Remembering Smokin’ Joe Kubek

On This Day · October 11

Smokin’ Joe Kubek died on October 11, 2015, aged 58. Eleven years later, the strongest tribute is to listen to the partnership he built with Bnois King. Kubek could deliver the fierce lead and slide playing; King brought jazz-informed guitar thinking and a singer’s command of the song. The combination deserves attention as an arrangement, not just a succession of solos.

There is even a precise place to begin. The credits for Have Blues, Will Travel tell listeners where the two guitarists sit in the stereo picture. Put on headphones and the conversation becomes easier to follow.

A Dallas education in how a band works

Kubek grew up around Dallas and worked with Freddie King. That connection places him close to a vital electric-blues lineage, but his education was broader than a famous name on the résumé. In the Blood Brothers liner notes, Kubek also credited R&B singer and bandleader Al “TNT” Braggs with teaching him how to lead a band, connect songs and vary tempos through a show.

Those are practical lessons for any player who has discovered that a good lick does not automatically make a good set. A guitar part exists inside a performance. How it enters, what surrounds it and what follows it can matter as much as the phrase itself. A whole evening needs shape, with room for the singer, the rhythm section and the audience’s attention.

For more on the earlier generation that shaped this musical environment, explore our Freddie King guitars and gear guide. Kubek’s own career is worth hearing alongside that history, with his partnership with Bnois treated on its own terms.

Bnois King made the contrast productive

Kubek and King met at a Dallas jam session in 1989. Their debut album, Steppin’ Out Texas Style, followed in 1991. Alligator’s biography describes a pairing of Kubek’s harder-edged blues and slide approach with King’s more harmonically shaded rhythm playing, spontaneous solos and vocals. It is the difference between their roles that makes the partnership an interesting study.

The useful question is not which guitarist wins. Listen for what each leaves available to the other. A forceful lead phrase can stand out because the accompaniment supports it without becoming a second competing monologue. Then listen again for the rhythm player’s decisions. This is a way into the music, not a rule that assigns either man permanently to the background.

A stereo map you can actually verify

Blood Brothers arrived in 2008, followed by Have Blues, Will Travel in 2010. The latter’s official credits identify Kubek’s lead, slide and rhythm guitar in the left and centre channels; King’s lead and rhythm guitar occupy the right channel. That specificity is useful: instead of guessing which player is doing what, listeners have a reliable starting point for this particular record.

The production credits are equally concrete: Kubek and Bruce Iglauer produced the album, with Sterling Winfield recording and mixing at Nomad Recording Studios in Carrollton, Texas. The record gives an anniversary listener both the music and a documented way to separate the players while hearing how they work together.

Start by following the left and centre guitar parts, then shift your attention to the right. Finally, listen to both sides as one arrangement. The point is to hear the division of labour without losing the band. The interaction becomes the thing to study.

The teaching survives too

Kubek left another practical resource in Smokin’ Blues Guitar, co-authored with Dave Rubin. Hal Leonard’s description identifies demonstrations by Kubek himself, with standard notation and tablature in the companion book. For players wanting to go beyond admiration, that is a documented route to the guitarist’s own examples.

On this eleventh anniversary, give the partnership a full listen. Follow the stereo credits, hear how the guitar roles interact, and go deeper into the roots with our Freddie King guide. Which Kubek and King recording would you choose to introduce someone to their sound?

Remembering Smokin’ Joe Kubek: the two-guitar conversation

A Dallas education in how a band works

Bnois King made the contrast productive

A stereo map you can actually verify

The teaching survives too

Sources and further reading