Guitararama | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 June 2008 | |||
Recorded | 2007–2008 | |||
Genre | Blues, new blues, blues rock | |||
Length | 63:27 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | 333 Records | |||
Producer | Stephen Dale Petit/ Richard Niles | |||
Stephen Dale Petit chronology | ||||
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Guitararama is the first studio album by Stephen Dale Petit released on 2 June 2008. The album was both inspired and funded by Petit's time spent performing as part of the Licensed Busking scheme on the London Underground in 2003.
Speaking to EarlyBlues.com, Petit commented: "It was hard but ultimately it led to me recording Guitararama. People stopped me down there and said "Can I buy this?" but I had nothing to sell so after a few months I thought I'd better set about recording some music." [1]
Guitararama was recorded over an 18-month period and financed entirely by busking. It was released independently by Petit in late 2006. The album's first pressing was initially available only on the London Underground before being taken on by major UK commercial retailers and online outlets.
Guitararama was re-packaged and re-released on 2 June 2008 under 333 Records, with 3 extra bonus tracks added ("Blues From Mars", "Bad Road Blues" and "A Better Answer"). The album is in a Digipak format with a 16-page colour booklet featuring photography from street photographer John Gladdy.
Guitararama is predominantly instrumental and appeals to "both the mature, arts-appreciative audience and the younger, guitar-inquisitive end of the market."
Petit states that in creating the album, his "guiding principle was to honour the music that had floored me throughout my life, to do it justice, to try and create the magic, mystery and excitement I’d heard in that music in my own songs and to capture it in the recordings". [2]
Classic Rock reviewed the album, giving it eight stars and stating: "Petit occupies a stunning middle ground between the fire of Freddie King, the instinct of Jimmy Page and the soul of Clapton… It's difficult these days to put a new spin on such an old genre as the blues but Petit has managed it".
Guitar & Bass Magazine placed Guitararama in its "Top 10 Albums of the Year", writing that "Petit’s vim and vigour are matched by his fine technical skills... proof positive that the blues can move forward in the 21st century." [3]
Properganda Magazine praised the album for Petit's "incendiary playing" and described Petit as a "a phenomenal technician who demonstrates tremendous feel." [4] Commenting on Petit's performance on Guitararama, Rock N Reel Magazine said: "Petit's got that elusive must see quality that makes a minor deities of accomplished musicians". [5]
The first incarnation of Guitararama entered the Top 10 HMV Blues Album Chart in the UK (between two Robert Johnson albums), as well as the iTunes Top 10 Chart in both Norway and Sweden.
Preceding the album is the three track single with "7 Cent Cotton", "Told You So", and "Alexis Korner Says" with "7 Cent Cotton" video.
All songs were written by Stephen Dale Petit, except where noted.
Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner, known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, Korner was instrumental in the formation of several notable British bands including The Rolling Stones and Free.
Fly Like an Eagle is the ninth studio album by American rock band Steve Miller Band, released in May 1976 by Capitol Records in the United States, Canada and Japan and Mercury Records in Europe.
Clifford Williams is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English groups Home and Bandit. His first studio album with AC/DC was Powerage in 1978. Williams was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of AC/DC in 2003. Williams announced his retirement from AC/DC in 2016, but returned for their 2020 comeback album Power Up along with band mates Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd. His side projects include benefit concerts.
Smokin' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Humble Pie, released in 1972 through A&M Records. It was the band's international breakthrough, peaking at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, and hit number 20 in the UK and number 9 in Australia.
CCS, sometimes written as C.C.S., was a British musical group, led by blues guitarist Alexis Korner. The name was derived as an abbreviation of Collective Consciousness Society.
Colin Hodgkinson is a British rock, jazz and blues bassist, who has been active since the 1960s.
Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Davy Graham, Ginger Baker, Art Wood, Long John Baldry, Ronnie Jones, Danny Thompson, Graham Bond, Cyril Davies, Malcolm Cecil, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Mick Jagger.
Peter Eiberg Thorup was a Danish guitarist, singer, composer and record producer. He was one of the most important blues musicians in Denmark, and he was known outside his own country, when in the late 1960s he met Alexis Korner and the two formed the bands New Church, The Beefeaters, CCS, and later Snape.
B.B. King in London is a studio album by B.B. King, recorded in London in 1971. He is accompanied by US session musicians and various British rock- and R&B musicians, including Ringo Starr, Alexis Korner and Gary Wright, as well as members of Spooky Tooth and Humble Pie, Greg Ridley, Steve Marriott, and Jerry Shirley.
R&B from the Marquee is an album by Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated released in November 1962 on Decca Records. Blues Incorporated was a British rhythm and blues band in the early 1960s. Although never very successful commercially, it was extremely influential on the development of British rock music in the 1960s and later.
Norman Beaker is a blues guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, band leader and record producer who has been involved in the British blues scene since the early 1970s.
Stephen Dale Petit is an American-born guitarist, singer, songwriter and New Blues musician.
Curtis Jones was an American blues pianist.
The Party Album, also known as The Party LP is a 1978 live blues recording by Alexis Korner. The double album features Alexis Korner and various guest musicians singing a mix of both classic blues songs as well as some of Korner's own. The concert was a celebration of Korner's 50th birthday.
Survivor is a solo album by Eric Burdon released in 1977.
The Crave is the second studio album by Stephen Dale Petit, released on the 26 July 2010. It features guest appearances from former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, original Rolling Stones bassist and Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor and keyboardist Max Middleton.
Cracking the Code is the third studio album by Stephen Dale Petit, released on 15 September 2013 and recorded primarily at Blackbird Studios in Nashville. It was recorded by Grammy award-winning producer Vance Powell and consists of eleven original songs. The album features appearances from several notable guests including Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Dr. John, former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys. Hubert Sumlin's contribution proved to be the last music he made prior to his death on 4 December 2011.
Stephen Dale Petit At High Voltage is a live album by Stephen Dale Petit released on 15 March 2015. The performance was recorded at London's High Voltage Festival in 2010 by the Ronnie Lane Mobile Recording Unit.
The BBC Sessions is the third album by Stephen Dale Petit, released on 5 December 2011, and is a compilation of specially commissioned BBC live recordings broadcast on BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris and Paul Jones shows. Released in response to growing demand from Radio 2 listeners, the album features live versions of Petit’s own material as well as homages to staple songs within the blues genre. Covers include versions of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers’ "Steppin’ Out", Albert King’s "When The Years Go Passing By" and Robert Johnson’s "Love In Vain". The album features guest appearances from former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. The recordings took place at the BBC’s Studio 3 in Maida Vale, London and Bob Harris’ studio in the BBC's Radio 2 headquarters at Western House, London.
2020 Visions is the sixth album by Stephen Dale Petit, released digitally on 12 June 2020 and on vinyl and CD on 25 September 2020.