This week’s Sounds of Summer comes from Joseph C. Atkins, a Gazette-Mail copy editor.

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All five of my faves right now come from blues-rock phenom Joe Bonamassa, with a variation in one being that Beth Hart is singing lead. I came on late to the JB bandwagon, so all of his music is technically new to me.

1. “Sloe Gin,” from Live From the Royal Albert Hall, 2010

This song was written by Bob Ezrin and Michael Kamen for a 1978 album by Tim Curry (Yes, THAT Tim Curry. It sounds like Dr. Frank-N-Furter is singing it, too). In Bonamassa’s cover version about a man so consumed by loneliness that he can’t stand it, his voice and, most movingly, his guitar’s voice pull you into their overwhelming pain at facing yet another night without love.

The outro guitar solo from JB’s Les Paul is a heart-rending ride through the emotional hell of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance and, finally, resignation to the abyss of their anguish. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross would be proud.

2. “Close to My Fire,” from “Live in Amsterdam,” 2014

Beth Hart’s gravelly yet sultry and, sometimes, girlish voice in this performance gives me chills. This is a power-blues cover of German electronica duo Slackwax’s original. With JB’s background vocals and guitar work, I can listen to this song over and over — and I have.

3. “India/Mountain Time,” from “Live From Nowhere In Particular,” 2008

This Bonamassa/Will Jennings original provides beautiful intro playing, and then soaring — like an eagle atop a mountain — guitar and vocals in the main body of the piece. The words, coupled with the brilliant musicianship of all on stage, remind me of the free-spirited and strong young women my three daughters have become. I always think of them when I hear this two-song package pop up on Pandora.

And “Mountain Time” is a total re-imagining of how it sounded when it was released, on the 2002 album “So It’s Like That.” JB said he’d never felt comfortable with it, so he kept retooling it. He achieved perfection with this 2008 performance.

4. “Drive,” from “Blues of Desperation,” released just last March

This is JB’s 12th studio album and, in it, he proves that, despite his long career (he’s 39 now), he’s still a powerful and innovative presence in blues. This song is about a man and a woman getting away from the stress of daily life and just taking off on the road. The voice of the, I think, Gretch semi-hollow body electric reminds me of late ’50s-early ’60s guitars. Les Paul or Chet Atkins, perhaps. Maybe even a less-surfy Dick Dale.

5. “Mountain Climbing,” also from “Blues of Desperation,” 2016

This is louder, heavier and faster than “Drive,” with a thundering guitar and pounding drum work by Greg Morrow and the great Anton Fig (a JB staple), as well as a moving bass line from Michael Rhodes (instead of another JB staple, Carmine Rojas).

Source: Charleston Gazette-Mail