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.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
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.
Link for Submission for all album rankings episodes
Access to our “Too Hot For YouTube” banned episodes via Patreon
Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:
The “In Memorium” Tier
Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
Ovais Naqvi
Purple Maniac
The “Twenty is Plenty” 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
Michael “Don’t Call Him Bradford” Bagford
$10 “Some One Came” Tier
Ryan M
Jeff Breis
Victor Campos
“Better Call” Saul Evans
Peter from Illinois
The “Deep Thoughts by John Mottola” Tier
Fielding Fowler
The Deep Purple Podcast Hall of Fame:
Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
Jörg Planer
Norman Weischlebaum
Upcoming Rankings Show:
Deep Purple “Burn”
Patron rankings needed by December 1st
Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!
Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!
A package with two (2) very special T-shirts straight from CT!
History:
Cennaro and Pugh were looking for a drummer and Aynsley Dunbar recommended Caldwell.
They got together and started rehearsing in late 1974.
Cennaro had long been friends with Peter Frampton who was able to put them in touch with a record label. They were initially managed by Frampton’s manager Dee Anthony then later Jerry Weintraub who managed Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan.
Paths and Planes and Future Gains (Caldwell, Pugh, Relf)
Side Two:
Last Stand Before (Caldwell, Pugh, Cennamo, Relf)
Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun (Caldwell, Pugh, Relf)
a) Warning Coming On (1:00)
b) Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun (3:03)
c) Brother Ego (5:10)
d) Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun (Reprise) (2:18)
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 €3.50 Tier
Weston Super-Mare Pilgrim
The 293 Pence Tier
Blackmore’s Tights
The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
Stephen Sharpe
$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
Joe “Dopefish” Siegler
Adam Corke
Tim Wood
Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
Michael
Matt R
Leezus Christ Superstar
The 10 DKK “Cold Hard Danish Kroner” Tier
Carsten Lau
$1 Made Up Name Tier
The “Paths and Planes and Future Drips” Leaky Mausoleum
Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
Hank the Tank
Private Eyes
Ashen Lionel
Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
Anders Engstrom
I see DC
Durple Purple
David Hattam
Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
Eddie Lion
Sicktone
Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet
Reception and Charts:
The band broke up shortly after the album release.
Caldwell stated that the band had continued issues communicating with the band’s management.
Pugh and Caldwell also were suffering from addiction.
The band only played live twice both at The Starwood in July of 1975 in Hollywood, CA
.Cennamo reunited with his friends from Rennaissance under the new name Illusion.
Caldwell returned to Captain Beyond for one more album and tour.
Relf returned to England after the recording of the album and sadly died of electrocution in 1976 while playing guitar in his basement. He had long had lung issues and had one removed when in The Yardbirds. Medication he took to control his asthma and emphysema may have lead to him being unable to survive the shock.
In the 1980s there was an attempt by Pugh and Caldwell to reform the group with Jeff Fenholt on vocals. The attempt was unsuccessful.
One of the main reasons that Armageddon did not achieve the heights of fame realized by other equally inspired rock bands was because they never got to take their mind-blowing record on the road. But it was certainly their original intention to do so, and Armageddon’s management at the time (Jerry Weintraub) had even secured a very desirable arrangement for them: an opening slot for Eric Clapton’s 1975 tour. If you think about this prospect, two things come to mind:
1) Keith Relf and Clapton had been bandmates in The Yardbirds – after ten years of going in different musical directions, it might be interesting to see them reunite for a big tour.
2) It may not have been a perfect match to have Armageddon as an opening band (listen to the Armageddon album, then put on “461 Ocean Boulevard”). At that time, Clapton was re-inventing himself as an artist, favoring more of a singer – frontman role. It seems that Eric had been greatly influenced by his associations with George Harrison, The Band, and Delaney & Bonnie, and this was reflected in his music circa the mid 70’s.
Unfortunately, for still unknown reasons, it was decided at the 11th hour to cancel the tour. Without a doubt, a tour of this type would have sealed their fate as rock & roll legends. But as Martin Pugh said recently “We were anxious to go on the road, and a tour with Eric certainly had great possibilities for us. But in retrospect, Armageddon was not an opening act anyway – we really were a headlining band”.
Two live performances did take place in Hollywood, CA in July of 1975 – below is an advertisment from the “LA Times” for the only Armageddon shows that ever occured:
Deep Dive Podcast Network:
Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
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.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
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.
Link for Submission for all album rankings episodes
Access to our “Too Hot For YouTube” banned episodes via Patreon
Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:
The “In Memorium” Tier
Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
Ovais Naqvi
Purple Maniac
The “Twenty is Plenty” 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
Michael “Don’t Call Him Bradford” Bagford
$10 “Some One Came” Tier
Ryan M
Jeff Breis
Victor Campos
“Better Call” Saul Evans
Peter from Illinois
The “Deep Thoughts by John Mottola” Tier
Fielding Fowler
The Deep Purple Podcast Hall of Fame:
Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
Jörg Planer
Norman Weischlebaum
Upcoming Rankings Show:
Deep Purple “Burn”
Patron rankings needed by December 1st
Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!
Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!
Letter from Connecticut about Chicago business leaders!
Package from Jeff Breis!
Made in Japan socks!
History:
This band was put together for the express purpose of recording this one album.
The man behind the idea was a German businessman, Leo Muller. The name was actually an alias used by Dave Miller who was a record producer who ran a number of budget music companies. He was actually an American.
His budget label was called Stereo Gold Award and he also did an album called “Tribute to Jimi Hendrix by The Purple Fox.”
Muller got in touch with Thin Lizzy to do the project.
The group did not want to do the project as they were trying to make Thin Lizzy their own thing but they were also desperately in need of money.
Phil Lynott decided that he wasn’t able to sing like Gillan and decided to only play bass and do backing vocals.
The result was that they recruited a singer, Benny White, from the Dublin-based group Elmer Fudd as they were known for doing Deep Purple covers at their shows.
Brian Downey called Benny White “an Ian Gillan clone.”
Thin Lizzy had no keyboard player so Elmer Fudd’s keyboard player Dave “Mojo” Lennox jumped in.
The band members were paid 60 pounds a day to travel in to De Lane Lea in London to record the album.
Brian Downey recalls that the rehearsals for recording took about “Two or three hours” before the full day recording session.
Thin Lizzy were paid 1000 pounds for the recording but their names were not included on the album.
The band pictured on the cover is not Funky Junction as they never played live. Instead they used a concert photo of the band Hard Stuff featuring John Gustafson.
In Germany the album was called “The Rock Machine Plays the Best of Deep Purple.
The album was sold at Woolworths for 50p.
Notes
MER373 seen on sleeve and spine, MER 373 seen on labels. Yellow labels – on this version the ‘Made in England’ is directly below the publisher credits (there is another UK version where the text is at the label rim).
Text on back cover of LP:
Funky Junction are an exciting new group that has the pulse of today. In this tribute to Deep Purple, they play many of Purple’s hits. UK and world wide audiences are acclaiming them for the great group they are.
FUNKY JUNCTION – THE SOUND OF TODAY!
Both disc and sleeve made in UK/England.
Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:
The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
Spike the Rock Cat’s Ghost
Sugar T
The Episode $6.66 Tier
Steve Coldwell
Arthur Smith
Anton Glaving
Charles Meadows
The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
Kenny Wymore
Richie Sucksmith
The 70 NOK Tier
Kai Rune “Yes, I’m Norwegian” Olsen –
$5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
Robert Smith
Adrian Hernandez
The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
Knut Morten Johansen –
The €5.50Tier
Merlijn Rotte
The £4.00 Tier
Duncan Leask
$5 “Money Lender” Tier
John Convery
German Heindl
Jesper Almén
Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
Kev Roberts
Scott Zerns
Cynthia Dube
Raff Kaff
Coyote Bongwater
John Miceli
Sarah Sanders
Jellybean
Evan Robison
Purple Swede
Ralphie Lee
Picture of Ian Paice and Roger Glover looking at the Funky Junction album with Pace Ashton Lord in the bin in front of them. Is it real? Is it fake? Who knows!
What is a Palamatoon? I have no idea but it seems to be the sound of young Thin Lizzy dicking about on synths while in the midst of making a cack-handed Deep Purple knockoff LP for the Woolworths crowd. Yes it’s that good.
Side Two:
Strange Kind of Woman
Hush
Rising Sun (Muller)
Instrumental version of “House of the Rising Sun.”
Speed King
Corina (Muller)
Based on traditional Irish tune “Corrina, Corinna.”
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 €3.50 Tier
Weston Super-Mare Pilgrim
The 293 Pence Tier
Blackmore’s Tights
The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
Stephen Sharpe
$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
Joe “Dopefish” Siegler
Adam Corke
Tim Wood
Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
Michael
Matt R
Leezus Christ Superstar
The 10 DKK “Cold Hard Danish Kroner” Tier
Carsten Lau
$1 Made Up Name Tier
The “Palamatoon of Graves” Leaky Mausoleum
Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
Hank the Tank
Private Eyes
Ashen Lionel
Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
Anders Engstrom
I see DC
Durple Purple
David Hattam
Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
Eddie Lion
Sicktone
Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet
Reception and Charts:
Muller would go on to use the name Funky Junction as a band name for another album in 1973: “Especially for You… credited to Gladys Knight & the Pips featuring Funky Junction.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
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.
Link for Submission for all album rankings episodes
Access to our “Too Hot For YouTube” banned episodes via Patreon
New Patron/Patron Upgrades:
Carsten Lau upgrades to the 12 “Cold Hard Danish Kroner” Tier
Keep up the good work. I love the show!
Adrian Hernandez upgrades to the $5.99 “The Nice Price” Tier
No worries! I wanted to upgrade because I truly love the content you guys continue to provide. It is fun to listen to DP fans here in the United States (other than me and my brothers) talk about their legendary albums and everyone else they influenced. Keep up the great work with you and John. Like Ritchie, I’ll continue to look out the window while everybody else gets run over by a car looking at their phones ! Maybe Bob Dylan will walk up to me and ask me, “Hey, who the he’ll are you?” Have a great rest of summer for you and John!
Leezus Christ Superstar joins us at the “$3 Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
Hey y’all! I’m new ’round these parts! My name is Leigh and i’m from Ontario, Canada around 2 hours northeast of Toronto (kinda between Toronto and Ottawa). Been a Purple fan since around 1985 when the current album Perfect Strangers was a soundtrack in my childhood home. Before that time “Electric Avenue” was my jam. I dug in further when i got my fisher price record player in 1986 and inherited my mom’s old record collection. Only three albums were of interest to me, Machine Head, Shades Of Deep Purple and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. I also had Supertramp “Crimes Of The Century” and it became a frisbee after first listening.
Fast forward to last year and i was looking for a non true crime podcast to listen to and my first thought was a music podcast and my #1 band of all time was the first thing i searched for. Took me about 6 months to get caught up and needless to say, i’m a huge fan. I’ve learned a ton and appreciate all the time and effort it must take to produce something so well done. Anyways enough of me, thanks for doing what you do!
Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:
The “In Memorium” Tier
Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
Ovais Naqvi
Purple Maniac
The “Twenty is Plenty” 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
Michael “Don’t Call Him Bradford” Bagford
$10 “Some One Came” Tier
Ryan M
Jeff Breis
Victor Campos
“Better Call” Saul Evans
Peter from Illinois
The “Deep Thoughts by John Mottola” Tier
Fielding Fowler
The Deep Purple Podcast Hall of Fame:
Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
Jörg Planer
Norman Weischlebaum
Upcoming Rankings Show:
Deep Purple “Burn”
Patron rankings needed by December 1st
Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!
Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!
Ralphie coming to us from Europe!
Postcards from Mark Roback!
History:
Steven Wilson
Founding member, guitarist, vocalist of the band Porcupine Tree
Prog-rock wunderkind Steven Wilson is using his studio skills to give legendary rock albums a new lease of life.
“The equivalent of polishing the Sistine Chapel, that’s what I feel I’m doing sometimes with these classic records.” Steven Wilson is talking about his remixing work, which he began in 2009 as a sideline to his very successful career as a musician and producer. So far, he’s polished classic records by King Crimson, Roxy Music, Jethro Tull, Yes, XTC, Tears For Fears and more, creating new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes that have been generally praised by fans and critics.
Press Release
(June 18, 2025 – Los Angeles, CA) On August 15, 1972, Deep Purple took the stage in Japan for the first of three shows that would give rise to one of rock’s most celebrated live albums, Made in Japan. Today, Warner announces a new Super Deluxe Edition of the landmark release, due out August 15—exactly 53 years after the first performance was recorded.
Made in Japan (Super Deluxe Edition) features new stereo and Dolby ATMOS mixes of the original by acclaimed producer Steven Wilson, all three concerts newly remixed by Richard Digby Smith, and several rare single edits. It will be released as a 5CD/Blu-ray set at retailers nationwide, and a 10LP black vinyl edition, available exclusively from www.deeppurple.com and Rhino.com. Pre-order HERE.
A 2LP black vinyl version of Steven Wilson remixes will be available on August 15 and October 3 in the U.S., Canada, and Japan at select independent record stores. The digital companion will be available everywhere on August 15.
Originally intended as a Japan-only release, this double live album became a surprise global phenomenon. Released in the U.K. in December 1972 and in the U.S. the following March, Made in Japan went platinum in America and several European countries.
Singer Ian Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, bassist Roger Glover, and drummer Ian Paice—Deep Purple’s famed Mk II lineup—turned studio staples like “Smoke On The Water,”“Highway Star,” and “Space Truckin’” into explosive live statements. “We came halfway around the world and found the audience singing every word. It was magical,” Glover recalls in the collection’s liner notes.
The band enlisted engineer Martin Birch—who had worked on several of their best-known studio albums—to record the shows to eight-track tape at Festival Hall in Osaka and the Budokan in Tokyo. The performances on Made in Japan (Super Deluxe Edition) capture Deep Purple at full throttle, powering through songs from their then-new album Machine Head, along with fan favorites like “Child In Time,”“Strange Kind Of Woman,” and “Speed King.” The collection also includes rare single edits, like the German version of “Black Night” and the Mexican edit of “Space Truckin’.”
The live album garnered widespread critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone declaring it “Purple’s definitive metal monster, a spark-filled execution of the typical Purple style.” This recognition led to its impressive ranking at No. 6 on their “Readers’ Poll: The 10 Best Live Albums of All Time.” AllMusic also praised the album, stating that “Deep Purple pushed its music into the kind of deliberate excess that made heavy metal what it became.” Additionally, the album achieved commercial success, landing at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Wilson harnesses the raw energy of the original tapes in his new stereo and Atmos mixes. “It’s all completely as it happened on the night,” he says. “The album has a power and sense of abandon that they never quite captured in the studio. Hopefully this new mix makes it feel even more like you’re there.”
(MANDATORY CREDIT Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images) Deep Purple at Nippon Budokan, August 17th, 1972. (Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images)
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
Link for Submission for all album rankings episodes
Access to banned episodes via Patreon
New Patron/Patron Upgrades:
Adrian Hernandez upgrades to the $5.99 “The Nice Price” Tier!
I really love the content and music you guys cover. I’m a die hard DP fan and I am always surprised how big the DP family tree is thanks to you guys. I’ll be releasing a few Ian Gillan covers for his 80th birthday coming up on Spotify. Are you guys going to do a birthday episode for Uncle Ian ?
Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:
The “In Memorium” Tier
Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
Ovais Naqvi
Purple Maniac
The “Twenty is Plenty” 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
Michael “Don’t Call Him Bradford” Bagford
$10 “Some One Came” Tier
Ryan M
Jeff Breis
Victor Campos
“Better Call” Saul Evans
Peter from Illinois
The “Deep Thoughts by John Mottola” Tier
Fielding Fowler
Updates, Live Show Reviews & News:
Nate is the oldest person at The United Center in Chicago as he attends the Tyler, The Creator show!
Upcoming Rankings Show:
Deep Purple “Who Do We Think We Are”
Patron rankings needed by August 18th
Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
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.
Link for Submission for all album rankings episodes
Access to banned episodes via Patreon
Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:
The “In Memorium” Tier
Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
Ovais Naqvi
Purple Maniac
The “Twenty is Plenty” 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
Michael “Don’t Call Him Bradford” Bagford
$10 “Some One Came” Tier
Ryan M
Jeff Breis
Victor Campos
“Better Call” Saul Evans
Peter from Illinois
The “Deep Thoughts by John Mottola” Tier
Fielding Fowler
Updates, Live Show Reviews & News:
Nate and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Concert Experience (Weird Al)
Upcoming Rankings Show:
Deep Purple “Who Do We Think We Are”
Patron rankings needed by August 18th
Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!
Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!
Ralphie Round Up
History:
Of the album Ronnie said, “I think musically we’ve certainly progressed, and I know we’re all very proud of what we’ve done. To me, it’s taken what we’ve achieved on the first two albums to a new level.”
“We live in a world that’s got enough bad situations happening,” he said. “Do people want to be reminded of what’s wrong in their lives through the lyrics to a song? I don’t believe so. So, my words have a lot to do with the imagination, and offer escapism.”
The album earned gold certification on October 15, 1985. It was the last Dio album proper to receive a gold ranking. Later the compilation “The Very Beast of Dio” would earn gold in 2009.
Reached number 29 in the US charts selling 500,000 copies.
The first three albums were re-released as special editions in March of 2012 with bonus tracks.
Of the album Appice said, “I don’t think the songs were as heavy on the previous two records. But that said, it still was a great record.
Reviews
The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 198
1 star (out of 5)
Deep Dive Podcast Network:
Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.
2012 Special Edition release liner notes by Malcolm Dome.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
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.
Link for Submission for all album rankings episodes
Access to banned episodes via Patreon
Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:
The “In Memorium” Tier
Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
Ovais Naqvi
Purple Maniac
The “Twenty is Plenty” 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
Michael “Don’t Call Him Bradford” Bagford
$10 “Some One Came” Tier
Ryan M
Jeff Breis
Victor Campos
“Better Call” Saul Evans
Peter from Illinois
The “Deep Thoughts by John Mottola” Tier
Fielding Fowler
Upcoming Rankings Show:
Deep Purple “Who Do We Think We Are”
Patron rankings needed by August 18th
Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!
Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!
Ralphie, Ralphie, Ralphie
History:
The band was formed in 1967 after recording the hit single “Let’s Go To San Francisco.”
John Carter and Ken Lewis of The Ivy League formed the group.
In the summer of 1966 Brian Wilson decided to stop touring with The Beach Boys to focus on studio work. The Beatles made the same decision. John Carter decided to do the same.
The new bandleader for The Ivy League decided to replace several members so John Carter recruited them into his new project The Flower Pot Men.
John Carter partnered with other songwriters on a project called The Ministry of Sound which wrote the song “Time and Motion Man” later recorded by Episode Six.
With Lewis Carter decided to write “Let’s Go To San Francisco” after reading about so much of the bands from the West Coast of the United States along with the whole scene that was developing at that time.
The single for “Let’s Go To San Francisco” was released in August of 1967 and had to be split over two sides of the single. The single reached #4 in the UK charts.
To be played in the US the band had to be called The Flower Pots to avoid the reference to drug use.
At the time there was a lot of controversy over The Monkees not performing on their own albums so attention was put on The Flower Pot Men who had really recorded it as members of The Ivy League.
John had been lead singer on the track but refused to do any live performances. Live the singers included Tony Burrows, Neil Landon, Robin Shaw, and Peter Nelson.
Backing the singers was a band called The Sundial which consisted of Jon Lord, Nick Simper, Ged Peck, and Carlo Little.
“The eight of us soon gelled into a slick, confident act, with each show being better than the last”, claims Simper. “The opening song was always The Four Seasons’ ‘Let’s Hang On’, with Tony Burrows hitting Frankie Valli’s high notes with ease, followed by various songs by The Four Tops, The Beach Boys and Wilson Pickett. Of course, the hit song ‘Let’s Go To San Francisco’ was always a showstopper.”
This lineup recorded a couple of the sessions for the newly branded Radio 1 featuring this lineup.
Nick Simper and Jon Lord’s first gig with The Flower Pot Men – 22 September 1967 – Broken Wheel, Retford (Derbyshire Times/Retford Times) (FIRST DOCUMENTED)
Original song written by John and Ken as the follow up to “Let’s Go To San Francisco”
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 €3.50 Tier
Weston Super-Mare Pilgrim
The 293 Pence Tier
Blackmore’s Tights
The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
Stephen Sharpe
$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
Joe “Dopefish” Siegler
Adam Corke
Tim Wood
Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
Michael
Matt R
The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
The 10 DKK “Cold Hard Danish Kroner” Tier
Carsten Lau
$1 Made Up Name Tier
The “Flower Pot Grave” Leaky Mausoleum
Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
Hank the Tank
Private Eyes
Ashen Lionel
Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
Anders Engstrom
I see DC
Durple Purple
David Hattam
Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
Eddie Lion
Sicktone
Reception and Charts:
February 24, 1968 – Nick Simper and Jon Lord’s last gig with The Flower Pot Men (??) California Ballroom, Dunstable (LAST DOCUMENTED). Less than two months later they’d be playing their first live show with Deep Purple billed as Roundabout in Denmark.
John Carter had written the song “Beach Baby” with his wife Gillian Shakespeare and recorded it with his group First Class.
“Now on American Top 40, I have that song that was launched by a criminal act, an act that could have cost the owner of a British record company at least a stiff fine [sic]. He’s also a recording artist, Jonathan King. He’s known to Americans as the guy who hit back in 1965 with ‘Everyone’s Gone to the Moon‘, remember? Well, since then he’s become a successful producer in England, and he started his own label a couple of years ago. Last year, during the United Kingdom’s severe energy crisis, a songwriter came to Jonathan’s house with a master tape of a new song that he’d just recorded, but he’d come on a bad day of the week. You see, it was a day when Britons were prohibited from using electricity because of the power shortage. But something told King to take a chance. He invited the artist to come in, and, in a room lit only by candles, keeping the volume turned way down, he listened to that tape, and he knew he’d bought a hit song. Here it is, up to #25 this week, ‘Beach Baby’ by First Class.”
The song contained two instrumental passages, the first from the composer Sibelius, the second a direct quote from “Let’s Go To San Francisco.”
The single version of the song was almost 5 minutes long so most stations faded it out before the instrumental break in order to shorten it and to avoid the legal action that was being taken against Carter from the Sibelius family which would end up giving half of the proceeds from the song to the estate.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
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.
Link for Submission for all album rankings episodes
Access to banned episodes via Patreon
Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:
The “In Memorium” Tier
Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
Ovais Naqvi
Purple Maniac
The “Twenty is Plenty” 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
Michael “Don’t Call Him Bradford” Bagford
$10 “Some One Came” Tier
Ryan M
Jeff Breis
Victor Campos
“Better Call” Saul Evans
Peter from Illinois
The “Deep Thoughts by John Mottola” Tier
Fielding Fowler
Upcoming Rankings Show:
Deep Purple “Who Do We Think We Are”
Patron rankings needed by August 18th
Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!
Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!
More from Ralphie’s world travels!
Lead up to the Album:
Paul Dean was the brother of Zoe Dean who was Ian Gillan’s girlfriend for about 10 years from 1969 to 1978. Zoe took Gillan home to stay with the family and Paul Dean said he played Gillan the first Black Sabbath album which he heard for the first time.
Dean said that Zoe was managing them and Gillan asked to take a listen to their music. He then took over management of the band.
In 1967 when Ray and I were 16 and still at school we went to see John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and were absolutely blown away with a form of music we had never heard before. The next day we decided to form a band along with another friend Chris Skelcher. None of us had ever played an instrument before, Ray took drums, Chris guitar and I took bass and vocals.
None of us had any major influences, so we actually learnt how to play as we went along. I started writing as we decided we didn’t want to do any covers and liked the idea of creating something of our own that was a bit different. We practised at every opportunity and did part time and holiday jobs to pay for equipment. Our only focus was the band.
No, none of us had ever touched an instrument before or had done anything musical. Even when Ray and I brought in Bill, Phil, Bob and Lynden at different times, none of them had actually been in another proper band. All performing virgins. The first recording we ever did was when Ian brought Roger Glover to Salisbury to do some recording on Rogers newly acquired Revox 2 track. Don’t know what happened to the tapes. Phil was the singer at this time.
Gillan had newly formed “Pussy Music” and “Pussy Enterprises.”
In 1972 the band was given 2 days to put something together for release and that is when they wrote and recorded a single, Kamikazi Moth.
For the album they stayed with Ian Gillan in Pangbourne and commuted into London daily to record at Ian’s Kingsway Studios (formerly De Lane Lea).
“My interest has been in an advisory capacity,” said Ian. “I didn’t so much produce the album as simply advise on a few technical problems and make some suggestions. I came across the band at a time when they were trying to get a record deal together and were in a state of confusion.
“In some ways its a nostalgic thing for me because I see them going through the same kind of problems and transitions that I did in the early days, before Episode Six even, when I was playing with little local bands in Hayes, Middlesex. I’ve always regretted that I never had any record of those early efforts because there was something about the brash enthusiasm of an early musical birth that you never recapture.
“I don’t want to give the impression that these boys are novices because they are not. They started playing almost as infants at school five years ago when Paul met up with Ray Sparrow and got a band together and later at college they met Bill Hinde and Bob Cooke.
“More recently they`ve brought in a new singer, Lynden Williams, and he has just the right kind of dramatics and vocal ability that convinced me that he had what it takes.”
From the same interview:
“Mind you,” he said. “I don’t care what anyone says it is the sole aim of any support band to blow the top of the bill off the stage and if anyone had got a ‘clapometer’ together I think ‘Jerusalem’ would have taken a few points off some of the bands they’ve worked with recently like Medicine Head.
“I don’t think we should give the impression that we go in with that attitude though,” said Paul guardedly. “I mean we found a group billed below us on a recent bill and I felt just a little embarrassed. It’s competitive without being cut-throat.”
From the album liner notes (by Ian Gillan):
This is the first album by Jerusalem, a band which excites me very much, they are rough, raw and doomy with their own strong identity. As they are young and a bit green, they don’t follow many rules, so their material is almost crude–-but still immensely powerful in content.
I believe that, whenever possible, the work of writers and players in their formative stages should be recorded; before inhibition and self consciousness set in, before fire and aggression die down, and while they are still absorbing influences and doing things which others might consider uncool. Most important though, before they might develop that self imposed rigidity which afflicts so many. I hope none of these things happen to Jersusalem, we’ll have to wait and see, this album is just in case.
Paul Dean: “Yes, it is now considered a great cover. Bob Cooke came up with the idea and painted it (think his original is an oil painting). It is not meant to be religious in any way whatsoever, just something powerful that implies fighting and reaching out for your future, whatever it may be. Nothing comes to you in this life, you have to get out there and make waves!”
Notes
Released on a brown/white Deram label in a gatefold cover.
This release has a single pressing ring @ 32mm.
Rim text (@11:00 o’clock position), reads: “Made In England By The Decca Record Co. Ltd.”
“XZAL” stamped in runouts are Decca’s record format indicator for a ‘stereo’ recording.
“1W” stamped in runouts indicate Decca’s in-house mastering was performed by Harry Fisher.
Laminated with ‘Clarifoil’ made by British Celanese Limited
℗ 1972
Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:
The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
Spike the Rock Cat’s Ghost
Sugar T
The Episode $6.66 Tier
Steve Coldwell
Arthur Smith
Anton Glaving
Charles Meadows
The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
Kenny Wymore
Richie Sucksmith
The 70 NOK Tier
Kai Rune “Yes, I’m Norwegian” Olsen –
$5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
Robert Smith
The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
Knut Morten Johansen –
The €5.50Tier
Merlijn Rotte
The £4.00 Tier
Duncan Leask
$5 “Money Lender” Tier
John Convery
German Heindl
Adrian Hernandez
Jesper Almén
Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
Kev Roberts
Scott Zerns
Cynthia Dube
Raff Kaff
Coyote Bongwater
John Miceli
Sarah Sanders
Jellybean
Evan Robison
Purple Swede
Ralphie Lee
Album Tracks:
Side One:
Frustration
Hooded Eagle
I See The Light
Murderer’s Lament
When The Wolf Sits
Side Two:
Midnight Steamer
Primitive Man
Beyond The Grave
She Came Like A Bat From Hell
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 €3.50 Tier
Weston Super-Mare Pilgrim
The 293 Pence Tier
Blackmore’s Tights
The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
Stephen Sharpe
$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
Joe “Dopefish” Siegler
Adam Corke
Tim Wood
Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
Michael
Matt R
The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
The 10 DKK “Cold Hard Danish Kroner” Tier
Carsten Lau
$1 Made Up Name Tier
The “Beyond The Grave” Leaky Mausoleum
Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
Hank the Tank
Private Eyes
Ashen Lionel
Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
Anders Engstrom
I see DC
Durple Purple
David Hattam
Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
Eddie Lion
Sicktone
Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet
Reception and Charts:
Album was recorded in 1971.
From the best that we can tell the album was released on March 24, 1972.
Though there is an interview with Ian Gillan talking about “making the record” that was released in Disc & Music Echo from January 29, 1972.
In the interview Ian says: ““I made the record because they are bloody good and it seems a shame for their sound not to be recorded… right now there’s a rawness and excitement…”
“Sledgehammer-heavy masterpiece of underground British rock!” —Classic Rock Magazine
“Big fat chords, wailing guitar, punch-drunk bass and straight-ahead solid drums all strutting in your face like some massive guy you just don’t want to f**k with.” —Head Heritage
The album was re-issued 1993 on CD for the first time in Germany.
There was a 2014 remaster and reissue as well.
It was again reissued in 2021 on opaque black vinyl, opaque blue vinyl, translucent red vinyl and finally 100 copies of a translucent green vinyl by Rockadrome.
Bob Cooke and Lynden Williams went on to be in Zorbonauts with Geoff Downes and others.
Reviews
From the interview in Record Mirror:
Ian hit out at some of those critics who do not seem to care about anything formative or cannot necessarily compare to the technical proficiency of more experienced and qualified musicians.
“I really feel some of these critics who cannot accept the fact that so called ‘heavy music’ has now become pop music by virtue of the fact that it is popular are writing with their heads in the sand,” he said.
“Why is it that some writers seem to adopt this position that nothing can ever be any good if it is widely accepted and why is it that some bands like Black Sabbath seem so anxious to put down the young people who come to their concerts and refer to them disparagingly as `teenyboppers’.
“How would you like to be called a ‘teenybopper’ just because you happened to be young and like bands that retained some essence of vitality. That’s just something else I can’t understand.
A band is hungry so it becomes good out of that hunger. It gets recognised and successful then throws the acceptance back in the faces of the people who made them. It just doesn’t make sense.
“Critics who are not prepared to encourage new talent and make some kind of allowance that no band becomes as good as those who are on top immediately are doing no good to themselves or the business that feeds them. They slam a show which maybe 5,000 people dug and the unfortunate thing is that maybe a quarter of a million people read the review!”
All bands like ‘Jerusalem’ want is a chance to prove themselves and Gillan is doing his bit to lend a hand. More established artists with his attitude would be no bad thing.
Deep Dive Podcast Network:
Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
“It was 40 years ago this very day, December 9, 1973, when I had the indescribable honour of walking onstage with the extraordinary talents of Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice & Glenn Hughes at the KB Halle in Copenhagen, Denmark for the very first time. The ‘Burn’ album had yet to be released, but, it showed the balls of the guys in the band to go out & play brand new, unheard songs to a rapturous Danish audience. An unforgettable experience for me. Thank you ALL for an amazing journey that continues today …”
It happened to be Mark 2’s first live performance, as Ian Gillan recalls “I felt absolutely elated at joining Purple. When I first heard them I had never been moved musically so much in my life. At the time Deep Purple were the greatest band I could join. It made me realise I had to work much harder than I had ever worked before.”
These were the guys I fronted on 10 July 1969 on a tiny stage at the Speakeasy in Margaret Street in London’s West End. I stood before my peers that night – pros, other musicians and people in the music business. As soon as we started, the place went ‘Wooah’. It was awesome, and I just coasted through – the feeling of power indescribable. I played congas, for want of something to do during an instructional, and I cried – oh I cried.
This lineup only performed the song 9 times between march 17 to april 30th (6 weeks) in 2002 with the april show in Indonesia being the last time the show was ever performed live.
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 Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
! Maybe Bob Dylan will walk up to me and ask me, “Hey, who the he’ll are you?” Have a great rest of summer for you and John!
?
