In 2011, Black Country Communion released their sophomore album, delivering on the promise of more authentic, hard rock from master musicians of various persuasions and backgrounds. And at the heart and soul of this band is the one and only Glenn Hughes. As the vibrant senior member, Hughes has committed himself wholly to BCC, putting aside any solo pursuits or invites for any number of projects he regularly gets called in for.
And like any good rock and roll band, Hughes and his mates ā guitarist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham and keyboardist Derek Sherinian ā hit the road over the summer to promote their album. Opening in San Diego, California, and finishing up at a blues festival in Norway (Hughes posted on Facebook that this was a tough and emotional gig), Black Country Communion showed the world that pure-driven hard rock and roll is still alive and well, festering in the hearts of the old and young alike.
The following interview took place just before the break, on the eve of the final show in America and the European tour looming over the horizon. Soon, Hughes would be off to England, ready to show his countrymen he was as good a singer, bassist and performer as he was since the days of Trapeze and Deep Purple. By all reports, few people have been disappointed.
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First of all, I would like to congratulate you on Black Country Communion. I caught your show a week ago, and it took me back to the days of my youth when I used to get totally psyched about seeing a band.
Iām hearing this from everyone.
You guys were on fire that night. How has the tour been going?
Itās all there. Now remember, weāre in tough economical times and itās a real difficult period, but weāve been doing great business. Weāve been playing to capacity at most places. Weāre super pumped. Now, remember: two albums, brand new band, building a foundation. I believe weāre the only band doing this genre. Itās very sincere. We didnāt really set out to have a blueprint. The blueprint is in my DNA, man.
We all know I love black music, but Iām not black. Iām white, and Iām a white rock and roll singer. And Iām in a rock and roll band. As soon as I switch gears, and Iām working with Joe, Jason and Derek, it sort of inspires me to write these kind of songs. Let me put it this way: If it was 1977 and I was sober and Tommy (Bolin) was still in the band, this is probably what Deep Purple would have sounded like. It probably would have been close to this. But I wasnāt the man I am today. Iām lucky to be alive and Iām having the greatest time in my life.
Producer Kevin Shirley is credited with bringing you guys together. How did it develop from there?
I am a writer. Joe will tell you, I am a songwriting, singing bass player. The other guys donāt write as much as I do. Letās just say, itās not in their genes yet. I am the writer that brings the stuff in and we pick it apart and everybody has their bits and pieces and thatās what happens with Black Country Communion. Kevin has given me Carte Blanche to bring in all this material. I bring in twice as much as youāre hearing ā I bring so much stuff in that I write on the tour bus and at home, and I run up the road to Malibu and I play him my stuff every month. And I do this all year long. This band is my center.
You, Joe and Kevin wrote most of the tunes on the first album, and it looks like Derek and Jason got credit on some of the songs on the new record. How does that all break down?
I bring the songs in complete, except āThe Battle For Hadrian’s Wall,ā which I wrote with Joe at my house, but the rest of it I brought it all in. Letās just say I bring it all in and we take it in the studio and we kick my baby around the room. Kevin calls it kicking Glennās baby around the room. I divvy up the publishing; I mean, Iām not a whore. And like Kevin says, whatever is for the better for the song. Remember, heās the producer; Iām not the producer. Whatever he says is better for the productional value of the song, writing-wise, then we start splitting stuff up. So Iām not like Townshend or Page where I want all the publishing or whatever. Letās just say I bring it all in and we kick it around.
Obviously with your British rock and funk back ground, Joeās blues, Jasonās Zeppelin pedigree and Derekās progressive roots, you are able to merge a lot of styles and disciplines into a lethal hard rockinā hybrid.
What youāre hearing is very, very close to what I bring in anyways. There are no funk elements to these songs. We donāt de-funk them. āThe Outsiderā or āMan In The Middleā ā those are the way they were written. I write for the band; I donāt write for, letās say Glenn Hughes is going make a super funk record. I write for, shall I say, vintage rock fans. Itās definitely a genre.
Weāre not Foo Fighters and weāre not like Korn or Soundgarden. Theyāre a different generation. Joeās young, yeah, but Joe was weaned on Deep Purple, Zeppelin and the Who. Itās natural for him to sound like Jimmy or Pete or Paul Kossoff. And Joe will tell you, heās giving you back what youāve heard before. Thereās a whole generation of people who donāt know who Bad Company or Free were. Itās not like weāre copying. We are in the genre, if you will, of that. It is like a time warp, isnāt it?
I can see that.
Iām going to tell: this idea Iām running with, people are chasing me and saying we want to be on this train. Weāre not metal, we not thisā¦or thisā¦but this. With BCC, weāre building a foundation. Thereās a hole in the marketplace for this band. Weāre not like Styx or Foreigner. Weāre a little like Zeppelin, Humble Pie and Free. And thatās kind of where weāre at.
You cut the first album live in less than a week. Was the second record just as easy?
We made the last one Monday through Friday. This one, we had time to go to the bathroom and have a coffee. Thatās the only difference. Letās just say we had a bit more time to work on the drum sound. We wanted a huge ā letās just say we wanted the Bonzo sound on this album, which we got. So we took two days on getting that sound at EastWest, where I took Hughes-Thrall in ā82. I suggested to Kevin we use this room because itās the largest, tallest, widest room in L.A. It was called United/Western on Sunset Boulevard, Frank Sinatraās old studio. Itās a huge orchestra room where we experimented with some different drums. Letās just say, we had a little more time. But we cut live again, everything else live. You canāt hide in this band. Youāll be found out. There are no drop-ins, thereās no fixes, thereās no āCan I do this again?ā
In fact, I wanted to change a chord that I wrote, and Kevin said āWhy donāt you write and Iāll produce.ā And I understood what he said. On the first album, we were going to toe-to-toe. Trust me, you canāt go toe-to-toe with Kevin. It doesnāt work. When in your in his room, heās the guy whoās going to produce. And letās be honest: heās been on the money, hasnāt he.
When we spoke in 2008, you told me you play with the drums. Now youāre playing with Jason Bonham, a world-class drummer. Have you guys pretty much locked in as a rhythm section?
Hereās the thing with Jason. I have played with Ian Paice, Narada Michael Walden, Steve Gadd, John Bonham, Kenny Aronoff, Jeff Porcaro. Iāve played with great, great drummers. With Jason, he leads by example. Where I normally would lead the charge in everything, even with Purple, I kind of lead the charge with the ending of songs and Iād cue people. Jason never really makes eye contact with anyone on the stage until the very last part. Heās so immersed in the music, listening with his ears. Heās got an amazing system. He did this in Zeppelin too. Heās so musical that we actually work a lot better with him more than probably any other drummer for this band. Heās not just a powerhouse. If you watch he does, heās very, very musical.
I noticed that. He most definitely plays for the song.
I gotta tell you something about him man. Our band is so good. If you donāt get a groove right in a song like āMan In The Middleā or āThe Outsider,ā you lose the concept of the groove. So itās like, the band is only as good as the drummerā¦the band is only as good as the drummer.
And what about the voice? The voice sounds better than ever. How is it that so many of your contemporaries can barely croak out a verse, and you sound like the rock and roll equivalent of Pavarotti?
On the first record, some of it was cut live in the studio. Afterward, I go to Kevinās cave in Malibu. And I listened to what weāve done. And I said, āIāll do that again, and some things weāll keep.ā Kevin always does vocals at the cave, whether itās Journey or whoever. Iām standing at the microphone, the first time I sang for Kevin on the first album, Iām about three feet away, and I can see this huge, shit-eating grin on his face.
Itās really important to me that when Iām working with an engineer slash producer thatās going to produce my vocal, I have to have the most intense vibe with this guy. I would actually vibe this guy out so badly, that heād have to engage me. You can not use your cell phone or fucking text when Iām working with you.
And at the cave, I could see him so involved in what I was doing that I was part of his DNA. Heās a guy that doesnāt come out and back slap a lot, But I could see by the look on his face, he was going, āIāve got something hereā¦ā
And did that inspire your performance?
Yeah. Letās just say, Iāve worked with a couple ā and I wonāt name names ā a couple of producers in the last 10 year that have been just fucking rude or have no idea how to produce. No bedside manner, no appropriate manner on how to work with an artist, whether itās a bloody oboe player or a singer. Because of my high quality of what I do, I have to look you in the eye, look in your soul, and, āItās on babyā¦ā Because if it aināt on, Iām gonna split.
With Kevin Shirley, when Iām singing on this record, I can do what I want, by the way, he never tells me what to sing EVER. He says just be Glenn Hughes, the rock and roll singer. Thatās it. And Iām off to the races. So what we captured on 1 and 2 is Glenn Hughes, the rock and roll singer. Iām not black. Guess what. ā Iām fucking white, Iām not black. Iām English. I grew up in the Led Zeppelin, Stones, Who era. Iām a fucking Northern British guy whoās been living in California for most of my life, but I made my name as a British rock and roll star in the 70s, and god damn it, all these years layer , Iām 60 next month (editorās note: Glenn Hughes is officially 60) and here I am.
So youāre gonna be 60 and youāre in this red-hot rock and roll band. Could you have ever imagined this happening?
Well, you know, hereās the kickerā¦last night, Joe comes to me on the tour bus. Itās about three in the morning. Joeās very shy ā Iām like his big brother. Itās always Joe and I at the end of the night on the bus. Everyone else is sleeping, and Joe and I are always together. He says to me (in high voice): āBig Daddyā¦Tell me the last time you toured America.ā And I said, āJoe, the last time I toured America, you werenāt even born. That would be 1976, February.ā āAre you kidding me?ā āNo Iām not Joeā¦ā
I thought when I came out with Black Country Communion, that it would be 90 percent Joe fans and 10 percent Jason fans. I have been overwhelmed at the number of GH people coming out of the woodwork, whether theyāre old fans or kids of the fans. I am beyond tears. I get on the bus, Iām sobbing. The people are screaming. Itās like, I had no idea I had a fan base in America. I had no fucking idea. And itās so beyond insane. So itās likeā¦I donāt think youāll interview a more grateful guy this year.
The video for āMan In The Middleā is pretty much all you. Simple, yet powerful. Was it a fun video to make?
David Lee Roth probably worked on his moves in the mirror and probably looked at Jim Dandy, but I never really knew what I was going to do in āMan In The Middle.ā When I saw myself, I saw a little bit of that guy and a little bit of that guy and a little bit of that guy, because we all borrow man. We all borrow from black people.
I was very impressed with how fearless I was. And I remember now: you got a guy thatās 60 and in the days of the blogging and the days of the horrible thing called the Internet ā and Jimmy Page told me this last year when I saw him at the Classic Rock awards. He said, āNow itās all happening for you again. Theyāre all gonna come out and have a pop at you.ā Funny enough, thereās a lot of thumbs up and some of thumbs down. Itās none of my business what people think, print or write about me.
My manager said to me: āYou can do all that flamboyant shit, but you can back it up. Youāve got the talent, youāve got the writing, and youāve got the writing. So, if you want to do a little bit of this and that, then do it.ā And Iāve said before: I aināt a shrinking violet. I want to go out, all guns a-blazing. I donāt say that arrogantly. I want to leave some kind of mark that Iāve been here.
Iām great friends with Ozzy, Nikki Sixx, Tylerā¦whether we think of them as artists, theyāve left their sort of mark. Whatever it is, I want it to do the same, but I want there to be some integrity behind it. And I think with Black Country Communion 1 and 2, Iām getting to write about the human condition. Iām writing about what goes on in the gut.
What about your solo career?
Itās all on hold man. My solo career is at the moment on hold. Iāve had a long solo career and Iāve had 15 years of touring. I have decided that the time I have with Black Country Communionā¦they put me in the position to write the next album, which Iāll be doing throughout the fall. Iām not a multi-tasker; Iām not fucking God. Iāve got to have time to write and write. I want to spend six months writing the next record.
Iām will do some acoustic shows and I might do some symphonic shows in Australia. But Iām really defining the band as the brand Black Country Communion. Weāre working on the DVD with Kevin and weāll be shooting that next month. Thereās a lot of post-production with that and Iām sort of hands-on with thatā¦so where as Joe will probably go out and do another 100 shows before we meet again next year, with his own band because heās on a great roll, Iāll select things. Joe seems to think I should do a solo American tour in the spring, which I will probably do. Because he says thereās an audience here now. I want to play America. I think I should play some solo shows in America.
You should. I saw you a couple of years ago at the Whisky and you were incredible that night.
Thank you broā¦
All of the bandās press releases call Black Country Communion an Anglo-American classic rock group. Journalists have a more convenient term: āSupergroup.ā
Right.
Iām sure you know thereās a lot of baggage associated with supergroups. In fact, I understand your buddy Chad Smith has to bail on the Chickenfoot tour because he has a commitment to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. With all the obstacles all-star bands have to dance around, do you feel Black Country Communion can avoid the common pitfalls and endure?
I think so. Iāll say this to you: Joe and I are joined at the hip. Joe and I are pretty much the go-to guys here. We are the ones who started the band. Jason Bonham is Jason Bonham. Heās going to do his Led Zeppelin (tribute) tour at the end of the year. And Derek will work with Billy Idol. Weāre good. We have our plan. We know our demographic, we know here we going to go next year.
In America, thereās going to be a large tour next year. This is Joeās quote: āWe want spectacles.ā We donāt want with our band for it to be just another tour; we want it be a spectacle. So we are choosing the venues appropriately, weāve got Live Nation, weāve got everybody behind us. All the ducks are in a row. And like I said to Joe on the bus last night: āJoeā¦this band is my baby. And I want you to know that Iām not going to stop.ā And he said, āGo daddy goā¦ā And mark my words: Iām taking this to the fucking top.