The Ballad of John Henry - Joe Bonamassa

I am a relentless vigilante when it comes to scouring the internet for new music for me to check out, especially with incredible blues virtuoso guitarists like Joe Bonamassa, whose website I check often for new release updates and upcoming shows, but his latest must have been actively eluding me, because it was out for an entire month before I realized it, and since I was so excited about a new Bonamassa CD, I'll take a break from the Allman Brothers and write about this.

The elusive release is The Ballad of John Henry, named for the folklore legend rail worker who competes against a steam-powered hammer to save the jobs of the workers, ends up winning, but exhausts himself so bad in the process that he collapses and dies.

Over the last few albums, Joe has been evolving his sound, as well as his approach to making his records. His early work was rooted in more traditional blues, albeit with a rockier edge, and really let his musicianship and blazing guitar virtuosity make up for any lack in the areas of songwriting and his vocals. I could go into depth of the evolution of his sound, and maybe some day soon I'll do that, but really for now all I really need to say is starting with 2006's You and Me you can sense a radical shift in his approach.

There is no doubt the guy can play, and his early stuff was all about fiery guitar solos, blues licks that seemed like they could melt a guitar neck, and straight-up explosive delivery, but with each newer release he seems like he wants to mature as a performer and improve all the aspects of his music. He has improved his vocals and songwriting, two areas that even he himself knew were lacking. Compare his originals on You & Me and Sloe Gin to the ones on So, It's Like That and you will see what I mean.

With You & Me, the real evolution of Joe began, with a track list with greater style diversity, solid songwriting, a nice balance of covers (Zeppelin's "Tea for One" is amazing) and originals, and had a more mature feel. With Sloe Gin, the trend continued while his work had more of an acoustic tinge. A more in-depth look at Sloe Gin is here.

The Ballad of John Henry is an interesting album to say the least. His diversity in musical style, as well as his influences, is hard to miss here. What's nice about this album is there is a little bit of everything; there are rockers, crawlers, cryers, and even one instance of a dancer, and this album is more than 50% originals, something different than all of his previous releases.

Says Joe in the liner notes: "I really feel this is my strongest work to date. The first half of the album, I was in the happiest place I'd ever been in my life. The second half consequently was the the complete opposite. I have come to the conclusion that experience makes for better art. ... I shed tears, threw guitars, but came out the side a better person and a better artist."

The album opener is the title track and starts with a guitar heavier than anything on any other Bonamassa album, I am talking about a riff that sounds like it belongs on a Rage Against the Machine or Audioslave album (yes I know they are the same guitarist, so a nod to you, Tom Morello). This song alone is diverse, opening with a punch-you-in-the-face guitar riff for the chorus, a resonator for the verses, a string section, and sound effects complete with rustling slave chains and percussion sounding like a train chugging along during the bridge and guitar solo. Maybe a bit over the top, but certainly interesting to listen to.

"Last Kiss", "Story of a Quarryman", and "Lonesome Road Blues" are all Bonamassa-penned works that have the style of his early stuff: real guitar driven blues/rock numbers. "Last Kiss" has a jam feel to it which fits since it was a recorded as a full band in the studio with little preparation. This style of recording always yields good results when the musicians are good, and in this case they are and the song is solid. "Story of a Quarryman" is a little heavier and the solo section is really good, with a change in dynamic that allows Joe to play a slower tasteful solo. "Lonesome Road Blues" picks up the pace again and is a fast-tempo rocker with guitar licks reminding you of what Bonamassa can do.

"From the Valley" is an original instrumental that has the same kind of feel as "India" did from Sloe Gin. It is all acoustic, with some tasteful slide, and has that spirit-in-the-wind kind of melody and feel to it, with guitars that fade into the next line and sounds like it was recorded in wide open spaces.

The rest of the Bonamassa originals are songs from when he was at the bottom, and are a real step forward in the songwriting and vocal departments. "Happier Times" is more vocal driven, and the background for the first verse doesn't even have guitar in it, except with some very moving acoustic playing to drive the song into the next line or verse, but instead is mostly just piano. It is there for the second verse but is part of the background mix, allowing Joe's voice to take precedence over his guitar playing for what may be the first time ever, singing about a girl believed to be a true love, but unfortunately wasn't, yet optomistically dwells on the happy times instead of the loneliness. After the solo the song picks up speed driving it into the final verses, and finally ends with the same faster tempo riff as the drums wail away.

"The Great Flood" is a crawling apology to an ex-girlfriend. Joe says it is the best song he's ever written in the notes, and it is damn good, with a solid vocal performance yet again, a very minor-keyed phrasing, and a haunting, moaning baritone sax in the end section. I'll let this song speak for itself.

Finally there is the topic that usually makes for good discussion of Bonamassa albums: the cover songs. In the past its been pretty traditional blues while newer releases have a greater diversity, but this time the selection may be the most diverse to date. "Stop!" is a Sam Brown cover turned into Bonamassa-style blues and face-melting guitar (something like "So Many Roads" from You & Me), although this one has a brass section, again something new for Joe. "Feelin' Good" has been done numerous times (writing credits belong to Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse), and Bonamassa's sounds like a Bonamassa covered song should sound like. It is a slow to mid tempo bluesy song that has the delivery of a latter Bonamassa album, with good guitar work as well as song shaping piano and slide resonator inputs to fill out the song. Bonamassa describes the closer "As the Crow Flies," a Tony Joe White song as a good way to sum up the album, and that is as fitting a description as I could give it, as it has a taste of everything.

The remaining two tracks to talk about are covers that are the most interesting song choices Bonamassa has made. Ike and Tina Turner's "Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter" is, well, funky, with a jazz-funk feel, complete with horn section. This is certainly different than most songs he covers. Finally, "Jockey Full of Bourbon" is one song that I would never expect to see on a blues/rock album. Opening with a saloon piano, this song taken from Tom Waits' Rain Dogs (1985) is definitely an interesting, well-done cover, turning it bluesy instead of the flamenco feel that Waits' version did. This song is much more accessible than Waits' version, although Waits is more convincing singing "I'm full of bourbon and I can't stand up" than Joe is, and the song is stretched out to allow Joe to do his thing in the middle.

Overall, I like this album. The diversity in styles, well-rounded delivery incorporating many different instruments than Bonamassa albums of the past did, and improved vocals and songwriting from Joe make it an interesting listen. As Joe has evolved his approach, there is a lack of really explosive guitar solos (and sometimes as a guitarist I miss them), but it takes real maturation to play only the notes that need to played (the real way blues is played) rather than as many as possible in quick succession. There is enough here to keep a fan of Joe Bonamassa's latter albums very satisfied, and who am I to disagree with Joe when he claims this is his best work to date.

Note: Pictures taken from CD cover booklet