Black Country Communion (album)

After forming Black Country Communion in November 2009, bassist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Joe Bonamassa wrote the majority of the band's debut album together in a matter of days.[1] Producer Kevin Shirley, drummer Jason Bonham and keyboardist Derek Sherinian also contributed to the writing of several tracks.[2] Speaking about the writing process in an interview with EspyRock, Hughes explained that he wrote four songs in December 2009 and presented them to the rest of the band in the new year, adding that he later "locked Joe away in my house for three afternoons on three different Thursdays for three hours at a time ... and we just sat down and wrote all the songs you’re hearing in my studio".[3] Added to the original tracks was a cover version of "Medusa", originally recorded by Hughes' band Trapeze in 1970 on their album of the same name.[4]

Recording was also completed quickly, both due to each individual band members' ongoing schedules and commitments, as well as the preference of the group – Hughes has noted that he likes to work "under the gun", while Bonamassa has suggested that he and Shirley do not believe in "spending too much time meandering in the studio".[5] In the liner notes for the album, Bonham claims that "It took only 4 days to lay down the basic tracks and 10 days to record and mix the entire album".[2] Similarly, Hughes claims that "The album was recorded, totally, in five or six days with vocals and instruments".[3] Most of the recording took place at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California, with additional overdubs tracked at Shirley's Malibu studio The Cave and Germano Studios in New York City.[2]

Black Country Communion was officially announced on 10 June 2010.[6] The first song to be released from the album was "One Last Soul", which was premiered on British radio station Planet Rock on 2 August.[7] The track was later made available as a free digital download on the band's official website.[8] The album was released in the UK and Europe by Mascot Records on 20 September 2010, and in North America by Bonamassa's label J&R Adventures the following day.[6] On the night of its European release, the band played its first official show at the John Henry Rehearsal Studios in London in front of a limited crowd of "around 75–100 people".[9] The performance was broadcast on Planet Rock that night, and again later on 24 September.[10] In promotion of the album, Black Country Communion played two shows in the UK at the end of the year – the first at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on 29 December and the second at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on 30 December.[11]

• Black Country Communion at Discogs (list of releases)