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Join us this week for a very special bonus episode where we talk with Paul Mann about his history with Deep Purple, working with Jon Lord, and conducting the 1999 Royal Albert Hall performances.
Dutch composer Marco de Goiej discovered Deep Purple in his brother’s record collection. One day his brother came home with “Concerto For Group and Orchestra.” Marco was very interested in this release and decided that he wanted to track down the score but learned that it was never for sale.
He thought about transcribing it for a while then decided to try to track the score down. Wrote a letter to Malcolm Arnold and reached out to The Hollywood Bowl and a few other things.
Finally decided to do it himself. Left a note at the reception desk with 30 pages of the most difficult bit. Jon’s name was not on the guest list so he left it to attention to Colin Hart.
When he left the hotel a car pulled up and Ian Gillan and Jon Lord were getting out. He approached Jon Lord and told him that he’d just left a note. Jon was in a very bad mood after a rough trip from the airport and not in the mood until he heard the purpose of Marco’s visit.
Deep Purple played Rotterdam on October 12, 1998 on the Abandon tour.
He finished about 60% of the score and decided to track down Jon Lord. Went to Rotterdam in 1998.
Press Release Announcing Concerto
21 September 1999 PRESS RELEASE DUTCH COMPOSER REVIVES LOST CONCERTO
On the 25 and 26 September 1999 the London Symphony Orchestra (L.S.O) together with British rockband Deep Purple will perform the “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” in the Royal Albert Hall in London. These concerts are organised because of the 30th anniversary of the piece. It is the first performance since 30 years. Reason for this 30 years of silence: the score had disappeared.
Jon Lord, organist with Deep Purple, composed his “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” in 1969. Thanks to the efforts made by the Dutch composer Marco de Goeij, the “Concerto” will be performed again. De Goeij who knew that the score had been missing, decided to make a full transcription of the piece by listening to the CD. It took him two years to finish the transcription, which clocks in at a staggering 300 pages of manuscript. Jon Lord, impressed with De Goeij’s work made some revisions to the score and updated the instrumentation.
At the concerts, organised by the Nordoff Robbins Therapy Charity not only the revised “Concerto for Group and Orchestra will be performed, but also several old pieces from band members are planned. The hope is to close the show with a couple of Deep Purple songs featuring the band accompanied by the L.S.O..
Have a look at some photos showing Marco de Goeij together with Jon Lord and Ian Paice. The photos were taken recently in Pistoia, Italy.
Paul Mann: The earliest releases of the CD contained, as was fashionable at the time, a video playable on a computer of Smoke on the Water, and in order to make space for this they had to jump through hoops with the audio order. We did try to tell them it was stupid because people would buy both formats anyway, but they didn’t listen until they released the so called Tour Edition, the following year which restored Night Meets Light after protests from Steve and myself, and I think tried to make more sense of it.
Paul Mann writes: I do remember though that the cd and dvd had different running orders which don’t necessarily reflect the order of the night. I would imagine that the set lists stored on places like The Highway Star website are likely to be more reliable. I think both nights were the same, but can’t be sure about that either…!
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This was felt to lack the overall edge over the version used on disc I, but the ending is if anything even more powerful.
Sail Away riff
How did Tommy know this track from “Burn” we wondered? Then we saw the photograph of David with a Stratocaster on! Jon Lord makes a useful tutor too. Later David slips into an early rehearsal for the Coverdale/Page album….
You Keep On Moving (take one)
An early run-through of one of the best tracks on “Come Taste.” It’s hesitant, so it was left off “Days,” but it is interesting to hear how the track started out, and there’s some great bass from Glenn who along with David wrote the track.
Pirate Blues (jam)
There are over forty minutes of jamming on “Days.” This is a little shaky compared to those but does have its moments – once they get the riff right that is!
Say You Love Me
David Coverdale’s reaction upon Ritchie’s departure was to start writing a solo album. During the rehearsals Purple tried a version of this Coverdale number. The light hearted bits in the middle tend to detract from the song (which is why it didn’t go on “Days”), but it’s great singing. It didn’t make the Purple album but David later recorded it for his 1978 solo outing “Northwinds.”
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Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
Øyvind Fjeldbu –
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Ruinous Inadequacies
Corey Morrissette
Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose
Weston-super-Mare pilgrim
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The “Jamming Blues Guy” Leaky Mausoleum
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Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
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I see DC
Durple Purple
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Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
Eddie Lion
Listener Mail/Comments
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Welcome Evan Robison joining us at the $5 “Money Lender” Tier
Sounds awesome! My very first Deep Purple album was a Stormbringer LP, I had absolutely no idea of the history of the band or the members of the band at the time, but I remember thinking “Whoa it says they have two lead singers here”. I liked the album and eventually I got myself a copy of Machine Head as well. But it wasn’t until later when I listened to Black Sabbath’s Born Again until I really wanted to go and check out what else Ian Gillan had done and what else he had done in Deep Purple.
I was quite simply amazed at the musicianship and the vocals and the entire vibe of it all. And being that I am a little younger for Purple fan (32) ,their music reminded me of music from the video game Final Fantasy 7.
I probably first discovered the Deep Purple Podcast in one of the Purple Facebook groups but what really got my attention was their respect for every era of the band , as well as all the side projects from members of the band. I was helping to start up a Deep Purple Facebook group when I first started interacting with Nate and John, and they suggested to automatically ban people who say “No Blackmore, No Purple”
This is a withering attack on the world of usury and banking (the collective noun for bankers is ‘A Wunch’).
I think it is fair to say that the perceived image of bankers has changed from the rock-solid financial advisor, friend of business and family alike; up there with doctors, priests, magistrates and other dignitaries (we’ll come to all of them eventually); reliable enough to counter sign official documents, to their current identity as parasites who profit from the misery of others.
Describe them as you will: Scum of the Earth; Chancers; Jack the Lads, Thieves or whatever, there are no more friendly bank managers, all bankers are tarred with the same dirty brush; they have become untrustworthy.
On a lighter note – a very close musician friend of mine thought this was not a generalised attack but aimed at a specific person; she is not a banker but fits the descriptions perfectly.
Morse told Don that it had a “Riders on the Storm” vibe to it in reference the Wurlizer and the sustained notes.
Sometimes writing lyrics is akin to creating an impressionist water colour whilst sitting at the bottom of a pool. All those legs are very interesting but it’s a challenge to capture them as the paint is all over the place. When you look at the results a few days later it’s hard to know what to call it. Then a title leaps from your Inbox and you gratefully explain to a bemused audience that you meant it all along, even if it is now the story of a lame mermaid caught in the ideological struggle for control of Ruislip Lido.
When asked about “Uncommon Man” by Goldmine Roger Glover said: “It is very difficult with Don Airey and Steve Morse, who are such great musicians, to play anything simple. They come up with ideas I would never have through of, and, whether it’s prog or jazz or classical, it doesn’;t really matter to us.”
When asked if this was a reference to Emerson, Lake & Palmer Morse said that he, Don, and Keith Emerson are all fans of Aaron Copland’s writing and that he had a huge influence on Dixie Dregs music. He also states this is a play on “Fanfare for the Common Man.”
Apres Vous
Working title was originally “Big Riff” then changed to “Slow Burn,” then “One Way.”
Song was almost abandoned as Gillan b _________________———-
You’ve heard of the famous Michelin Man no doubt; he’s the front man for the tyre company.
One evening, somewhere in Germany on the Rock Meets Classic tour in January 2012, I was confronted by Michelin Girl. We were preparing for the encore; all the performers were to join me in a mass murder of ‘Smoke on the Water’. Steve Lukather was strapping on his banjo as the audience rushed forward, led by Michelin Girl who was dressed (just about) in erotic threads that barely contained her wobbly bits. Throw in some big hair and a faceful of scarlet lipstick and you can imagine a scary figure lusting after me or Steve. I wasn’t certain which of us she was aiming for but to be on the safe side I whispered in his ear ‘Steve…You saw her first…après vous’.
That was the inspiration for an ‘imaginary’ night on the town that ended with my ‘imaginary’ friend making a complete arse of himself – as always.
Mike was voted the Academy of Country Music “STEEL PLAYER OF THE YEAR” for 2006, 2012, 2018 and 2020.
Worked with Faith Hill, Juice Newton, Kenny Chesney, The Charlie Daniels Band, and many more
Glover says that this song just came out of thin air in July while they were working on other songs in Portugal. He described it as “One from nothing!”
The idea that a tortoise cannot be beaten in a race is of course really ridiculous but mathematically possible if you allow the finishing line to be moved – and the pursuer to be elastically challenged – with every stride. How small (or large) can a space or time be?
Each is a moving number consistently defined by our ability to measure it.
Such wondrous thinking can be done sitting down just as easily as when out chasing reptiles.
As musical idea rose from the depths and began to coagulate it was given the working title of ‘Vincent Price’; it sounded like the sound track to a horror movie. When Roger and I were tackling the lyrics we started with a list. Something we imagined would be drawn up by the director of a Hammer Horror movie; a list of essential ingredients for any self-respecting Vincent Price movie of the 1960’s.
So: Creaking doors, dungeons, rattling chains, howling dogs, dripping blood, vampires, thunder and lightning, sacrificial virgins and zombies to die for, etc.
And there you have it; the lyrics in a casket…manic laughter…fade.
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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 –
Ruinous Inadequacies
Corey Morrissette
Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose
Weston-super-Mare pilgrim
Joe “Dopefish” Siegler
The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
The 10 kr “” Tier
Carsten Lau
$1 Made Up Name Tier
The “Above and Beyond” Leaky Mausoleum
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Hank the Tank
Private Eyes
Ashen Lionel
Blackmore’s Tights
Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
Anders Engstrom
I see DC
Durple Purple
Purple Swede
David Hattam
Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
Eddie Lion
Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet
Reception and Charts:
The album appeared at No. 104 on Sputnikmusic’s list of the “Best Progressive Rock Albums of 2013.”[14]
Now What?! sold 4,000 copies in its first week in the US.[15] Six months after its release, Now What?! was certified gold in Germany (100 000 copies sold).[16] It was the first Deep Purple studio album to enter both the Billboard 200 and the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart since The Battle Rages On… in 1993.
An acoustic song called “No End To This Party” was worked on during sessions.
From Roger’s diary: “ Bob doesn’t think it belongs on the album. I, Don and IP agree. Steve and IG hold out for it but are outnumbered.”
Roger says that Bob asked him to stay behind a few days for the mixing as he would like his input. Roger said he didn’t want to be involved and that he trusted Bob and Corky to do the mix.
Bonus Track “It’ll Be Me” written by Jack Clement appeared on the deluxe version
Deep Purple have never quite been placed in the revered 1960s canon that includes the Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, or any of the other British rock bands who continue to reunite in various configurations to tour and even periodically release new albums, but given that the group has always been a riveting and brilliant live act, part prog, part heavy metal, part funky R&B, and imminently theatrical, that second-tier designation seems like both an oversight and a shame. Returning with this set, the band’s first since 2005’s Rapture of the Deep, and featuring a near-classic lineup of vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Steve Morse, bassist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice, and keyboardist Don Airey (Jon Lord, whose distorted organ parts were so much a part of the classic Deep Purple sound, left the band in 2002 and died in 2012 of pancreatic cancer), one can only marvel at how timeless it sounds, as if it were actually recorded in the early ’70s and not tracked a little more than a decade into the 21st century. Produced by Bob Ezrin, Now What?! sounds exactly like Deep Purple in the band’s prime, moving from swirling, massive soundscapes to tight, riff-laden sections and back again with a swaggering confidence that is really pretty amazing, particularly given the senior-citizen ages of the band’s members. The opener, “A Simple Song,” is vintage Deep Purple, while “Weirdistan” and “Hell to Pay” simply rock by anyone’s definition of the term, while the closing track, the massive, powerful, and just slightly eerie “Vincent Price,” seems like a prog rock metal opera scaled down to single-track size. It’s easy to imagine this version of Deep Purple slipping any of these songs into their live set alongside the group’s classic tracks from days past without skipping a beat. Now What?! shows a band that still knows what to do, and that the album doesn’t cater to the current studio tricks and processes only makes it feel and sound even more like it comes from the golden age of British prog metal. Some things really shouldn’t change, and Deep Purple recognize that. They haven’t changed a bit, and the group’s many fans are going to find this release comforting in that regard.
The chorus of ‘Hell To Pay’ is the worst decision since ‘Razzle Dazzle’ but once past that and the album’s strange lack of treble, DEEP PURPLE spreads keyboard-grinding joy all over their pan-world listening audience of UN proportions, underscoring the fact that they are probably the most creatively vital of all hoary rock acts with roots in the ‘60s. Seriously, for the first time there’s dialogues brewin’ about the noticeable effects of age on some of these guys. It used to be just jocularity at various intensities of ill-meaning, when we’d be grousing ‘Pack it up and go,’ but some of these guys are falling asleep on stage…. Not Purple though; NOW What?! is a tour de force of funky heaviness, loaded up by Don Airey and producer Bob Ezrin with a bag of keyboard tricks, as the rest of the band tries to keep up with the prog metal zaniness of the parts and arrangements, everybody the winner, including the listener who might find this an elixir. To generalize, NOW What?! to these ears sounds like a cross between ELP, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR and the best intentions of the classic Purpendicular album, the first of this esteemed Morse era, especially anything funky and circular, recalling perhaps the Coverdale era to some extent. But yeah, I suspect a weird feedback logic, where Ian and Roger have taken to heart their own assessments of the band as jazzy, proggy, hard rock, a jam band, improvisers, a live band, a blues band, anything but a metal band, but then coyly injected enough Egypto snarl and Ritchie riffing into things so that NOW What?! comes out marbled heavily with metal, although it never quite dominates. I’m totally digging, in this regard, ‘Uncommon Man’, ‘Out Of Hand’ and the killer attack of ‘Apres Vous’. Late in the smug boomer trip is ‘Vincent Price’, on which Ezrin goes to town loading up on scary movie accents on a muscular mid-paced rocker smeared with camp Hammer horror. And what of Morse? His riffing is quite lost in the warm and layered mix, but that’s OK, and then when he solos, it’s usually quite memorable, seemingly composed, and singularly Morse in style, Steve lodging in that group of 25 or so hard rock guitarists who has that extra feather in his cap: an identifiable sound, and even one rarely copied. Conclusion: I’m trying to temper my admittedly off-average enthusiasm for modern Purple and call this an 8, ‘cos I now rate both Bananas and Rapture Of The Deep as 8s, although I’ll argue ‘til the last Hammond is toppled that both Purpendicular and Abandon are drop-dead 10s.
So a new album from the godlike rock stars, who need to be seen/heard to be really understood, feels a little bread and butter when you know they’d rather be entertaining their considerable masses than churning out more of the same.
It is more of that same perfect fodder and if any of them were reading this right now they’d probably be nodding thinking they’d rather be on stage.
Whether Now What?!, the curiously-punctuated latest album from the oldest warhorses of heavy rock still to be operating at stadium level, is really “the best Purple album in 30 years” – as more than a few overexcited Euro-hacks have claimed – is impossible to prove, but it’s a decent set of tunes by anyone’s standards. High points are Above And Beyond (about the departed Jon Lord, to whom Now What?! is dedicated), and Vincent Price, a throwback, lyrically and otherwise, to the swingin’ B-movie era in which Purple first got their act together.
This Golden Deluxe version (record companies and their big ideas, eh?) is one of three luxury spin-offs. It comes with a live disc called The Live Tapes (well, duh), also available as a double-LP, and a box set including both discs, a DVD, CD singles, T-shirt, poster and other fluff. It’s genuinely satisfying to see Purple’s new work treated with as much care as their back catalogue, and doubly so on listening to the live material, which is clear evidence of the current line-up performing at its peak. Guitarist Steve Morse and organist Don Airey, forever the new boys in many fans’ eyes, shred their way through classic and new songs with an energy that has to be at least partly responsible for the band’s return to form. Keep it up, gentlemen.
Review Summary: A worthy addition to the long Deep Purple catalogue.
We had to wait almost 8 long years in order to listen to new music by Deep Purple. According to Steve Morse, the main reason was the limited funding allocated by music labels when it comes to recording and promoting a new LP. The band has toured a lot since Rapture of the Deep which included numerous great ideas but had one significant drawback; its production. The band decided to hire veteran producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, KISS, Alice Cooper) for this album and it seems that their choice was spot-on. Bob Ezrin helped the band organize their ideas, keep what is necessary and get rid of any inessential material. Moreover, in Now What?! the listener is able to easily distinguish among the various band members whereas in Bananas and Rapture of the Deep the approach was a bit pedal to the medal in regards to the volume level of all the musical instruments.
In addition, from time to time the album has been characterized as a fusion of Machine Head and Made in Japan by the record label, the best in 30 years by music critics and having elements from Fireball by various fans of the band. So, is it that good? Has a group that counts 320 years accumulatively on this planet managed to release such a gem towards the end of their careers? Well, the answer is apparently no. This album cannot be compared to those masterpieces simply because their two main soloists are different. However, Now What?! is a solid effort, worthy of the band’s name and one of the best of the Steve Morse-era.
So, how does the album sound like? To begin with, it is typical of the Mark VIII era with one important differentiation though. Whereas Rapture of the Deep was more guitar-oriented, this one revolves around Don Airey’s keyboards. Now What?! is one of the most, if not THE most, organ-oriented album in the band’s catalogue. Deep Purple have dedicated this LP to Jon Lord (RIP) and their choice to put the organ in the forefront is probably conscious and a successful one. Moreover, the tracks’ intros are very carefully crafted in order to attract the listener’s attention while most of the songs are mid-paced. In addition, the rhythm section is doing a great job even though Ian Paice doesn’t provide any paicey drum fills and Roger Glover’s bass is as audible as usual. One can feel the direction of this album by listening carefully to its opener. Nonetheless, the album contains some rocking moments (“Hell to Pay”), classical influences (“Uncommon Man”), some progressive passages (“Out of Hand”, “Apres Vous”) and laid back tracks (“All the Time in the World”, “Blood From a Stone”).
On the other hand, any Deep Purple album has some innate deficiencies. One characteristic is Ian Gillan’s nasally singing. While it may not be a huge problem to Purple fans, his singing has undoubtedly deteriorated during the past 20-25 years or so. The one time he tries to deliver his characteristic scream reminds us why he doesn’t use this technique anymore. That’s no news however, hence the use of the word “innate”. Moreover, even though Steve Morse is a remarkable guitarist and has been part of this band for 17 years now, his playing doesn’t fit 100% with the rest of the guys. His solos seem a bit out of place in some instances (“Out of Hand”) and the same can be stated regarding his guitar tone. While Rapture of the Deep was a personal win of his, in this album he could have done better bearing in mind his talent.
Overall, Now What?! is a worthy addition to the long Deep Purple catalogue. Fans of Purpendicular and the group’s last two albums will find several pleasing moments and the band should feel proud of the outcome too. After 45 years of creating music, this album is in all probability the best they could have offered. On the other hand, those who expect “Child in Time” screams, “Fireball” drum fills and “Burn” guitar harmonies will be disappointed. However, this is not the case for 2013 Deep Purple and the way one approaches this album will have an impact upon their impression.
Iwas 15 when I first saw Deep Purple. This was 1971, at Belle Vue King’s Hall, Manchester. It was my first experience of a live concert and proved suitably thrilling. Three rows in, I felt absorbed by the eerie silence that immediately preceded the band’s arrival onstage. The thrilling blackness punctuated by the little red lights of the WEM speakers. Then – POW – band exploded into ‘Speed King’. Quite a punk moment, ironically enough, and one that would always sit alongside the sheer white explosion of the Pistols, five years later.
That is always how I have liked to think of Deep Purple. Back in the conservative context of ’71, the classic line up of Deep Purple In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and Made in Japan seemed every bit as important as their gargantuan peers, Zeps and Sabs et al.
And yet Deep Purple always suffered in latter-day comparisons. Perhaps it was the nature of a band that actually went on to greater global glory in fluctuating line-ups of later years? Perhaps it was the sheer fact that those later line-ups would contain egos, talents and large enough to muddy the general waters? But when I think of Deep Purple, I cannot visualise Glenn Hughes or David Coverdale. I see Gillan unleashing a banshee scream stage-front. I see moody enigmatic Ritchie Blackmore unleashing lightening chops to the rear. I see Roger Glover pumping away in perfect sync with the thunderous pounding of Ian Paice. And I see Jon Lord spinning keyboard delight into the crowd. I see a rock & roll band.
What once seemed utterly at ease in its contemporary setting, now seems positively anarchic. My god, those wild keyboards? No producer or studio would, I am sad to say, allow such freedom these days, no matter how many derivative Purple-ite bands arrive smiling within the pages of Classic Rock)
All this is precisely the point of Now What?! Technically the band’s 19th studio album although it is the first time in decades that they have openly sought to “capture the spirit of ’71 and fuse it with the production qualities of today”. A slight juxtaposition there, although one listen in and you can’t fail to be warmed by the roots that so obviously curl back to those halcyon days. Not that, given time, this will sit levelly with ‘Machine Head’ of In Rock. Such a beast would be truly miraculous. But there is enough here to separate the Purps from other bands pushing through silvered years. 45 years on and they can still cause a tingle.
Of course, this cannot be the classic line-up. The album is dedicated to the memory of Jon Lord although the skills of keyboardist Don Airey seem to cast Lord’s presence throughout this album. In addition the band continues to contend with the enigmatic hole left by the belligerent Blackmore. However, guitarist Steve Morse might attack his instrument in a different way, but his 20 years with ‘Purple has seen him build a comparable platform. But with Gillan, Glover and Paice still firmly in place, it is as close as it is possible to get.
You can tell this from three seconds onto the opening ‘A Simple Song’. Morse and Paice trade gentle opening chimes, leading you to the heart of a song that sets up residence in the rear of your head. This could be partly due to the extraordinary production of Bob Ezrin, a man who seems capable of evoking the ancient through the medium of the new. Could anyone be so perfect for this album and there is no doubt that, sonically, this is occupying unique territory.
Thankfully, there is a little essential oddness going on. The funky ‘Weirdistan’ – framed around Glover’s heart-troubling basslines and the keyboard heavy ‘Out Of Hand’, which surprisingly evokes early E.L.P- in a good way – both serve to pull the album away from the sharks of ageing mundanity. It is odd to think of men deep into their 60s still capable of taking such risks. Would the die-hards travel with them? I sense so and I, for one, prefer this loose concept to the sheeny perfection of, say, ‘Perfect Strangers’.
Naturally, there are moments of essential rock out. ‘Hell To Pay’ will cause much stomping in the aisles during their Autumn UK tour without unduly stretching musical boundaries and ‘Body Line’ , as the title suggests, abounds in pre-PC ethos. It is, in effect, about little more than a song about ogling. If you can forgive that, then Now What?! will provide enough spirit and verve to throw a steely gauntlet to the legions of tattooed young pretenders amassing at the door. Will it fade as the months pass by? Despite a disappointing final three songs, I genuinely believe not. This is far more than mere continuum. It is a record made by old men for precisely the right reasons. It reaches back through the years and glimpses the brilliance that created a legend.
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Bob Ezrin stated that Neil Warnock who managed Deep Purple’s booking had approached him about producing the album. He working with Pink Floyd and been a friend of Ezrin’ for a while. At first Ezrin didn’t want to do it because he was working with Alice Cooper and was afraid he was working with too many legacy acts.
Ezrin went to see them at Massey Hall in Toronto and was blown away by their improvisational jam. He agreed to do it but said he wasn’t interested in making a contemporary rock album and that they wouldn’t be getting radio play. But he was in if they were interested in making a musician’s album.
Ezrin described the band as lacking confidence so he made it his job to help them regain it.
Sunday, June 24, 2012. The band assembles in the rehearsal studio to begin work in Nashville.
Last day of rehearsals was July 5th.
July 7th they get together in Studio Room 2 which Roger describes as “huge but comfortable.”
On July 14th they got a call that Jon was not doing well.
On the morning of July 16th they got the call that Jon had passed away. Roger said that it was a very sad day. He said they all went into the studio but got very little accomplished. They took the following day off.
“Yesterday, I told Bob about an obscure Elvis Costello song called The Hoover Factory that I hadn’t heard since the 70s. So Bob texts Elvis, who immediately emails a version of the song back. This is typical Bob; instant solutions! “
In Late July Roger and Ian go to his home in Portugal to finish up working on lyrics and writing.
“RZA changes my iPhone ringtone to Jon’s solo in Ramshackle Man. Corky mixes the latest versions of several of the songs for IG and I to work on in Portugal.”
July 25th:
Roger: “Bob suggests a meal and I accompany him to a restaurant called Sambucca, a jazz place. The air conditioning is a bit much and I am only in a tee shirt, so Bob calls Don, who is soon about to join us, and tells him to bring a jacket for me – another example of Bob solving problems immediately. The food is good and the band – piano, bass, drums, guitar and trumpet – is very good. Bob introduces himself and suggests that Don from Deep Purple get up for a jam. It is a wonderful moment to see these jazzers drop their jaws and bury their misconceptions as Don effortlessly breezes though several standards. In fact, he is brilliant, I am proud of him. Bob is as impressed as the band. Bob picks up the check and it has a 40% musicians’ discount! Afterwards, we go to see 45RPM, a band featuring some of the finest country musicians in Tennessee. They are superb. I sit there in a dream as this soothing, beautifully played music envelops me like a warm bath.”
Don Airey thanks: Keith Watson at Soundcraft, John Haburay at The Hammond Store, Clive Botterill at Hammond Services, Mike Swains at MLS Electronics, Hughes & Kettner.
Breathe in, breathe out; that’s all there is to it really. Oh, now I can walk; left, right, left, right. Look up, down, straight ahead and occasionally behind (just in case). Now, do I go left, right or straight ahead? Follow the crowd or take the scenic route? Conform or rebel?
It was all so easy to start with.
Steve Morse said the original idea was on the bass brought in by Roger. He said they tried it a bunch of different ways and that Bob and Roger really liked the melody line he brought in.
It’s not a country – it’s a state of mind, or rather – many states of mind. Each trying to reach out to the others but held back by convention, taboo and suspicion of the unknown.
Then driven forward again by the lust for life.
Steve Morse said he liked any Eastern influence mixed with rock music. He said he didn’t know the phaser sound was going to be in it until he heard the mix but that he loved it.
A friend wrote to me…’Ian, is this song about the music business?’
I replied…’Oh dear, you mustn’t think that…’
Of course that’s the problem with being enigmatic, everything is open to interpretation.
It seems obvious to me that Francesco del Giocondo’s wife had haemorrhoids when sitting for Leonardo da Vinci and that Eric Cantona’s famous quip – “When seagulls follow a trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.” – was rhetoric at its finest. The media has never been insulted so cleverly – most journalists publicly chose not to understand it – Ha!
Morse says this was inspired by English rockers like Page and Blackmore.
Hell to Pay
Roger says in his diary that they tried multiple different tuned down version but end up going back to the original key.
Eddie was an armchair revolutionary; always whipping us into a frenzy of anti-establishment activity. When I say activity it was really just animated talk, fuelled by alcohol and the need to impress our fellow revolutionaries. Eddie was ‘All talk and no trousers’. At the first sign of trouble he’d be under the table or out the door like the proverbial rat up a drainpipe. But he had a Che Guevara T-shirt, a wispy moustache and a flinty stare that gave him a manic edge over his impressionable coterie. His hair was never right though, I think his ‘two-tone’ soubriquet came from the comb-over; his pale skull showed through in stripes beneath his greasy barnet (Barnet Fair = Hair; rhyming slang) as the evenings wore on.
Morse said: “The choices that the core members made in terms of what sounds too weird, or what works, were very well done. I really like the way I play with Don on this one.”
When I was a kid we played a game of silhouettes; basically you had to empty your pockets of string, marbles, keys, candles, coins, book matches etc (don’t look at me like that) and throw the contents on a sheet of paper, then draw around the edges of the items creating a single line perimeter inside which you had to use your imagination to create a picture.
Roald Dahl’s TV series Tales of the Unexpected had the silhouette of a naked woman dancing in the flames. Well, she seemed to be naked but she may have been wearing modesty items of the sheerest gossamer or possibly a rubber leotard; both of them a risky bet so close to the flames.
So, this is an erotic three-dimensional game of silhouettes. Feel free to let your imagination take the reins but don’t get too close to the fire; you’ll lose all perspective.
It was during the writing of this song that Ian Paice brought us the news of Jon Lord’s death. Jon was the nearest thing we ever had to a leader and – along with Ritchie and Ian – was the founder of Deep Purple in 1968. Roger and I were the new boys (we joined in ’69). But the house is still standing and here we were in Nashville with Steve and Don, in the summer of 2012. After a period of quiet reflection we shared some old familiar anecdotes about Jon and before long his spirit filled the room. I scribbled the line ‘Souls, having touched, are forever entwined.’ And then he sang these words to us all.
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