Well, it wasn't quite enough to knock Queen Etta from her lofty perch, but Ruthie Foster debuted strong this week at number two with her new studio album, Let It Burn. The Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending February 18, 2012 shows that Etta James' hits collection Icon retains its grip on number one, while James' The Dreamer album swapped a spot with Gary Clark, Jr. Still, considering Foster's widespread appeal, I expect her to take number one sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Last week's big debut, Dion's Tank Full of Blues, slipped a bit but holds strong at number five, while much of the rest of the chart is the same old usual suspects. Surprisingly, Joe Louis's Walker's Hellfire, an excellent album by any measure, is bubbling under at number eleven, though I wouldn't be surprised to see it knock Hugh or Wynton/Eric off the chart in a week or two.

The biggest surprise this week, however, is the independently-released debut album from Americana/roots artist Lincoln Durham, The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones, which comes in at number twelve. Now mind you, the Reverend has only heard scraps of Durham's songs, and they sound pretty good, but what I've heard has only the most tenuous link to the blues...I guess that any artist with a Southern drawl that isn't country just must be blues. What do y'all think? Here are this week's Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:

10. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator (Sony Masterworks)
9. Johnny Winter - Roots (Megaforce Records)
8. Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk (Warner Brothers)
7. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Playlist: The Very Best Of (Sony Legacy)
6. Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton - Play The Blues (Warner Brothers)
5. Dion - Tank Full Of Blues (Blue Horizon)
4. Etta James - The Dreamer (Verve Forecast)
3. Gary Clark, Jr. - The Bright Lights EP (Warner Brothers)
2. Ruthie Foster - Let It Burn (Blue Corn Music)
1. Etta James - Icon (Geffen Records)

New releases this week: Omar & the Howlers' Essential Collection (Ruf Records), Otis Taylor's Contraband (Telarc Records)

Photo of Ruthie Foster's Let It Burn courtesy Blue Corn Music

The 54th annual Grammy® Awards show was held last night in Los Angeles, broadcast by CBS television here in the United States, and awards were given out to a slew of artists but, due to the elimination of over 30 categories last year, only one blues recording was honored with an award. I've moaned and griped about this before, so I won't go into too much detail, but the awards for blues music were cut in half, from two to one. Latin music was reduced from seven categories to four, with Latin jazz eliminated altogether, and Cajun, Hawaiian, and Native American music were combined into one "regional roots" award, among other injustices.

More interesting, perhaps, were the protests surrounding this year's Grammy® awards celebration, a group of around 70 Latin jazz musicians and their supporters marching outside the Staples Center during the Grammy® pre-telecast. "We're creating public awareness more than anything else," said Bobby Matos, a longtime Latin jazz musician, told Billboard magazine. "We're not here to stop here anybody from entering the Grammys. We're just hoping that NARAS realizes that they made a mistake. In a perfect world they would reverse their decision today, do it on the air and announce a (special) concert for those categories." This same group delivered a petition with some 23,000 signatures to the headquarters of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences last Friday asking for the missing categories to be reinstated.

As Spin magazine mentioned in their article about the Grammy® outrage, the Academy has a long and disturbing history of ignoring talented artists, and musicians as influential as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley have been snubbed by the organization in the past. This year's winner for "Best Blues Album"? The Tedeschi Trucks Band's Revelator album took that Grammy® award...seems kind of anti-climatic at this point, doesn't it? Can't wait for the Blues Music Awards in May...

Photo courtesy Sony Masterworks

Blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa is one mighty busy dude! During 2011 alone, Bonamassa released his acclaimed Dust Bowl album; later in the year he released Don't Explain, an equally-acclaimed collaboration with talented rock-n-soul singer Beth Hart. The guitarist's classic rock outfit Black Country Communion recorded and released its second album, as well as a concert DVD pulled from the band's successful 2011 European tour. Whew!

One of the hardest-working artists in any style of music - and that includes the always-busy Jack White - Bonamassa tours constantly and seemingly spends nearly as much time in the studio as he does on the road. The current issue of Classic Rock magazine features an interview with Bonamassa that hints at new studio albums this year, both a solo disc and another much-anticipated Hart/Bonamassa collaboration.

This much we know for sure...on March 27, 2012 Bonamassa's J&R Adventures label will release Joe Bonamassa: Beacon Theatre - Live From New York, a two-DVD/Blu-Ray set that showcases nineteen red-hot performances taken from the guitarist's two-night, sold-out stand at the legendary New York City venue. Produced and directed by Kevin Shirley, Bonamassa's longtime producer and musical foil, the crew pulled out all the stops, shooting the performances in HD with 14 cameras, and the discs feature 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound. The bonus disc includes a couple of additional songs, exclusive "behind the scenes" footage, and a photo gallery.

Bonamassa had some friends drop by the Beacon Theatre during these performances, and Beacon Theatre - Live From New York features a pair of duets with singer Beth Hart, including a great performance of "Sinner's Prayer"; John Hiatt hits the stage for two songs, as does the legendary Paul Rodgers, who pitches in on a cover of Free's "Fire and Water." You can check out a trailer for the DVD on YouTube while you feverishly await the disc's release, and if that's not enough, PBS will be airing an edited version of the DVD beginning March 3; check your local listings for broadcast times.

Hidden in the press release for Beacon Theatre - Live From New York is the news that Black Country Communion will be releasing the two-CD Live Over Europe CD on February 28, 2012 which is good news for classic rock fans everywhere! Looks like 2012 is going to be another busy year for our buddy Joe, who is being credited as a one-man music biz savior, bringing in hordes of young new fans to guitar-based blues and blues-rock music and promoting music-making through endorsements with Gibson and Epiphone guitars, Ernie Ball, and other music-making-oriented companies.

Related Content:
Joe Bonamassa - Live From The Royal Albert Hall DVD review
Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Don't Explain CD review

Photo courtesy J&R Adventures

A legend long before her tragic death, R&B great Etta James continues to rule the top of the charts. The Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending February 11, 2012 shows James' budget-priced Icon collection reprising its turn in the top spot while the singer's final album, The Dreamer, holds down number two. It's only fitting that Miss Etta should be honored thus, and interest in her music remains as high as it's been at any time since her 1960s heyday.

The only other surprise on this week's chart is the intrusion of Dion, who muscles in at number three with his excellent Tank Full of Blues album, knocking everybody else down a spot with his chart debut. The 1950s/60s-era rock 'n' roll star has always displayed a healthy blues influence on his music - sometimes subtle, sometimes in-your-face - and during the last few years he's delivered some mighty fine blues-oriented albums.

Dion's Tank Full of Blues is a strong collection of mostly original material, and the singer's pairing of Muddy Waters' "Still A Fool" with Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' On My Mind" as a medley called "Two Train" is pure blues nirvana. This is one you'll definitely want to check out! Here are this week's Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:

10. Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Don't Explain (J&R Adventures)
9. Johnny Winter - Roots (Megaforce Records)
8. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Playlist: The Very Best Of (Sony Legacy)
7. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator (Sony Masterworks)
6. Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk (Warner Brothers)
5. Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton - Play The Blues (Warner Brothers)
4. Gary Clark, Jr. - The Bright Lights EP (Warner Brothers)
3. Dion - Tank Full Of Blues (Blue Horizon)
2. Etta James - The Dreamer (Verve Forecast)
1. Etta James - Icon (Geffen Records)

New releases this week: Big James & the Chicago Playboys' The Big Payback (Blind Pig Records); Carolina Chocolate Drops' Leaving Eden (Nonesuch Records); Stan Webb Chicken Shack's Stan's Blues (Music Avenue)

Photo of Dion's Tank Full of Blues courtesy Blue Horizon Records