Author: Nathan Beaudry

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Episode #241 – Deep Purple – Bananas (Part 2)

Link to video episode on YouTube: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r73bycM46kU

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Album Tracks:

All tracks by Gillan, Glover, Morse, Airey, Paice except where noted.

  1. Picture of Innocence (Gillan, Glover, Morse, Lord, Paice)
  2. I Got Your Number (Gillan, Glover, Morse, Lord, Paice, Bradford)
    • https://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/bananas/glover.html
    • Although Jon Lord doesn’t play on Bananas (a guest spot was rumoured), he did contribute to the writing of two tracks; I’ve Got Your Number and Picture Of Innocence. We asked Roger Glover how these songs came into being:
    • Both I Got Your Number and Picture Of Innocence were songs that we wrote a few years ago, hence Jon’s inclusion as a writer but not as a performer, although he is on one of the demos.
    • POI started as a jam between IP and SM in Greg Rike Studios some 3 or 4 years ago. It was recorded on a DAT which I took home with me, put in to ProTools (a computer programme that, amongst other things, makes editing easy) in my home studio, took bits and pieces and spliced them together to form the arrangement pretty much as it now exists, adding some bass guitar. In November 2001 we had a writing session in Steve’s own studio in Ocala where I played the finished result to the rest of the band – we worked on it and eventually made a demo but with no finished lyrics. In LA, IG and I worked on the lyrics and finished it.
    • IGYN started at the same writing session in Orlando but by the time we made a demo in Steve’s studio it had undergone several changes; it was far, far more complicated to begin with – the riff was in various time signatures as the drums just thundered through in straight 4/4. We simplified it, wrote some lyrics, mostly IG’s, and started performing it under the title Up The Wall. However, it always felt unfinished and it was only when we got to LA and played it for Michael that he suggested that it needed a chorus, so we wrote one. As is often the case, IG sang garbled words over the band as we routined it, I thought I heard him sing the words ‘I got your number’ although he probably didn’t; he kind of sings words that aren’t words but sound like they are. Anyway, I sang them back to him and it clicked. There is the song. So, Jon wrote them with us but Don played on the record.
    • There are several ideas kicking around that were written while Jon was still with us and some of them have great potential. I hope one day we’ll be able to work on them again.
    • Good luck,
      RG
    • MB
      • – Those two songs started out as demos that they had recorded before I was involved. In rehearsal, we worked on the arrangements and streamlined them some more. Then we re-recorded them at Royaltone. They were pretty heavily re-arranged, just to make them flow better.
  3. Never a Word
  4. Bananas
  5. Doing It Tonight
  6. Contact Lost (Morse)
    • From the Bananas World Tour Programme:
      • Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Shawla chose Deep Purple Machine Heade and Purpendicular amongst other CDs as part of her music selection to take on the ill-fated Columbia shuttle mission ST-107. She had been to her first ever rock concert (Deep Purple of course) on the 7th June 2001 at Bossier City LA and commented that the concert was “A Spiritual Experience.”
      • When she decided to make “Space Truckin’ Her wake up call, her husband Jean-Pierre Harrision contacted Ian Gillan and a correspondence ensued, with Deep Purple fans worldwide being privy to the shuttle mission.
      • The CDs were signed by the band with the intention that they would be returned, presented with a certificate saying they had indeed been into space on a shuttle mission.
      • The Launce went without a hitch and the mission, some 79 scientific experiments, went very well. Ranging from meteorologicfal, monitoring dust storms and upward lightning, to the biological. Tragifcally, the shutt’es re-entry proved disastrous, with the shuttle breaking up minutes from reaching the ground as friends and family looked on.
      • After the disaster, Steve Morse wrote:
        • “While we were in California, the shuttle tragedy occurred. Ironically, I, as well as the other band members, had just gotten and e mail from one of the astronauts, Kalpana. We were lucky enough to have made acquaintance with many of the colks associated with STS 107 and were invited to the launch in a special area, but we had to go do the recording. I totally freaked out when I saw the disintegration on T.V. that afternoon, I brought in a little musical idea, which I titled, “Contact Lost,” which is probably going to be on the album to pay homage to all of them. Like combat forces, test pilots, police, and fire fighters, they all know they are exposing themselves to higher levels of risk, but nobody had ever been witness to such a horrendous accident on re-entry.”
      • In Mexico city, during a deep purple concert, a very special presentation took place. The husband of astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Jean-Pierre Harrison presented the band with the fragments of the recovered Deep Purple CDs she had taken into space with her.
      • The thoughts and prayers of the band and Deep Purple fans worldwide are with the family and friends of the crew of the Columbia.

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Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet

Reception and Charts:

  • MB:– Yes, it is “classic”, because it is so brave. This record was not a matter of re-creating “Machine Head” or something. In fact, “Machine Head” was great because it was a bold departure at the time. It sure did not sound like “Hush”. Deep Purple is great when they push themselves, and that is what they did. Even people who do not like “Bananas” at first have said that they like it more and more once it sinks in.
  • As you know Martin Birch produced the classic albums and this new CD really marks the beginning of a new era that could have you in his old role as the guy that records with Deep Purple. That is what I hear people say. People are excited.
  • – I would love to be known favorably as “The guy who produced Deep Purple”. I would work with them anytime.
  • How do you rate the CD yourself if you can have your final say on it?
  • – I am very satisfied with “Bananas”. Great songs, great playing, great singing. It has its own sound, so some will love it, and some will not, but at least it will not be ignored. I would not trade the experience for the world.
  • Charts:
    • Argentina – 10
    • Austria – 12
    • Belgium – 42
    • Czech Republic – 17
    • Finland – 6
    • France – 50
    • Germany – 3
    • Italy – 13
    • Japan – 212
    • Norway – 19
    • Poland – 24
    • Sweden – 18
  • In Russia it reached Gold with 10,000 albums sold.

Reviews

  • https://www.allmusic.com/album/bananas-mw0000318751
    • Bananas Review by David Jeffries  [-]
    • Bananas has every sign of being a disappointment. Jon Lord‘s grandiose keyboards were always a focus but he’s gone, it’s released in the heady age of Radiohead, and it’s got one of the oddest titles and the oddest cover art that ever graced a Deep Purple album. Surprise, it’s fantastic. New keyboardist Don Airey is an effective replacement, adding new sounds and styles and working the Hammond so well that an uncredited Lord appearance was rumored among fans. Lord has said he’s not playing on the album, but he did contribute some writing on the excellent “Picture of Innocence” and “I Got Your Number.” Those two tracks, followed by the winding and pastoral “Never a Word,” add up to a strikingly impressive suite that bridges the more bombastic first half of the album with the looser and more playful second half. That’s right, “Deep Purple” and “playful” in the same sentence. The thunk and chug is still there, but Bananas often turns to mid-tempo boogie and blues, allowing Ian Gillan‘s wry and witty delivery some deserved space while guitarist Steve Morse‘s time in Kansas and the Dixie Dregs pays off as never before. The funky light reggae of “Doing It Tonight” is downright smoky-bar slinky-sexy, and if the band doesn’t add it to every one of their encores for the rest of their career they’re nuts. Filled with hooks and songs that get better with each listen, there’s little to dislike about Bananas. Certainly the urgent “House of Pain” could have benefited from punchier production, and there’s a noticeable lack of lengthy solos throughout, but these are minor quibbles. Hipsters have already decided, and some hardcore fans will pine for the monolithic sound of Machine Head, but on Bananas Deep Purple sound comfortable, free to do what they want, and more than the sum of their parts than they have in a long, long time.
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20031126211856/http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2003/09/0904.cfm
    • Deep Purple: Bananas For Men In Bandanas
      Tuesday September 09, 2003 @ 04:30 PM
      By: ChartAttack.com Staff
    • Hammond-handed hard rock legends Deep Purple are returning with the rock ‘n’ rollsy Bananas, the third record of the Steve Morse era, and the first with new keyboardist/old friend Don Airey. Out everywhere by late September, all issues of the album will contain the same tracks — no bonuses apply.
    • “It’s broad, fresh, quick, but that’s kind of fresh. I think it’s round; it’s got a little more of a round personality,” says bassist Roger Glover when asked to come up with a few adjectives to articulate the new Deep Purple sound. “And it was done very quickly. Abandon took us five months to do. And why did it take five months? I can’t answer that. You go in the studio and you write a song and you put it down on tape. You think it would be so simple, but somehow it ends up being far more complicated because the vocals aren’t written or someone has to do a solo and they’re not feeling well that day. It gets put off and put off and put off. And then you end up, ‘Let’s take Sunday off; let’s take the weekend off’ and all of a sudden you look around and five months have gone by.”
    • Glover keenly understands the pitfalls of taking too long to make a record. Too much tweaking can make things too perfect.
    • “The album can become flattened out because you’ve perfected it to the point where you actually ironed the life out of it,” says Glover. “And as a producer, I’m aware of this but I’m also in the band. So I don’t have the authority that a producer would normally have, which is why I so welcome having a producer, something I’ve wanted, actually since Perfect Strangers. Right then, we should have had a producer, I think. But Michael [Bradford] was very good; he was very decisive and he’s very quick and he also realizes exactly the same thing; he was very good at cutting us off. Before we’d start improving things, he’d cut us off and go, ‘No, that’s good, that’s good the way it is.’ ‘But, but, but…’ ‘Sorry, move on.’ And he was very good at it because he didn’t have to say it in a forceful way. Because we had his trust, or he had our trust, it would be more like, ‘I don’t agree with you, but OK, let’s see how it works out.’ And I think for that reason, there are a couple of things that I would change. We finished a little too quickly for my liking. I wanted to do another couple days of jamming and have maybe another couple of songs in the pipeline or whatever. Then all of a sudden, we’d finished. Three weeks and four days, boom, ticket home. ‘But, but…’ ‘No buts. That’s it.'”
    • See www.deep-purple.com for preliminary plans for the inevitable worldwide tour, one which Roger figures will hit Canada in the dead of winter, or during the first inklings of spring.
    • —Martin Popoff
  • Jon Lord’s opinion on Bananas from the now defunct PicturedWithin.
    • https://web.archive.org/web/20031008211150/http://picturedwithin.com/tour/hell/pressconf.html
    • Metal Express Radio: You’ve written a couple of the tracks on the new Deep Purple album, but have you listened to the rest of it?
    • Jon Lord: Yes I have, yes.
    • Metal Express Radio: What do you think?
    • Jon Lord: It’s not what I expected, to be perfectly honest, because it’s not what we were writing when I left.
    • I think it’s very good, but I’m not… You see, it’s not my job to criticize that but I will give you an opinion if you remember that it’s only an opinion.
    • I don’t think the sound is very good to be perfectly honest. I thought Roger would have done a better job producing it, but there you go. That’s just me, and Michael Bradford is a rather large black chap and he’s going to sit on my head now, I know that, and hurt me. [laughter]
    • A couple of the songs surprised me. Err, I can see why they put it on, but… Never A Word, is it? It’s lovely but it just starts to get going and it stops, so that worried me slightly. But it’s in the same area I suppose as The Aviator and Fingers To The Bone and that kind of thing.
    • I think the opening track’s fabulous. Obviously I like the two that I was involved in writing because I was involved in writing them. [laughter]
    • Generally speaking I don’t think it’s the best Purple album ever, but I think it’s better than Abandon, which to me had no sense of direction. I don’t think it’s as good as Purpendicular, which I thought was probably the best Purple album along with In Rock, Machine Head and Perfect Strangers. I thought Purpendicular was right in there. I was immensely proud of that album and still am immensely proud of that album.
    • But I’ve got a feeling in my bones. These old bones of mine are telling me that this is going to be a successful album. The time feels right for them.
    • And it’s really strange to say “them” and not “us”.
  • Banshee Bananas – Associated Press
    • The metal kings are back with their best album since 1984’s Perfect Strangers, one that blends Deep Purple’s power chords and banshee vocals with the memorable melodic hooks that earned the band a place in rock history.
    • Bananas is the third studio album with former Kansas guitarist Steve Morse, who joined the band when Ritchie Blackmore decided to flush his career and dabble in medieval folk ballads in the worst career decision since David Caruso left “NYPD Blue.”
    • The first single, “House of Pain,” is a crunchy, catchy nugget, and Morse evokes Blackmore’s fluid solos on “Sun Goes Down.” Perhaps the best track is “Picture of Innocence,” which rails against the right-wing’s attempts to impose its vision of morality on society.
    • Despite 30-plus years of screaming and howling, Ian Gillian (sic) is still in fine voice, joining longtime Purple drummer Ian Pace (sic) and bassist Roger Glover. Keyboardist Jon Lord is out, replaced by hard rock veteran Don Airey, whose work with Rainbow (Blackmore’s first solo band) and Ozzy Osbourne is legendary in its own right.
    • Wayne Parry, Associated Press
  • Masters
    • Business Standard, September 13, 2003
    • Moving on to the best album of the month – it’s the latest offering from the grand daddies of hard rock, Deep Purple. After a five-year hiatus following their last album Abandon, Deep Purple are back with Bananas – an album title inspired by a newspaper photograph that bassist and oldest band member (sic) Roger Glover happened to chance upon.
    • The compositions are replete with catchy melodies, Steve Morse’s trademark guitar solos, Ian Paice’s magic on the cymbals and the majestic voice of Ian Gillan. This is as good as anything they’ve done in the past.
    • “Haunted” is already being touted as an all-time great rock ballad, and “Silver Tongue”, “Razzle Dazzle” and “Never A Word” (a personal favourite) might soon figure on most requested tracks on stations and charts across the world.
    • While the musicians continue to live up to their reputations and Ian Gillan’s Jesus Christ Superstar voice continues to flower like nurtured wine, newest member Don Airey does a commendable job in fitting into the shoes of legendary organ player Jon Lord.
    • Lord left the band last year to pursue a career in classical music. Purple fans will be looking forward to that one, especially after his roaring work in the Concerto series at the Royal Albert Hall.
    • – Soumik Sen
  • A band that has lost its shine and is searching for itself
    • From Italian daily La Repubblica
    • Vote: *****
    • The problem with Deep Purple is that they keep evoking the Mk II ghost (early 70s) and the quest for that long lost time makes them look more pathetic than their talent deserves. Morse and Lord [sic] are tonic, the rhythm section is ‘the good old days’, while Gillan, poor soul, does what he can.
      But the compositive shine doesn’t exist anymore. Haunted, an intense and choral ballad, is the only exception to the routine.
    • Flavio Brighenti
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20040205143948/https://www.themusicindex.com/rockahead/reviews/dpurple6.htm
    • DEEP PURPLE
    • Bananas
    • Thames/EMI 7243501049-2-8
    • Bananas is the first Deep Purple studio album in five years. In that time the band have performed the Concerto For Group and Orchestra and played countless live gigs all over the world. The band has also seen founder and keyboardist Jon Lord leave the band to be replaced by Don Airey. So what is the album like?
    • Well I actually found Bananas to be a very instant album, which grabs you from the opening notes of House Of Pain. The sound is still very much Deep Purple which means that Don Airey has fitted in almost seamlessly and not only that he has contributed to the song writing which also bodes well for the future. The old adage being that the band that writes and play together stays together right?
    • The sound is still very much Deep Purple which means that Don Airey has fitted in almost seamlessly and not only that he has contributed to the song writing which also bodes well for the future. The old adage being that the band that writes and play together stays together right?
    • The real question here is just how much of this album will make it into the live set? Well, already the band have been playing Haunted on selected dates for a while and now that the album is out I would hope and expect that a few more might make the live show like the aforementioned House Of Pain and Sun Goes Down with possibly the bluesy sounding Silver Tongue thrown in for good measure. The real test of this album will really be how much of this album makes the set and also stays in the set for a while longer than the tracks from the album Abandon. The fact is that many critics will no doubt savage this album and be reaching for their thesaurus in order to find some adjective that adequately sums up their derision. All good and well if the album was a real clunker but the fact is Bananas is a solid piece of work and the musicianship is of course up to the usual high standard. Hell even Gillan’s voice is holding up incredibly well and his performance on this album is probably the best performance since the Mark 2 line up reformed in the mid eighties.
    • As for the material for me at least the only filler on the album is Razzle Dazzle, which at the very least could have been saved for a bonus track or something like an extra track on a single. It just doesn’t come up to standard when placed next to excellent material like Walk On and Haunted. In fact it is those two tracks that are my favourite tracks on the album and in fact these two tracks are in my opinion better than anything on Abandon which was a pretty well received album in itself.
    • Other tracks of note are I Got Your Number and Never A Word which ably display both sides of the coin and in terms of song are miles apart and yet still retain that distinctive Deep Purple stamp.
    • In summing up Bananas should please long time Deep Purple fans who are expecting certain things from the band. Rest assured all the elements that go to make a Deep Purple album are all in evidence here. There are however subtle shifts in feel and song style that show the band are capable of moving forward which will please the fans who would like Deep Purple to be a little more adventurous. Bananas however will also frustrate the critics who will be dismayed to find that there is life in the old dog yet and Deep Purple look set certainly on the evidence presented on Bananas to be keen on sticking around for a few years yet. I for one am extremely pleased with that.
    • Highly recommended.

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Nate & John Guest Host on 70s Weekly Countdown with Mark & Pete: Episode 64: There’s No Disco Like Show Disco (Thanksgiving Special)

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mark-roback

They say there’s no business like show business and that’s why we decided to have some guests from another show!  This week we welcome Nathan Beaudry and John Mottola from the spectacular Deep Purple Podcast, and we have something for the boys that is really special.  I’m not too bashful to brag that I got rhythm, maybe not good enough for Alexander’s Ragtime Band, but with these special guests, I’m convinced everything’s coming up roses. This week we review the 1979 Ethel Merman Disco Album. They say it’s wonderful for some people, but for me Merms, I get a kick out of you!

Check out this episode on Spotify

Check out this episode on Apple Podcasts

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Episode #240 – Deep Purple – Bananas (Part 1)

Link to video episode on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVLXU8bb1BY

Disclaimer: The video used on YouTube is a byproduct of producing our audio podcast. We post it merely as a convenience to those who prefer the YouTube format. Please subscribe using one of the links below if you’d prefer a superior audio experience.

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Lead up to the Album:

  • Jon Lord had been considering retiring from Deep Purple for some time. He suffered a knee injury in August of 2001 that prevented him from playing live with the band. They were able to get Don Airey on short notice to fill in playing his first show with the band on August 9, 2001 in Skanderburg, Denmark.
  • Shortly thereafter Don was asked to join the band full time.
  • As they weren’t able to complete a proper farewell tour due to illness they brought Jon back to play the second half of each UK tour date in 2002 culminating with his final performance in Ipswich.
  • February 22nd: Hammersmith Apollo. Jon Lord’s last full show with Deep Purple.
  • September 19th: Ipswich. Jon Lord’s farewell show, handling the keyboards alongside Don Airey.
  • Roger’s official statement on the departure of Jon Lord:
    • “I should inform you that Jon has told us he plans to retire from active participation in Deep Purple. We wish him the best.
    • The moment cannot pass without a personal comment. It is sad that Jon has come to this difficult decision but every one of us respects his right to determine his own life. I have learned so much from him that I could not possibly do him justice by attempting to quantify it.
    • Don Airey will be our keyboard player from now on and we welcome him to the band.
    • Roger Glover”
  • Don Airey in the 2003 Tour Programme:
    • “The thought crossed my mind a few years ago ‘ if John retired . . . ? .. . Naaaaah . . . . . they’d never ask me’. So when he did and they did I jumped at the chance and it exceeded my expectations from the first number I played with them, ‘Woman From Tokyo” at the Kanderborg Festival in 2001. Touring Russia and the US last year was a highlight and recording a new album with the band in Royaltone Studios LA, January 2003, the sort of experience I thought I’d said goodbye to years ago long may it continue!”
  • In April of 2002 Michael Bradford went to a Deep Purple show in Brighton. He was invited by the band to hear them play and consider producing the new album.  On his website he wrote: “Incredible band! They sound as good as they did back when ‘Smoke on the Water’ was a new song, which is back when I was a kid.”
  • Immediately after it was announced that he was going to be producing the band he started receiving communication from Deep Purple fans. Some were wishing him well. Others were concerned that he might “take the band in a rap direction” as he had worked with Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker.
  • He responded: “You can be assured that I will take this opportunity to work with them as the privilege that it is, and do my best to help DP make a great record. Just good, solid rock, with great playing and singing. And, there will be no ‘rapping’ or ‘scratching’ of any kind, so you can put that little thought out of your mind.”
  • The band booked three weeks in Decemeber of 2002 and six weeks in January and February to work on the album.
  • Roger said of the sessions: “What about DP music? I am smiling, is that enough? Michael is a joy to work with – professional, witty, quick, decisive, nurturing, hungry. He has a great appetite, I am in awe of the guy. He is an excellent player and writer, does all his own engineering, runs the computer, and laughs a lot. He and the band have a genuine mutual respect.”
  • Bradford said: “The band has stretched in many directions, but the sound has gelled in an amazing way. Some of the songs are classic ‘rockers’ in the best DP tradition. Some others are more progressive, but they also rock like crazy. One song is even in two different time signatures, but Ian came up with a solid melody that keeps the whole thing grounded. Ian’s also doing some great multi-tracked vocals ala Brian Wilson. The studio is a different world than live, so we took out the big box of sonic crayons and had some real fun. We took advantage of great vibes, a great studio and the best that modern technology has to offer. However, there is no doubt that it’s a =Deep Purple album. This baby really rocks! You should have been there!”
  • MB:– In the studio I like to keep things moving. The band came in to record a rhythm track each day. Ian would come the following morning, and we would do the vocals before the band arrived to cut the next rhythm track. Ian would do a guide vocal during the recording of the rhythm track. That way, we cut a song a day. After about two weeks of basic tracking, we could concentrate on overdubs, solos and fixes. The only rule was to keep moving, so self-doubt would not have a chance to creep in. If you give a band too much free time in the studio, they over-analyze things, and they un-do a lot of good ideas, in an attempt to make them better.

Core Band:

Additional Musicians:

  • hh

Technical:

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Art Direction, Design – George Vasilopoulos
    • Only a few other credits including the single for “Haunted.”
  • Art Direction, Design – Ioannis (2)
  • Art Direction, Design, Photography By [Front Cover Photo And Road Photo] – Bruce Payne
  • Photography By [Deep Purple Photo] – Fin Costello
  • Photography By [Cd Back Cover Photo] – Bill Homdell
    • Only credit on Discogs.
  • In the run up to the Liverpool Pops live show, an interview with Roger Glover has appeared in the Liverpool Daily Post in which he talks about the naming of the band’s new album..
  • “About three years ago we were on a plane from Australia and looking through the Sunday papers. I was looking at a travel feature about Vietnam and there was a picture of someone on a bike which was covered in bananas. I turned to Ian Gillan and said. ‘Wouldn’t that be a great picture for the front of the album, we could call it Bananas.’ Then to my surprise he was saying. ‘Yeah that’s a great idea.’ That’s where that came from. We’ve got the picture now so you will have to just wait and see what happens.”
  • Interview by James Eillis with Metro in 2003, Ian Gillan said: 
  • https://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/bananas/ig-metro.html
  • Why Bananas?
  • We were in Australia four years ago and we saw a picture of this Vietnamese guy wheeling a bicycle and he had an absolute mountain of bananas. The picture was very evocative. It said to me: ‘Exploitation, exploitation, exploitation.’ I don’t know why – he probably wasn’t being exploited. My train of thought then shifted to: ‘Hmm… probably none of those bananas will find its way into the EU. What do we get? Chiquita? Mmm. Yummy.’ Then I started researching the EU regulations that are prescribed by the idiocracy, saying what size of banana we are allowed to eat and how much bend they must have. I thought: ‘Who are the only people who can fulfil these requirements?’ and the answer is those who deal in genetically controlled food and so really the only bananas we get are grey, rubbery, seedless and infertile. And my mind started twisting onto other things and I’m thinking of my freedoms being eroded. And I am so completely totally anti-EU and anti-Euro and as you can see the train of thought goes on and on and on. I’m not anti-Europe of course, I’ve got friends in every country, and I adore the culture and I respect ‘vive la difference’ but these rules aren’t what the Treaty of Rome was about. I haven’t chosen to use it as an ideogram, as a cheap trick: ‘Bananas means we’re all crazy, ha ha ha.’ It starts off with that but it develops into many things.
  • https://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/bananas/ap.html
  • Deep Purple Album Title Gets Criticized
    Associated Press
  • NEW YORK – Deep Purple fans are going bananas over the title of the new album. Guitarist Steve Morse writes on his web site the album is titled “Bananas.” He says some deep-rooted fans are up in arms and are actually asking for them to change the title.
  • He says the title comes from Ian Gillan commenting in his proper English accent that Morse had gone bananas with an instrumental exchange with keyboardist Don Airey. Morse says anything that makes the band laugh usually sticks. However, Morse says Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover claims the title came from a photo of a skinny guy riding a bike loaded with hundreds of bananas they thought was funny.
  • Either way, Morse says everyone in the group is happy with the album as it has a variety of material on it and two guitar oriented instrumentals. Morse is also pleased that reviewers have been receiving the new album well so far. “Bananas” is due in August.

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Album Tracks:

All tracks by Gillan, Glover, Morse, Airey, Paice except where noted.

  1. House of Pain (Gillan, Bradford)
    • MB:– It is just a blues-based rock song about having a lover who is hard to live with, but you can’t leave because the lovemaking is so good. I have lots of friends who can not quite break up with someone. Maybe they are afraid, maybe they don not want to be lonely, and maybe they just like a twisted mess. That is exciting for some people. I am not one of them.
    • – Gillan and Roger are doing those backgrounds.
    • – After mixing was done. I just thought that starting the album with a big guitar riff and Ian screaming would be a great way to say “Wake up everybody! We Are Back!”
  2. Sun Goes Down
    • MB:– That one was developed in rehearsal. Steve comes up with some great riffs. The band really wrote that one as a team. It was the first song where we did background vocals on the chorus that we knew would not be doable live, but that is why albums are different. The song had lots of great parts; it was a matter of putting them in the right sequence.
    • His [Don’s] solo at the end of “Sun Goes Down” is a killer.
  3. Haunted
    • Arranged By [Strings] – Paul Buckmaster
    • Backing Vocals – Beth Hart
    • Cello – Paul Buckmaster
    • MB: They were concerned that maybe their hard rock fans would not like “Haunted”. I do not think that it is commercial sounding, because nothing on the radio sounds like it. If they were trying to sound commercial, they could have tried to imitate Linkin Park or a nu-metal band. “Haunted” is actually a throwback to a more 60s British soul music sound. It is probably more akin to Procul Harum or Spencer Davis or Traffic than anything going on today. They were not really worried about formula, because they have been together for so long and they have made so many albums. Like I said before, they have always been more versatile than people realize.
    • – Roger had the basic idea, and he played it for Ian and me. We made a very basic demo of it at my studio, and Ian took the CD home to write most of the lyrics. Ian and Roger worked the lyrics out, then they presented it to the rest of the band. It took its final shape in rehearsals.
    • – I made other mixes of it because of radio. I knew that for the single to have the best chance, we would need a few different versions. A pop station would want a little less guitar. A rock station would not necessarily want the string section. The version on the album is the one that the band wanted.
    • One, we were not afraid to put vocal layers on that they could not do live, so he had more harmonies than normal. Also, Ian had his own vocal studio within the main studio that was set up very comfortably for him. Once he was in his own world, he sang great, because he was relaxed and at ease. Also, we cut vocals when the band was not there, to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of having your bandmates listening to your every breath. The voice is the most delicate instrument. A relaxed singer is a happy singer.
  4. Razzle Dazzle
    • Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan picks his 5 favourite songs of all time
    • Long Tall Sally – Little Richard
    • Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
    • I Only Want To Be With You – Dusty Springfield
    • Razzle Dazzle – Deep Purple
    • Love Me Do – The Beatles
    • MB: I also love the honky-tonk piano on “Razzle Dazzle”. I think he made a conscious effort to not just play organ. That was a wise choice, because that is what made his sound different from Lord’s. I did not have to coach him. Great musicians do not need coaching, just a little editing.
  5. Silver Tongue
    • MB:– That song started off as a jam. It was just a matter of putting the riffs and sections in the right order. I processed Don’s clavinet to give the song a little bit of a mechanized feel. Of course, those are Ian’s cryptic lyrics.
    • I think it is a classic Purple tune, I even think it could work as a single.
  6. Walk On (Gillan, Bradford)
    • Guitar – Michael Bradford
    • MB: – I had actually written “Walk On” some time ago, but I never had a use for it. I played it on guitar for Ian and Roger, and they really liked it. Ian re-wrote the lyrics in a way that made the song flow better, and had removed some of the bitterness of my original lyrics. In rehearsal, I started the song off by playing that little rhythm part that gets the groove going. We did it that way for so long, that we cut it that way as well. That left Steve able to do the other stuff while the track was going down. Also, the solo that Steve played was a first-take shot from the original rhythm track!
    • I consider “Walk On” to be quite possibly a major hit, should it be released as a single. It is clear to me that your working relationship with Ian Gillan is a very successful one.

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Episode #239 – Before They Were Purple: Don Airey

This week’s episode is so scandalous it was BANNED on YouTube!

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Don Airey Chronology

  1. Cozy Powell’s Hammer – Na Na Na – 1974
  2. Colosseum II – Dark Side of the Moog – 1976
  3. Babe Ruth – Kids’ Stuff – Sweet, Sweet Surrender – 1976
  4. Barbara Thompson – The Funky Flunky – 1978
  5. Black Sabbath – Never Say Die – Air Dance – 1978
  6. Andrew Lloyd Weber – Variations – 1978
  7. Cozy Powell – Over The Top – Theme One – 1979
  8. The Michael Schenker Group 1980
  9. Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Ozz 1980
  10. Rainbow – Difficult to Cure 1981
  11. Bogdan – Who Do You Think You Are –  1982
  12. Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon – You’re No Different To Me – 1983

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  1. Phenomena – Dance With The Devil – 1985
  2. Alaska – The Pack – I Really Want To Know – 1985
  3. Sinner – Comin’ Out Fighting – 1986
  4. Whitesnake – 1987
  5. Helix – Wild in the Streets – 1987
  6. Glasgow – Zero Four One – 1987
  7. Don Airey – K2 – Ascent to Camp 4 -1988
  8. Slave Raider – What Do You Know About Rock ‘N Roll?
  9. Fastway – On Target – 1988
  10. Judas Priest – Painkiller – Hell Patrol –  1990
  11. Forcefield IV – Let The Wild Run Free
  12. Brian May – Back to the Light – Resurrection – 1992
  13. Eddie Hardin – Wind in the Willows – 1992
  14. Katrina and the Waves – Love Shine A Light – 1997
  15. Tony Iommi & Glenn Hughes – Eighth Star
  16. Quatermass II – Long Road – Woman in Love – 1997
  17. The Company of Snakes

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Don Airey showing us his Ozzy tour book on Bonus Episode #7 of the Deep Purple Podcast.

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Episode #238 – Trapeze – Hot Wire

Link to video episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF3n8yN18mA

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Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!

  • Coming to you this week from Mount Holyoke College and a German birthday greeting!

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Core Band:

Technical:

  • Producer – Neil Slaven, Trapeze
    • British author and producer. He worked with Decca and Deram labels in the UK in the 60s. He has written liner notes for many albums mostly in the genres of ragtime and blues.
  • Engineer – Rhett Davies
    • Son of Ray Davies (the trumpeter and band leader).
    • Worked with Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Dire STraits, and the B-52s.
    • Worked for Island.
  • Engineer [Air Studios] – Steve Nye
  • Engineer [Assistant, Air Studios] – Mike Sellers
    • Son of Peter Sellers.
    • Worked at Air Studios, the studio founded by George Martin.
  • Engineer [Assistant, Island Studios] – Dave Hutchins
    • https://audio-alchemy.co.uk/
    • One of his earliest credits.
    • Worked with Genesis on “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.”
    • Worked with Martyn Ford on the “Smoovin’” album.
    • Also worked with a group called The Fred Banana Combo.
  • Engineer [Assistant, Lee Sound Studios] – Don Stewart (10)
    • Only credit on Discogs.

Album Art & Booklet Review

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Album Tracks:

All tracks are written by Mel Galley and Tom Galley; “Steal a Mile” co-written by Dave Holland

Side One:

  1. Back Street Love
    • Guitar [1st Solo] – Rob*
    • Guitar [2nd Solo] – Mel*
  2. Take It on Down the Road
    • Backing Vocals – Kenny*, Misty*
      • Kenny Cole, only a few other entries on Discogs.
      • Misty Browning – a few other entires including work with Freddie King
    • Congas – John Ogden
      • Played on “You Are The Music, We’re Just The Band”
    • Guitar [Solos] – Mel*
    • Organ – Terry*
    • Saxophone [Sax Section] – Chris*
      • Played with John Mayall, Wynder K. Frog, Juicy Lucy, Keef Hartley, Jesus Christ Superstar
  3. Midnight Flyer
  4. Wake Up, Shake Up
    • Guitar [Solo] – Mel*

Side Two:

  1. Turn It On
  2. Steal a Mile (Galley, Galley, Holland)
  3. Goin’ Home
    • Guitar [ Solo – Left] – Mel*
    • Guitar [ Solo – Right] – Rob*
    • Synthesizer – Terry*
  4. Feel It Inside

Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet

Reception and Charts:

  • The album was the second by the band to chart on the US Billboard 200, reaching number 146.[4]

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Episode #237 – Hughes-O-Ween 2023: Deep Purple’s Spookiest Moments

This week’s episode is BANNED on YouTube! See links below for a superior audio experience.

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Hughes-O-Ween

  • Ritchie Pranks
  • The Occult
    • Blackmore’s interest in ghosts
      • Blackmore has much interest in the spiritual world and talked many times about séances and experiences he had in his life. In an interview with The Guardian back in 2017 the guitarist talked about ghosts and a haunted clock he owns.
      • The Guardian journalist Michael Hann visited Blackmore’s house basement that has a bar in it, in Long Island at the time. Ex-Deep Purple guitarist said when they were going downstairs that he would notice “that vibe of being haunted”.
      • Blackmore presented a clock in the bar that was gift from a friend and is haunted, saying: “It only chimes when it’s in agreement with something. Or when we’re talking on a frequency the clock understands. It’s a very strange thing. And if we ever talk about religious things, it gets excited and it starts going off.”
      • The guitarist also said he has a theory that ghosts are attracted to religious people and symbols:
      • “I don’t know if that taunts the ghost, or sets off an energy that excites them. I was watching a show last night. They were investigating this house and sure enough there were crucifixes and religious pictures all over the place. It’s strange they hadn’t figured that one out and thought it might have been causing ghostly activity.”
      • “I find it a fascinating subject. Because we’re all going to end up going somewhere and it would be nice to know if it was a nice place.”
    • Ronnie James DIO warns about seances and conjuring demons
    • RITCHIE BLACKMORE DERIVES HIS POWER FROM A DEMONIC SERVANT OF THE BABYLONIAN GOD BAAL
      • In 1983, Jacob Aranza, a young Texan minister of the church, took it upon himself to alert parents to the dangers of rock ‘n’ roll by exposing not only the overt sinful behaviour practised by its leading exponents but also to lay bare sinister Satanic messages secreted within the grooves of popular vinyl records. In his book Backward Masking Unmasked, Aranza noted that many of these messages “are tied in closely with witchcraft and Satan worship and encourage abnormal sexual behaviour and the use of drugs.” Yikes! With the book now long out of print, we feel it is our moral duty to once again shine a light on Aranza’s findings, so that susceptible young minds may be kept pure. Here’s some things we learned while poring over this litany of wickedness…
      • “Ritchie Blackmore’s music and message are certainly not that of a rainbow, but rather a ‘Lake of Fire’.” He may be a guitar god, but Deep Purple/Rainbow man Ritchie Blackmore’s interest in the occult is a concern for Jacob, not least because of the revelation that during live gigs Blackmore “astro-projects out of his body to float around the concert hall.” Revealing that Blackmore likes to record in a haunted 17th century castle, and citing songs such as A Black Magician, Stargazer and Tarot Woman as problematic, Jacob notes that even Blackmore himself has cautioned against occult dabblings, saying “A lot of people go to far, too soon…” Ominous.
  • Spooky Videos & Songs
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuoNu0Q304s – Ghost of John
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEWYRRaxFhU – Vincent Price
    • Rainbow ritchie phantom of the opera video
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqUx84-ljPE – cant let you go
    • Disturbing the Priest?
    • Phenomena
      • Dance with The Devil
    • Haunted
      • Deep Purple / Glenn Hughes
    • Power of the Moon?  Step By Step?
    • Bloodsucker
    • Bent Out of Shape:
      • Fire Dance (Blackmore, Turner, Glover, Rosenthal)
        • Joe says this song is about dabbling in the occult with Ritchie.
        • JLT says they were into Wicca and Alestair Crowley.  He says he was “literally possessed” to write this song.
        • He also claims they used to do seances with Jimmy Page.
      • Anybody There (Blackmore)
        • Joe Lynn Turner says this song was titled this way because the first three lines of any seance are “Is Anybody There?”
        • Ritchie says it’s a typo on the sleeve and there should be a question mark after the song title.
        • Ritchie says it’s based on Bach’s “Prelude in C.”

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Hughes-O-Ween (cont’d)

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Episode #236 – Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (Part 2)

Link to video episode on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWtHli2xch8

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Album Tracks:

All songs by Coverdale, Vandenberg except where noted.

  1. Wings of the Storm
  2. The Deeper the Love
    • Glenn Hughes backing vocals.
    • More successful ballad from the album. Hit No. 28 in the US and No. 35 in the UK.  Coverdale called it an “Otis song” if you strip away all the parts
    • David said he wrote the chord sequence to the verses and Adrian wrote the chords for the chorus and he finished writing the song on vacation in Tahiti.
    • The single was released in several different formats including being backed with “Judgment Day”, “Sweet Lady Luck” and the “Vai Voltage Mix” of “Fool For Your Loving”
  3. Judgment Day
    • Coverdale like this song. It was called an homage to “Kashmir and “No Quarter and “Still of the Night.”
    • Coverdale said “I wrote that song peeved at my old friend – and believe me, at one time we were friends – Robert Plant. He had started on a witch hunt for me and I decided to really stick it up his bottom and do a . . . you know, I’m a huge fan of Middle Eastern Music, and whenever I’m in Portugal, I tune to the Moroccan or Algerian radio or whatever and everything sounds like ‘Kashmir.’ And I mean no disrespect because as you know, I worked with Pagey, whom I love dearly, but quite honestly I had all these elements for the song. Adrian came in and wrote that beautiful bridge, the music for the bridge. We walk toward desire’ and the rest of the stuff  is pretty much mine. I had back surgery after herniating a disk and I was completely compromised on Percodan and I wrote what I call the Percodan riff. . .  I was like Lemmy.”
  4. Slow Poke Music
    • Glenn Hughes backing vocals.
    • Vandenberg said this was another riff he’d had from Vandenberg.
  5. Sailing Ships
    • Coverdale: “Sailing Ships that’s about challenges we face in life in general. The open palette of your life is up to you. You can take the song as if you left home for the first time. It’s any new adventure that you embark on – it’s up to you. Of course, people are instrumental. But in the final analysis, everything else is a catalyst, a galvanizing force to be recognized.”
    • Vandenberg said that Vai altered his original vision for the song. “Yeah but then again he chose to. He made a huge mark with his style of playing and he’s a fantastic player.”
    • Adrian Vandenberg counts this and Burning Heart as the two best songs he’d ever written.

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Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet

Reception and Charts:

  • Slip of the Tongue made it to # 10 in the US charts.
  • Kalodner said the two main problems with this album were that Tawny Kitaen was there and John Sykes wasn’t. That’s why it didn’t perform as well as the previous album.
  • Kalodner also said Coverdale wouldn’t work with the writers he used with Aerosmith.  He said that this same thing happens to all great bands – no great songs, just good songs.
  • Kalodner said he loved Steve Vai but he’s best when he’s doing Steve Vai, he never belonged in Whitesnake.
  • Coverdale sas the demos he worked on with Adrian for the album kicked ass but that the album proper got over done.  “Tommy Aldrige wanting to get all his licks in, Rudy Sarzo was trying to get all his licks in, Adrian Vandenberg was trying to get all his licks in, Steve Vai was . . . there was no foundation. Everyone was just being overtly flamboyant.  And there’s this picture I have at home just to remind me to never go there again, where I’m standing in the middle of this utter chaos. And you know, I can hear what it was like. The look on my face was like, ‘Where the hell am I supposed to sing in here?!”
  • Kalodner said he made Aerosmith throw out the entirety of “Get a Grip” and do it over. He said he would have done the same for this album but it had taken so much time and cost so much that there was just too much pressure to get it out.  He said it was “a gigantic mistake in my career, that I let the “Slip of the Tongue” record come out.”
  • Kalodner said there was no hit song on this record and that was his fault.
  • They leaned heavily on power ballads as those were huge at the time. Olsen said that people were saying that the sales were so terrible.  He said that they sold four million albums in sixteen months where the other did twelve.  He thought it was ridiculous that the record company called it a failure because it only sold 4 million copies and only had one big hit.
  • Videos were also huge and they spend huge amounts on them. Rudy Sarzo estimated $350,000 per video.
  • Rudy Sarzo, reflecting on the album many years later: “I listened to it recently, and I quite enjoyed it! I really did. It’s a very different Whitesnake record. I think actually, it’s more acceptable today than it was in ‘89, ‘90. When we recorded and released it, because certain things were expected of Whitesnake. AGain, it should’ve been more bluesy. And of course Steve Vai brought more of a guitar virtuoso side to it, which I retally enjoyed. I gotta say, working with STeve Vai, I learned so much from him. It was tremendous.  So yeah, I think the musicianship and everything , it was a great record. It was a great band, great record.”
  • Kalodner tried every trick he could think of to get Coverdale to team up with other writers and do another album.  Coverdale was not a fan of the idea of using song doctors. He even tried to get him to bring Sykes back into the band citing his incredible looks.

Reviews:

  • http://www.deep-purple.net/DPASmags/dtb39.htm#4
Slip Of The Tongue – Album Review
The only recent live sighting of David Coverdale came on November 15th 1989 at the Hammersmith Odeon when he came on stage to join headliners AEROSMITH for the encore. They romped through ‘I’m Down’ and a bluesy tune, with bits of Beatles tunes like ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Help’ thrown in. David did BBC Radio One’s ‘Friday Rock Show’ on Nov 17th, on air for just four minutes, “I wonder who their singer is this week” came the jibe when asked about Purple. For once I don’t feel like retorting. After his promotional visit, Coverdale returned to the States on Nov 24th where the band were set to make videos and then begin live rehearsals. They will be on tour in America fron February until July, then hit Europe in August. Interesting that while the new album ‘Slip Of The Tongue’ is still coining it in America, European chart action was markedly down on the last set.”Another step on the road to Americanisation and a further move toward radio friendly AOR from the very British-based blues roots Coverdale once championed. The precise, technically efficient but cold guitar of Steve Vai coupled with solid but uninaginative work from Aldridge and Sarzo fail to produce anything worthwhile on which to lay the fruits of the new Coverdale / Vandenberg partnership. The songs range from the by now standard Zeppelin rip-off – ‘Judgement Day’ – to the well trodden Purple ballad – put ‘Sailing Ships’ alongside ‘Soldier Of Fortune’ to see what I mean. ‘Fool For Your Loving’ follows their trend of stripping down past classics and replacing contained emotion with harsh aggression. Overall a disappointingly bland slice of US rock.” Roy DaviesAnd that’s one of the kinder reviews!
  • Kerrang
  • Steve Newton Review

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Episode #235 – Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (Part 1)

This week’s episode is BANNED on YouTube. Part 2 (next week) for some reason is not. See you on YouTube next week!

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Apple Podcasts Reviews:

  • PrairieRocker – From the US – 5 Stars!
  • Nate and John are the best!
  • Nate and John are highly knowledgeable, but also love to incorporate knowledge from other fans. Not only have I learned more about and relived Deep Purple’s catalogue, I’ve discovered other related artists like Whitesnake and Schenker. Nate and John always keep the show light and funny. Their humor is truly contagious. If you miss late college nights listening to music and sharing liner notes with friends, this podcast will put you back in touch with this part of your musical heart.

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Lead up to the Album:

  • The lineup that came out of the dust of the 1987 album ended up being who we see in the videos.
  • Rudy Sarzo intended to only be temporarily in the band after leaving Quiet Riot but Coverdale ended up persuading him to stay.
  • Sarzo broke his foot in a bike accident at home right before they were going to play their first concert in front of 80,00 people. Sarzo did the show with a cast on his foot.
  • Coverdale wanted to keep this lineup together for as long as possible. Sarzo had expressed some trepidation in staying with Whitesnake since he and Quiet Riot had been together for so long.
  • Coverdale started sending telegrams to warn management saying “I said if he breaks the other leg then they can have him.”
  • Coverdale also said he noticed some people were being paid too much, others not enough, and he vowed never to let that happen again.
  • At this point they were still playing as a support act (to Motley Crue and others) but Whitesnake had become bigger than most of the bands they were playing with.
  • They put together a tour as headliners and The Return of the Saneks tour sold out within a few days.
  • The set that they had featured almost exclusively the new album as well as “Slide It In” and also included a cover of ZZ Top’s “Legs” entitled “Tits.”
  • The tour was based around Americans and he promised to go further back in the catalog in the future.
  • Vivian Campbell was in and out of the band, only contributing to one remixed song.
  • It was then announced that Don Airey was being promoted to full-time Whitesnake member after his contributions to the 1987 album.
  • At first  replacing Vivian Campbell was not urgent but they reached out to Jake E. Lee but he wished to stay with Badlands.
  • Eventually it became more important when Vandenburg injured a tendon and needed surgery and couldn’t continue on with the album.
  • Coverdale was able to get Steve Vail to join the band and they used a young player named Kevin Russel to do a series of guide tracks.
  • Glenn Hughes was being considered by Geffen to join Jon Sykes’ Blue Thunder but they didn’t have the time or budget to add him to the band.
  • Instead Hughes was brought in to add backing vocals to Slip of the Tongue.
  • In the old Whitesnake David was the best looking member of the band but with Kalodner they worked to surround him with other good-looking members and even adding Tawny Kitaen as the pin-up to represent the band’s videos.
  • There was pressure to release the follow up album quickly.
  • Campbell said he felt like David and Adrian were going to do all the writing and he wasn’t going to be allowed to participate.  Also David brought his wife on the road but didn’t allow Vivian to do the same. Ultimately he didn’t see a future if he wasn’t allowed to write.
  • Tommy Aldridge said that in 1990 as far as Americans were concerned there’d been only three records and minimal lineup changes.
  • The album took almost a year to record.  Tommy’s drums were done in two weeks but the guitars took a long time tdue to injuries and other changes.
  • Interestingly David and Adrian wrote all the songs in teh same key, the key of A.
  • Olsen said that David was so in love with Tawny at the time he was spending a lot of time with her in INcline Village. He also implied that Adrian Vandenberg was sent home because the parts were not good enough, not because of the reported carpal tunnel in both wrists.
  • Vivian Campbell claims they got rid of him because Vandenberg didn’t want to work with another guitar player. He said the irony was that he was injured and they had to get another play in.
  • According to Martin Popoff Keith Olsen is the only one that says Adrian did not have an injury.  Everyone else seems to back up that it was an injury.
  • When Vai joined the band he explained that most of the songs were recorded and had guide tracks.  His job was to go  in there and add his touch.
  • Darker Than Blue – Issue 36  Dec 1988 – Jan 1989
    • Back To The Recording Studio – News
    • Give Me All Your Love was taken off as the fourth and final American single from the 1987 LP in March 1988, remixed, and with Vivian Campbell adding new guitar parts. The live video which accompanied it was shot in Worcester Mass. With that out of the way, and the touring over, thoughts naturally turned towards the fairly daunting task of beginning a follow up to the incredibly successful album. The stage line-up by then bad been working so well in Coverdale’s opinion that he had decided to go into the studio with it after all, the next album being scheduled for March / April 1989. After the success of the re-recorded oldies, they are seriously considering redoing Fool For Your Loving and Ain’t Gonna Cry No More , as well as Burning Heart from Vandenburg’s own album.
    • The currently fashionable chart cert of teaming two known stars to record a duet was also mooted. A track called Too Many Tears, considered too quiet for the band, may be taped by Coverdale with Nancy Wllson from Heart (remember he nicked their rhythm section for Here I Go Again 87) or Cher. Thoughts of a live set have been put on hold for now, they’re not looked upon with any great favour by American record companies, but the reissue of most of the Whitesnake back-catalogue in America has been doing well – enabling Coverdale to perhaps dig a little further back for stage material next tour; this one being assembled from what was perceived as the only two known LPs in America.
  • Darker Than Blue – Issue 37  June 1989
    • Glenn’s arrival in the Whitesnake camp comes just as the new album is nearing completion. Despite Coverdale’s claims to the contrary, it seems as if the band will be restructured almost entirely before they tour again. Guitarist Vivian Campbell has left the band. His sole contribution to their vinyl was that remixed single which we reported last issue. Dave Lee Roth’s guitarist Steve Vai has been drafted in to do guitar work on the album, and probably to tour with them as well. With Don Airey seemingly a permanent member of the line-up (behind a curtain or otherwise), and Glenn Hughes’s arrival to do backing vocals, the album ought to be out by August if they can keep the studio finishing down to a minimum.

Core Band:

Additional Musicians:

  • Vocals – Glenn Hughes
    • Darker Than Blue – Issue 37  June 1989
      • Dokken & Whitesnake – News
      • The Glenn Hughes story gets more complicated by the day. Prior to Christmas, Hughes was quite busy. He wrote five songs for a Dokken project. Glenn has done the bass on the album and also some backing vocals, as well as helping with the production. John Norum does the guitar chores. Apart. from that Glenn has also been earning a few bob giving the Dokken man singing lessons! While working on the LP Glenn was apparently offered a job with Yes. Then In November he got a call from John Sykes’s Blue Murder. Sykes had just had his vocals rejected by Geffen, and they wanted Glenn in to redo then in Vancouver. This fell through, and in the end Sykes’ LP came out with his own vocals still on. He set up a showcase gig with Pat Thrall in January 1989 over in LA, which went down a storm according to reports. Why they just don’t get down to business and do another LP I don’t know!
      • In April, in perhaps one of the strangest twists in the Deep Purple story, David Coverdale contacted Glenn to help out on the new Whitesnake album by doing the backing vocals. Perhaps Glenn was as puzzled by it as us, in any a case rather than fly out he asked for the contract first, and made sure this was signed before he told anyone about it. According to Glenn the move was made at Geffen’s suggestion, while David wanted to try and introduce the Mk 3 vocal harmony feel which had been the focus of tracks like You Fool No One. He has stipulated in the contract that his contributions will not be mixed out of hearing. Glenn’s signing of the contract coincided nicely with a secret concert he’d lined up; read on….
  • Vocals – Tommy Funderburk
    • https://tommyfunderburk.com/
    • Prolific backup singer.
    • Had previously done backup vocals for REO Speedwagon, Juice Newton, Barry Manilow, Rick Springfield, Kenny Rogers, David Lee Roth (on the Skyscraper album), Tiffany, Eddie Money, and more.
  • Keyboards – Claude Gaudette
    • Canadian session keyboardist who worked with Air Supply, Neil Diamond, Céline Dion, Barry Manilow, Christopher Cross, Natalie Cole, Peter Cetera, Kylie Minogue, Smokey Robinson.
    • Sadly passed away in 1997.
  • Keyboards – David Rosenthal
    • Former Rainbow keyboardist. Went on to work with Bill Joel for many years.
  • Keyboards – Don Airey
    • A keyboardist that needs no introduction on this show.

Technical:

  • Other [John Kalodner] – John Kalodner
  • Producer, Engineer – Keith Olsen
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Olsen
    • Legendary producer who worked with many artists including James Gang, Domenic Troiano, Buckingham Nicks, Grateful Dead, Russ Ballard, Alice Cooper, Santana.
    • Did the 35th anniversary mixes for Stormbringer with Glenn Hughes.
    • Sadly passed away in 2020.
  • Producer, Engineer – Mike Clink
  • Engineer [Assistant] – Allen Abrahamson
    • Worked at the Record Plant. Many of the same credits as Mike Clink.
  • Engineer [Assistant] – Gordon Fordyce
    • Did a lot of work with early 80s Thin Lizz, worked on Motley Crue’s “Too Fast For Love,” Lindsey Buckingham, Ozzy Osbourne’s “No Rest For The Wicked.”
  • Engineer [Assistant] – Noel Golden
    • Known for his work with Mike Clink. Worked in Canada in the 80s and worked with Tirumph, Kick Axe.
  • Engineer [Assistant] – Shay Baby
    • Prior to this worked with Kingdom Come, Went on to work with Scorpions, Eddie Money, Bruce Dickinson.
  • Mixed By – Keith Olsen, Mike Clink

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Cover – Hugh Syme
    • http://www.hughsyme.com/
    • Artist who designed cover of the 1987 album.
    • Leading up to this album worked on many Rush album covers as well as Quiet Riot, McCauley Schenker Group, Sammy Hagar.

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Album Tracks:

All songs by Coverdale, Vandenberg except where noted.

  1. Slip of the Tongue
    • Aldridge said that Mike Clink thought he overplayed a lot and as a result most of the drumming on this album is pretty straight forward.
  2. Cheap an’ Nasty
    • Olsen called this song “kick-butt”
    • Vandenberg said this was a riff he’d had since his Vandenberg days.
    • Featuring the “Delberts from Hell Chorus” – Hughes and Funderburk.
  3. Fool for Your Loving ‘89 (Coverdale, Marsden, Moody)
    • This was an obvious attempt to recreate what they’d done with “Here I Go Again.”
    • Kalodner said he thought it was okay but not a hit.
  4. Now You’re Gone
    • This single made it to 96 on the US charts.  In the UK it hit #31.
    • They filmed a video where they performed it at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
  5. Kittens Got Claws
    • Reference to an XJS which was the Jaguar from the Here I Go Again video.
    • Glenn Hughes sings backing vocals on this one along with Tommy FUnderburk and Richard Page.
    • Glenn said he was not up to standards, still battling his addictions, and was sent back in the mix.
    • Olsen said that David still sang great but it was difficult for him.  “You Talk about natural singers, Glenn Hughes of course, but also Ronnie James Dio, amazing singer. That’s all about diaphragm, diaphragm support. When you have that thing, that’s how Lou Gramm sings too. But David, you know he was always at the very, very top of his range.  And so . . . is he still smoking, do you know? But it was always at the top of his range, and if you aren’t physically 100%, it’s really hard to sing at the top of your range like that. . . . Glenn is this master of vocal parts. He is a master and so Glenn and I are working on these parts, and we put this really, really cool background part on, oh, God, (sings it) but anyway Steve Vai comes in and the first thing out of his mouth is, ‘Wow, that’s really unique and cool’ And he looks at me a Glenn and says, ‘You know, Keith, that’s not in the mode’.”  Olsen said he laughed because he didn’t care, it sound cool.

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Episode #234 – Paice Ashton Lord – Live 1977

Link to video episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqLlh1kxfiY

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Apple Podcasts Reviews:

  • Fluffyrug from Australia! – 5 Stars!
    • 5 Stars!
    • If you love Deep Purple music, ‘here’s a podcast for ya!’ Sit back and listen to two old chums chewing the fat, discussing all things Purple, while listening to all the associated Purple related projects. There’s a lot to get through, so start with a couple of albums that you are familiar with. This will help get yourself used to the format and their style of banter, then slowly work your way back through the episodes. Enjoy!

Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!

  • Greetings from Worcester, MA!

Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.

Lead up to the Album:

  • In Tony Ashton’s book, “Zermatitis – A Musicians’ Guide To Going Downhill Fast” he tells the story of being in Pinewood Studios for PAL rehearsals for the tour. Roger Moore nearby.  “Roger Moore greeted us with a charming ‘Hello, lads’ on our way back from a hearty rustic lunch in the serene period restaurant near the sound stage. Roger was doing his 007 bit with Barbara Back, now Ringo’s missus. I was shaken, but not yet stirredas we approached our specially deisgned stage set. Jon, Ian and I were pride of place at the front of the stage, with Ian on a big rostrum, Jon and me faced each other (when I wasn’t up front) armed with black concert Grand pianos and a Hammond organ each. Lordy’s was a highly elaborate affair, incorporating all his synths and clavinet, etcetera. The awe-inspiring stage structure was snow-white, punctuated by discrete silver striping. Howie Casey and the other horns with Shelia and Jeanette McKinley were above us on a large platform. Bernie and Paul had their daises, which had ramps – not unlike dry ski runs – on which they could pose and canter up and down at will.”
  • Ashton goes on about the night before the show: “But that night, even after my usual liquid intake, I couldn’t sleep . . . I was left with my thoughts and agonised again and again over our ambitious project. Surely most of the fans are going to want lackmore, Gillan, Coverdale or Glover, to say nothing of Glenn Hughes or Tommy Bolin. Only once had I performed without my organ as a prop (I did allow myself a little smile as I reminisced that, of course, Ian Gillan and David Coverdale featured theirs comprehensively in their act). I really couldn’t see myself strutting and sashaying all over the shop. Also, I never regarded myself as your ‘lead singer’. Ah, weill, I always did thrive on new experiences, being lynched by a howling mob for instance.”
  • Ashton reminded Magnet (who he referred to as the Brummie Deep Purple veteran rhododendron) that he was missing something before the rehearsal and put his cupped hand to his mouth.  He said Magnet responded, “Don’t panic, it’s on its way” and then the Heinekins arrived.
  • After drinking quite a few Ashton said “. . . I was glad that my Hammond was switched on and ready to go. I don’t think I could have negotiated eleven that procedure.”  He said Bernie and Paice both asked if he was okay when they saw him.
  • Jon arrived late, half way through their rehearsal of “I’m Gonna Stop Drinking” and said it sounded great.
  • Jon started up “Ghost Story” and Tony described a blinding flash, his voice seizing up, and a feel of nausea and disorientation.  He said it had happened once before at a club in Switzerland.  He said a “Swiss quack” diagnosed it as alcoholic relate stress and exhaustion and charged him two hundred Swiss francs.  He said this seemed the same.
  • Ashton said Jon recommended a doctor to him as he didn’t want to “risk my life at the experimental hands of dear old Mike the Psych this time.”
  • He had an appointment the next morning.
  • The doctor told him that “musus is sliding down your throat like Niagara Falls. Your larynx is beind drowned. You’ll have to stop smoking.” He also ran a liver function test.  He told Tony that he was in very bad shape.  He also said no fried foods or curries and that he wanted to see him right after the tour.
  • He said he adhered to the advice and only drank beer or lager and ate sensibly and that he also quit smoking.
  • He said the condition got worse.
  • After the first gig on TV there were reviews that included:
    • “Ashton was unconvincing and seemed at odds with his musical superieors.”
    • “Sadly the band with so much potential was sabotaged by Ashton, who seemed to be in some extra-terrestrial orchestra of his own.”
    • “Bring back the Purps!”
  • Ashton said that his morale and confidence were at an all time low but that the band shrugged it off.
  • He said he felt he was flushing Jon and Ian’s money down the toilet and that his great friendship with them was at risk.
  • Their last gig was at the Finsbury Park Rainbow. There had been a German leg of the show that was canceled so they could focus on recording.
  • Bernie Marsden entitled the Paice Ashton Lord chapter of his book “Pals with Deep Pockets.”
  • Bernie said he enjoyed working with Ashton and said he made him feel welcome. He said he and Ashton were relatively unknown compared to Lord and Paice who were huge names in 1976.
  • Bernie said he’d referred to Deep Purple Overseas Ltd. – their offshore management company – as a “bottomless pit.”
  • He said that Lord was very encouraging and that even though the band was called Paice Ashton Lord that Bernie was also crucial.
  • Bernie referred to Jon Lord as one of the most important men he ever worked with.
  • He said that staying at the Arabella hotel together and going downstairs for the recording they would not see natural light for ten days at a time.  He said that he got to know the musicals really well: Jon’s good and gentle nature, Ian’s subtle humour and his legendary thriftiness, and that Tony Ashton was “without doubt one of the funniest men I have ever known.”  He said Tony would drop his trousers any place, any time, for no reason at all.
  • Paul Martinez had been in a band called Stretch but Bernie says he was in a bogus version of Fleetwood Mac in the early 1970s formed by one of their ex-managers.
  • Bernie tells a story of being at the hotel pool and German man having a conversation with him where he said, “You schwimm gut!”  He said they had a broken conversation where he said “‘Zere is too much of zis English rock music in Chermany.”  After the conversation the man stuck out his hand and said, “You must be Bernie Marsden. I’m Martin Birch.”
  • He said that Paice in the studio was a revelation. He realized that he’d only given 50-60% during rehearsals and during his shows and recording he gave it his all.
  • He said Paice’s nicknames were “Tight Wallet,” “Small Pockets,” or “The Bank of Paice.”
  • Bernie says Roger Moore was invited in and they showed him around, Bernie showing him his red, double-necked Gibson.  They were invited to visit the Bond stage and Bernie said he went.
  • Bernie said he was tasked with getting Tony to work every day.  He said he’d go to pick him up at the pub and the people there would boo him because he showed up every day and took Tony Ashton away.
  • One of the pub regulars was a guy named Paul Knight who was a TV producer.  He was working on a show called “The Crezz” and got Tony to write the theme music.  Tony asked Bernie to play on it along with Simon Phillips and Dave Peacock on bass.  He said Tony showed up absolutely drunk and had no demo table.  He called Bernie Bernadette and hummed the tune in his ear saying, “Bernadette – you can’t  handle it , can’t you?”  He said that he, Simon, and Dave laid down the song as he described and when he sobered up enough Tony added the piano and groaned the vocal part.
  • Tony and Bernie went on to do music for ads including Pepsi.
  • Bernie noticed Tony getting very nervous through rehearsals and drinking even more than usual.
  • Bernie mentioned that during the tour planning meeting that Rob Cooksey addressed them with news that Tommy Bolin had died.
  • The tour eventually wound down to being just five UK shows.
  • The first show ever was slated to be a live gig for the BBC.  News of this reached Tony and he didn’t take it well. Bernie seemed surprised that they weren’t going to do any warm up shows.
  • Tony confided in Bernie that he was in no condition to go on television and was terrified.
  • Jon and Ian approached Bernie and asked if he could cover for Tony.
  • Bernie says Tony had a lot of drinks to prepare, going to a nearby bar for a couple of hours and showed up looking OK.
  • Bernie said the band was very tight but he was watching over Tony the whole time, nervous about what may happen.

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The Venue:

Setlist:

Paice Ashton Lord – Malice in Wonderland Live 1977 FULL CONCERT

  1. Ghost Story
  2. On The Road Again, Again
  3. Silas And Jerome
  4. Arabella (Oh Tell Me)
  5. The Ballad Of Mr. Giver
  6. I’m Gonna Stop Drinking
  7. Steam Roller Blues
  8. Remember The Good Times
  9. Malice In Wonderland
  10. Sneaky Private Lee

Paice Ashton Lord Lifespan film from 1977

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Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet

Reception and Charts:

  • After this their final gig was at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park.  Tony had set up for Ronnie Frasier to introduce the band.  Bernie said he was pretty sure he hadn’t notified Jon or Ian about this.
  • After the opening act, Bandit, left the stage the lights went up and Ronnie Fraser was there wearing a cloak and holding a skull.  He went into a speech from Richard III.  He said within a few moments he started getting booed and people yelling “Get off, you old fucker – off! Off! Off!”
  • Ronnie then started cursing at the crowd and was whisked off the stage by the crew.
  • During the show Jon started up Ghost Story but stopped playing.  The lights came up and Bernie saw Jon in the orchestra pit looking up.  He gestured to Bernie to sing.  He said he could see Tony Ashton lying face down in the pit and for a minute thought he was dead.
  • He tripped and fell six feet into the pit and hadn’t even been drunk.  In fact, it was the same thing Frank Zappa had done on that exact stage.
  • Tony had to hobble back to the stage.  During one of Jon’s solos he went off and got an injection for the pain.
  • The album did poorly and didn’t even chart. Bernie said he thought it would be over but in a few weeks they were back in Musicland recording a follow up.
  • Martin Birch was producing Rainbow in France.  David Coverdale lived nearby and popped in and this was when they talked about him possibly joining.
  • They recorded about 12 songs before the whole project was scrapped.  Bernie Marsden estimates they may have sunk as much as 250,000 on the project.
  • Jon Lord said, “I still think that Tony is one of the finest performers Britain has ever had. But he had this nervous breakdown, which is why we had to stop Paice Ashton Lord thing. He was just a nervous wreck.”  He later added “Ian Paicea nd myself paid the bills and it was a lot of money. PAL finished in 1977 and I didn’t do anything until 1978. I had a nervous breakdown as well. I sat at home and felt sorry for myself. And the longer you do that, the harder it is to walk out that door again. I stopped writing, playing . . . Listen, it happens to a lot of people.”

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Episode #233 – Jon Lord – Before I Forget

This week’s episode is BANNED on YouTube. Click below for any one of a number of ways to listen to the superior audio version of the show.

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Apple Podcasts Reviews:

  • Xxstrawsome from the UK! – 5 Stars!
    • Great fun dp pod!
    • Been a dp fan since 88, my first album being nobody’s perfect (probably not many who started there!) Seen them countless times over the years but still have vivid memories of my first at Brixton in 93… anyway, a great pod with Nathan and John sharing their love of the band and its offshoots, often finding the absurdity in some of the goings on over the years! Highly recommended… Phill, in Ross on Wye, UK

Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.

Lead up to the Album:

  • Jon Lord, in an interview on the special edition of the album released in 1994, said that the album was composed of songs that had “been rattling around in the old head for 4 or 5 years, which accounts for this slightly jokey title.”
  • Jon says that four songs on the album were autobiographical “about specific instances,”, the other four were just about “just feelings that I’ve been wanting to put down on tape for some time.”
  • Vocals on the album were done by her and her daughter Samantha, who likes to be called Sam, which was a mere stripping lass of 15 or 16, I think, and has again a delightful voice just like her mum’s.  
  • Lord on doing an album with friends: “there’s a danger. You’re in there in that it could become a party rather than the serious business of getting down to something that you believe in onto tape. But they all know me well enough and respect me enough, I think, to to a do what I tell them to do and B know that it shouldn’t degenerate into a party. Although there’s a lovely little story about the track I did with Bad Company on here on this album. I did two with them in one night and the first one we got Down Perfect, which was the one on the album, and the second one was supposed to be this kind of really like heavy chugging song I’d written called Going Home, about something that happened to me when I was down out broke in London and Mum kept ringing me up and saying, Come home to Leicester, lad, you know, don’t live there in a big city and be broke and starving. And I fought against it, you know, Stay down here and stick up for what I believe in and all that rubbish. And I wrote this song about it and it was supposed to be real heavy. And well, by the time we got to that one, which was the second one, bad company had consumed a fair amount of various liquids. And instead of being junk, junk, junk, junk, it ended up ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, you know, sort of rather a rather jolly little ditty which didn’t fit the words at all.”

Technical:

  • Engineer [Assistant], Mixed By – Mike Johnson*
  • Producer – Jon Lord
  • Producer [Assistant], Engineer, Mixed By – Guy Bidmead
    • Worked with Yes, Noel Redding, Automatic Man (Pat Thrall’s band), Trapeze, Elvis Costello.

Album Art & Booklet Review

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Recorded September 1981 and February 17 – March 4, 1982 at Britannia Row, London

https://www.discogs.com/label/268280-Britannia-Row-Studios

Studio founded by Pink Floyd and NIck Mason later assumed full ownership.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia_Row_Studios

Album Tracks:

Side One

  • Chance On A Feeling
    • Backing Vocals – Vicky Brown*
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Brown
      • Member of The Vernon Girls.
      • One of the UK’s most prolific backing vocalists.
      • Worked with Carly Simon, Nazareth, Manfred Mann, Murray Head, to name just a few.
      • Passed away in 1991.
    • Backing Vocals – Sam Brown
    • Bass – Neil Murray
    • Drums – Ian Paice
    • Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer [Mini Moog] – Jon Lord
    • Vocals, Guitar – Bernie Marsden
    • “Towards the end of Purple Deep variety, the the bass player was a gentleman called Glenn Hughes and he had a smashing girlfriend who I fancied something rotten mate, you know, and being a gentleman, I nicked her, didn’t I? Right from under his nose. And this is a kind of a very simple song about that rather complicated situation.”
    • Lord said they turned the guitar amp around, pointed it at the wall and leaned it back on some bricks to record the solo.
  • Tender Babes
    • Bass – Neil Murray
    • Drums – Cozy Powell
    • Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer [Mini Moog] – Jon Lord
    • “…it’s it’s based on a tune which was written about 400 years ago, which was called Tender Babes. And they think it was by a guy called Thomas Tallis, who was an English composer of, I think, the 16th century. But I could be wrong. It might be the 15th. I mean, who knows from that? Somebody will. But it’s it’s one of those good little early English tunes that to me cried out to be messed around with in my usual fashion. And all I could hear when I started routining it in my mind, as it were, at home, all I could hear was cozy. Who is the best thunderer in the business? Just thundering. So I decided to start with how it would have been played. I used a synthesizer to get the sound of recorders and lutes and so on, or lutes, which is kind of blown away by the drum intro. And then it comes back at the end, sort of disappearing into the mists of time as it would have sounded then. It’s a vaguely intellectual exercise, but only to me. I mean, it stands or falls on whether you like the way I play it.”
    • The song is all Minimoog with Polymoog doing the harpsichord sound being filtered.
    • Song is based on a 15th century tune by Thomas Tallis.
    • Hammond is being used with slow Leslie effects and is doubled by Minimoog.
  • Hollywood Rock And Roll
    • Backing Vocals – Sam Brown, Vicky Brown*
    • Bass – Boz Burrell
    • Drums – Simon Kirke
    • Guitar – Mick Ralphs
    • Lord, responding to the interviewer’s desire to get Bad Company back together: “they are such a fine band and I believe, you know, just unique as far as British bands go, they’re very, very different. But I love that band. I was thrilled to have them on that track and I thought they played it extremely well. Simon Kirke, great backbeat drummer, wonderful, lazy, easy feel, which is quite unusual in English drummers.”
    • “Hollywood Rock and Roll is my reasonably friendly comment on the first time I ever came up against American A&R men. You know – you bring them an album on which you’ve slaved over and loved for months and honed to perfection (you think) and the first thing they say is “Is there a single on it?” However, to get the effect I wanted I got Tony Ashton to sing. He’s not a ‘technically qualified’ singer, but he is good and his style has a sort of throwaway humour. I purposefully did not fade out the track so that at the end you can hear us really enjoying it and all laughing.”
    • Jon: “The track is really Bad Company minus the singer: Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke, Boz Burrell, with Tony Ashton singing. The polyphonic brass sound comes from the Opus – I like the synthesizer to suggest traditional instruments. Tony Ashton does the vocals in a sort of spoken/singing style (the Germans call it sprechgesan). I don’t like fade outs and I managed to find a good stopping place in this one.” 
  • Bach Onto This

Side Two:

  • Before I Forget
    • Backing Vocals – Sam Brown, Vicky Brown*
    • Bass – Neil Murray
    • Drums – Ian Paice
    • Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer [Polymoog, Mini Moog] – Jon Lord
    • “Yeah it’s about memory, you know, and about the I mean, it sounds awfully sued, to put it this way, but because actually I tried to say it in the music, but it’s really, it’s about memory and how it eludes you. Um, and it was originally going to be a song which I was hoping to get David to sing, but I couldn’t get the words right at all. I just couldn’t, you know, I’ve got a set of words which didn’t it didn’t work at all for me anyway. So I stuck with an instrumental and just let the ladies sing the title line.”
    • Lord said he used the Polymoog cello with the strings filter and the French horn sound from the minimoog. Also he used the flute with digital echo panning left adnr ight in the stereo field.
  • Say It’s All Right (Lord, Gantry)
    • Backing Vocals – Sam Brown
    • Bass – Neil Murray
    • Drums – Simon Phillips
    • Guitar – Mick Ralphs
    • Keyboards, Piano, Organ, Synthesizer [Polymoog] – Jon Lord
    • Vocals, Backing Vocals – Vicky Brown*
    • “It’s a song I wrote and got stuck halfway through with the words. So I asked a guy called Elmer Gantry to help me with the words who sings another track on the album?  Voice, nice gravelly, lived in sort of voice, but he helped me with the words on it, which is why he’s credited on the album for doing so. And it’s a lovely lady called Vicki Brown singing it, and she’s marvelous.  Just a thing that happened to me once when I wasn’t very sure of myself in respect of my good lady. And that’s all really a confirmation that everything was A-okay. Yes. Really quite amazing that there are so many singers like Vicki Brown and others whose names I can’t remember. Corrie Josiah’s was one who sang on the Rick Wakeman single. Just around. It’s you see, they they tend to live in that session Singer world, which is a dead end street. And there they are, sort of lovely ladies with delightful voices who are being kind of said, okay, love you just sing in the background here, you know? There must be occasions when they go into a studio and they could probably blow away the person they’re supposed to be backing, many times, I would think. I would love to see that particular lady, Vicki Brown, get herself a solo deal because she does have a really quite remarkable voice. The only problem she has is she’s married to Joe Brown. Didn’t mean it, Joe. No, A great, great lady. Smashing voice.”
    • “. . . which is actually a chord sequence that I borrowed from Mr. [Edvard] Grieg. It is the way he puts two or three chords together which I liked, so I gently borrowed it.”
    • Lord said he was trying to get Vicki Brown a record deal.
  • Burntwood
    • Bass – Neil Murray
      • Murray plays an Aria fretless bass.
    • Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer [Polymoog, Mini Moog] – Jon Lord
    • “This is it’s where I live. In actual fact, it’s the name of the house I live in, and it’s surrounded by trees. And when the wind blows, it makes a lovely noise. And it’s a very romantic place to live in. So it’s a fairly romantic piece of music. 
    • Interviewer compared it to Vangelis and “Chariots of Fire.”  Lord said he wrote it before “Chariots of Fire” and it was based on where he lived and attempted to evoke the English countryside.  The beginning is white noise emulating the wind followed by the horn call, all done on a Minimoog.
    • People at EMI told Jon that they wished they’d had a film to put this on.
  • Where Are You?
    • Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer [Polymoog, Moog Source] – Jon Lord
    • Vocals – Elmer Gantry
      • Real name was David Terry
      • Performed with Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera
      • Was in a bogus Fleetwood Mac that toured the US in 1974. He said Mick Fleetwood was going to tour with them, something Fleetwood denied.
      • Worked with Cozy Powell and Alan Parsons Project
    • “This is a track I’ve actually played one track already from the album, which we played last night, and this is a superb song called Where Are You? And this was, I believe, a period when you were feeling less, less than wonderful in yourself and a little homesick for dear old Blighty. That’s how it started. I was snowed in in Philadelphia, of all places, in a couple of gigs being canceled. I was well fed up, and I had this little porter keyboard in my room, you know, and a pair of headphones, and I could sort of wallow away in my misery. And I came up with this chord sequence and a rough idea for a song which eventually became this song. It’s a homesick song. It’s a song about a lady. And I had to get someone with a lived in voice to sing it, because if I’d got someone with one of those awfully slick voices to sing it, it would have been a bit too cabaret because it’s, you know, it’s a it’s a fairly kind of sophisticated chord sequence. ET cetera. ET cetera. So I wanted someone to gravel it up, and I got Elmer Gantry to sing it for me. And I think he’s done a wonderful job and I’m thrilled with the song. “
    • Interviewer commented that it had a “Debussy type ending.”
      • “Well, again, he is a composer that i used to play quite a bit when I was a kid. Of course, you can listen to Chick Corea and hear Debussy and Ravel floating around – all those French impressionist ideas have had a lot of influence on modern jazz.”
    • Elmer Gantry wrote the lyrics.
    • Whistle effect is by Micromoog rarely used by Lord.
    • Backward piano was used to get into the Fugue.

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Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet

Reception and Charts:

  • When asked what his next step would be Lord said: “to I’m going to make another album in a year’s time or whatever. Um, I might make one the year after that as well.  
  • His next solo album didn’t come until 1998’s “Pictured Within.”
  • Jon Lord said this was the first solo album he ever made without an orchestra.

Reviews:

  • Stargazer, Issue 26 – November 1982
    • “‘Chance On A Feeling’ is a lovely song, all about Jon stealing Glenn’s girlfriend during Mk 4 Purple days. ‘Bach Onto This’ is what Jon refers to as a piece of eight minute madness -the old Hammond swirling and letting rip. Great Stuff. ‘Before I Forget’ is the best track off the album, and one of the best things any member of Purple has ever done I think. ‘Say It’s Alright’ sounds like a combination of every Radio 2 ballad I’ve ever heard. ‘Burntwood’ is very like Aria off Sarabande. Overall a good album, with some lovely piano on the last track to finish with, and very Ashton like vocals from Elmer Gantry”. Richard Poustie.
    • Additionally there were rumors in this issue again about the Deep Purple reunion on the horizon.
  • Howard Johnson review (from Kerrang?)

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