Month: October 2023

Posted on

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.

Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Anchor.fm, Breaker, PodBean, RadioPublic, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, or search in your favorite podcatcher! 

How To Support Our Show:

The Deep Purple Podcast is 100% listener supported and ad-free! If you receive value from our show please consider supporting us!

Brendan Ashbrook – Logo Designer

Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:

  • The “In Memorium” Tier
    • Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
  • The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
    • Ovais Naqvi
    • Purple Maniac
  • The £15 “”Fifteen Squid” Tier
    • Alan “Ain’t Too Proud To” Begg
  • The £10 “Good Doctor” Tier
    • Dr. Mike Kattan
  • The Turn it up to $11 Tier
    • Clay Wombacher
    • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
    • Mikkel Steen
    • Will Porter, PhDPP
  • $10 “Some One Came” Tier
    • Ryan M
    • Jeff Breis
    • Victor Campos
    • “Better Call” Saul Evans
  • The “Hughes-O-Ween by 2033” Tier
    • Fielding Fowler

Deep Dive Podcast Network:

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

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.”

Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:

  • The $7.77 KeepItWarmRat Tier
    • Michael Vader
  • The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
    • Spike the Rock Cat
    • Sugar T
  • The Episode $6.66 Tier
    • Steve Coldwell
    • Arthur Smith
    • Anton Glaving
    • Charles Meadows
  • The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
    • Kenny Wymore
    • Michael Bagford
    • Richie Sucksmith
  • $5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
    • Robert Smith
    • Peter from Illinois
    • Karl Hellberg
  • The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
    • Knut Morten Johansen – 
  • The $5.55 “What’s Goin’ On Here” Tier
    • Richard Fusey
  • $5 “Money Lender” Tier
    • John Convery
    • German Heindl
    • Adrian Hernandez
    • Jesper Almén
    • Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
    • Kev Roberts
    • Percival Frequency
    • Scott Zerns
    • Cynthia Dube
    • Raff Kaff
    • Coyote Bongwater

Hughes-O-Ween (cont’d)

Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

  • £3.50 “Deep Purple NY” Tier
    • Lord Longford
  • The £3 “The Aromatic Feed” Tier
    • Simon Ford
    • Richard Breese
  • The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
    • Stephen Sharpe
    • Duncan Leask
  • $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Mark Roback
    • Stuart McCord
    • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
    • Øyvind Fjeldbu –
    • Runar Simonsen –
    • JJ Stannard
    • Ruinous Inadequacies
    • John Miceli
    • Michael Boyette
    • Corey Morrissette
  • The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
    • Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
  • The 10 kr “” Tier
    • Carsten Lau
  • $1 Made Up Name Tier
    • The “Cheap an’ Dusty” Leaky Mausoleum
    • The “Deeper The Grave” Leaky Mausoleum
    • Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
    • Hank the Tank
    • Private Eyes
    • Ashen Lionel
    • Blackmore’s Tights
    • Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
    • Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
    • Anders Engstrom
    • Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose

Listener Mail/Comments

  • Comments about the show? Things you’d like us to cover?  We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at info@deeppurplepodcast.com or @ us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Posted on

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

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

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.

Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Anchor.fm, Breaker, PodBean, RadioPublic, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, or search in your favorite podcatcher! 

<center></center>

How To Support Our Show:

The Deep Purple Podcast is 100% listener supported and ad-free! If you receive value from our show please consider supporting us!

Brendan Ashbrook – Logo Designer

Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:

  • The “In Memorium” Tier
    • Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
  • The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
    • Ovais Naqvi
    • Purple Maniac
  • The £15 “”Fifteen Squid” Tier
    • Alan “Ain’t Too Proud To” Begg
  • The £10 “Good Doctor” Tier
    • Dr. Mike Kattan
  • The Turn it up to $11 Tier
    • Clay Wombacher
    • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
    • Mikkel Steen
    • Will Porter, PhDPP
  • $10 “Some One Came” Tier
    • Ryan M
    • Jeff Breis
    • Victor Campos
    • “Better Call” Saul Evans
  • The “Hughes-O-Ween by 2033” Tier
    • Fielding Fowler

Deep Dive Podcast Network:

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

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.

Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:

  • The $7.77 KeepItWarmRat Tier
    • Michael Vader
  • The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
    • Spike the Rock Cat
    • Sugar T
  • The Episode $6.66 Tier
    • Steve Coldwell
    • Arthur Smith
    • Anton Glaving
    • Charles Meadows
  • The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
    • Kenny Wymore
    • Michael Bagford
    • Richie Sucksmith
  • $5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
    • Robert Smith
    • Peter from Illinois
    • Karl Hellberg
  • The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
    • Knut Morten Johansen – 
  • The $5.55 “What’s Goin’ On Here” Tier
    • Richard Fusey
  • $5 “Money Lender” Tier
    • John Convery
    • German Heindl
    • Adrian Hernandez
    • Jesper Almén
    • Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
    • Kev Roberts
    • Percival Frequency
    • Scott Zerns
    • Cynthia Dube
    • Raff Kaff
    • Coyote Bongwater

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

Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

  • £3.50 “Deep Purple NY” Tier
    • Lord Longford
  • The £3 “The Aromatic Feed” Tier
    • Simon Ford
    • Richard Breese
  • The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
    • Stephen Sharpe
    • Duncan Leask
  • $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Mark Roback
    • Stuart McCord
    • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
    • Øyvind Fjeldbu –
    • Runar Simonsen –
    • JJ Stannard
    • Ruinous Inadequacies
    • John Miceli
    • Michael Boyette
    • Corey Morrissette
  • The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
    • Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
  • The 10 kr “” Tier
    • Carsten Lau
  • $1 Made Up Name Tier
    • The “Cheap an’ Dusty” Leaky Mausoleum
    • The “Deeper The Grave” Leaky Mausoleum
    • Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
    • Hank the Tank
    • Private Eyes
    • Ashen Lionel
    • Blackmore’s Tights
    • Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
    • Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
    • Anders Engstrom
    • Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose

For Further Information:

Listener Mail/Comments

  • Comments about the show? Things you’d like us to cover?  We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at info@deeppurplepodcast.com or @ us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Posted on

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!

Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Anchor.fm, Breaker, PodBean, RadioPublic, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, or search in your favorite podcatcher! 

How To Support Our Show:

The Deep Purple Podcast is 100% listener supported and ad-free! If you receive value from our show please consider supporting us!

Brendan Ashbrook – Logo Designer

Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:

  • The “In Memorium” Tier
    • Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
  • The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
    • Ovais Naqvi
    • Purple Maniac
  • The £15 “”Fifteen Squid” Tier
    • Alan “Ain’t Too Proud To” Begg
  • The £10 “Good Doctor” Tier
    • Dr. Mike Kattan
  • The Turn it up to $11 Tier
    • Clay Wombacher
    • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
    • Mikkel Steen
    • Will Porter, PhDPP
  • $10 “Some One Came” Tier
    • Ryan M
    • Jeff Breis
    • Victor Campos
    • “Better Call” Saul Evans
  • The “Hughes-O-Ween by 2033” Tier
    • Fielding Fowler

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.

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:

  • 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.

Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:

  • The $7.77 KeepItWarmRat Tier
    • Michael Vader
  • The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
    • Spike the Rock Cat
    • Sugar T
  • The Episode $6.66 Tier
    • Steve Coldwell
    • Arthur Smith
    • Anton Glaving
    • Charles Meadows
  • The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
    • Kenny Wymore
    • Michael Bagford
    • Richie Sucksmith
    • $5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
    • Robert Smith
    • Peter from Illinois
    • Karl Hellberg
  • The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
    • Knut Morten Johansen – 
  • The $5.55 “What’s Goin’ On Here” Tier
    • Richard Fusey
  • $5 “Money Lender” Tier
    • John Convery
    • German Heindl
    • Adrian Hernandez
    • Jesper Almén
    • Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
    • Kev Roberts
    • Percival Frequency
    • Scott Zerns
    • Cynthia Dube
    • Raff Kaff
    • Coyote Bongwater

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.

Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

  • £3.50 “Deep Purple NY” Tier
    • Lord Longford
  • The £3 “The Aromatic Feed” Tier
    • Simon Ford
    • Richard Breese
  • The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
    • Stephen Sharpe
    • Duncan Leask
  • $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Mark Roback
    • Stuart McCord
    • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
    • Øyvind Fjeldbu –
    • Runar Simonsen –
    • JJ Stannard
    • Ruinous Inadequacies
    • John Miceli
    • Michael Boyette
    • Corey Morrissette
  • The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
    • Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
  • The 10 kr “” Tier
    • Carsten Lau
  • $1 Made Up Name Tier
    • The “Cheap an’ Dusty” Leaky Mausoleum
    • The “Deeper The Grave” Leaky Mausoleum
    • Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
    • Hank the Tank
    • Private Eyes
    • Ashen Lionel
    • Blackmore’s Tights
    • Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
    • Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
    • Anders Engstrom
    • Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose

For Further Information:

Listener Mail/Comments

  • Comments about the show? Things you’d like us to cover?  We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at info@deeppurplepodcast.com or @ us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Posted on

Episode #234 – Paice Ashton Lord – Live 1977

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

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.

Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Anchor.fm, Breaker, PodBean, RadioPublic, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, or search in your favorite podcatcher! 

<center></center>

How To Support Our Show:

The Deep Purple Podcast is 100% listener supported and ad-free! If you receive value from our show please consider supporting us!

Brendan Ashbrook – Logo Designer

Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:

  • The “In Memorium” Tier
    • Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
  • The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
    • Ovais Naqvi
    • Purple Maniac
  • The £15 “”Fifteen Squid” Tier
    • Alan “Ain’t Too Proud To” Begg
  • The £10 “Good Doctor” Tier
    • Dr. Mike Kattan
  • The Turn it up to $11 Tier
    • Clay Wombacher
    • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
    • Mikkel Steen
    • Will Porter, PhDPP
  • $10 “Some One Came” Tier
    • Ryan M
    • Jeff Breis
    • Victor Campos
    • “Better Call” Saul Evans
  • The “Hughes-O-Ween by 2033” Tier
    • Fielding Fowler

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.

Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:

  • The $7.77 KeepItWarmRat Tier
    • Michael Vader
  • The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
    • Spike the Rock Cat
    • Sugar T
  • The Episode $6.66 Tier
    • Steve Coldwell
    • Arthur Smith
    • Anton Glaving
    • Charles Meadows
  • The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
    • Kenny Wymore
    • Michael Bagford
    • Richie Sucksmith
  • $5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
    • Robert Smith
    • Peter from Illinois
    • Karl Hellberg
  • The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
    • Knut Morten Johansen – 
  • The $5.55 “What’s Goin’ On Here” Tier
    • Richard Fusey
  • $5 “Money Lender” Tier
    • John Convery
    • German Heindl
    • Adrian Hernandez
    • Jesper Almén
    • Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
    • Kev Roberts
    • Percival Frequency
    • Scott Zerns
    • Cynthia Dube
    • Raff Kaff
    • Coyote Bongwater

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

Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

  • £3.50 “Deep Purple NY” Tier
    • Lord Longford
  • The £3 “The Aromatic Feed” Tier
    • Simon Ford
    • Richard Breese
  • The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
    • Stephen Sharpe
    • Duncan Leask
  • $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Mark Roback
    • Stuart McCord
    • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
    • Øyvind Fjeldbu –
    • Runar Simonsen –
    • JJ Stannard
    • Ruinous Inadequacies
    • John Miceli
    • Michael Boyette
    • Corey Morrissette
  • The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
    • Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
  • The 10 kr “” Tier
    • Carsten Lau
  • $1 Made Up Name Tier
    • The “Drip Onto Thist” Leaky Mausoleum
    • Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
    • Hank the Tank
    • Private Eyes
    • Ashen Lionel
    • Blackmore’s Tights
    • Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
    • Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
    • Anders Engstrom
    • Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose

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.”

For Further Information:

Listener Mail/Comments

  • Comments about the show? Things you’d like us to cover?  We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at info@deeppurplepodcast.com or @ us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Posted on

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.

Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Anchor.fm, Breaker, PodBean, RadioPublic, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, or search in your favorite podcatcher! 

How To Support Our Show:

The Deep Purple Podcast is 100% listener supported and ad-free! If you receive value from our show please consider supporting us!

Brendan Ashbrook – Logo Designer

Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:

  • The “In Memorium” Tier
    • Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
  • The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
    • Ovais Naqvi
    • Purple Maniac
  • The £15 “”Fifteen Squid” Tier
    • Alan “Ain’t Too Proud To” Begg
  • The £10 “Good Doctor” Tier
    • Dr. Mike Kattan
  • The Turn it up to $11 Tier
    • Clay Wombacher
    • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
    • Mikkel Steen
    • Will Porter, PhDPP
  • $10 “Some One Came” Tier
    • Ryan M
    • Jeff Breis
    • Victor Campos
    • “Better Call” Saul Evans
  • The “Hughes-O-Ween by 2033” Tier
    • Fielding Fowler

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

Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:

  • The $7.77 KeepItWarmRat Tier
    • Michael Vader
  • The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
    • Spike the Rock Cat
    • Sugar T
  • The Episode $6.66 Tier
    • Steve Coldwell
    • Arthur Smith
    • Anton Glaving
    • Charles Meadows
  • The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
    • Kenny Wymore
    • Michael Bagford
    • Richie Sucksmith – NEW PATRON ALERT !!!
  • $5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
    • Robert Smith
    • Peter from Illinois
    • Karl Hellberg
  • The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
    • Knut Morten Johansen – 
  • The $5.55 “What’s Goin’ On Here” Tier
    • Richard Fusey
  • $5 “Money Lender” Tier
    • John Convery
    • German Heindl
    • Adrian Hernandez
    • Jesper Almén
    • Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
    • Kev Roberts
    • Percival Frequency
    • Scott Zerns
    • Cynthia Dube
    • Raff Kaff
    • Coyote Bongwater

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.

Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

  • £3.50 “Deep Purple NY” Tier
    • Lord Longford
  • The £3 “The Aromatic Feed” Tier
    • Simon Ford
    • Richard Breese
  • The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
    • Stephen Sharpe
    • Duncan Leask
  • $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Mark Roback
    • Stuart McCord
    • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
    • Øyvind Fjeldbu –
    • Runar Simonsen –
    • JJ Stannard
    • Ruinous Inadequacies
    • John Miceli
    • Michael Boyette
    • Corey Morrissette
  • The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
    • Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
  • The 10 kr “” Tier
    • Carsten Lau
  • $1 Made Up Name Tier
    • The “Drip Onto Thist” Leaky Mausoleum
    • Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
    • Hank the Tank
    • Private Eyes
    • Ashen Lionel
    • Blackmore’s Tights
    • Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
    • Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
    • Anders Engstrom
    • Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose

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?)

    For Further Information:

    Listener Mail/Comments

    • Comments about the show? Things you’d like us to cover?  We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at info@deeppurplepodcast.com or @ us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.