Product Description
ERIC GALES - A TRIBUTE TO LITTLE JIMMY KING
RELEASE DATE OCTOBER 24, 2025. ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!
ERIC GALES
A Tribute To LJK (Little Jimmy King)
Provogue
For everyone who is in awe of every note that Eric Gales strikes, know that he comes from a long line of Gales left-handed, upside down string slashers, led by his brother, Emmanuel Gales, aka Little Jimmy King (LJK). In the 1990s, I witnessed King on every trip I took to Memphis or Helena. There, everywhere he played on Beale, I witnessed women following him through the crowd waving napkins to cool him off, and men packing the area at his feet. His untimely passing at 37 years old in 2002 called another blues stringer back home.
Twenty-three years later, and after many recent critically acclaimed records of his own, Brother Eric has enlisted the team of Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith to co-produce this ten-song, loving tribute to his brother. Make no mistake, the guitars of Gales, Bonamassa, Smith, Kingfish, Roosevelt Collier (lap steel), and Buddy Guy do their best to wring as much emotional love in praise of Little Jimmy.
The album opens with B.B.’s “You Shouldn’t Have Left Me,” a tune that LJK recorded on his 1994 sophomore record on Bullseye Records. This solid opener features Eric’s silky vocals punctuated by his compelling guitar and massive horns. On another brother Eugene’s “Rockin Horse Ride,” it’s Kingfish standing toe to toe with Eric in their elegant homage.
The slow blues “Something Inside Of Me” comes from LJK’s 1997 Bullseye record. You might think it’s a nod to Stevie Ray Vaughan, but listen deeper and brother Eric’s huge string bends and stinging notes were made famous by LJK’s adopted granddaddy Albert King, whom he toured with for over three years. Gales and Bonamassa trade Albert King licks and verses on “Don’t Wanna Go Home,” also from LJK’s 1994 release. While “Money” adds Smith to the Gales/Bonamassa pairing for one of the most irresistible swinging shuffles under the trio’s dynamic blend of traditional and contemporary blues guitar.
The CD ends with Buddy Guy singing Eugene’s “Somebody.” Eric and Bonamassa handle the Strats while Roosevelt Collier’s lap sacred steel solo supercharges the finale.
Gales and his team made sure that this tribute was family throughout. LJK’s twin brother Danuel provides the disc’s intro and credit on one song, brother Eugene authored three songs, the Gales family donates the pictures, and four of the ten songs come from the 1996 House Of Blues’ Left Hand Brand that starred all three Gales, Emmanuel, Eugene, and Eric.
– Art Tipaldi
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Eric Gales' time is now. A rule-breaking, genre-fusing force of nature, hailed by giants like Joe Bonamassa, Dave Navarro and Mark Tremonti as one of the best guitarists on the planet, you'll find the Memphis blues-rocker's thumbprint on everything from his Grammy-nominated solo catalogue to the soundtrack of director Ryan Coogler's smash-hit horror movie, Sinners. But while Gales' latest release, Tribute To LJK, is a thrillingly modern record for the here-and-now, it's also a nod to his bloodline and the roots of his family tree. "I wanted it to be the ultimate tribute to my late brother, Little Jimmy King, to keep his memory alive and make sure people remember who he was and still is," says Gales. "I wanted to deliver his tunes to the world, through my eyes. And I wanted it to be badass - and that's exactly how it turned out."
- 1 U Shouldn't Have Left Me
- 2 Rockin Horse Ride (Feat. Christone "Kingfish" Ingram)
- 3 Guitar Man
- 4 Dont Wanna Go Home (Feat. Joe Bonamassa)
- 5 Something Inside of Me
- 6 Baby Baby
- 7 Whole Lotta Money (Feat. Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith)
- 8 Worried Man
- 9 Blues Been Too Good to Me
- 10 Somebody (Feat. Buddy Guy and Roosevelt Collier)