Eric Gales 'A Tribute to LJK' album review: Eric Gales does his brother proud in a stunning album

Eric Gales’ new album isn’t just another blues-rock release; it’s a heartfelt album that honours his late brother, Manuel “Little Jimmy King” Gales, who passed away from a heart attack aged 37 in 2002. He played with Buddy Guy, Albert King and had a huge influence on his younger brother Eric, and countless blues musicians that followed. 

On 'A Tribute to LJK’  Gales reinterprets nine of Manuel’s songs, bringing them to a wider audience, thereby honouring his brother’s legacy, while enveloping it into his own oeuvre and delivering them with style and heart. Endowed with his brother’s music, Gales doesn’t just play it and go through the motions; he weaves it into his musical family history with every bend and sustain. Regardless of whether he is playing well-worn blues licks or his Jimi Hendrix incendiary solos, the honesty that shines through in the album: he’s primarily keeping his brother’s spirit alive through his music and it’s a terrific tribute.

Co-produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, the record harnesses the big band sound that Bonamassa enlists on his own records. While more sombre tracks like 'Somebody' capture both grief and celebration. The terrifically upbeat ‘Rocking Horse Ride’ gives the album an addictive groove that it’s hard to shake off.

Heavyweight guests, including Buddy Guy (who worked with Manuel), Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and Roosevelt Collier bolster the album’s sound. Gales himself is known as a flash-fingered blues guitarist, but this album is about grief, acceptance and vulnerability. There’s a tinge of sadness when he sings “you shouldn’t have left me”. While he talks of a former lover, there’s a vulnerability and a rueful phrasing to Gales’ phrasing that makes this deeply personal.

Any number of artists could have taken Manuel’s songs and covered them, but by paying tribute to his brother and his family heritage. It might not be raw, but it’s heartfelt and truthful and blessed with bags of feel. This is an album that needed time, distance and maturity to execute as perfectly as this.  It might have been a long time coming, but Eric has done his big brother proud on this stunning album.