{"id":6693,"date":"2025-11-14T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/buddy-guy-larkin-poe-and-the-cross-generational-power-of-b-b-kings-blues-summit-100\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:00:00","slug":"buddy-guy-larkin-poe-and-the-cross-generational-power-of-b-b-kings-blues-summit-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/buddy-guy-larkin-poe-and-the-cross-generational-power-of-b-b-kings-blues-summit-100\/","title":{"rendered":"Buddy Guy, Larkin Poe, and the Cross-Generational Power of B.B. King\u2019s Blues Summit 100"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/unnamed-9.jpg\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1062\" alt=\"\"><figcaption>Photo credit: TT News Agency &#8211; Alamy<br \/>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Joe Bonamassa\u2019s sprawling centennial tribute keeps unfolding \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/ffm.to\/evk0eb7\" target=\"_blank\">Vol. III<\/a> reminds us that the blues is still alive, still changing, and still finding new ways to connect generations.<\/p>\n<p>When B.B. King said, \u201cThe blues are the roots, the rest are the fruits,\u201d he wasn\u2019t making a slogan. He was describing a foundation that still feeds every branch of popular music. Sixty years on, those roots keep spreading \u2013 and <em>B.B. King\u2019s Blues Summit 100<\/em>, the multi-volume tribute curated by Joe Bonamassa, has become a kind of year-long proof.<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/5-artists-from-a-diamond-heart-production-you-need-to-know-right-now\/\">5 Artists from A Diamond Heart Production You Need to Know Right Now<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/the-10-hardest-rock-songs-you-need-to-hear-with-heavys\/\">The 10 Hardest Rock Songs You Need to Hear With Heavys<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/songtrust-amplified-launch-celebrates-nycs-next-wave-of-artists\/\">Songtrust Amplified Launch Celebrates NYC\u2019s Next Wave of Artists<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The new installment, <em>Vol. III<\/em>, leans hard on emotional memory. Its centerpiece, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/joeb.me\/YTSLA\" target=\"_blank\">Sweet Little Angel<\/a>,\u201d pairs 88-year-old <strong>Buddy Guy<\/strong> with the ghost of his oldest friend. The accompanying video stitches archival clips of King and Guy onstage with newly restored footage \u2013 less a music video than a conversation across time.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"kePN5WXBAUk\" style=\"bottom: 0; height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; width: 100%; max-width:100%;\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IcEhaM38x7k&amp;feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>\u201cBuddy Guy is obviously the first call you make when putting this project together, and \u2018Sweet Little Angel<em>\u2019<\/em> was his preferred song,\u201d co-producer <strong>Josh Smith<\/strong> said. \u201cThis take shows you why Buddy is the living legend he is. Our most important living blues artist. Both his vocal and guitar playing are from the same live track \u2013 no messing around, old school. The real deal indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Guy adds a line that lands like a benediction: \u201cI\u2019m remembering you, B. You know that. I can\u2019t do it like you, but I can try.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/image-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-648320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/image-1.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/image-1-340x272.jpeg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/image-1-498x398.jpeg 498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Elsewhere, <em>Vol. III<\/em> spreads the gospel sideways. <strong>Larkin Poe<\/strong> rough up \u201cDon\u2019t You Want a Man Like Me\u201d with swagger and slide guitar, while <strong>Trombone Shorty<\/strong> and <strong>Eric Gales<\/strong> turn \u201cHeartbreaker\u201d into a brass-fueled storm. Texas mainstay <strong>Jimmie Vaughan<\/strong> brings an easy shuffle to \u201cWatch Yourself,\u201d and <strong>Larry McCray<\/strong> closes with a slow burn take on \u201cWhen It All Comes Down (I\u2019ll Still Be Around).\u201d Smith called McCray \u201cthe greatest contemporary bluesman in the world,\u201d and on this track, it\u2019s hard to argue.<\/p>\n<p>Taken together, the songs feel less like nostalgia and more like continuation \u2013 a reminder that King\u2019s influence was never about imitation but interpretation.<\/p>\n<p>The earlier volumes drew from a similar idea. <em>Vol. I<\/em> gathered <strong>Michael McDonald<\/strong>, <strong>Susan Tedeschi<\/strong>, <strong>Derek Trucks<\/strong>, <strong>Bobby Rush<\/strong>, <strong>George Benson<\/strong>, <strong>Kenny Wayne Shepherd<\/strong>, and <strong>D.K. Harrell<\/strong>. <em>Vol. II<\/em> widened the frame: <strong>Gary Clark Jr.<\/strong>, <strong>Pat Monahan<\/strong> of Train, <strong>Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019<\/strong>, <strong>Joanne Shaw Taylor<\/strong>, <strong>Paul Rodgers<\/strong>, and <strong>Aloe Blacc<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 recalled meeting King in the early \u201970s: \u201cDid a show with B.B. King and the Average White Band. That\u2019s when I met him, but I\u2019ve been listening to B.B. King my whole life.\u201d Joanne Shaw Taylor remembered the encouragement she got opening for him as a teenager: \u201cHe was incredibly encouraging towards me\u2026 I\u2019m so thankful Joe asked me to be part of this project in honor of him and this important birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now comes the project\u2019s biggest reveal so far: \u201cThe Thrill Is Gone\u201d \u2013 the song that defined King to the world \u2013 will feature <strong>Chaka Khan<\/strong> and <strong>Eric Clapton<\/strong>, a pairing that feels both obvious and daring. If Buddy Guy\u2019s appearance represents lineage, this collaboration represents reach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen B.B. was alive and active, he was the blues \u2013 he was the sun which all planets rotated around,\u201d Bonamassa has said. \u201cYou only get one shot to do this correctly. And I think we nailed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether you buy that or not, <em>Blues Summit 100<\/em> is hard to ignore. The 32-track rollout, dropping in monthly waves through February 2026, plays like a serialized history lesson: each song another voice testifying to why the blues still matters. Some artists whisper it, some shout it, but all of them keep the circle unbroken.<\/p>\n<p>As Guy puts it on \u201cSweet Little Angel,\u201d the job is simple and impossible: try to do it like B.B., knowing you never quite can. The mission is just to play and that\u2019s where the blues lives.<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo credit: TT News Agency &#8211; Alamy Joe Bonamassa\u2019s sprawling centennial tribute keeps unfolding \u2013 Vol. III reminds us that the blues is still alive, still changing, and still finding&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ad-takeover","category-spin-recommends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}