Bumblefoot Covers Bill Withers
I guess it had to happen. The evil forces of the oxymoronic soft-rock agenda have kidnapped the great Bumblefoot, paired him with Graham Bonnet of Rainbow, and forced him—kicking and screaming—to record “Just The Two Of Us,” the Grammy-winning 1980 soul song by Bill Withers and Grover Washington, Jr. It’s on the new Yacht Metal from Cleopatra Records. Yacht Metal? If ever a sub-genre was forged in Hell, this is it.
Lead Guitarist-Composer-Producer Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, 56, has been in the trenches of rock’n’roll for decades. From 2006 to 2014, he was in Guns N’ Roses. He was also a member of Sons Of Apollo with keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, bassist Billy Sheehan from the bands of Steve Vai and David Lee Roth and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto of Yngwie and Journey. He was also in Asia—for whom he sang lead—from 2019 to 2022. He has 10 solo albums to his credit and was in The Jersey Sound documentary as he’s from New Brunswick.
All kidding aside, Thal’s beefy chunky chording carries the day on “Just The Two Of Us.” Thal has never turned his back on experimenting musically. As he says, “when Cleopatra Records calls, I know it’s gonna be something fun. And sure enough, Yacht Metal! Had the pleasure of guesting alongside the mighty Graham Bonnet with music produced by Derek Hughes.”
As for the rest of the record? Bullet Boys cover Doobie Brothers. Rainbow’s Joe Lynn Turner does Grand Funk Railroad. Femme Fatale’s Lorraine Lewis teams up with lead guitarist George Lynch to resurrect “Love Will Keep Us Together” by The Captain & Tenille. And if that doesn’t make you run in the opposite direction, Kim McAuliffe of Girlschool covers Neil Young and Ripper Owens plus UFO guitarist Vinnie Moore make sure they play the worst song ever written, Exile’s 1978 stinker “Kiss You All Over.”
LISTEN: https://orcd.co/grahambonnetbumblefoot_justthetwoofus