I didn't see it at first, but the blues chart for the week ending September 29, 2012 is like a 2011 flashback...with the re-entry of Joe Bonamassa's Dust Bowl album back into the top ten this week, fully half of these chart albums were released in 2011. Considering the wealth of great blues music released this year, it's interesting that only three 2012 releases have hung around the charts for any length of time.
After writing this report for almost a year and a half, though, almost nothing surprises me anymore not even...and this is a real possibility...if Bonamassa's upcoming Beacon Theater: Live From New York debuts at number one, meaning that the popular guitarslinger could potentially have three albums in the top ten. Of course, a couple of other new releases this week could challenge ol' smokin' Joe for the highest debut: Gary Moore's Blues For Jimi and Shemekia Copeland's 33 1/3, both of which are strong contenders for the top of the chart.
Here are this week's Billboard Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:
10. Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl (J&R Adventures)9. Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton - Play The Blues (Warner Brothers)
8. Albert Cummings - No Regrets (Ivy Music)
7. Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk (Warner Brothers)
6. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator (Sony Masterworks)
5. Gary Clark, Jr. - The Bright Lights EP (Warner Brothers)
4. Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards The Daylight (J&R Adventures)
3. Robert Cray - Nothin But Love (Provogue Records)
2. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Everybody's Talkin' (Sony Masterworks)
1. Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream (Redwing Records)
New releases this week: Gary Moore's Blues For Jimi (Eagle Rock); Joe Bonamassa's Beacon Theater: Live From New York (J&R Adventures); Shemekia Copeland's 33 1/3 (Telarc Records)
Photo of Joe Bonamassa's Beacon Theater: Live From New York courtesy J&R Adventures
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