Black Country Communion - 2010 - Black Country Communion [320]

Black Country Communion is the brainchild of producer Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin). The band initially came to fruition when Shirley saw Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa join forces on stage in Los Angeles in November 2009 for an explosive performance at Guitar Center’s King of the Blues event. Shirley then recruited Bonham and Sherinian to complete the group. Named after the industrial area in Britain where both Hughes and Bonham were born and raised, BCC began rehearsing and recording tracks written by both Bonamassa and Hughes at Shangri¬La Studios with producer Kevin Shirley in early 2010. The result is a recording masterpiece with 12 tracks of superbly mixed rock n’ roll that includes enough bluesy grit to rip your ears off!

(Full Covers)

LINK

COVERS

Joe Bonamassa - 2010 - Black Rock [320]

Black Rock was recorded at Black Rock Studios, Santorini, Greece hence the album title. It has a few greek influences thrown in such as on the track Bird On A Wire, one of the outstanding tracks on Black Rock, which has a Clarino in the intro and it sounds like a Bouzouki and maybe Mandolin in the background fused with drums that sound like John Bonham. This track is actually a cover of the Leonard Cohen track and yet again Joe Bonamassa shows his excellent arrangement skills by transforming not only this track but also Jeff Beck’s Spanish Boots and Otis Rush’s Three Times A Fool. One of the highlights on this album is Joe’s cover of Willie Nelson’s Night Life featuring the always incredible B.B. King, the man who recognised the talent of Joe at an early age. Joe and B.B.‘s playing compliment each other well, as do their vocals. I love hearing how different their styles of playing are, B.B. is tasteful and soulful and Joe has more of an aggressive attacking style with a smoking tone.

(Full Covers)

LINK