What's Old Is New

Black Rock--Joe Bonamassa--If you wonder why they don't make records like they used to, take heart: Joe Bonamassa hears you. This thirty-something upstate New Yorker has taken British blues guitar rock and trademarked it. Do you dig Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher, Steve Marriott, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, and Kim Simmonds (coming to the Narrows soon leading Savoy Brown)? Add Joe Bonamassa to the pantheon. He comes a-roarin' at you from track one, with thick riffs, recalling the past but no way retro, and guitar idol vocals. And the tunes? He mixes more than sturdy originals (check this out) with the Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart/Ron Wood penned "Spanish Boots," and Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire," famously and agonizingly recorded decades back by Brit Joe Cocker. (Everybody's covering Leonard Cohen these days, aren't they? Not a bad thing!) If Clapton is god, then this is his American son. Hasn't played our beloved Narrows, but one never knows. In the meantime, get some tea and crumpets and listen to Black Rock.