GRAHAM BONNET: The Story Behind The Shades - Authorized Illustrated Biography Available; Video Interview With Author STEVE WRIGHT

August 31, 2017, 6 years ago

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GRAHAM BONNET: The Story Behind The Shades - Authorized Illustrated Biography Available; Video Interview With Author STEVE WRIGHT

“Graham Bonnet was born in Skegness in 1947 and had his first hit single with The Marbles in 1968, “Only One Woman”, which reached Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart”… So runs rock singer Graham Bonnet's wikipedia entry. Of The Skyliners, The Peter Tomlinson Band, The Jimmy Aldred Band, The Jan Ramsden Band, The Missing Links, The Blueset, The Bluesect and The Graham Bonnet Set … not a word.

This new biography of the much travelled rock singer more than fills the missing gaps. Author Steve Wright was the ideal person to put this exhaustive book together. Wright published a fanzine on Bonnet for several years and through his connection with the singer has had unique access to the singer's own archive as well as those of friends and family. The result is an honest and detailed read which will fascinate anyone interested in Bonnet's career.

And what a career it has been; Graham has worked with a whose who of rock's top guitarists; Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Chris Impelliteri, Steve Vai, Taz Taylor, Ray Fenwick, Micky Moody, Jan Akkerman, Mario Parga, Slash, Bob Kulick, Danny Johnson, Viv Campbell, Dario Mollo, Axel Rudi Pell, Uli Jon Roth and Gary Moore.

Yet it was through his work with The Marbles in the late '60s that Blackmore first heard the singer, and after Bonnet's well-regarded solo album in 1977 which saw him high in the Australian charts, both he and The Sweet a were keen to secure the singer's services. Blackmore's offer was the more tempting, though stepping in to the shoes of departing singer Ronnie James Dio in 1979 was a far from easy ride. ‘Mistreated’ was my audition song, because I didn’t know any Rainbow songs. I went back to London to think about it, because I wasn’t sure if I liked this music. I was into a completely different thing. Not that it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t really what I had done before.” Fans didn't quite know what to make of the new blonde haired, Bermuda shirt wearing front man, but thanks to the more commercial Rainbow album Down To Earth, from being a hard core heavy rock group, Rainbow suddenly found themselves with well-crafted AOR hits in the shape of "Since You Been Gone" and "All Night Long".

The band peaked by headlining the first ever Donington Monster's Of Rock festival in 1980 (where no lesser person than Ozzy Osbourne rated it the best performance by a rock singer he'd ever witnessed), but friction between Bonnet and Blackmore saw him leave the following year. A star-studded solo album followed, as well as a top ten single Night Games, but what looked like becoming a fully fledged band faltered through lack of support: “I was very disappointed. No work, promo wise, was done on it. It should have done really well at the time it was released.”

Bonnet however was quickly snapped up by ex-UFO guitarist Michael Schenker for the Michael Schenker Group (MSG) for the powerful Assault Attack album. Everything was primed for a great tour when Bonnet had one of his momentary lapses of reason: “When I got back to Los Angeles, I had to think what to do next, as I realized I had screwed up big time. They were so mad at me they almost got Gary to re-do the whole vocal tracks. So they took me down in the mix as punishment for my stupid behaviour.”

Bonnet's most consistent rock project came in 1983 when he decided to put his own rock band together, and Alcatrazz became a huge draw on the American rock circuit over the next four years, with a number of albums to their name. They became particularly successful in Japan, and even after they disbanded in 1987 Bonnet pursued a number of projects over there as well as a solo career back in the West.

Of Alcatrazz’s first visit to Japan, Graham says: “We were huge with that first album. I didn’t think Alcatrazz would get the same reaction as Rainbow, but it was a nice surprise. Even more adoration, I think, than the Rainbow days. We were followed everywhere by fans in taxis, etc … it was like The Beatles kind of following, really silly and quite unbelievable!”

In recent years Graham has put a new rock band together under his own name, and their first studio album The Book came out to good reviews in 2016 (with a new studio album on the way, European shows in November including the UK plus an appearance with at the 2017 Schenkerfest.) Steve Wright's book brings the story right up to date, and his detailed research brings to print much even hardened fans will not have read about Bonnet's career, with over 300 rare photographs and items of memorabilia spread throughout the book.

As well as the standard edition, there is a very limited slipcase version signed by Graham Bonnet available through the publisher's shop while stocks last.

More info and order information here. Check out a few page previews here.

Video interviews below with author Steve Wright and Graham's original drummer, Steve Hardy:



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