Beth Hart- Don't Explain (2011) VBR

Beth Hart- Don't Explain

Year 2011

Tracks
1. Sinner's Prayer
2. Chocolate Jesus
3. Your Heart Is As Black As Night
4. For My Friends
5. Don't Explain
6. I'd Rather Go Blind
7. Something's Got A Hold On Me
8. I'll Take Care Of You
9. Well, Well
10. Ain't No Way
11. I'll Take Care of You [-][Edit][Radio Edit]

Beth Hart is one of the most powerful female blues/rock singers to emerge since Janis Joplin and she recently recorded a new album in collaboration with guitar maestro Joe Bonamassa entitled 'Don't Explain'. After crossing paths out on tour and previously working together making 'No Love On The Street' for Bonamassa's recent `Dust Bowl' album, it soon became apparent to Bonamassa that his guitar would provide the perfect foil for Hart's vocals. Almost inevitably Don't Explain was recorded earlier this year at Village Recorders, West Los Angeles in California, drafting in Kevin "Caveman" Shirley to produce & mix an album full of soul covers interpreted as only Hart & Bonamassa could, giving new blood to classic songs!
'Don't Explain' showcases Beth Hart baring her heart and soul on vocals & Joe Bonamassa playing guitar as only he can, delivering classic songs from a golden bygone era that belonged to divas like Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and Etta James coupled with more contemporary numbers worthy of inclusion. Backing band is the same Bonamassa successfully assembled for his album 'The Ballad of John Henry' featuring Anton Fig (drums & percussion), Blondie Chaplin (guitar) & Carmine Rojas (bass) with Arlan Scheirbaum joining them on keyboards.
'Don't Explain' immediately has Hart pleading for mercy, probably just as Ray Charles would have imagined when he first wrote 'Sinner's Prayer', and the thought invoking Tom Waits song 'Chocolate Jesus' is so sassy, it would not sound out of place sung in a Parisian nightclub! Next cue piano for a flawless rendition of Melody Gardot's sultry jazz ballad 'Your Heart Is As Black As Night' and add slow blues guitar to make it complete. The Bill Withers song 'For My Friend' is transformed into the ball breaking blues/rock anthem that perhaps it was always meant to be, and portrays just what an incredibly versatile voice Hart really has. The next two remarkable covers of 'Don't Explain', made famous by Billie Holiday and 'I'd Rather Go Blind' immortalized by Etta James, sum up exactly why this album was conceived in the first place. Another Etta song, 'Something's Got A Hold On Me' also gets a worthwhile makeover here followed by one of the most passionate and sincere versions of Brook Benton's 'I'll Take Care Of You' that you will ever hear. A superb remake of 'Well, Well' provides the one duet on this album with Joe & Beth taking over Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett's vocals. Somehow this recording wouldn't be complete without the soulful sound of Aretha Franklin, and that is accomplished on the final track with a rework of her fabulous 'Ain't No Way', that is given all the reverence it truly deserves!