Winnipeg Free Press’s Jeff Monk
Billy Joe Green is one of those seemingly ageless Manitoba Bluesmen
who toil in relative obscurity, but continue to please audiences as
far as their semi-reliable vehicles will take them.
THE BEST OF BILLY JOE GREEN collects 10 HOT TRACKS (and one newly
recorded bonus number) from three of Green's albums, and it's a doozie
of a set. Billy Joe has a startingly raw guitar tone that he corrals
into making some wonderfully hellacious sounds, full of sustain and
personality. The dynamics of a track like SOUL SEARCH with it's careening
Stratocaster howls and wild dive bombs can be compared to what Jeff
Beck has been doing lately, and that's a tall order.
By pushing contemporary blues to it's sonic limit and avoiding tired
cliches, Billy Joe Green has created a boisterous body of work.
John Scoles, SCENE Roots & Blues Magazine...
".. Billy Joe is a man who deserves a big title. You might
call him a blues shaman, and I may describe him as the Keith Richards
of First Nations soul. Artists with a history that merges cultures
and musical styles tend to be easy targets for cutesy descriptions,
but some, like Billy Joe, seem to reveal in performance something
more than words can capture.
Don't believe me? Well, then I suppose you won't believe that this
is a guy who was doing the Stevie Ray Vaughan thing twenty years
ago, either (for blues debutantes, that's a few years prior to anybody
north of Texas knowing that Stevie was doing the Stevie Ray thing!).
Anyway... whatever label you try to put on Billy Joe, or however
you want to play up his remarkable history, one thing is beyond
opinion: he is an incredibly talented, diverse and well-traveled
musician.
Maurice Ginzer, President, Kaos Jazz
& Blues Bistro, Calgary
"Billy Joe Green is one of the best rockin' blues guitarists
that I have come across during the past ten years. ...Billy has
a very unique sound which complements his excellent technical dexterity
on the instrument.
Not only a great leader, he has that indefineable...., unexplainable...,
charismatic 'Royal Jelly' stage presence that brings the house down,
whenever I have seen him perform."
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