BOOGIE-WOOGIE INTRO
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you for joining us. Welcome to the show.
A marvellous myriad of music,
and we begin with the wonderful Joe Bonamassa.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Oh, come and get here, woman
# I don't know where you've been the last few days
# My mindful eyes may be weak and weary
# I shed no tears till I see things clearly
# Oh, what good is it anyway?
# It's after dark There's steam from the drains
# Solitude is a lonely journey
# I got work to do but I ain't worried
# Oh, I'm headed for a breakthrough I see it all
# Gonna take me a hammer Knock down the walls
# Every stone I chip away I think of you
# I'm headed for a breakthrough
# Headed for a breakthrough
# Gonna get me over you
# You hurt me so bad, it's criminal
# Left me on the streets to die
# Your version of love is so wonderful
# You didn't have to say goodbye
# Oh, I'm headed for a breakthrough I see it all
# I'm gonna take me a hammer Knock down the walls
# Every stone I chip away I think of you
# I'm headed for a breakthrough
# Headed for a breakthrough See it all
# I'm gonna take me a hammer Knock down the walls
# Every stone I chip away I think of you
# I'm headed for a breakthrough
# Headed for a breakthrough Seen it all
# Gonna take me a hammer Knock down the walls
# Every stone I chip away I think of you
# Headed for a breakthrough
# Gonna get me over you. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
The fantastic voice and guitar of Joe Bonamassa, with Breakthrough,
the title track of his album. Joe Bonamassa!
Let's meet our marvellous guests this evening.
From Ashby, Leicester, we welcome Sekou!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
From Arkansas, it's Ashley McBryde!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
From North Carolina, the wonderful Jocelyn Brown!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
From Manchester and Paris, Mandy, Indiana.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
But now, from London,
I'm delighted to welcome the delicious voice of James Blake.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I had a dream
# She took my hand
# It was only a dream
# I had a dream
# She took my hand
# I felt higher than storms
# But lighter than sand
# I had a dream
# She took my hand
# Deeper than whirlpools
# Safer than land
# Oh, this is love
# Let's stay up
# Can we stay here?
# She didn't know
# I had a dream
# She took my hand
# I felt my call to the Titanic band
# Playing them out
# Miles from land
# Nothing left to do
# But grip on that hand
# Oh, this is love This is love
# Let's stay up
# Can we stay here?
# She didn't know
# I had a dream Ah-ah
# She took my hand Ah-ah
# She began to dissolve Aah-aah
# Along with her soul Aah
# I couldn't remember her face Ah-ah-ah-ah
# Remember her name Ah-ah
# As I was losing control Ah-ah
# She motioned to say, oh
# Let's go, let's go, let's go, le...
# Let's go, let's go, last call, le...
# Let's go, let's go, let's go, le...
# Let's go, last call, let's go, let's go
# I had a dream Come back
# She took my hand Come back
# Mm-mm-mm, come back
# It was only a dream
# Ah-ah-ah-ah
# I just wanna know
# What it means
# I just wanna know
# It was only a dream. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Beautiful choir, beautiful band,
and a beautiful man singing that song. James Blake!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
More from him later.
Now, our next guest is one of the great icons of dance music.
Before we meet her, let's remind ourselves of her magnificence.
# You told me a lie and you didn't have an alibi
# But, baby, yet I still cared
# You know I loved you so, baby
# That I can't let you go, no, no
# You are the one who makes me feel so real
# Ooh, what am I supposed to do
# When I'm hooked so on you
# And realise that you're somebody else's guy... #
It's wonderful now to be here with Jocelyn Brown!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
So nice to see you again.
We worked together a long time ago,
and it's great to have you back in the room now.
I'm glad to be here, yes. Looking great. Really good to be here.
Now, Somebody Else's Guy, which we saw a little clip of there from
Top Of The Pops... Yes.
..huge, one of the biggest dance songs of all time.
Now, who wrote that song? Myself and my sister. And what inspired it?
We got involved in a situation that both of us
were individually in with other people...
Oh. And... Not as somebody's else's...? Uh-huh. Oh, dear.
Yeah, one of them. You got caught?
Mm-hm.
But my sister fell in my arms,
and we tried to figure out a way to deal with this.
I said, "I got a melody,"
and so we played it on the piano and my sister said,
"Well, what are we going to call it?"
And I said, "What do you think?"
She said, "How about Somebody Else's Guy?"
JOOLS LAUGHS
And I said OK.
I love that being your response.
"Look, we've been caught out in a very awkward situation here.
"What do we do? Go to the piano." Yes.
Yes. That's the great thing about music, isn't it? Isn't it?
You can retreat into it. A healer, for sure.
Now, congratulations, because you've recently had a huge special show
at the Hackney Empire celebrating your work over the decades.
For those of us that weren't there, what would we have seen?
Oh, you'd have seen a little bit of gospel, you know,
a little bit of soul,
and you'll have seen folks acting up and having a good time
and crying and saying thank you, you know, which was impressive
and over... Just overjoying for me.
You never know who appreciates you until you get into that environment,
and I've got to say, the environment when I walked into the theatre
was that, "Oh, my God."
How many people were there to give me respect, and I loved it.
Yeah. I'm appreciative. Well, people love you.
Where does music start for you? At home.
My grandmother was a teacher of the family, gospel music,
which we all sang, as a family unit.
And from that point on, my Aunt Barbara,
who is Barbara Roy from Ecstasy, Passion & Pain, she helped me
to get into the position of doing background singing,
and from that point on it just... God was just good.
He just knew what he was doing.
And who was your favourite gospel singer?
Oh, there was quite a few of them, you know.
But of course we had people like...
Aretha Franklin was outrageous.
You know, there was people like the Five Blind Boys Of Mississippi -
they were rough, you know.
And we had people like Sam Cooke, who was outrageous as well.
HE STARTS TO PLAY PIANO
Oh!
Oh, my God.
Do you want me to do a little bit of that? Just a little.
Just remind us what Sam Cooke's gospel was.
Just a little bit, right?
# I was born by the river
# In a little tent, whoa
# And just like the river, I've been running
# Ever since
# It's been a long
# A long time coming
# But I know
# A change is gonna come
# Oh, yes, it will
# It's been too hard living
# But I'm afraid to die
# I don't know what's up there
# Beyond the sky
# It's been a long
# A long time coming
# But I know
# A change is gonna come
# Oh, yes, it will. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
That was beautiful.
Now...
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUES That was beautiful.
So starting in gospel music, which you sang for a long time,
but then you were actually, in...
One of the discotheque queens of New York in the 1980s.
Now, I remember going to New York for the first time in my life
in the sort of early 1980s, and it was like Rome before it fell.
I'd never seen anything like it.
What was the disco scene like in the early '80s when you were there?
Well, it was a change of people's minds about how music works.
And R&B was not the real kick,
because that's because R&B was,
with The Temptations and The Supremes and all of that.
It went into another thing, went to a dance mode
where folks had to find pleasure in dealing with their feet
and getting rid of overpowering possessions
and powering situations that they couldn't get rid of
unless they let go,
and letting go was getting out there on that dance floor.
So New York had a big habit of Studio 54 all night long, you know?
And it was a situation where folks really enjoyed understanding
what disco music was. Well, it's fantastic having you here.
You've got a load of shows coming up over the summer,
the festivals and everything. Yes, that summertime love.
It's wonderful to have you here.
Thank you so much for joining us, Jocelyn Brown. Thank you, baby.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, baby.
Jocelyn Brown!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
And now I am delighted to welcome back to the show
the remarkable voice, and now band, of Sekou.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
# It's 2.00am and I'm waiting up for you
# If I want trouble, you're really not hard to find
# Regret kicked in from the moment I called you
# You really got me breaking every single rule of mine
# The sound of your voice got me caving in
# So why am I acting this way?
# You're such a dangerous lover
# I say goodbye, then you come over
# You're so dangerous, dangerous
# I can't get over you
# Can't get over you
# I'm right back in your
# I'm right back in your room, yeah
# I can't get over you No, no
# You're so dangerous, dangerous
# Another weekend that you end up on my mind
# My heart knows the truth but my body keeps telling lies
# And you wanna come out and play
# Always come running when you say my name
# Got you addicted to getting your way, hey
# The hairs on my neck, they keep raising, yeah
# You got me feeling a way
# You're such a dangerous lover
# I say goodbye, then you come over
# You're so dangerous, dangerous
# I can't get over you
# Can't get over you, yeah
# I'm right back in your
# I'm right back in your room, yeah
# Can't get over you No, no
# You're so dangerous, dangerous
# D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S, mm
# D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S, oh
# D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S, oh-oh
# D-A-N-G
# No, no
# Do-do-do, do-do
# You're so dangerous, dangerous
# I can't get over you
# Can't get over
# I'm right back in your
# I'm right back in your room
# Can't get over you No, no
# Cos you're so dangerous, dangerous. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Dangerous Lover. Thank you, Sekou!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Now... Beautifully backing-vocalled there as well.
The whole band, lovely. Let's hear it once again for Sekou! Yes!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Lovely band.
And now a beautiful contrasting moment,
because we have a Grammy-winning country artist
whose new album Wild pulls together 15 years of dazzling songwriting.
Please welcome Ashley McBryde.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# From the taste of things
# It must've been Marlboro Reds
# From the shape I'm in
# I must've barely made it to the bed
# There wasn't a good time poured over ice and sip it slow
# For the bottle tells me so
# If I can find my phone
# I bet I need to apologise
# The only problem is
# I can't remember to who or why
# And whatever day it is It's gonna be a long one, I know
# For the bottle tells me so
# One of us is gonna break one of these days
# If this ain't bottom, it's as far down as I ever wanna go
# The party's over and as always
# I'm the last one to know
# For the bottle tells me so
# I tried counting rounds
# I tried cutting back
# I tried changing kinds so many times that I lost track
# And all this need to, want to, going to's getting old
# For the bottle tells me so
# One of us is gonna break one of these days
# If this ain't bottom, it's as far down as I ever wanna go
# The party's over and as always
# I'm the last one to know
# For the bottle tells me so
# Neither one of us got this empty on our own
# For the bottle tells me so
# The bottle tells me so. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Bottle Tells Me So. Thank you, Ashley McBryde!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Now, let me take you over into this corner,
and we're going to meet a remarkable group of artists
from Manchester and Paris. Please welcome Mandy, Indiana!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Am, stram, am stram gram Pic et pic et colegram
# Bour et bour et ratatam Am, stram, gram
# Crac, trac, drame
# Tete qui tourne, coeur en flammes Le silence puis le drame
# Am, stram, gram
# Souffle, souffle court
# Baisers voles sous l'averse
# Rien ne bouge tout est lourd
# De promesse
# Coeur en transe Repetition, feu sans fin
# Plus de pensee que la danse Et ma main dans ta main
# Nuit bleue
# Dans l'echo jusqu'a l'aurore
# Toute la ville est un jeu Pendant que le monde dort
# Am, stram, am stram gram Pic et pic et colegram
# Bour et bour et ratatam Am, stram, gram... #
INDISTINCT TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT
# Je danse en attendant que le monde disparaisse
# Et mes reves refusent d'etre tenus en laisse
# J'avance a reculons vers des villes que j'invente
# Mes pas sur les paves prouvent que je suis vivante
# Je danse en attendant que le monde disparaisse
# Et mes reves refusent d'etre tenus en laisse
# J'avance a reculons vers des villes que j'invente
# Mes pas sur les paves prouvent que je suis vivante
# Je danse en attendant que le monde disparaisse
# Et mes reves refusent d'etre tenus en laisse
# J'avance a reculons vers des villes que j'invente
# Mes pas sur les paves prouvent que je suis vivante
# Je danse en attendant que le monde disparaisse
# Et mes reves refusent d'etre tenus en laisse
# J'avance a reculons vers des villes que j'invente
# Mes pas sur les paves prouvent que je suis vivante. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Cursive, from their second album, Urgh.
Urgh!
Mandy, Indiana!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Wonderful. Mandy, Indiana.
And now, one of the... In my view, maybe one of the greatest...
The small handful of the greatest guitarists on the planet today.
I'm delighted to have this one at the piano.
We welcome Joe Bonamassa! Thank you, sir.
Very good to have you here.
APPLAUSE
So you opened the show with the title track
from your 2025 album Breakthrough. Yes.
You've got a Rory Gallagher tribute album you're working on. Yes.
And in between all of that, you managed to do a tribute album
to what would have been BB King's 100th birthday,
involving an incredible selection of artists,
and doing a triumphant job on the whole thing.
What made you decide that you wanted to pay great tribute to BB?
Well, I met BB King when I was 12 years old,
and the reason why you and I are having this conversation
is for people like BB King who gave me my start in the music business.
And it was brought to our attention that he would be turning 100 in 2025
and we got to thinking - my friend and guitar player over there
Josh Smith and I co-produced the record -
and we just started making tracks
and sending them off to our friends, you know?
We sent one off to Eric Clapton and Chaka Khan
and they did The Thrill Is Gone, and, you know, the list
is over 40 artists and 35 songs.
And, you know, the thing is,
we got to see how much love there still is for BB King.
He was a gentleman of gentlemen, and a towering figure of the blues,
and I'm just proud to be a small part of this tribute record
that we did for him, and I hope that he's looking down
and he's smiling and he's proud
to see the entire community come out and celebrate his life.
Because a piece of music is never the same twice.
It doesn't matter whether you're a concert pianist playing Beethoven
or if you're playing the blues - it's never the same twice.
And you've done an incredible job because it stays very authentic
and close to what it was, but it reinvents it all the time.
But did you notice, the people doing it,
was there something that unified their love of BB?
Well, when we were going to...
I mean, there's so many versions of the same song,
and one of the most notable requests is we cut the song Night Life,
which is the Willie Nelson classic,
and we pitched it to Paul Rodgers, and he came back and said,
"Yes, I'd like to do it, but I want to do the Blues Is King version,"
which is this kind of very famous stripped-down version
from, I believe, 1966.
So Josh Smith and the band went in and we, you know, they cut a version
that sounded more like the 1966 version.
He got it, he sang great... Amazing voice he's got.
..and just nailed it, and it was that kind of thing
where we weren't trying to do soundalikes,
we were just trying to do it in the right spirit
and for the love of BB King
and his massive and incredible catalogue of songs.
He had an incredible... Well, for me he was the blues.
He was the epitome of the blues, which was this spirit
that was large and it was big and it was sort of...
It was grown-up, you know? One of the few artists
that you could really say that defined the genre of music
in which he lived and flourished in.
You could say that about Willie Nelson, you know,
you could have said that about Ozzy Osborne,
and BB was the blues. He was the King of the Blues.
Yes, there are so many great blues artists, from Albert King,
Freddie King, all the Kings, and Muddy Waters and all of that,
but, you know, when his, you know, MC introduced him,
"Ladies and gentlemen, the King of the Blues, BB King,"
you believed it. Yeah. And he walked out there
and he had the goods and he could back it up.
He came on our Hootenanny I think in 1997 and played with my big band,
and when he walked into the studio,
all of the bands stood up and all of the film crew applauded him. Yeah.
And I've never known that with anybody else before.
Didn't ask for it. And maybe he...
He sort of was very nice about it, "Thanks very much."
Maybe he thought we did it to everybody.
They had never done it to anybody, before or since.
We've got a little bit of footage which we're going to show
which is him on the Hootenanny doing one of the songs
that you do with them, which is Let The Good Times Roll.
# I don't care if you're young or old
# Get together, let the good times roll... #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you. The wonderful BB King.
And Joe, what are we going to play of BB King's at the end?
We're going to play a Will Jennings and Joe Sample tune
called Never Make Your Move Too Soon,
and Will was a friend of mine, I wrote a bunch of songs with him,
and this is one of BB's...
Probably one of his more famous songs of the '80s.
And you were gracious enough to sit in on it! It's going to be great.
It's an honour for me in paying tribute to BB,
which we'll look forward to later on.
So thank you very much, Joe Bonamassa. Thank you.
And BB King! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, Joe. Absolutely what a great man.
What a great player.
And now, let's go to this corner.
An amazing producer, Grammy-winner and great British talent.
With the title track from his top-three album Trying Times,
please welcome back James Blake!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# As we go through trying times
# As we go through
# You know I'm shredded
# By the time I'm home
# Like polystyrene foam
# And the jealous end up alone
# Cos there are things that they can never know
# I'm an eyesore
# You're a sight for
# Sore eyes As we go through
# You're the life force As we go through
# You're the life force Trying times
# I would die for As we go through
# I would die for
# Stay alive for
# As we go through trying times As we go through
# Trying times As we go through
# As we go, as we go As we go through trying times
# As we go through trying times
# As we go through
# I'm breaking
# I hide it well
# Cos I can't afford to replace the shell
# And the anxious end up alone
# Cos there are far too many things we can't control
# I'm an eyesore As we go through
# You're a sight for Trying times
# Sore eyes As we go through
# You're the life force As we go through
# You're the life force Trying times
# I would die for As we go through
# I would die for
# Be terrified for
# Simplify for
# Hmm
# And stay alive for
# As we go through trying times As we go through trying times
# As we go through
# As we go, as we go As we go through trying times
# As we go through trying times As we go through trying times
# Trying, trying, trying As we go through trying times
# As we go through
# Trying, trying, trying As we go through trying times
# I'm trying As we go through
# As we go, as we go
# I'm trying. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
One, two, three, here we go!
# Well, I ain't fallin' for no pick-up lines
# I don't care about no dollar signs
# I need someone that can treat me right
# Even though you lookin' good tonight cos
# I been tempted, I been drinkin'
# But this ain't real so we ain't linkin' up
# Might be fun but that just ain't enough
# All right
# Hit me up when you get serious
# I want love just not a pick-me-up
# All these games just cos you curious
# All right
# If you don't want love
# I just rather not waste my time cos baby, I do
# Can't be out here just catchin' bodies
# If you don't want us
# And you lookin' for one and done I'm not for you
# Cos I won't be catchin' bodies cos of you
# No, no
# Oh, no
# Well, I ain't tryna get my roster right
# Even though you lookin' good tonight
# Well, I ain't gon' lie Yes, I'm the freaky type
# But that's only for my ride or die
# Even though, baby
# I been tempted, I been drinkin'
# But this ain't real so we ain't linkin' up
# Might be fun but that just ain't enough
# All right
# So hit me up when you get serious
# I want love just not a pick-me-up
# All these games just cos you curious
# All right
# If you don't want love
# I just rather not waste my time cos baby, I do
# Can't be out here just catchin' bodies
# If you don't want us
# And you lookin' for one and done I'm not for you
# Cos I won't be catchin' bodies cos of you
# No-no, no
# Won't be catchin' bodies cos of you, baby
# No-no, no... #
OK, Jools, we gonna break it down.
I'm going to give you a little two-snap.
Hey!
# Cos if you don't want love
# I just rather not waste my time... #
Tell me why! # Baby, I do
# Can't be out here just catching bodies
# If you don't want love
# And you're looking for one and done
# Ooh, ooh, ooh
# Cos I won't be catching bodies Cos of you
# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
# Won't be catching bodies cos of you, baby
# No, no
# Oh, no, yeah
# Won't be catching bodies cos of you. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, Sekou!
Thank you to all of my wonderful guests this evening.
Let's hear it for everybody who's been in this room tonight!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
So let's finish where we began,
and we welcome back the wonderful Joe Bonamassa!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Three days of snow in Birmingham
# Thought you might wonder where I am
# Ringing your number all night long
# Ain't no comfort on the telephone
# Ran out and caught a midnight flight
# Thought a little love would make things all right
# The landlord said you moved away
# Left me all your bills to pay
# Look out, baby
# You mighta made your move too soon
# Left me with all those Keno cards
# This life in Vegas sure ain't hard
# Ran it up to fifty grand
# Cashed it in, baby, in my hand
# That kind of word will get around
# Make a lost love come up found
# I hear you knockin' at my door
# You ain't livin' here Yeah, no more
# It's too bad, baby Too bad
# Mighta made your move too soon Made your move too soon... #
Jools Holland!
# I've been to Spain and Tokyo
# Africa and Ohio
# I never tried to make the news
# I'm just a man who sings the blues
# I take my lovin' everywhere
# I come back, you know they still care
# One love ahead, one love behind
# One on my arms and one on my mind
# One thing, baby One thing
# Never make your move too soon
# Make your move too soon. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
WHISTLING
# You're so dangerous, dangerous
# I can't get over you
# Can't get over, can't get over
# I'm right back in your
# I'm right back in your room
# Can't get over you No, no
# Cos you're so dangerous, dangerous. #