Author: Nathan Beaudry

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Episode #117 – Bobby Harrison – Funkist


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Social Media Update:

Lead up to the Album:

  • Bobby Harrison was born in 1939 in London.
  • He started in the 1950s in a group called The Rockafellas.
  • In 1960s he formed the group Powerpack and put out singles in 1966 and 1967.
  • He was a founding member of Procol Harum and was in the band when they recorded their number 1 hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
  • Harrison and the band’s guitarist, Ray Royer, quit shortly after that to form the band Freedom.
  • Freedom would go on to play dates with Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, and The James Gang.  They got a lot of attention for their cover of The Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry.”
  • This album is considered by fans to be the “missing link” between Freedom and Snafu.
  • The material on this album was originally intended to be material for Freedom.  He wanted to get more away from R ‘n’ B and more into funk.
  • Freedom’s last album was called “Is More Than A Word.”
  • In 1972 Harrison left Freedom and started collaborating with Micky Moody who was playing in “Juicy Lucy.”
  • This is considered the “missing link” between Freedom and Snafu.  Freedom’s last album was 1972.  Snafu’s first album was 1973.  This album was released in 1975.
  • Harrison: “I didn’t know really what to do after Freedom broke up, and I was approached by my management to do a solo album. So I thought, “Okay, I got all these songs floating about.”  I decided also that I could pick and choose all these musicians.
  • Harrison says that this album was ready to go but the record company shelved it for a while, that’s why it came out after Snafu was out for a couple of years.

Personnel:

Technical:

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Artwork [Photo Montage] – Greg Hodal*
    • Had done a previous release by Snafu.
  • Design [Sleeve Design Produced By] – Cream (7)
    • Designed hundreds of album covers for bands such as Gary Glitter, Snafu, Deep Purple (Made in Europe), The Troggs, George Harrison, and many more.
  • Lacquer Cut By – Wly*
    • Mastering engineer whose real name was Wallace Edward Traugott.  Did thousands of albums in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
  • Other [Special Thanks To] – Claire & Zoey
  • According to Roger Dean there was going to be a UK release of this album with his cover art but it doesn’t appear to have been released.

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  • $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
    • Peter Gardow
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    • Mark Roback
    • Anton Glaving
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    • Stuart McCord

Album Tracks:

Side One:

  1. Cleopatra Jones (Joe Simon)
  2. Whiskey Head (B. Harrison, W. Monaghan)
  3. Thinkin’ Bout You (B. Harrison, W. Monaghan)
  4. King of the Night (B. Sergeant, B. Harrison)

Side Two:

  1. Little Linda Lovejoy (B. Sergeant, B. Harrison)
  2. Spotlight (B. Goldberg, G. Goffin)
    • Barry Goldberg was a blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer.
    • Worked with Al Kooper, Leonard Cohen, Maggie Bell, Muddy Waters, and Ted Neeley’s album 1974 A.D.
    • Gerald Goffin was an American lyricist and songwriter. Has over 2,000 entries on Discogs.
    • https://www.discogs.com/artist/241547-Gerry-Goffin
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Goffin
    • Wrote many number 1 hits including “Will You Love Me Tomrrow”, “Take Good Care of My Baby, “The Loco-Motion”, and “Go Away Little Girl.”
    • Worked with Carole King and they were married from 1959 to 1969.
    • Arranged By – John Cameron (2) (tracks: A1, B2)
    • Producer [Produced By] – Steve Rowland
  3. Long Gone (B. Harrison, M. Moody)
    • Guitar: Micky Moody
    • Keys: Matthew Fisher
    • Drums: Bobby Harrison
    • Bass: “Chrissie” Stewart
    • Harrison: “I really like that track, it’s so “spaced out” for want of a better term) it’s so laid back.  The Snafu version was much more matured, but the early one has a very special feel about it.”
    • “I wrote the lyric for it, and it’s all about going on tour.”
    • Producer [Produced By] – Bobby Harrison  & Matthew Fisher 
  4. Looking For a Friend (B. Sergeant, B. Harrison)

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Reception and Review

  • The album was released and got to No. 76 in the Billboard charts.
  • Harrison says he never received any money from Captiol Records from the album’s release.
  • Harrison was upset doing the album with all of these incredible musicians and the label deciding not to put it out initially.
  • After this album Harrison and Moody formed Snafu which also featured Pete Solley who would also later join Whitesnake.
  • Harrison: “Bringing together a bunch of top quality players like the ones I had on this album can work out very well, but it can also be a total disaster.  I was very lucky it worked well.  WE worked at some very famous studios too, mainly at Olympic No. 1, but a few tracks were also done at Trident and Morgan.  I remember clearly doing the tracks with Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath at Morgan.
  • Snafu’s first album was the self titled “Snafu” released in 1973.
  • In the early 1980s Snafu broke up and Harrison moved to Iceland.
  • Bobby Harrison is currently in a band called Journey that plays Christian-oriented rock in Essex.

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.
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Episode #116 – Ian Gillan Band – Live at the Rainbow 1977


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Social Media Update:

Lead up to the Album:

  • Short concert recorded on 14th May 1977 at the Rainbow in London.
  • The Rainbow:
    • The Rainbow used to be The Finsbury Park Astoria which was a large cinema complex build in the 1930s.  It had a theater and a cafe as part of the structure.  In the 1960s it began being used for rock bands, notably bands from the Stax and Volt label who performed the first ever large format American soul music show in the UK.
    • The venue closed in 1970 and was filled with guard dogs to prevent people from trying to live there.
    • Chrysalis bought the venue in 1972 and improved its acoustics so that it could be reopened as a rock venue.
    • It was renamed The Rainbow and “The Who” opened the new venue with its first show.
    • It quickly became one of the boat well renowned venues for rock music in London.
    • In 1975 Chrysalis pulled out due to the expenses needed for maintenance and new fire regulations.
    • 1975 – The theatre ran into money trouble, with Biffo facing a bill for £180,000 to keep the building in a preserved state.
    • 1976 – Hernweave, a company owned by Jamie & Lawrence Bloom, Alan Shievren & Sean Casey take over management of the theatre.
    • It reopened briefly in the 1980s but is now owned by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
  • On June 30, 1972 Deep Purple played there where their noise level was recorded earning them an entry in 1974’s Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest band in the world, a fact much lamented by the members of the band.
  • On June 4, 2021 this was released on SingSong Music:
  • I was curious as to the length of the show. Was this just a short promo show or was this video part of a longer performance.  I asked Ray Fenwcik about it and he responded: “The show was edited ..a lot of the lengthy solos were shortened..it was a normal show, but Chris Blackwell CEO of Island Records was in the audience overseeing his new signing.”
  • This was indeed a full show with Strapps opening for them.
  • Ray Fenwick from the CD liner notes: “Apart from many premier rock festivals we performed at, certain “highlight concerts” come to mind, one was a two night show at The Budokan in Tokyo and the other was at the Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park in London.
  • “It was on the 14th of May 1977, in front of a fullhouse. We were promoting the “Clear Air Turbulence” album on Island Records; Chris Blackwell the label owner was there that night checking-out his investment!”
  • Ray Fenwick interview 4:19

Personnel:

  • Ian Gillan
  • Ray Fenwick
  • John Gustafson
  • Colin Towns
  • Mark Nauseef

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  • $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Mark Roback
    • Anton Glaving
    • Andrew Meyer
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Video Setlist:

  1. Twin Exhausted (Intro)
  2. Clear Air Turbulence
  3. Money Lender
  4. Child in Time
  5. Smoke on the Water
  6. Woman From Tokyo
  7. Twin Exhausted (Outro)

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Reception and Review

  • From CD Liner Notes: “Though considered terribly unfashionable in their day, the Ian Gillan Band of the mid to late seventies remains one of the few non-NEwWave/Punk bands of the era who were able to produce music, which still remains interesting and intriguing. I suggest you offer yourself the opportunity to find out just how good they really were on stage.” — CLAES JOHANSEN

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.
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Episode #115 – Eddie Hardin – Wizard’s Convention

Link to video on Cocoscope here: https://www.cocoscope.com/watch?v=89163

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

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  • Steve Coldwell (joined at the $6.66 tier last episode but came in right under the wire)
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    • I’m just happy to support the show. Unlike Pod of Thunder, where I went into it as a die-hard KISS fan (as noted by my careful use of all-caps), I’ve always appreciated Deep Purple, but know very little about their history. I actually know more about (and own all of) David Coverdale’s post-Purple adventures, so going back to the beginning is proving to be an education.
  • At the $5.00 “Money Lender” Tier
    • Tim “Southern Cross” Johnson from Australia!
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    • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
      • I’d like to share an anecdote.
      • I was born in 1975, and became a huge Purple fan since in 1990.
      • Sometime in the early 90s, a man came to my parents’ house to do a paint job. He was in his late 30s, so was born in 1955 or so. 
      • When he walked in the house, he heard me playing “Made in Japan” on my bedroom stereo, and so he told me that he was a huge Purple fan back in the day and had seen them in the 70s in Québec City.
      • I asked him how the show was, and he said he was disappointed because Deep Purple had tried to “do the violin thing” at some point, and somehow screwed it up, which ruined the show for him.
      • I didn’t process this right away but it stayed with me. What could he possibly mean by “doing the violin thing”, and how could thet possibly screw it up ? 
      • I thought of Jimmy Page playing with a bow in that “Dazed and Confused” 1969 TV performance, and that perhaps, this painter had mixed up his Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin show memories; after all, there were many drugs of choice in the 70s and he looked like he had been on a few of them.
      • I kept paying attention to whether Blackmore ever used a bow on stage, in everything I read on Deep Purple. and when I got online several years later, I asked the question on some newsgroups, and learned about Randy California playing that infamous Québec City show in 1972.
      • So perhaps Randy California had used a bow on stage ? Or something that looked like it.
      • So when Robert Lafontaine’s Québec City bootleg came out on YouTube I was really psyched to finally hear this “violin thing”. It never happened. However, in one of the newsclippings, a journalist says that Jon Lord pulled some violin sounds from his organ during The Mule (collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2639102). I listened to The Mule over and over again, and I do hear indeed all kinds of sounds, but nothing that stands out like violins. I also listened to your podcast on the subject.
      • This will forever remain a mystery – unless you heard of anything along those lines.
      • A buddy of mine (also a DP fan) and I have kept this as an insight joke all these years, so it has remained very well alive.

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Social Media Update:

A Note From Jeff Breis:

  • Butterfly Ball & Wizard’s Convention CD release from “Darker Than Blue” in 1989:
    • Originally Simon Robinson had considered doing a double album of the CD and the live concert.  The challenge was that with so many performers the royalty payments to them all would have been “financially impossible.”  He also stated that this was also an album that would have very limited interest.
    • It was decided to add “Little Chalk Blue.”
    • The decision was made to get rid of four tracks from Wizard’s Convention and feature the six tracks that featured members of Deep Purple.

Lead up to the Album:

  • The album was written or co-wrote almost entirely by Eddie Hardin.
  • The idea was to bring in a lot of friends and session musicians and make the album feel like a jam session.
  • Eddie wanted to have a lot of different people involved to help him record rather than making this like a traditional solo album.
  • In his book, ALAB, Eddie Hardin writes of the Purple Records management putting them all up on a Yacht and hanging out in Dijon and Cannes.
  • Eddie had developed a close working relationship with John Craig during the making of The Butterfly Ball and he arranged a deal with John to begin work on a solo album.
  • Eddie had hoped to work with Steve Winwood (who he replaced in Spencer Davis Group many years previously) on the album.  Eddie confesses that Steve didn’t have any idea of this and thusly he never ended up appearing on the album.
  • In “Darker Than Blue” magazine in 1994, Eddie said:
    • “During a meeting . . . I announced that I had Steveie Winwood busting to sing the first of the songs. I can only put this down to a mental aberration since at this stage I had no new songs, and hadn’t spoken to Steve for nearly eight years.”
    • He goes on to state that Purple funded these initial recordings and that he recorded the backing tracks as he wrote them.
    • He also states that he and Roger would work about three months on the album ending each evening with a party on a yacht he had purchased which was docked nearby at St. Katherine’s Dock.
  • Eddie says that the name of Winwood seemed to snowball and get other interested until the point that you get this final product.
  • In ALAB Eddie talks about recording at Kingsway, Ian Gillan’s studio (formerly De Lane Lea) and speaks very highly about Ian as a person and as a singer.  He says, of Ian: “I really liked Ian, though always found it hard to ascertain whether he actually liked me in return.”
  • Eddie describes the album as having all the instrumentation laid down and bringing in the vocalists after the fact to lay down vocals.

Personnel:

Technical:

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • In Eddie’s book he talks about having preconceived the cover: “… something along the lines of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, with rolls of informal shots of all the musicians and singers involved. With this in mind I employed and up-and-coming socialite photographer called Corinthia [sic] West . . . who subsequently filmed the goings-on from beginning to end for a fee of £250.”
  • Eddie describes Carinthia as “Amazonian woman” who wore outrageous clothing but very little. Eddie says, “…she contorted herself into the most unusual positions to get the shots she was after. She was so sensual and frighteningly striking in appearance that not even the die-hard lecherous musicians working on the project dared make an approach.”
  • Photography By – Carinthia West
    • http://carinthiawest.co.uk/
    • Actress, model, photographer.
    • “Seventies IT girl, model, actress, journalist, photographer.”
    • Looks like she briefly joined social media (Twitter and Instagram) in 2016 then never posted again.
  • Photography By – Richard Bush (5)
    • A few other Discogs entries.
  • Original album cover
  • German reissue with wizard on front
  • 1986 (85?) UK release “Money to Burn”
  • CD reissue in 2003 remaster with new cover

Recorded at Kingsway Recorders, London. April/May 1976 (despite excess alcohol)

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Album Tracks:

Side One:

  1. The Craig Song
    • From Eddie’s site here: “The first song to be recorded was ‘The Craig Song’, this was about John Craig, a friend of mine, who assisted from conception to fruition, though I think he had reservations as to when or even if the album would ever be completed.” This is contradicted in “ALAB” where he mentions that “Swanks and Swells” was the first track recorded.
    • Lyrics seem to 
    • Vocals, Piano, Written-By – Eddie Hardin
  2. When The Sun Stops Shining
  3. Loose Ends
    • He says he convinced Roger to play bass on this track but he was “extremely put out by the presence of Corinthia [sic] West . . . who was by now literally hanging from the ceiling in her quest for an interesting and unusual angle.
    • Bass Guitar – Roger Glover
    • Drums – Les Binks
    • Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Ray Fenwick
    • Piano, Backing Vocals, Written-By – Eddie Hardin
    • Vocals – Jimmy Helms
  4. Money To Burn
    • Eddie wrote this with Ray Fenwick.  He sent David Coverdale a demo and he agreed to come and sing it.  Eddie says that “Unfortunately, he re-rwote bits of it on the plane over what started out as a melodic piece turned into Barry White kind of thing.  Still, it has proven to be one of the most popular songs on the album, so what do I know?”
    • Hardin says Coverdale demanded “mood” lighting and that he wanted to hold the microphone while he sang rather than have it on a stand. From his book: “Unfortunately, the mood lighting was so moody that he couldn’t see across the room (his eyes not having been fixed at that stage). HE careered round the studio while he sang and landed in a pile of mike and music stands during the course of the performance. In case anyone doubts this, I have it on tape! Nevertheless, David had a fine voice and the results speak for themselves.”
    • He also tells the story of Louie Austin gluing grommets and rubber things onto plate with intricate designs and threading recording tape around them.  Then he’d give them names such as “Hyperbolic Thrumplethrottler Vocal Tansducer.”  These items didn’t do anything but on one occasion he was able to convince David Coverdale who’d been unhappy with his vocal sound to use it after which Coverdale was satisfied.
    • Bass – Mo Foster
    • Drums – Henry Spinetti
    • Guitar, Written-By – Ray Fenwick
    • Percussion – Mark Nauseef
    • Synthesizer, Written-By – Eddie Hardin
    • Vocals, Written-By – David Coverdale
  5. Who’s Counting On Me
    • Eddie says Mike Smith had a great voice for rock songs and he wished he’d used him on a song of his own.
    • He said Mike D’Abo took over the reproduction and began fiddling with all the faders on the mixing board which John Acock had all set up and they lost an entire day of work.
    • Backing Vocals, Guitar – Ray Fenwick
    • Backing Vocals, Written-By – Eddie Hardin
    • Bass – Mo Foster
    • Drums – Henry Spinetti
    • Piano, Percussion – Eddie Hardin
    • Vocals – Mike D’Abo, Mike Smith (16)
  6. Make It Soon

Side Two:

  1. Until Tomorrow (Parts I-IV)
    • Eddie lists the two Glenn Hughes tracks as his favorites on the album.
    • He describes working with Glenn in his book: “Glenn was undergoing treatment in Birmingham for cocaine, alcohol and just about every other addition one could imagine. As far as I could make out, the cure consisted of simply keeping him asleep and constantly supervised during his few waking hours.
    • The  Purple office was terrified of letting him loose on a session outside of his isolated world, especially with me
    • Eddie says he was given a hard time by the office and it was suggested that he ought to find someone else to sing the tracks but he had his mind set on Glenn.
    • Eddie felt that Glenn was being totally manipulated.  He also said the irony of the situation was that Glenn was allowed drugs if it would get him through a show.
    • Eddie said that Glenn demanded whiskey and fish and chips which Eddie thought an odd combination but gave it to him and Glenn drank the shiskey straight out of the bottle.
    • He played the track for Glenn a few times and sang the melody with him.  Eddie said he sounded so good he decided to use him on the next track “Light of my Life” as well.
    • He said the sat in amazement watching him record the vocal tracks.
    • Part I
    • Part II
    • Part III
    • Part IV
  2. Light of My Life
    • Eddie lists this as one of his favorite tracks on the album.
    • Eddie says that Glenn was really happy with his performance and decided to do some harmony tracks but he’d had so much whiskey that they talked him out of it.
    • Percussion – Mark Nauseef, Pete York
    • Vocals – Glenn Hughes
    • Vocals, Written-By, Instruments [All Except] – Eddie Hardin
  3. She’s a Woman
    • Eddie describes this as a “monstrously complicated song to record.”  There were tons of edits, which you can hear if you listen.  There were several piano solos and Jimmy had vocal bits stitched together.
    • Jon Lord recorded his solo “aided by a bottle of Bells whisky.”  Tony’s solo was done with “two bottles of Bells plus a few lagers.”
    • Hardin says Ashton’s solo was a little too abstract so he brought in Rick Van Der Linden of the band Focus and they two of them shared a solo.  HE says he flew in from Holland with piles of keyboards seemingly not aware that he was only doing a sixty second solo.  However there were some interesting keyboard sounds they used on the rest of the track.
    • Bass – Mo Foster
    • Drums – Leslie Binks*
    • Guitar – Ray Fenwick
    • Synthesizer, Written-By – Eddie Hardin
    • Vocals – Jimmy Helms
    • First piano: Jon Lord
    • First piano solo: Rick van der Linden
    • Second verse piano: Eddie Hardin
    • Final piano solo: Jon Lord
  4. Swanks & Swells (Parts I & II)
    • In Eddie’s Book, “ALAB” he mentions that this is the first track they recorded for the album though he contradicts that on his website here.
    • “The second to be recorded was ‘Swanks and Swells’, this was reported at the Marquee Studios in Wardour Street with an entire Chris Barber Band and Tony Ashton’s vocal was later added at Kingsway Recorders.”
    • He describes things as having gotten a little “tetchy” between him and Pete at this point who’d joined the Chris Barber Band full time.
    • Since he used the band for the album he wanted to use a picture of Pete who asked for £1000 for permission.  Since no one else had asked for a penny Eddie left him off the cover. He says they were just happy to have Carinthia look at them even from behind the camera.
    • Eddie says he co-wrote the lyrics with Selwyn Roberts who was a close friend of Robin Nedwell, an actor on the show “Doctor.”  Selwyn came up with the title but Eddie said he’s have preferred to leave it there. He says they didn’t use much of Selwyn’s lyrics.
    • He says when he first played the backing track to Tony Ashton that “he was even more confused than usual, but after a bottle of whiskey, he threw himself into the song and came up with a unique performance.”
    • Part I
    • Part II

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Reception and Review

  • After all the vocals were done Eddie and Chas Watkins had to stitch it all together.
  • The album was released in December of 1976 and was lost in the Christmas rush.
  • There was very little promotion and it was quickly relegated to bargain bins.
  • The inclusion of so many Deep Purple related performers made it a collector’s item.
  • In Eddie’s own words:
    • I think a point to note is that all the artistes involved are still around and working, and that counts for over a quarter of a century! EACH! Think of the bands and singers over the past few months even… who were they?
    • I look back of these sessions with great affection, it was this time that I met John Acock, the engineer, who came in the last minute replace Louie Austin who went off to engineer for The Sweet… far more important. I still work with John to this day, and have just completed two new albums with him.
    • Ray Fenwick, my friend now for nearly 30 years, plaid guitar and assisted on songs then as now. We have a tremendous bond in writing songs together though on this particular album most of the compositions are my own. You can always spot Ray’s influence when the words ‘sunshine’ or ‘stormy weather’ appear! Sorry Ray.

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Episode #114 – Deep Purple – BBC Sessions (1968)

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Lead up to the Recording:

  • In 1980 Tony Edwards and EMI put together a Deep Purple archive called NEw Live & Rare.
  • Some of the recordings from the BBC sessions were licensed to be used but it would be 31 years until they saw a release.
  • After the band split up in 1976 the label was interested in releasing a lot of compilations and “best of” collections to try to continue to milk a profit out of Deep Purple.
  • As with what would become a lot of official releases there began to surface a number of bootlegs of Deep Purple on the BBC in 1968.
  • Typically BBC (and many other organizations) didn’t archive tapes and they were often reused.
  • A researcher named Ken Garner discovered that the engineers at the time also began recording a live recording at the same time the BBC was recording their copies.
  • Some of these discs were given out to local stations that had to return them after a year where they would be destroyed.
  • Fans sometimes would just record these off the radio by putting a microphone in front of the speaker as it aired.
  • In 2010 they discovered two Deep Purple sessions.  Along with some other surviving gaps they were able to put together this BBC Sessions compilation of their early BBC live performances.
  • Deep Purple recorded 37 songs during these sessions.  9 are lost or in such poor quality that they aren’t really listenable.
  • What we are about to look at started with recordings on June 18, 1968.  This was a full month before Shades of Deep Purple was released and about a month after they’d completed recording it.

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Album Tracks:

  1. Hush (BBC Top Gear – 18 June, 1968)
    1. Session 1
    2. Recorded June 18, 1968
    3. Aired June 30, 1968
    4. This session was discovered in 2010 and had been presumed lost until it turned up.
    5. Hush had already been chosen as a single which is why they opened with it.
    6. This session also contained “One More Rainy DAy” and “Help!”
  2. One More Rainy Day (BBC Top Gear – 18 June, 1968)
  3. Help! (BBC Top Gear – 18 June, 1968)
  4. And The Address (BBC Dave Symonds Show – 25 June, 1968)
    1. Session 2
    2. Recorded June 25, 1968.
    3. Aired July 1, 1968 (before the recordings from Session 1). Played one track per day from July 1st through July 4th.
    4. This was the only part of a second session that was not missing.
    5. The other tracks recorded during that session were Hush, One More Rainy Day, Kentucky Woman, and It’s All Over.
    6. No paperwork was found for this version of “And The Address.” There is some speculation that it was taped off-air.

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For Further Information:

  • Liner notes to Deep Purple – BBC Sessions CD by Simon Robinson.

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Episode #113 – Early Covers of Deep Purple Songs

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Covers:

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Episode #112 – Jon Lord – Gemini Suite


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Lead up to the Album:

  • Jon Lord had been obsessed with performing rock music with an orchestra starting in the mid 60s in his previous band, The Artwoods.
  • The Artwoods had almost used the New Jazz Orchestra on their 1966 debut album then later planned on working with a German conductor but neither materialized, the latter falling apart as The Artwoods broke up before it could happen.
  • On “The Book of Taliesyn” Deep Purple brought in a string section for the song “Anthem.”
  • In 1969 on their self-titled album Jon Lord got as close to his goal as he had yet gotten when they composed “April.”  But “April” was broken up into band and string quartet parts, the two were not combined.
  • In June of 1969 it was decided that they would book The Royal Albert Hall that September and put on a Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic.  The only thing needed at that point was for Jon Lord to actually write it.
  • As discussed on previous episodes the rest of the band were not 100% on board for this project but the performance went over very well.
  • Lord: “It got us labelled as a group who’d jumped on the classical/rock bandwagon. It drew attention to us at a time when we needed it, but we weren’t expecting to be labelled as a group that plays with an orchestra.  It caused a rift int he group. What they were afraid of, and what I hadn’t seen was happening, was that people weren’t sure what we were all about. They got frightened we’d get railroaded into playing hundred of Concertos. They thought I didn’t want to play rock & roll.
  • At this point Jon Lord was largely seen as the leader of Deep Purple and this caused some resentment.
  • This almost lead to Lord leaving the band but in the end management smoothed things out and Lord assured the others he was committed to Deep Purple.
  • After the Concerto they did have to fulfill one last Concerto date in America at The Hollywood Bowl where the score was lost.
  • Lord was also commissioned to write another rock and orchestral collaboration.  The band reluctantly agreed but only if it was downplayed and that it would be the last time they would do any such thing.
  • Lord got to work writing what would have a piece dedicated to each of the five members of Deep Purple, each focusing on the abilities of the individuals.
  • The writing process happened very quickly while on tour with The Faces in America.
  • They performed it once on September 17, 1970 with the Orchestra of the Light Music Society conducted by Malcolm Arnold.
  • This time they were in a much better position than a year before with “Deep Purple In Rock” gaining traction and “Black Night” having some chart success.
  • There was no publicity for this performance.  The show was reviewed by two music magazines and it aired on British and Danish Radio shortly after the performance.
  • The feeling by Lord was that this had taken The Concerto to the next level, bridging the gap a little more seamlessly than he’d done the previous year.
  • The recording was shelved and not released until 1993.  We’ll review that on a future episode.
  • Lord said that he asked Keith Emerson to play on it and that Emerson agreed if it had time.  Apparently he did not.
  • Jon Lord did say in interviews following the concert, that he would like to record it but for now was focused on Deep Purple.  Sometime was only six months later.
  • After this Lord decided to record it again this time with Albert Lee, Tony Ashton, and Yvonne Elliman.  This was released as the solo album we are about to discuss on this episode.
  • The album was recorded at Abbey Road’s Studio One.
  • The main orchestra was recorded at Abbey Road then the band convened at De Lane Lea studio to do the rock sections.
  • Ian Gillan didn’t agree to do the recording which is why he brought in Elliman and Ashton.  They were part of the same management company and recorded with Purple Records so they would have been around at the time.  This is described as being convenient contractually but also Lord very much liked both singers.
  • Blackmore, of course, was very against the project which is why Albert Lee was brought in.
  • In Ian Gillan’s Biography “Child in Time” he describes Blackmore as going “berzerk” when he saw promotional posters for the concert. Blackmore said that the Concerto had become a “millstone around their necks.”
  • In Jon’s own words: “The music on this album was originally written as a commission for the BBC and was first performed at the Festival Hall with Deep Purple and the Orchestra of the Light Music Society in September 1970, when it was broadcast live on British and Danish radio.  I composed the Suite during the first six months of 1970, each movement being ‘built’ around the musical personalities of the members of Deep Purple. However, during the period between that concert and this recording the music grew away from the initial concept and became to my mind not so much a composition for ‘Group and Orchestra’ but, more simply, music for amplified instruments and orchestra. To this end we decided not to make it a Deep Purple project but to use specified soloists.
  • “The title is an allusion to the main characteristic of people born under the sign Gemini– The Twins, my own birth sign.
  • “Many thanks are due to all the soloists, the very fine London Symphony Orchestra, and to Mr. Malcolm Arnold, for his invaluable help.
  • A special thank you to Martin, Ian and Roger.”

Personnel:

Orchestra:

Technical:

  • Composed By, Score [Scored By], Lyrics By – Jon Lord
  • Conductor – Malcolm Arnold
  • Engineer – Dave Stock
    • Engineered the electric sections.  Not 100% sure if they were done at Abbey Road or De Lane Lea.
  • Engineer – Martin Birch
    • Mixed the album at De Lane Lea.
  • Engineer – Mike Gray
    • Engineered the orchestral sections with Phil McDonald at Abbey Road.
  • Engineer – Philip McDonald*
    • Engineered the orchestral sections with Mike Gray at Abbey Road.

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • 1973 North American Reissue
    • It’s unclear whether they didn’t like the British cover or if they thought it would be too controversial.
  • 2008 Simon Robinson Remaster
    •  
  • 2019 Ear Music Rerelease
    •  

Made and Printed in Great Britain

Jon Lord courtesy of Harvest Records

Roger Glover courtesy of Harvest Records

Albert Lee courtesy of Island Records

Tony Ashton courtesy of Capitol Records

Ian Paice courtesy of Harvest Records

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Album Tracks:

Side One:

  1. Guitar (Soloist — ALBERT LEE)
  2. Piano (Soloist — JON LORD)
    • Jon Lord says that his solo was the worst during the live performance because “I just did it for myself.  I re-wrote it for piano on the album.”
  3. Drums (Soloist — IAN PAICE)

Side Two:

  1. Vocals (Soloist — TONY ASHTON & YVONNE ELLIMAN)
  2. Bass Guitar (Soloist — ROGER GLOVER)
  3. Organ (Soloist — JON LORD)

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Reception and Review

  • Review in Melody Maker:
    • “it‘s all turned out rather splendidly.”
  • Review in Beat Instrumental:
    • “Lord seems to have blended classical and rock in exactly the right proportions, where both disciplines act as compliments to each other rather than as opponents.
  • Review in the Daily Mirror:
    • Blow the bigots! Knickers to the knockers! When Deep Purple’s Jon Lord unveiled his Gemini Suite in concert last year, the moaners had a field day. Now it’s out on LP they are already at it again. To me this album is exciting, colourful, aggressive, beautiful, inventive, virile. What more could you want?”
  • Review from Disc & Music Echo shortly after the album’s release:
    • Getting the best of both Purples
    • Jon Lord and Deep Purple seem to be finding their own musical levels, a compromise certain to draw the best from both. Purple lean far more on commercial rock, while Lord hides himself away writing large works like “Gemini Suite” (Purple TPSA7501, £2.05).
    • This is perhaps a natural extension of his Concerto for Group and Orchestra, but more than that, it is a showcase for four excellent musicians, combined with one vast depth of Malcolm Arnold’s London Symphony Orchestra.
    • It’s easy to dismiss works like this as pretentious nonsense, and equally easy for alleged classical music experts to dismiss it as diluted and unoriginal. Neither criticisms are fair nor justified. The main musical themes are well stated and play heavily on the emotions, alter the style of, say Elgar and Tschaikovsky.
    • The opus is broken into six parts — for guitar (by the superb Albert Lee), piano (Lord, drums (Ian Paice, vocals (Yvonne Elliman and Tony Ashton), bass guitar (Roger Glover, also doing a very fine job) and organ (Lord again). This album is very easy to listen to and you don’t have to be hip to either heavy or classical music.
    • Quality — excellent, Value — fine once you’re inside a rather revolting sleeve.
  • On January 4th, 1972 it was performed again, this time in Germany at the Munich Concert Hall this time conducted by Eberhard Schoener.  Everyone performed except for Yvonne Elliman who was busy with the stage version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
  • Update: this show was actually cancelled as Eberhard Schoener broke his arm in a skiing accident.
  • In October of 1973 Lord and Schoener again arranged another live performance of “The Gemini Suite.  Afterward Lord was asked to do a new piece with Schoener which evolved into Windows.

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Episode #111 – Roger Glover, Marlon, and Natural Magic

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    • Loved your podcast burn isolated tracks. Always loved this album and have hear it thousands times but I hear parts of the song I never hear before. Keep up the good work

Marlon

  • Neil Priddey says in his book “Purple Records 1971-1978”: Roger Glover collaborated with guitarist Ray Fenwick for an attempt on the charts with a disco track.  Needless to say it didn’t achieve its objective.
  • The song “Broken Man” 
  • Songs:
    • Let’s Go To The Disco
    • Broken Man

Natural Magic

  • Songs:
    • Strawberry Fields Forever
    • Natural Lady

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Episode #110 – Zephyr – Zephyr

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  • Deep Dive Podcast Network
    • Nate guest hosts on upcoming episode of “Gain it for Riffs”
  • Apple Podcasts Reviews
    • From the UK!
    • 2020-05-02
    • Karvek
    • 5 Stars!
    • Lockdown Living
    • Connected with the DPP over the last few months through the podcasts and twitter. Listening during my journeys to and from work have given way to easing the monotony of lockdown fever. Not much is more fun than discussing all things Purple so really enjoying catching up on all the episodes. We seem to have a different take on what appeals to us most, I’m more into the MkII and III era than Mk IV and beyond though I do love that stuff. Just think it’s moving further away from what I see as being classic purple. Anyway, after so many requests for reviews I thought I should front up and submit one. Loved the Rising episode so much as John reached excitability levels that made me concerned for his well being. I don’t blame him though as I completely agree. Keep doing your stuff guys.

Lead up to the Album:

  • In the Fall of 1967 David Givens met Candy Ramey in Aspen Colorado.  She was the washboard, harmonica player, and singer for the Piltdown Philharmonic Jug Band.  They were playing at a location known as The Abbey and another known as The Leather Jug in Snowmass Village.
  • David didn’t think much of it until one of his roommates told her she’s found a new hero who happened to be Candy from the jug band. David went to see her again with his roommate and was remembered their previous meeting.
  • In 1968 David was arrested in connection to the death of one of his friends.  First he was charged with his murder then later with possession of marijuana.
  • On February 29, 1968 he met up with Candy again.  A friend had offered to get him out of town in relation to the charges he was facing but he wanted to stay and see how things went with Candy.
  • They stayed together for the next 16 years.  David was 19 and Candy was 21.
  • They started playing together and jamming.  They met Tommy Bolin when he was traveling through town.
  • Candy and David decided to get married after being together just a few months.
  • One night Tommy came to see their band play and sat in with them and David said it just clicked.
  • They met up with a drummer named Robbie Chamberlain.
  • John Faris joined Tommy.  They’d had a band named Ethereal Zephyr.  They decided to drop the “ethereal” part.
  • They started playing 6-7 nights a week.  The band did a lot of charity work early on.
  • Barry Fey became involved when they went to play for him at his partner’s club.  Barry told them they were great and assured them they were on their way to success.
  • Barry arranged for them to play in San Francisco in a couple of weeks then L.A. where some “big shots” from the music business would be there.  Barry wanted to be the band’s manager at this point as he was beginning to work on concert promotions.

Original Album Mix

  • Story of the recording here: https://www.zephyr-official.com/zephyr1stalbum.html
    • “We were diligent, we worked hard. We recorded basic tracks which Bill edited down to acceptable lengths and then we started overdubbing vocals, guitar solos and B3 solos. Tommy and Candy performed take after take. We had fun, Tommy, Candy and I sang backup vocals together. And then we mixed it. Bill was falling asleep at the console night after night and the resulting mixes lacked focus, to say the least. We were not happy with the results.
    • And for forty some years, I’ve been angry about it. Then, earlier this year (2013), producer Greg Hampton called me up to discuss his idea that we should fix the album and re-introduce Zephyr. He fixed the mixes and now, for the first time, you can hear what we heard before everything went wrong. I’m happy with the reults [sic].”

Personnel

  • Bass, Backing Vocals – David Givens
    • Would later play on Carly Simon’s debut album.
  • Drums, Backing Vocals – Robbie Chamberlin
    • No credits outside of Zephyr.
  • Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tommy Bolin
    • Covered extensively on The Deep Purple Podcast.
  • Lead Vocals, Harmonica – Candy Givens
    • No credits outside of Zephyr.
  • Piano, Organ, Flute – John Faris
    • No credits outside of Zephyr.

Technical:

  • Producer – Bill Halverson
    • Had previously worked with Cream and Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
    • David Givens said he was credited as “producer” but truthfully only functioned as an engineer.
  • Engineer – Bill Halverson
  • Management – Stan Greeson

Album Art & Booklet Review

Alternate Cover/Back in Australia

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Album Tracks:

Side One:

  1. Sail On (Tommy Bolin, Candy Givens)
    • David says Tommy came up with the verse on this song while David laid out the musical section.
  2. Sun’s a Risin (Bolin, David Givens)
  3. Raindrops (Dee Clark)
  4. Boom-Ba-Boom (David Givens)
  5. Somebody Listen (David Givens, Candy givens, Tommy Bolin, John Faris)

Side Two:

  1. Cross the River (Candy Givens, David Givens)
    • This was the song they normally opened sets with.  The song came from the band “Brown Sugar” which Candy and David had before Zephyr.
  2. St. James Infirmary (Joe Primrose)
  3. Huna Buna (Candy Givens, Tommy Bolin)
    • This was written while they set up in a night club during and early club gig.  Candy always called David “Huna Buna” and Tommy thought it was funny.  Tommy and Candy started trading verses.
  4. Hard Chargin’ Woman (Tommy Bolin, Robbie Chamberlin, John Faris, Candy Givens, David Givens)
    • Based on a Zap Comix character named “White Man” or “Whiteman” who was a parody of a white-middle-class businessman.  One of his sayings was “I’m a real hard charger.”
    • Givens says this song gave birth to Tommy’s Echoplex.

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Reception and Review

  • David Givens says that on the first album they listed Barry Fey as a “friend.”  They thought this was a nice way to honor him.  He said Barry was furious and never forgave them. David says Barry expected to be credited as executive producer.
  • Givens says they were a live band and had a hard time adapting their set to the studio.

Reviews:

  • Concerning reviews of Zephyr‘s debut: I only have one, written in the 90ies by Jim Sheridan. Sadly no contemporary review. Here it is:
  • ZEPHYR (1969 self titled)
  • Zephyr, the self titled debut from the legendary Boulder band was Tommy Bolin’s major label recording debut. The band’s youth, and the limited nature of the recording capability, is somewhat apparent, as is lead vocalist Candy Givens’ flamboyant Janis Joplin fixation. Though barely 19 at the time of recording, Tommy’s precocious musical capability is very apparent on this album, in his playing AND his writing. He gets co-songwriting credit on 5 of the 8 cuts, including the album’s epic 7:43 opener “Sail On” and the equally grandiose closer, the 9:18 “Hard Chargin’ Woman.” “Sail On” travels all over the place, veering into heavy progressive rock/ jazzy sections that recall the Allman Brothers, Vanilla Fudge, and, interestingly enough, Deep Purple, in the wailing vocals and grandiose B-3 Hammond organ stylings. Fans of San Francisco acid-rock sounds will find this release very appealing. The blues are given an electrification of serious proportions! “Boom-Ba-Boom/Somebody Listen” begins with a VERY tasteful instrumental and leads into a Led Zep/“Since I’ve Been Loving You”-ish blues. When compared to anyone, Tommy is usually compared to Jimi Hendrix, but this work finds his playing and arranging perhaps closer to Jimmy Page and the British school of blues playing. However, one listen to the outro solo of “Raindrops” makes it clear that already his own distinctive playing voice had emerged.

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Listener Mail/Comments

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Episode #109 – Influences – Ian Paice (with Daniel Glass)

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    • Heard this site mentioned by Ian Paice on his YouTube channel so decided to google it and subscribed and the few shows I’ve heard have been excellent.
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    • Inside, a ticket stub from “The Butterfly Ball” concert at The Royal Albert Hall in 1975.

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Discussion with Daniel Glass:

Check out more on Daniel at DanielGlass.com!

Buy Daniel Glass Books, DVDs, and other merch here!

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Episode #108 – Black Sabbath – Seventh Star (with Ry from Sabbath Bloody Podcast)


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Patron News:

  • JJ Stannard
  • Nah I’m kidding. Tell you what though, something you might find interesting. My dad Terry (who passed away a couple of years back) was a drummer, and one of the records he played on was the 1977 album by Young & Moody (Bob Young and Micky Moody) which was produced by Roger Glover. Dad was also in the band Kokomo with bassist Alan Spenner, who worked with David Coverdale and played on the 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar album. Small world, eh? Love the podcast, keep up the good work!

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Lead up to the Album:

  • Ian Gillan was out to rejoin Deep Purple.
  • Bill Ward had worked hard and gotten himself out of the depression he had been in.
  • The thought after Gillan left was to get a virtual unknown on vocals.  One name thrown about was Ron Keel of the band Steeler.
  • David Donato was also given a shot but only got as far as recording a few demos.
  • Jeff Fenholt was also considered.
  • Bill decided after getting sober that he needed to leave for good.
  • Eric Singer was recruited to take his place as drummer.
  • Geezer, who admitted to boozing pretty hard during the Born Again tour was also out.
  • So now Tony realized that this group of musicians assembling was not really Black Sabbath at this point.
  • Dave Spitz, who had worked with producer Glixman in the past joined the band as bass player.
  • Iommi says the original idea was to use ten different singers but he “ended up using Glenn on all of them.”
  • Iommi says he and Glenn were both going through pretty major drug problems at the time.
  • Glenn and Geoff Nichols didn’t get song writing credits for the most part.  Glenn was because of contractual reasons.  
  • Glenn says Dio and Halford were also considered when Iommi was considering multiple singers for the album.  David Coverdale and Robert Plant were also considered.
  • Glenn says Glixman was also undergoing a huge drug problem and that he and Glixman didn’t get along.
  • Glenn claims to writing a bulk of the lyrics with some help from Nichols and Glixman.

Personnel

Technical:

  • Recorded at Cherokee in L.A. and Cheshire Sound in Atlanta.
  • Management [Worldwide Representation By] – Don Arden
  • Producer, Engineer – Jeff Glixman
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Glixman
    • Engineered and performed keyboards on Blackmore’s Night’s second album “Under a Violet Moon.”
    • Produced 4 out of the 9 tracks on Paul Stanley’s Kiss solo album “Paul Stanley.”
    • Worked with Kansas, Gary Moore, and Saxon.
  • Mastered By – Greg Fulginiti

Album Art & Booklet Review

Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, Kronach 1472–1553 Weimar) The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1506 German, Woodcut; second state of two (Hollstein); sheet: 16 1/16 x 11 in. (40.8 x 28 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Junius S. Morgan, 1919 (19.52.17) http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/404502

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Album Tracks:

All music and lyrics by Tony Iommi with additional lyrics by Geoff Nichols, Glenn Hughes, and Jeff Glixman.

Side One:

  1. In for the Kill
    • 7/4 time signature.
    • Lyrics are about Vlad the Impaler and Armageddon.
    • Glenn said this wasn’t one of his favorites.  Called it “demon and drug stuff.”
    • Could be he’s comparing the battle with drugs to a battle with demons.
  2. No Stranger to Love
    • Gordon Copley plays bass on this track.
    • This song was issued as a single.
    • They shot a video for the song and that’s where the shot of Tony on the cover of the album comes from.
    • The video has Bing Crosby’s niece, Denise, in it.
  3. Turn to Stone
  4. Sphinx (The Guardian)
    • Lyrics from Nicholls.
  5. Seventh Star
    • This song was most inspired by the Egyptian Saint Anthony (251-356), who developed Christian monasticism, leading the ascetic life of a hermit in the desert, in an endeavor to rid himself of the temptation to sin and attain spiritual peace and oneness with God.
      1. Written by https://genius.com/CRJ2

Side Two:

  1. Danger Zone
    • Song possibly about drug additction.
  2. Heart Like a Wheel
    • Another Georff Nicholls lyric.
  3. Angry Heart
    • Geoff Nicholls wrote lyrics for this song about the death of his mother.
    • Glixman wrote lyrics about the death of his dog in place of Nicholls’s lyrics.
    • Tony Iommi opted to go with Nicholls’s lyrics instead.
  4. In Memory
    • Written about Tony’s father who had just passed away.

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Reviews:

  • Hughes tells a lot of contradicting stories about himself writing more of the lyrics than Nicholls claims.  He also admits to being in very poor health and very foggy so there’s probably a lot of inaccuracies.  He also admits to only really remembering showing up in the studio and singing the parts.
  • The ensuing tour only lasted five shows.
  • Hughes got into a fight with John Downing, Black Sabbath production manager, that dislodged Hughes’s eye socket sending it into his sinuses, bruising his face, and damaging his throat.
  • Hughes says “Somebody asked me, ‘Is there anything in your life you would like to erase?”  He said that he would erase those five concerts.
  • Hughes says he was having issues with his voice and the injuries from the fight made it worse and he felt horrible going on stage singing in front of more than 10,000 fans knowing he couldn’t sing and he couldn’t cancel the show.  He says he was very grateful to Ray Gillen for stepping in and saving him the embarrassment.
  • Hughes says he also didn’t like singing the old Sabbath stuff because he doesn’t believe int he devil and he doesn’t like singing about the devil.
  • Hughes also says that he believes that Black Sabbath belongs to Ozzy Osbourne and it doesn’t sound right when other singers sing his songs.

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