I have long admired this artist. A great and respectful musician who honors the Blues greats from the past, while being his own man in every way. One of this generation's best!
He reminds me a lot of Steely Dan in that he surrounds himself with the industries best musicians. Anton Fig on drums (David Letterman Band), Reese Wynans on keys (SRV), renowned backup singers Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins, and Jude MacRae, Michael Rhodes on bass (J. Cash, W. Nelson, E.L. Harris, S. Winwood), Lee Thornburg on trumpet (Tower of Power), Paulie Cerra on sax (S. Wonder, R.L.Jones, L. Ritchie). He has 15 studio records and counting, a very deep hole full of some of the best rock/blues in the modern era. Must listens: Trouble Town, Blue and Evil, Redemption, U Left Me With Nothin But the Blues, U upset me, Breaking Up Somebodys Home, plus many, many more. Great reaction, TY.
On drums Anton Fig from David Letterman’s band, SRV keyboardist Reese Wynand too. Bonamassa is playing Albert Kings Flying V. Hummingbird from this album is amazing.
I believe that is Albert King's original guitar. It was stolen at some point and he had another, left-handed guitar produced. Joe plays that in this same show on "I'll Play the Blues for You". The left-handed guitar has Albert's name on the neck, and the name of the guitar "Lucy" at the top. Obviously Albert's stolen guitar was recovered at some point.
LOL...not his "usual" guitar. I don't think Joe has a usual guitar. I saw an interview with him and he has hundreds of 'em! I mean in what looked like shipping containers, in the house, everywhere! And he doesn't just collect them and let them sit there, he USES them! The one he's using here is a Gibson "Flying V" introduced in 1958. Perhaps too radical for its time, the initial run of Flying V guitars was not successful, and fewer than 100 were manufactured and sold. It re-entered regular production in 1967 and has been reissued numerous times since then. A number of variant models, including the completely redesigned Flying V2 from 1979 to 1982.
Here's what Joe's long-time producer, Kevin Shirley, says about Joe and his suits... "He went through a period when he started getting recognized more and more, and it took him a minute to learn how to deal with the success that was coming his way. And, he's managed to deal with it by being sort of bi-polar about the thing. He's Joe, with his baseball cap on, and his blue jeans, and, at 7:25 he puts on the suit for an 8 o'clock show, and he slicks his hair back, and he puts on the sunglasses, and then he has a glass of wine, and Joe Bonamassa, the recording artist comes out. And then he's a different guy, then he becomes a little bit Howard Hughes. He becomes a little stand-offish, a little isolated. And it's great; we just let him be like that. And then, at the end of the show, he normally dresses down quickly, puts on his baseball cap, puts a backpack over him, and he walks straight through the crowd that have watched him play all night. And they don't know this guy is going out. And he walks through them and onto his bus, and no one stops him. It's fantastic. He really is two people. He's two-faced." Joe himself says, "The other guy is the guy in the suit and the sunglasses and that whole persona. And it's not only just an outfit, it's a stage persona in a sense that when I suit up and I go out and play, that's a different side of my personality that's not, you know, I'm not that outgoing off stage, I'm not that, you know, confident off stage." These quotes are from the movie "Guitar Man', available on Amazon Prime. Check it out if you get a chance! Lots of great info about Joe and some great concert footage, too.
I used to just say "Joe" was playing when Satriani was on, but now he's become "The Othe Joe" as Bonamassa has taken over Joe position #1. Walsh, Perry & Cocker round out my top 5 Joes haha! Man, can that guy shred or what? I have all of his albums but I always go to the live ones...that's where he really shines. Have you ever heard Samantha Fish? She can play great, she sings pretty darn good and she's fantastic to look at as well. Check her out...I'll post a song link on the "Your Suggestions Here" video. Cheers!
Actually it isn't Kings guitar as you can see the knobs are at the bottom making it a right-handed V. He does play a song with Albert's V. Which he borrowed from Stephen Segal. Albert's V is a different shade of brown and has his name on the fret board. This V doesn't have that.