Two superb box sets from legendary rock front men are due to be issued on Cherry Red imprints on 29 June: Glenn Hughes The Official Bootleg Box Set – Volume 1 and Graham Bonnet Reel To Real: Archives.
Following on Purple Records successful expanded reissues of Glenn Hughes’ solo catalogue, this new 7 CD box set, will be heaven sent for fans of the former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Hughes-Thrall, Trapeze and Black Country Communion legend.
The first two CDs sets the tone with two sets from Glenn’s 1994 tour, CD 1 takes us to Japan commencing with the classic Deep Purple number ‘Burn’, the show never lets up. Other material to highlight include the title track from his then new ‘From Now On’ solo album, Trapeze’s ‘Coast To Coast’, with no explanation needed for ‘Lady Double Dealer’ and ‘Owed To ‘G’.
CD 2 takes us to Denmark with a no less vital set taking in much the same material and red hot band: Eric Anders Bojstedt and Thomas Larsson (guitars), Mic Michaeli (keyboards) John Levénon (bass) and Ian Haugland on drums.
CD 3 kicks off moves us forward to four tracks from the band’s set in Argentina in December 2003. However it’s his acoustic set from Sydney, Australia in June 2006 that completes this CD that will be of most interest, especially his versions of ‘Nights In White Satin’, ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’, and one of the Burn album’s highlights ‘Mistreated’. CDs 4 to 7 then capture impressive sets in Rio from 2007 and Verviers (Belgium) from 2010, both shows dipping into tracks from across his work with Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Hughes-Thrall, and Trapeze.
‘The Official Bootleg Box Set – Volume 1’ provides an essential alternative look at the career of Glenn Hughes.
The Graham Bonnet ‘Reel To Real: Archives’ 3CD set takes up a little known period of the singer’s career when he predominately based in Australia. At the start of CD 1 we find Graham demoing material in Los Angeles in 1987 with with Alcatrazz guitarist Danny Johnson.
Opener ‘Tonite I Fly’ showed great promise and could have marked the future as a new incarnation of Alcatrazz. But it was not to be. Graham, down on his luck with no record deal relocated to Australia and teamed up with a Led Zeppelin tribute band. This ironically marked a period of regrouping for Graham and the beginnings of a solo rebirth. Of the rest of the other studio recordings produced in Australia in this first CD, ‘Summer in the City’ is the go-to track on this mix of covers and self-penned material.
CDs 2 and 3 show sets from Melbourne and Adelaide with the material showcasing the wide range of material he created in The Marbles, Michael Schenker Group, Rainbow and Alcatraz. Whilst these two shows are audience recordings and bootleg quality, the crowd lap up the hits ‘Since You’ve Been Gone, ‘Warm Ride’ and ‘Only One Woman’ played in great spirit by Graham and the band.
