album but I can’t raise the enthusiasm for this. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • TelejesterTelejester Frets: 743
    edited January 2018
    Ive always felt bonamassa is the musical equivalent of beige corduroy trousers......bland.

    Not in the least surprised OP didnt dig one of his songs
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  • equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
    Black Coffee?

    Say no more....


    (pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • equalsql said:
    Black Coffee?

    Say no more....


    Mmmm! Now das what am talkin' a-bout! 

    The rawness of the performance adds a whole dimension that is missing from the Beth/Joe album version. 

    In saying that, I did personally listen to the 30 sec clips off of iTunes just in case the rest of the album was better than the title track, and, I personally think the album whole is better than the title track. So I'll probably purchase it. 

    Admittedly part of it is because I want to hear Joe's guitar without his weird voice that sounds like someone singing with a plastic cup over their mouth. 
    Music the great communicator, use two sticks to make it in the nature - a music reviews blog: http://usetwosticks.wordpress.com/
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  • Modulus_AmpsModulus_Amps Frets: 2569
    tFB Trader
    Here I was hoping this would be a discussion about my other big addiction.... oh well
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  • mbembe Frets: 1840
    This album would have been magnificent with somebody like Jimmie Vaughan instead of Jo Bo.

    JV's playing may be sparse but oh how he can carry a tune ffs. 
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  • Uhm so I have gone through the album twice now since getting my copy... I don't understand why all the negativity?

    I don't get it. The production sounds fine to me! And I really didn't feel that JB over-played it.

    I personally enjoyed it. There's some great songs there. I know, pretty much none of it is their own, but I think it might be my favourite out of the 3. But I'd have to go back and re-listen to the first 2 to say definitively
    Music the great communicator, use two sticks to make it in the nature - a music reviews blog: http://usetwosticks.wordpress.com/
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  • John_PJohn_P Frets: 2744
    I’m enjoying it, some nice playing imo.    I’m not a Beth Hart but the overall sound is good and it’s nice to hear a female doing some blues rock.  Joe’s playing and arrangements are great.  
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  • beed84beed84 Frets: 2403
    equalsql said:
    Black Coffee?

    Say no more....


    Despite the ties to JoBo, the thread is worthwhile for this. Thanks @equalsql :)  
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  • rlwrlw Frets: 4671

    Save a cow.  Eat a vegetarian.
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  • shaunmshaunm Frets: 1591
    I wish that Joe would try working with another producer. It’s not Joes playing I dislike (I think he’s a great player) it’s the production on his albums. 
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  • shaunm said:
    I wish that Joe would try working with another producer. It’s not Joes playing I dislike (I think he’s a great player) it’s the production on his albums. 
    Have a wisdom. I don't particularly like the production on his albums either. It's weird, Kevin Shirley has produced heaps of other artists and the production on other stuff he's done sounds nowhere near as bad as the Bonamassa albums he's done. 

    Admittedly, I think Sloe Gin & Black Rock is the two that suffered the most from The Caveman's mic'd amp-under-blankets production he somehow manages to achieve consistently. 
    Music the great communicator, use two sticks to make it in the nature - a music reviews blog: http://usetwosticks.wordpress.com/
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  • darcymdarcym Frets: 1297

    another album of covers. is this the 23rd album of covers from Joe in 2018 ?

    I really like Joe and his playing but a few albums ago, it became clear to me (I'm sure others like it) that Joe just isn't writing good enough songs, and is basically just re-hashing covers to death now, which explains how he's pushing out such a high volume of albums. It's really easy as an arm chair critic, but for someone of Joes talent I expect so very much more, and I wonder if Kevin, who seems on the outside to be a very close trusted friend and musical partner maybe just as key in the problem. Fresh eyes and a fresh album of something new (still in the blues style if you want) is needed.


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  • rlwrlw Frets: 4671
    I like the album, I like the songs, I'm a big fan of covers albums and as an addition to what they both do best, why not?

    I absolutely hate the drum sound though which Kevin Shirley manages to get to the front of everything he produces.
    Save a cow.  Eat a vegetarian.
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    equalsql said:
    Black Coffee?

    Say no more....


    Was humming this, and remembering his flirting with the backing singers before I even opened the thread.

    Well deserved WIS added.
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • https://youtu.be/FKTN58kLZAw


    Just had this on in the car, don’t even know if it’s the same song but it’s called the same at least. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    Man that Rival Sons version is about a thousand times better than the JoBo track.
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  • Just had a clearing up in the kitchen soundtrack of various versions  (Ike and Tina Turner, JoBo, Rival Sons, Deborah Bonham and Humble Pie). Clearly versions of the same song and quite similar. Kudos to Humble Pie for re-imaging the Ike and Tina song as the others all clearly based on that one and not the original. 
    I guess I’m slightly surprised that no one working with Joe and Beth Hart said it was a bit odd putting out something covered by Rival Sons 12 months earlier. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • I love how this thread has become a competition to find the best cover of Black Coffee, rather than a proper discussion on the album. Somewhat amusing to see how many versions there is of the song out there! 

    I like JB/BH's version, but there's heaps of great covers of it out there. I think my favourite has been Humble Pie's. 
    This reminds me I really need to go back and dig out that Rival Sons album and listen to it properly. Thing is I haven't really been excited by a Rival Sons album since Pressure & Time. That's the only RS album I think I've ever been able to listen to from front to back over and over.
    Music the great communicator, use two sticks to make it in the nature - a music reviews blog: http://usetwosticks.wordpress.com/
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