Oh, Darling! Cherry Red Reissues Graham Bonnet's 1990s Output On New Box Set

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The Graham Bonnet story has been well-chronicled by Cherry Red's Hear No Evil imprint via expanded editions of the English rocker's classic albums as well as a career-spanning anthology. Late in 2017, HNE continued its Bonnet series with a new 3-CD compact clamshell box set. Flying Not Falling: 1991-1999 expands three albums from the versatile vocalist: The Day I Went Mad (1999), Underground (1997), and Here Comes the Night (1991).

Bonnet's career has ranged from pop to hard rock over six decades. He first rose to fame as part of the duo Marbles, forging a connection with the young Bee Gees over their song "Only One Woman" which was rekindled, years later, with his solo take on their disco-flavored "Warm Ride." After reportedly passing up on invitations to join Electric Light Orchestra, Stealers Wheel, and Hawkwind, Bonnet left behind pop and R&B to join Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover in Rainbow, both of whom were fans of his earlier work. Bonnet soon went solo again for 1981's Line-Up before briefly joining The Michael Schenker Group. Shortly thereafter, in 1983, he formed Alcatrazz with Swedish guitarist Yngwie J. Malmsteen. (Steve Vai would replace Malmsteen for one album, then Danny Johnson would fill the guitar-slinging role.) Always a team player, Bonnet went on to record with Chris Impellitteri and the band Impellitteri, Forcefield, Anthem, The Taz Taylor Band and Blackthorne.

The three albums in HNE's new box were recorded in between Bonnet's time with Forcefield and Blackthorne, and before he hooked up with Japan's Anthem in 2000. The earliest album in the set, Here Comes the Night, returned Bonnet to his musical roots in R&B with a twist of pop. Produced by Ray Fenwick of the Ian Gillan Band, it blended covers with fresh songs credited to Bonnet's then-wife Jo Eime, but it was the classic material that stood out. The artist revisited "Only One Woman" over 20 years after he first recorded it, and he also tackled classic songs by Holland-Dozier-Holland (The Four Tops' "Something About You"), Ray Davies (The Kinks' "I Go to Sleep"), Denny Laine ("Eyes of a Child"), Sam Cooke ("A Change is Gonna Come"), and Bert Berns (Them's "Here Comes the Night"). Four instrumental demos have been added to the album.

Occupied with Blackthorne, a follow-up wasn't in the cards until Bonnet was contacted by Danny Johnson of Alcatrazz to be the lead vocalist in a project for a South Korean label. The result, 1996's Underground, was recorded in Los Angeles. Featuring Kevin Valentine on drums and Johnson on guitar, plus guest musicians, Bonnet and the band emphasized their original material but found room for two covers: Jimi Hendrix's classic "The Wind Cries Mary," and more intriguingly, a reworking of Rainbow's "Lost in Hollywood," on which Graham had originally sung. Underground has been expanded with seven tracks from a Culver City, California concert from May 12, 2000 with a number of Bonnet favorites including "Only One Woman," Russ Ballard's "S.O.S.," Blackmore and Glover's "All Night Long," and songs from both the Malmsteen and Vai eras of Alcatrazz.

Though Underground didn't gain much traction, it was released in Japan, and soon the singer had a deal with the Japanese Victor label. The result was 1999's The Day I Went Mad, the third album contained in this collection. With Kevin Valentine in the producer's chair, Bonnet enlisted Slash, Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell, and Danny Johnson on guitars, while Kiss' onetime guitarist Bruce Kulick switched to bass, alongside Vanilla Fudge's Tim Bogert. Most of the material was new, including the tribute to Bonnet's friend Cozy Powell, "Flying Not Falling." But Slash lit up a high-octane cover of The Beatles' "Oh! Darling," and Mick Ronson's "Don't Look Down" also got the Bonnet treatment. Six live tracks from a variety of venues (including the same Culver City show) round out this disc, featuring songs from the album ("Don't Look Down," "Oh! Darling," "Spiked!," "Killer") and more.

Each album is housed in its own mini-LP-style jacket, and a 12-page booklet is included with Malcolm Dome's liner notes and full credits for each of the three albums. The artist is still active today, continuing to blend hard rock with classic rock-and-roll and R&B; a 2017 live released also entitled Here Comes the Night preserved his performance at the 2016 Frontiers Rock Festival. This collection of some of his most underrated and unknown work is available now at the links below!

Graham Bonnet. Flying...Not Falling 1991-1999 (Cherry Red/Hear No Evil HNEBOX095, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: The Day I Went Mad (Victor VICP-60726, 1999)