REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: February 28, 2022

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION – s/t

Kevin Shirley (who has steered Bonamassa’s career to make him the number 1 modern blues artist) thought it would be a good idea to do a side project with a full on blues rock band. Now, I’m assuming the brief was to come up with a Deep Purple/Zeppelin hybrid, as that’s the vibe that comes across for most of the album.

There are tracks that (melody wise) mirror what Glenn has been doing in his solo career, like the track One Last Soul which has quite a commercial sounding hook. There are also tracks like Song Of Yesterday which could have been lifted from any Bonamassa solo album. The majority of the emphasis though is on the big hard rock numbers like Black Country, Medusa, and the amazing Stand (At The Burning Tree), which is truly an epic song where Jo Bo really lets fly.

There is no better voice in rock than Glenn and he sounds incredible on this record. This is a superb album, and if you love old school big rock records, this is for you.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

JEFF BECK WITH THE JAN HAMMER GROUP – Live

Bit of an odd album this one. Jeff had just finished recording the Wired album and was set to go out on tour to promote it. He joined up with the Jan Hammer Group to play a show in London supporting Alvin Lee, so this album was recorded and they ended up being on the road for seven months.

This is prime period Jeff, as he is quite new to the rock/fusion thing with the success of Blow By Blow, and he is having a blast playing this to an audience. Freeway Jam opens up the record and is just incredible with Hammer and Beck trading off of each other. Earth is so funky your shoes will groove before you do, and some great interplay with all the musicians. She’s A Woman brings reggae to the mix from the Blow By Blow album, and Jeff is using the voice box (which everyone was using at the time). It also starts the last track on Side 1, Full Moon Boogie, which is a full on jazz/funk workout.

Side 2 starts with a bit of a keyboard fest with Darkness/ Earth In Search Of A Sun. Normal service is resumed with Scatterbrain, again from Blow By Blow, before this album comes to an end with the only track from the Wired album, Blue Wind. I love this point in Jeff’s career and this a really good album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.