Review by Ben Vee
After 13 CDs in 12 years and an album of the year award for his last solo release, Dust Bowl, my expectations for the new album were pretty high. Like most Joe B admirers, I keep waiting for the breakout album that brings him the broad recognition in the music world that he deserves. It amazes me that most people I meet have never heard of the man who is one of the best, if not the greatest, guitarists and blues vocalists of his generation……..This album is the one!!
The title track, Driving Towards the Daylight, is a soft beautiful lovers tune that has just stuck in my head and I can’t get enough of it. It is a crossover tune that should do well in a variety of music formats. Do I smell a hit song?? YES! The first tune on the album, Dislocated Boy, is also a catchy tune that showcases Joe’s voice paired to an infectious blues rock beat; it had me moving in my chair as I wrote this review!
Joe pays homage to Robert Johnson with a nice rockin’ blues cover of Stones in my Passway…my air guitar was rockin’ as I listened! He then takes on Howlin’ Wolf’s Who’s Been Talkin’. It begins with a touching Howlin Wolf studio outtake and then cranks. It’s blues song of the year material along with the next tune, I Got All You Need, by Wille Dixon. It is a sexy blues tune with a great beat and outstanding vocals. Joe also does a great rendition of Bernie Mardsen of Whitesnake’s , A Place in my Heart, that has his guitar just singin’ the blues. He does a nice cover of Tom Wait’s, A New Coat of Paint and takes Bill Wither’s “Lonely Town, Lonely People” into funky rockin blues territory that had me roarin’ GO JOE! The one pure rock song on the album, Somwhere Trouble Won’t Go, has a nice Deep Purple feel to it. And the final tune, Too Much Ain’t Enough Love, features Australian superstar Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel’s growlin’ edgy vocals on a great hip swayin’ blues tune.
Overall this is a GREAT album that is a must for your music collection. And it is a slam dunk for an album of the year award next May. I got to see Joe do a couple of the cuts live in concert during his fantastic two and a half hour gig on May 19th. And he is headed to South America, Europe, and Australia from now until the middle of October. Get your tickets and buy the album! You won’t be disappointed….I PROMISE!
Ben Vee is a project management consultant by day and blues lover and internet Dj by night. He started out as a broadcast and club DJ in the 1970s and also worked for a concert promotion company booking acts throughout the southeastern United States. (benvee@yahoo.com)
