Black Country Communion is the latest "supergroup," involving a Led Zeppelin member. Drummer Jason Bonham joins Derek Sherinian, Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa to form the group, named after the area of Britain where Hughes and Bonham are from.
Hughes is the former bass player from Deep Purple, replacing Roger Glover in 1973. He stayed with Deep Purple until they broke up in 1976. Their biggest song of his era would have been
Burn, from the album of the same name. Although Hughes was also considered a singer, he debuted with Deep Purple at the same time as their new singer, David Coverdale (who would, years later, form Coverdale Page with Jimmy Page).
Joe Bonamassa is considered a guitar prodigy. He has played with a vast array of blues artists including Eric Clapton and BB King. But he is mostly known for a successful solo career, that includes an excellent, but radio friendlier version of a song I have long loved: Tim Curry's
Sloe Gin.
Derek Sherinian is a keyboard player who played keyboards for Alice Cooper during the "Trash" and "Hey Stoopid" period. He would go on to tour with Kiss, including playing on their Alive III album before beginning a solo career in 1999.
Their first single is One Last Soul, available for free download at the
Black Country Communion website. A sneak peek can also be had on the groups
MySpace page.
Of all the post 02 Zeppelin material to appear to date,
One Last Soul has been the easiest to like. Known for his funky, soul tinged bass lines, Glenn Hughes blends with Jason Bonham to create a tight rhythm section which drives the song.
It is, in point of fact, a very rhythmic song, having a classic rock groove without sounding 30 years old. The chorus has a solid hook, sticking in your head once the song is done.
At the same time, in looking for a point of comparison,
One Last Soul is not immediately reminiscent of any other song.
One Last Soul is a nice introduction to what looks like it may be a solid rock band in the upcoming year.
The album, "Black Country Communion," will be released Sept 21, 2010, and the band expects to tour in 2011.
UK radio station Planter Rock has made available a download of Black Country Communion performing Black Country/One Last Soul to VIP members. The track was recorded at the album release party for specially selected guests at John Henry's in London last September. It is produced by Kevin Shirley, and available only through Planet Rock.