Review: Eric Gales – A Tribute To LJK
Eric Gales – A Tribute To LJK
Format: CD – Vinyl Lp – Digital / Label: Mascot Label Group
Release: 2025
Text: Martien Koolen
This new Eric Gales, one of the most important blues guitarists of his generation, album honours his brother Manuel Little Jimmy King Gales, who died in 2002 at the age of thirty-seven.
Buddy Guy, Christone Kingfish Ingram, Joe Bonamassa, Roosevelt Collier, and Josh Smith join Eric Gales on this wonderful collection of blues rock. LJK was a left-handed guitar player fusing electric blues with funk, soul and even rock and all of the tracks on this album, except one, are LJK’s original ones.
The opening track You Shouldn’t Have Left Me is a wonderful blues song with lots of swing, horns and excellent guitar playing by Eric of course. Follow up Rockin’ Horse Ride, featuring Christone Kingfish Ingram, is a nice rocker with Gales and Ingram jamming all over the place. Don’t Wanna Go Home,” featuring workaholic Joe Bonamassa, is one of the highlights of the album; a groovy, swinging guitar track for sure.
Another blues gem, also featuring Bonamassa and Josh Smith as well, is called It Takes A Whole Lot Of Money, where Smith, Gales, and Bonamassa all take turns on vocals, while the guitar playing of these three guys is of course breathtaking.
Finally, closing track Somebody – featuring Buddy Guy and Roosevelt Collier – is an acoustic blues song and personally I find this one the “weakest” song of the album. However, what stands out on this tribute album is Eric Gales awesome guitar work as his solos are expressive, emotional and truly heartfelt indeed and as Gales says: “I wanted this album to be the ultimate tribute to my late brother, Little Jimmy King, to keep his memory alive and make sure people remember who he was and still is”.
Mission accomplished for sure, Eric, as this is a wonderful album indeed.
Tracks:
01. You Shouldn’t Have Left Me
02. Rockin Horse Ride (feat. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram)
03. Guitar Man
04. Don’t Wanna Go Home (feat. Joe Bonamassa)
05. Something Inside of Me
06. Baby Baby
07. It Takes A Whole Lotta Money (feat. Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith)
08. Worried Man
09. Blues Been Too Good To Me
10. Somebody (feat. Buddy Guy and Roosevelt Collier)
Website: https://www.ericgales.com/