Ozzy Osbourne has had a long, rich line of guitarists play in his band, but Joe Bonamassa was left baffled when he was asked to join that lineage in 2005.
The besuited bluesman was four albums deep into his career at that time, aged around 27, having played his first gig, supporting B.B. King, some 15 years before that. He’d been around long enough, it seems, to have caught the vocalist’s eye, who consequently approached him for a cover of Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth. It was set to feature on the Prince of Darkness’ covers album, Under Cover.
“I just thought that was a really interesting cover for Ozzy to be doing,” he told CBS News 24/7 (via Blabbermouth), who interviewed the guitarist in the wake of Ozzy’s passing.
“And I also said to myself, ‘Why are they calling me? Did every rock guitar player in Los Angeles disappear spontaneously at the same time?’”
Tactfully, he never voiced these concerns out loud, and quickly signed up to the project. That puts him in the same pasture as the likes of Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Jeff Beck, and Steve Vai, who have also worked with Ozzy during different portions of his storied career.
“It's always been one of the honors of my career to have played on an Ozzy Osbourne record,” Bonamassa expands. “His legacy will live on. The music that he made was so profound.
“His selection of guitar players was kind of like the heavy metal version of what John Mayall was doing in the late '60s with his band – hiring Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor,” he then says, striking an interesting parallel.
“When you talk about the great guitar players that played with Ozzy Osbourne – I mean Tony Iommi, obviously, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, Randy Rhoads, he always required someone on the guitar that was forward-thinking and hungry.”
As was the case with the likes of Rhoads, hiring a then-unknown Zakk Wylde, through to the perhaps underdog choice of Gus G., Ozzy has always heralded young talents too, giving them a huge platform and exposure like no other gig could.
“I read a quote from Ozzy himself [where he said] he wanted someone who wanted to kick Eddie Van Halen's butt on guitar,” Bonamassa continues – referencing an article right here on Guitar World. “That was a thing for him. His music really required a very specialized guitarist because it was very simple music, but people like Zakk Wylde put their own stamp on it.
“People like Jake E. Lee and Randy Rhoads, you hear those songs, and they would sound a lot different with somebody else playing the guitar. That was him being a band leader and someone who really embraced the electric guitar as part of their composition.”
His selection of guitar players was kind of like the heavy metal version of what John Mayall was doing in the late '60s
Joe Bonamassa
Meanwhile, Bonamassa has hit out at those who don't like his approach to blues guitar, believing countless sold-out arena shows prove he must be doing something right.
He's also spoken up about how Eric Johnson's playing has shaped his sound, and how a blues legend ended up engraving her name into Joe Bonamassa’s favorite 1955 Fender Strat.
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