Kirk Fletcher Interview: 12 Albums That Changed My Life

Kirk Fletcher Interview: 12 Albums That Changed My Life

Feature Photo by Goodman

Hailing from Bellflower, California, Kirk Fletcher is one of the preeminent blues guitarists of his generation. Through his work with The Fabulous Thunderbirds and The Mannish Boys, and as a solo artist with a Gibson hollow-body in hand, Fletcher has done his part to keep the blues alive while pushing the genre forward with the likes of Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith.

His 2018 record, Hold On, reached No.12 on the Living Blues Radio chart, entered at No.15 on the US Billboard Blues Albums chart, and was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the Contemporary Blues Album category in 2019. Not too shabby for a self-released record.

In 2020, Fletcher released My Blues Pathway on Cleopatra Records, and he followed up in 2022 with Heartache by The Pound, released on Ogierea Records. Both were outstanding and showed iconic songcraft and six-string mastery.

Fletcher is said to be hard at work on his next release while also taking his time to catch his breath after a busy few years that have seen him soar to new heights. During a break, Fletcher caught up with ClassicRockHistory.com to recount the 12 albums that changed his life, but not before adding, “Honorable mention goes to Somewhere Along the Way by Chris Cain, The Blueline Mystic Mile by Robben Ford, The Yellowjackets self-titled debut, Miles of Aisles by Joni Mitchell, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Organ Grinder Swing by Jimmy Smith, and Chicago/The Blues/Today! by Otis Rush.”

# 12 – Rock This House  –  Hollywood Fats (1993)

With honorable mention to the first Fabulous Thunderbirds album, this album changed the way I thought about blues guitar and ensemble playing, backing up a harmonica. I was gifted this album by frontman Al Blake, who mentored me as a blues musician at the right time. It’s the best of the blues. You have all the main blues food groups covered here in Chicago, West Coast, country blues with all the grace and integrity of honoring the music. I always felt I caught my groove when I first heard this record. It’s the three Ts: tone, taste, and timing!

# 11 – King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Canned Heat Live – Canned Heat (1995)

This record changed me. Hearing blues guitar masters Hollywood Fats and Larry Taylor play in a rock context and amplify country blues excited me. Those musicians gave this music so much depth. Fats always had a way of arranging his guitar parts and playing the most direct while never sacrificing anything. Their version of, I believe, “William Harris Bullfrog Blues” amplifies country blues in a way I never heard before. The combination of what Fats plays on guitar and Larry plays on electric bass is incredible, and the only way to achieve such a conversion is to have really studied the music. That was an incredible light bulb moment for me in my youth.

# 11 – Long Overdue –  Junior Watson (1993)

Junior Watson changed the way I played and thought about music entirely. His use of old Fender Tweed amps and reverb tanks was so intoxicating. It completely turned my head around to tone, phrasing, and digging deep into ’40s music. This album is fantastic; it’s his debut on the Black Magic Label, released in 1993. The tones on the Guitar Slim’s songs “Certainly All” and “Lonesome Train” changed my perception of guitar tone. I realized Junior was a master at his craft of blues guitar, all while having his unique voice on the instrument.

# 11 – Blues Is King –  B.B. King (1967)

I don’t know what is harder: picking a favorite album by B.B. King or narrowing it down to just one record. I have so many favorites with an honorable mention to his sides from the late ’40s and early ’50s. I wouldn’t be the musician I am today without B.B. as a primary influence. This record swings so hard, and he sings as if his life depended on it. The sound of electric blues guitar mixed with organ set the standard for me. The versions of Willie Nelson’s “Night Life” and Louis Jordan’s “Buzz Me” are my top three favorite live albums. This album also started my love affair with reverb on the guitar. It also taught me about dynamics and reaching a climax in your guitar soloing.

# 8 – Rockin’ Chair –  Howlin’ Wolf (1962)

This record was so important to me, and somehow, there is a connection between hearing so much about James Brown as a kid and Wolf. It goes over some people’s heads that these classic Blues albums aren’t just 12-bar blues jams. It’s the incredible parts played by the ensemble and guitar players such as Willie Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, and Jody Williams. It’s just the most gutsy, earthy, soulful music ever recorded. I always felt a connection between my dad’s preaching in church and Wolf’s vocal delivery. “The Red Roster” and “Backdoor Man” are probably some of my first blues. Thanks to Bernie Pearl, a radio DJ on Long Beach’s KLON blues show every weekend.

# 7 – Jimmy Witherspoon & Robben Ford Live at The Ash Grove –  Jimmy Witherspoon and Robben Ford (1976)

Oh, man, where do I begin with this record, and its importance to my musical development? It made me conscious of the swing element, chords, phrasing, and the fat horn tone Robben had. It was partly recorded at the legendary Ash Grove in the mid-70s in Southern California. Once again, this album made me get older recordings by Jimmy Witherspoon and Jay McShann and set me up for future jump Blues bands I would play with around L.A., like the late Lynwood Slim.

# 6 – Texas Flood – Stevie Ray Vaughan (1983)

As my guitar playing progressed, I started making my little music collection. Stevie’s debut album was just the perfect time for my guitar development. I learned it inside and out. I gained so much from this album, such as basic blues structures, solo building, playing a shuffle in the key of E, and intros and endings. I learned that I should dig deeper and celebrate this wonderful art form we call the blues. It was so accessible during the early to mid ’80s that you could see music videos by blues artists such as B.B. King, Robert Cray, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. This album sent me on a path to dig deeper into blues and the culture of my parents’ generation. My life then was consumed with virtuoso guitar players, so Stevie fit the bill in every way for me as a kid.

# 5 – 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! –  James Brown (1991)

Another big brother gem. I was obsessed with this cassette when I was young. The raw funk of Mr. Brown’s screams and funky rhythmic singing and phrasing and the band being so funky! This is ground zero for me, and anything funky I might attempt to play or arrange musically. This album is a good mix of his early hits and his later “mustache” era. This compilation inspired me to incorporate this rhythmic pulse in everything I’ve ever done.

# 4 – Band of Gypsys –  Jimi Hendrix (1970)

This record tied so many things together for me as a kid. My love affair with Funkadelic, psychedelic guitar, and a Fat Back rhythm section. This record has always been a part of my life and musical development. It’s like Jimi is not just playing the guitar but playing his soul. You can feel every note, and looking back over these years, Jimi was in tune with his soul, the world, the groove, and so much more. His guitar solo on “Machine Gun” changed the way people thought. The only thing I could compare something like that to is John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. It’s beyond the notes.

# 3 – Breezin’ –  George Benson (1976)

Oh man, I first heard this record from my big brother Walter’s collection. I would sit and stare at the album cover for hours as a kid. Hearing how he sang on this album and the impeccable musicianship set the bar so high for me. The introduction to “This Masquerade” by Leon Russell, with what seemed like effortless articulation, just mystified me. This was my gateway to guitarists such as Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell.

# 2 – The Best of The Dixie Hummingbirds –  The Dixie Hummingbirds (2000)

This record is a compilation my father brought home to listen to, and I immediately bonded with it. The combination of Lead singer Ira Tucker’s voice and Howard Carroll’s wonderful guitar playing. After all these years, there’s probably a connection between Bobby Bland’s Dreamer and this album for me. This record has a lot of the Hummingbird’s classic songs like “Let’s Go Out to the Programs,” “Christian Automobile,” and my personal favorite, “Thank You for One More Day.” This is an excellent example of vocals harmonizing and incredible guitar playing a supportive role. This record sent me on the path of guitar playing a supporting role.

# 1 – Dreamer –  Bobby Bland (1974)

Recorded in 1974 at Los Angeles ABC recording studios for ABC/Dunhill Records. After listening to this record my whole life, I see it’s the perfect marriage between one of the greatest blues singers ever to do it and a group of incredible musicians from the West Coast studios. And incredible songs arranged by Michael Omartian. It’s like the perfect blues, soul, and R&B record. The drummer Ed Greene did sessions for Barry White, so it gave the record this accessible funky groove for non-blues fans. It’s also enough stinging guitar by Larry Carlton, Dean Parks, and Ben Benay. The real magic in this record for me is it just sounds like a sexy Saturday night record that you play after a romance has ended! At the start of every record I’ve ever recorded, I’ve tried to pay homage to this album in some way.

Kirk Fletcher Interview: 12 Albums That Changed My Life article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024

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