Song was originally recorded by Guitar Slim
Blues superstar Joe Bonamassa is returning to his roots and taking stock of how far he and the genre has come on his forthcoming new album Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, due October 6th via his own J&R Adventures. On the project, Bonamassa gives new life to the classic tracks that have that brought him to the blues, including a rambunctious rendition of “Well, I Done Got Over It,” originally released by Guitar Slim in 1953. Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 comes 20 years since the release of Bonamassa’s best-selling album Blues Deluxe, which celebrated what the US government had declared “the year of the blues.”
“My father introduced me to Guitar Slim a long time ago, back when I was a kid. There was a compilation album called Best of Guitar Slim and it was him on the cover and he was cradling one of these Gold Top Les Pauls and I was a fan ever since. He has such a velvety smooth voice, and he had such a way of delivering a song. We did a very British take on this Guitar Slim song, it’s like the Blues Breakers meets Guitar Slim meets Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith and company,” Bonamassa reflects.
“If you had told me 20 years ago my career would last long enough to see the 20th anniversary of this little record called Blues Deluxe, I’m sure I would have laughed,” Bonamassa explains. “Blues Deluxe was my last shot after being dropped by two major record labels and my booking agent. It was then that my manager, Roy Weisman, had his first ‘all in’ moment. We would go back into the studio and record. A record that would hopefully define the direction of whatever future career I might have.”
The album features two new originals and eight new covers spanning some of the most important names in the blues – from Bobby “Blue” Bland and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac to Albert King. A Platinum Edition Box Set limited to 500 units worldwide featuring the CD and vinyl versions of Vol. 2 and Blues Deluxe Remastered, along with exclusive items, has also been announced.
“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.”
The release of “Well, I Done Got Over It” follows the album’s previous single “Twenty-Four Hour Blues,” a blistering reinterpretation of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s classic track, featured on one of Bonamassa’s favorite albums of all time, Dreamer. The new version features one of Bonamassa’s best-ever vocals and guitar solos.
Featuring Reese Wynans on keys, Calvin Turner on bass, Lamar Carter on drums, Kirk Fletcher on guitar, and Smith on guitar, additional highlights from the project include Bobby Parker’s “It’s Hard But It’s Fair,” and “Is It Safe To Go Home,” a new track written for Bonamassa by Josh Smith.
Having just earned a remarkable 26th No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart for his sprawling and extensive live concert film and album Tales Of Time, Bonamassa is heading to Europe for three weeks of festival performances, before returning to the US for a string of summer dates. The summer run will include Bonamassa’s debut appearance at Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, August 9th, with an exclusive, one-night-only concert experience alongside an orchestra, which will be recorded for his next live concert film. Then the hardest working bluesman in show business begins his US fall tour on October 23rd at The Cannon Center in Memphis, TN, which will take him from coast-to-coast to end at the guitar-shaped Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, FL.
