“It changed my career”: Joe Bonamassa pays tribute to Tim Curry and recalls their “perfect” connection
Blues legend Joe Bonamassa has paid tribute to actor Tim Curry, who died earlier this week at the age of 80.
Curry is well-remembered for his roles as Pennywise the Clown in the original IT movie, as well as in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Bonamassa posted a tribute to Curry on Instagram yesterday (August 26).
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He wrote: “Rest in Peace Tim Curry. Many do not know that Tim cut the original version of Sloe Gin on his debut album Read my Lips in 1978. The song was composed by Bob Ezrin and Michael Kamen.
“20 years ago Kevin Shirley rang me and said he found the perfect desperate blues song for me. He was right and our version changed my career trajectory forever. Tim’s version was bold, beautiful and featured the mastery of Dick Wagner on guitar.”
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Alongside the written tribute is a video of Bonamassa performing Sloe Gin. The song remains one of Bonamassa’s biggest hits to date. He once told Total Guitar: “That song initially came to me via [producer] Kevin Shirley who was born in South Africa. It was a hit there but nowhere else.
“I have to give a special shout out to Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who played on the original version. They were basically Bob Ezrin’s ringers… What you hear on the record and how we play it live are two different things. That song’s got a life of its own. I’m thrilled with that… sometimes we just have to play it!”
Curry’s 1978 release included not only the Ezrin and Kamen track but also featured covers of work by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, Roy Wood, and Joni Mitchell.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
