Track Listing

1. High Water Everywhere
2. Bridge To Better Days
3. Asking Around For You
4. So Many Roads
5. I Don't Believe
6. Tamp Em Up Solid
7. Django
8. Tea For One
9. Palm Trees Helicopters And Gasoline
10. Your Funeral And My Trial
11. Torn Down

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8781 in Music
• Released on: 2006-06-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Description
A powerful fusion of the "big rock sound" and swampy blues, You & Me gets much of its inspiration from such masters as Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker. Bonamassa delivers all the excitement and power of his electrifying live performances while mixing it up with dynamic music choices; from hard to soft, electric to acoustic, a music roller coaster seldom achieved by recording artists today.

You & Me also marks the debut collaboration of Bonamassa and producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, The Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Joe Satriani). Says South African-born Shirley: "When I was approached to work with Joe, I already knew he was an awesome talent, but I also knew I’d want to do something a little different from a straight blues album. There are a lot of very good blues players performing copycat versions of classics. I wanted more of a rock sound, and I wanted Joe to showcase his depth and versatility; his vocals as well as his incredible guitar playing."

Highlights include: "Asking Around For You," a classy, poignant bluesy ballad a la Ray Charles; "Django," a Jeff Beck-flavored tribute to Django Reinhardt; "High Water Everywhere," a grungy, Delta blues tribute to the recently devastated city of New Orleans; "So Many Roads," a blues classic made famous by legend Otis Rush; and "Tea For One," a lesser known Led Zeppelin song which has been embellished with full orchestra – featuring Jason Bonham on drums.

From the Artist
This is the CD I’ve had head in my head for a while. With You & Me, we are trying something different, trying to extend the boundaries of traditional blues. In essence, we wanted to do our part in helping to redefine the sound of modern blues music.

About the Artist
Born in upstate New York, Joe Bonamassa started playing guitar, on a short-scale Chiquita, at the age of four. By seven he had graduated to a full-scale model and a year later, he was playing the blues like a veteran.

At ten, Joe began performing at local venues and at twelve, he was asked to open for B. B. King. The blues legend, after hearing Joe play for the first time, declared, "This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He’s one of a kind." King’s high regard for Joe would be echoed by other guitar greats the young performer would go on to work with, including Buddy Guy, Danny Gatton, Robert Cray and Stephen Stills.

While still in his teens, Joe met musician Berry Oakley, Jr., and together they put together the group Bloodline. Signed to EMI, although the band had strong initial success, it eventually disbanded.

In 2000, Joe recorded his debut solo CD, A New Day Yesterday, produced by the legendary Tom Dowd (Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, John Coltrane).

The memorable melodies and potent guitar work of A New Day Yesterday brought to mind the classic blues-based rock of Cream, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Jeff Beck Group, and the Allman Brothers Band.

Upon returning from the road in 2002, Bonamassa hooked up with Clif Magness (Avril Lavigne) to record the muscular and sweeping studio disc So, It's Like That, which hit #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart multiple times.

To celebrate 2003 "Year of the Blues," Bonamassa released Blues Deluxe, featuring nine cover versions of blues classics along with three originals.

Around this time, Joe became involved with "Blues in the Schools," a program developed by the Blues Foundation to help perpetuate the heritage and legacy of blues music. The lectures take teenage students on a journey, tracing the evolution of blues music, from its birth among the field workers of the Delta during the late 1800’s up to the present day. The lectures are followed by a live performance by Bonamassa.

Bonamassa’s next CD, Had To Cry Today, continued where Blues Deluxe left off. Mixing original and classic blues, the CD incorporates influences of Chicago, Delta and British blues into something electrifying and wholly unique.

In the summer of 2005, Bonamassa was personally asked by BB King to open for his landmark 80th Birthday Celebration Tour, and a few months later in January 2006, Bonamassa, in recognition of efforts in promoting blues music, was nominated as the youngest member of The Blues Foundation committee board.

Bonamassa’s latest CD, You and Me, is scheduled for a June 6, 2006 release. The new CD marks the debut collaboration of Bonamassa and producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, The Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Joe Satriani). A powerful fusion of the "big rock sound" and swampy blues, You and Me gets much of its inspiration from such masters as Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker.

Bonamassa makes his home in Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews

Joe just keeps getting better and better!
I was extremely lucky to catch Joe live four nights ago in Annapolis, and he played three of the tracks from this CD. He was (naturally) awesome, and this collection shows an even greater maturity -- both in his playing and vocals -- than that heard on from "Blues Deluxe" and "Had to Cry Today." In my mind, there's absolutely no question that Joe's one of the best -- if not THE BEST -- guitarists playing today.

Very good...
The new album of Joe Bonamassa is very good however, just to point it out from the very beginning, it is not as good as his previous two. In my opinion it remains a couple of steps behind the absolutely marvellous Blues Deluxe and the following Had To Cry Today. Joe, as he explains in the linear notes, wanted to do a blues album this time, and he takes inspiration once again mainly from the sound of the 1970 British blues school. The sound of the album waves from the opening delta blues style of a solid cover of an old Charlie Patton's song, to a couple of Chicago blues, from an acoustic country blues to a jazz tune. Best song of the album is the cover of the classic So Many Roads however as in Tea For One, taken from the Zeppelin repertoire, and in Asking Around For You the use of electronic strings instead of maybe a nice carpet of B3 doesn't do for me. A special mention is deserved by the 12 year-old LD Miller who plays a nice harmonica solo in Your Funeral And My Trial, really very good. Having said that Joe's playing is once again fantastic throughout the entire CD and the band very solid, in my opinion he has also improved his singing. I am looking forward to having the chance to see him playing live in London next September and I am sure that the live version of many of the songs included in his new album will be excellent!

Not as good as Blues Deluxe but decent
Take it easy boys with these superlative reviews. Just because you like your new cd doesn't mean you should throw 5 stars at it. That rating should be reserved only for absolutely
superior music of which this cd isn't. This is a slightly above average cd and not even close to being as good as Blues Deluxe.
Why was I disappointed when I first listened to it? Because I got sucked in by all of the gushy Amazon reviews. Cut 7's nice in a Robin Trowerish kind of way. I'll be nice and give it a 3.5.