Jimmy Hall's voice and harp playing are still in fine shape on Ready Now

Wet Willie singer and harmonica man Jimmy Hall returns under the patronage of blues superstar Joe Bonamassa

By Hugh Fielder
( Classic Rock )
published
Jimmy Hall: Ready Now cover art
(Image: © KTBA)

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Joe Bonamassa’s worthy mission to rescue ageing blues/ R&B performers and revive their careers on his KTBA label has alighted on Jimmy Hall, singer and harp player with 70s southern rockers Wet Willie. 

Hall hasn’t exactly been idle since (most notably turning up on Jeff Beck’s 1985 album Flash and joining his band from 2014 to 2019), but he wasn’t about to turn down the chance to record with Bonamassa and his band and write a bunch of songs with him.

Hall’s voice and harp playing are still in fine shape, as the bouncy opener Jumpin’ For Joy demonstrates, and the soulful Dream Release, written about his friend Gregg Allman, has shades of Southside Johnny. 

Warren Haynes and Jared James Nichols also drop by.

Hugh Fielder
Hugh Fielder

Hugh Fielder has been writing about music for 47 years. Actually 58 if you include the essay he wrote about the Rolling Stones in exchange for taking time off school to see them at the Ipswich Gaumont in 1964. He was news editor of Sounds magazine from 1975 to 1992 and editor of Tower Records Top magazine from 1992 to 2001. Since then he has been freelance. He has interviewed the great, the good and the not so good and written books about some of them. His favourite possession is a piece of columnar basalt he brought back from Iceland.