Black Country Communion: Save Me

The song Save Me has been much talked about as having come from the Led Zeppelin sessions of 2008. “I brought that lick to from the 2008 sessions…” Jason Bonham told an interviewer. “You’ll hear it in the lick.”

At 7:42, it is the albums second longest track, featuring a spacey and slow introduction, Glenn Hughes singing over a sustained guitar chord and arpeggiated keyboard. Once the lick comes in you can hear what Bonham the younger is talking about. The Zeppelin is in the song sure enough, and you can hear the son in the drummer, with a steady solid groove backing up the guitar. In the chorus, guitarist Bonamassa, a Jimmy Page devotee himself, slips on the wah-wah pedal in a way Page might have. And the solo is certainly in the vein of Page, channelling Achilles Last Stand.

It is in the bridge, however, that the song really takes on a Zeppelin feel, as the keyboards have the tone and sound of John Paul Jones keyboard bridge in Kashmir.

Save Me, the song that emerged from the 2008 “Led Zeppelin sessions,” truthfully sounds like a Black Country Communion song, that gives a nod to Led Zeppelin, in much the same was Crossfire, later in the album, seems to give a nod to Yes (I didn’t know Glenn Hughes even owned a Rickenbacker). None the less, it provides an interesting historical peek at what might have emerged from those sessions.

Based on the evidence at hand, it’s a pity they never saw the light of day.

Black Country Communion 2 is set for release on June 14th (June 13th in Britain)

New BCC Song from Zeppelin Sessions

In 2008, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham got together and began working on some new material. The plan was an original album with Robert Plant singing. When Plant decided he wasn't interested in the project, the trio had recordings of 6 or 7 songs. None of that is new.

I have wondered since if any of that material has been released in a different form since. Namely, whether any Them Crooked Vultures or Black Country Communion songs are from those sessions, or are based on material from those sessions.

We now have a part answer. In Black Country Communion's upcoming release, BCC2, the song Save Me started as an idea from those sessions. According to Jason Bonham:

There's a song that started off as an idea that I worked on with (Jones and Page), so I was happy to finish it off with this band and have it come out. It's called Save Me. You'll notice it in the riff. You'll hear a slight Zepesque riff ... it's got a definite feel to it.

You can pre-order BCC2 at the band's website.