Jimmy Page performs Sunshine Superman, live at the Royal Albert Hall, Friday night, June 3, 2011:
I love the girls in the orchestra just trying to watch him. Watch the violinist behind the guy playing upright bass for your Sunday morning entertainment.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Review: Black Country Communion 2
The story of Black Country Communion that the band likes to cite is that they are a 70’s style band. By that they mean, they like to cut the basic song track live off the floor. With their second album, Black Country Communion 2, timed in a very 70’s fashion just ten months after the release of their first album, they join the ranks of 70’s style bands in other ways: the naming of the album and progression of the bands music.
On their first album influences were obvious and threaded throughout the album. AC/DC, Bad Company, The Who and Iron Maiden where all out front. This time there is much less sounding like other bands, much more development of their own sound. Oh sure, the keyboard and guitar break in The Outsider is pure Yes, and the guitar lick in Faithless is so very close to Alice Cooper’s Devil’s Food. But they are the exception, and BCC2 sounds instead like Black Country Communion. In fact, the Yes style break in the albums first song, The Outsider, announce something is different in this album: keyboard player Derek Sherinian is going to be much more up front.
Glenn Hughes has called this a darker album, and while his songs are definitively edgier and grittier, his singing is more paced. Less an effort to sing hard rock, and more just doing it. Together with Bonham the rhythm section is as tight as the first album. What these two would sound like together if they had spent the last ten months touring together, instead of touring apart, it is frightening to wonder. It is Joe Bonamassa once again, however, that shines. The virtuoso guitar player provides great licks, tasty guitar lines and Paul Rogers-esque vocals. His acoustic showpiece, The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall, is the albums highlight.
But the album is full of highlights: Save Me, rescued from Bonham’s 2008 sessions with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones; Faithless, dark and mysterious sounding, so hard to not listen to again and again; Man in the Middle, BCC at their hardest; An Ordinary Son, Joe Bonamassa’s brilliant other showcase song; Cold, Glenn Hughes finest moment in his Black Country Communion suit.
With Faithless, Cold, Little Secret and, too a lesser degree, The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall, BCC2 has it’s share of slower or softer songs. Yet it is still by any definition, a very hard album, with a gritty edge they only let drop on Hadrian’s Wall.
Black Country Communion 2 is a solid album from beginning to end, with no unlistenable music or weak songs. Hughes and Bonamassa are in good voice, and the four very talented musicians are solid and tight. It may not quite be 70’s rock, but it’s the closest thing you’ll hear these days by a large margin.
Black Country Communion 2
Black Country Communion 2 is set for release on June 14th (June 13th in Britain)
On their first album influences were obvious and threaded throughout the album. AC/DC, Bad Company, The Who and Iron Maiden where all out front. This time there is much less sounding like other bands, much more development of their own sound. Oh sure, the keyboard and guitar break in The Outsider is pure Yes, and the guitar lick in Faithless is so very close to Alice Cooper’s Devil’s Food. But they are the exception, and BCC2 sounds instead like Black Country Communion. In fact, the Yes style break in the albums first song, The Outsider, announce something is different in this album: keyboard player Derek Sherinian is going to be much more up front.Glenn Hughes has called this a darker album, and while his songs are definitively edgier and grittier, his singing is more paced. Less an effort to sing hard rock, and more just doing it. Together with Bonham the rhythm section is as tight as the first album. What these two would sound like together if they had spent the last ten months touring together, instead of touring apart, it is frightening to wonder. It is Joe Bonamassa once again, however, that shines. The virtuoso guitar player provides great licks, tasty guitar lines and Paul Rogers-esque vocals. His acoustic showpiece, The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall, is the albums highlight.
But the album is full of highlights: Save Me, rescued from Bonham’s 2008 sessions with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones; Faithless, dark and mysterious sounding, so hard to not listen to again and again; Man in the Middle, BCC at their hardest; An Ordinary Son, Joe Bonamassa’s brilliant other showcase song; Cold, Glenn Hughes finest moment in his Black Country Communion suit.
With Faithless, Cold, Little Secret and, too a lesser degree, The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall, BCC2 has it’s share of slower or softer songs. Yet it is still by any definition, a very hard album, with a gritty edge they only let drop on Hadrian’s Wall.
Black Country Communion 2 is a solid album from beginning to end, with no unlistenable music or weak songs. Hughes and Bonamassa are in good voice, and the four very talented musicians are solid and tight. It may not quite be 70’s rock, but it’s the closest thing you’ll hear these days by a large margin.
Black Country Communion 2
- The Outsider (Hughes, Bonamassa, Sherinian, Shirley): 4:23
- Man in the Middle (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 4:35
- The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall (Bonamassa, Hughes, Shirley): 5:11
- Save Me (Bonham, Hughes, Bonamassa, Sherinian, Shirley): 7:42
- Smokestack Woman (Hughes): 5:10
- Faithless (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 5:10
- An Ordinary Son (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 7:59
- I Can See Your Spirit (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 4:11
- Little Secret (Hughes): 6:59
- Crossfire (Hughes): 6:03
- Cold (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 6:55
Black Country Communion 2 is set for release on June 14th (June 13th in Britain)
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)
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)
Saturday, June 4, 2011
John Paul Jones' New Tricks
During recording of his new album, itinerant bluesman Seasick Steve and his drummer, Dan Magnusson, decided to try something new. Bring in a bass player.
“Why don’t we just get the guy from Led Zeppelin?” said Magnusson.
Steve thought it absurd, but made a call to someone who works with the bassist. The guy from Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones called back: “I don’t mean to bug ya, but, you know, you want to play?” he asked.
“Yep!”
Jones came in and played on two tracks on Seasick Steve’s new album, You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks, released on MP3 this week.
The title track and Back in the Doghouse, are rockin’ slide guitar blues, that Jones adds a solid back beat too. Nothing fancy, but a solid groove below good, fun songs. Imagine a light-hearted version of In My Time of Dying, and you would be in the right neighbourhood.
If you are looking for some new music to pick up, consider Seasick Steve’s You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks for some good rollickin’ fun songs.
If you have a pair of 3D glasses lying around, you might like this version of the video better.
h/t Seasick Steve quotes from Louder Than War
“Why don’t we just get the guy from Led Zeppelin?” said Magnusson.
Steve thought it absurd, but made a call to someone who works with the bassist. The guy from Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones called back: “I don’t mean to bug ya, but, you know, you want to play?” he asked.
“Yep!”
Jones came in and played on two tracks on Seasick Steve’s new album, You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks, released on MP3 this week.
The title track and Back in the Doghouse, are rockin’ slide guitar blues, that Jones adds a solid back beat too. Nothing fancy, but a solid groove below good, fun songs. Imagine a light-hearted version of In My Time of Dying, and you would be in the right neighbourhood.
If you are looking for some new music to pick up, consider Seasick Steve’s You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks for some good rollickin’ fun songs.
If you have a pair of 3D glasses lying around, you might like this version of the video better.
h/t Seasick Steve quotes from Louder Than War
Jimmy Page: Mellow & Yellow
Last night at Royal Albert Hall in London, Jimmy Page stepped out from behind his website, and performed in public for the first time in three years (by my count, June 8, 2008 with the Foo Fighters was the last time).
Sixties singer Donovan was recreating his 1967 album Sunshine Superman, which featured young studio guitarist Jimmy Page. When Donovan played the title song he was joined onstage by the guitarist, who reprised his solo on the song.
Dave Lewis of Tight but Loose was there, and reports that during the encore, Dr. Page came on and they re-performed Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow.
So far, only a video of Mellow Yellow has surfaced. More will be added as they turn up.
Sixties singer Donovan was recreating his 1967 album Sunshine Superman, which featured young studio guitarist Jimmy Page. When Donovan played the title song he was joined onstage by the guitarist, who reprised his solo on the song.Dave Lewis of Tight but Loose was there, and reports that during the encore, Dr. Page came on and they re-performed Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow.
The second half featured the complete performance of his 1966 album Sunshine Superman. Early in this part of the set he explained how he began recording the record in 1965 in Abbey Road Studios with a young session guitarist – ‘and it’s great to have him here tonight- please welcome Jimmy Page’’
Jimmy entered stage right dressed in black shirt to a rapturous reception. Strapping on a Gibson Black Les Paul Custom with Bigsby arm, he accompanied Donovan on the track Sunshine Superman. Strumming along on the descending chord sequence he then opened up with a neat solo as the chorus came in. Smiling and waving to the crowd he then left the stage. Donovan went on to perform the entire album accompanied by the orchestra and guests including Shawn Phillips on sitar and his son Donovan jr.
Before performing the uplifting finale of Atlantis, Donovan acknowledged the band and guests and Jimmy briefly came on to take the applause. That appeared to be the end of the evening but as the crowd gave Donovan a standing ovation he remained on stage and announced they were going to reprise the title track and once again Jimmy entered proceedings strapping on the Gibson as they once again ran through the jaunty Sunshine Superman with all and sundry on stage...
After a triumphant Sunshine Superman, they all remained on stage for a rousing reprise of Mellow Yellow – this had Jimmy running through the strutting rhythm of the song smiling at Donovan and leading into a solo. Finally at the close of it all, Donovan and Jimmy embraced and they ambled off stage right as the crowd bayed for yet more.
So far, only a video of Mellow Yellow has surfaced. More will be added as they turn up.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Will Jimmy Page be Onstage Tonight?
Will there be another Led Zeppelin reunion of sorts tonight? Singer songwriter Donovan is performing his 1966 album Sunshine Superman at the Royal Albert Hall. Here's the billing for the show:
[caption id="attachment_1213" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jimmy Page and Donovan at the Royal Albert Hall"]
[/caption]
Very special guests?
John Paul Jones and Donovan, of course go way back. Jones was the arranger of record for Sunshine Superman's follow up album, Mellow Yellow.
However, it seems more likely that Jimmy Page is playing tonight. He was one of two guitar players on the Sunshine Superman album. As well, about six hours ago he was been spotted backstage at the Royal Albert Hall (See picture).
And then the following appeared on bassist Danny Thompson's Facebook page (Thompson is the announced bass player at this evenings show):
It indeed appears very possible that Jimmy Page will be appearing tonight, although that is not set in stone. Will John Paul Jones appear beside him onstage as well?
h/t to my man Nech, and Eddie over at FBO for pointing me to this story
***************
Update: Jimmy Page played: via twitter:
My friend Kate bought me a ticket for Donovan at the Royal Albert Hall (!!?), tamazepammed me, then Jimmy Page came on. Seriously #wtf
wasn't expecting to see JIMMY PAGE tonight!
Donovan you legend. Newton Faulkner in support and guest spot for Jimmy Page! Envy.
On 3 June 2011, poet and folk-psych-pop legend Donovan will be performing his classic 1966 album Sunshine Superman and a selection of his phenomenal hits at the Royal Albert Hall. The special event will see the celebrated singer-songwriter teaming up with The London Contemporary Orchestra and some very special guests.
[caption id="attachment_1213" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jimmy Page and Donovan at the Royal Albert Hall"]
[/caption]Very special guests?
John Paul Jones and Donovan, of course go way back. Jones was the arranger of record for Sunshine Superman's follow up album, Mellow Yellow.
However, it seems more likely that Jimmy Page is playing tonight. He was one of two guitar players on the Sunshine Superman album. As well, about six hours ago he was been spotted backstage at the Royal Albert Hall (See picture).
And then the following appeared on bassist Danny Thompson's Facebook page (Thompson is the announced bass player at this evenings show):
hey all! I'm with Danny at the Royal Albert Hall today. He'll be treading the boards with Donovan later as well as guitar super hero, Jimmy Page. It's all very lovely and über exciting :) Lisa x
It indeed appears very possible that Jimmy Page will be appearing tonight, although that is not set in stone. Will John Paul Jones appear beside him onstage as well?
h/t to my man Nech, and Eddie over at FBO for pointing me to this story
***************
Update: Jimmy Page played: via twitter:
My friend Kate bought me a ticket for Donovan at the Royal Albert Hall (!!?), tamazepammed me, then Jimmy Page came on. Seriously #wtf
wasn't expecting to see JIMMY PAGE tonight!
Donovan you legend. Newton Faulkner in support and guest spot for Jimmy Page! Envy.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Led Zeppelin Live Dreams App
In 1995, Laurance Ratner released the book Led Zeppelin: Live Dreams. The pictorial biography follows Led Zeppelin through twenty-two shows and four American tours, and offers a glimpse of them through the lens of photographer Ratner.
Now, Led Zeppelin: Live Dreams is an iPhone app (and, I presume, other phones), that gives you the information in the book, and a whole lot more.
Now, Led Zeppelin: Live Dreams is an iPhone app (and, I presume, other phones), that gives you the information in the book, and a whole lot more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)