Author: Nathan Beaudry

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Episode #47 – Dream Theater – Made in Japan

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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Patron News:

  • From Greg Sealby: Love the show. I thought I knew alot about Deep Purple until I started listening to you guys. I don’t always agree with your ratings of songs (and am often yelling at my car stereo in dismay!), but that’s the great thing about music … we all appreciate different things. My favourite album you’ve covered so far is Rising, but I have discovered some other awesome music through you … so thank you! More Coverdale tweets please!!! Regards, Greg “I Come From The Land Down Under” Sealby

Thanks to our Brothers at the Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Thanks to the Patron Saint and Archivist of The Deep Purple Podcast:

Show Updates:

  • Comments from social media.
  • History in Five Songs 34: Off the Deep Purple End
    • Kind words from Martin Popoff:
  • Rupert Axelsson via email:
  • Jon Miller on Facebook, story about Muriel, the woman who inspired the song Starstruck: “
  • Interview with Roger Glover and Roger Glover’s Banana Bread recipe!
  • Bonus: Roger’s banana bread recipe1.25 dl butter
    • 2.5 dl sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • 3-4 ripe bananas
    • 3.5 dl wheat flour (he used whole wheat)
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Preheat oven to 175C.
  • Mash bananas in a bowl, add butter warmed to the room temperature, eggs and sugar. Mix well. Add flour and baking soda and mix to a smooth paste. Add vanilla extract. You can also add crushed walnuts or other nuts and stir. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake 40-50 minutes in the middle of the oven. Probe with a stick towards the end of baking. The bread is ready when the stick is dry. Allow to cool and remove bread from the pan.
  • ps. 1 dl = 100 ml = 3.4 fl oz
  • Jorg writes in to inform us that Ritchie got the guitar back that we mentioned was stolen on epiosde 44.
    • https://www.purple.de/dirk/purple/tours/1970/70-02-28.php
    • The UK tour ended on the 28th February at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on a bit of a sour point as Ritchie’s guitar was stolen by an over enthusiastic fan. Ian Hansford tells the background to this event: “During ‘Mandrake Root’ Ritchie would sometimes smash up an old guitar which, if there was even left, would be put back together and used next time. That night Ritchie was at the front of the stage rubbing the guitar up and down during the strobe section, it was in his hands not around his neck and the lead came out the jack plug. He came running back towards me as I ran towards him with the strobe lights flashing and we crashed into each other. By the time he had picked up his other guitar and I had gone to the front of the stage for the other guitar it had gone. We tried to find it at the front of the stage and even in the streets outside but it was gone. After that we had a couple of days off and then went onto Switzerland. The lad who had the guitar had taken it home and when his parents they got in touch with the hall who then got in touch with the promoter who got in touch with the office and eventually the guitar found its way back to Ritchie who was then very happy.”
  • Last two episodes (Smoke on the Water, Sufficiently Breathless) were banned on YouTube.
  • Shout it Out Loudcast reivews Slide it In

A Word from Our Sponsor:

  • Joe Lynn Turner & JC Penney

Lead up to the Album:

  • Dream Theater made a habit of performing entire albums
  • This album was recorded in Osaka at the very same venue where Deep Purple recorded Made in Japan in 1972.
  • Mike Portnoy in the liner notes:
    • Of course, the other reason I thought of doing this particular album is because of the significance of where we were going to be doing the multiple night stands (which is the rule for this cover tradition).  By sheer coincidence, our two multiple nighters were in Tokyo and Osaka . . . which is exactly the 2 cities that Made in Japan was recorded in back in August of 1972! So . . . it was a natural!
    • Often we are asked, why do we do these complete album covers?  I think there are 3 reasons: First (and most selfishly), we have a lto of fun doing it.  IT breaks up the traditional touring setlists for us and gives us a chance to just have some fun paying tribute to the bands and the music we grew up with.
    • The second reason is for you — the fans.  Although there are inevitably “fans” who complain about this tradition (they don’t want to sit through another band’s music, they didn’t like the choice of album, etc.) the majority’s reaction is that of enjoyment and excitement.  (and the fact is, we ONLY do this on 2 night stands and at “Evening with” shows — so the fans are already getting many, many hours of DT music in addition to the classic album)
    • But the Third reason, and one that we did not initially anticipate, is that doing these albums have often been a great learning experience for us.  STudying and playing other arist’s writing and performance has really given us the chance to try some different things and get inside these musician’s heads.
    • Every song is loose and spontaneous.  And it was a fun challenge to try and capture that vibe.  From JAmes’ scatty Ian Gillan improv in STrange Kind of Woman to John’s wreckless whammy-bar Ritchie Blackmore impersonations to Jordan’s over the top solo spots and Jon Lord tributes in Lazy and Space Truckin. And of course, my drum solo in The Mule, is not *me* at all . . . but my very best Ian PAice solo.
    • To top it all off, it is an absolute honor to have none other than Roger Glover mixing these tapes for us.  Of course, in addition to Roger being the bass player and key creative force behind Deep Purple for almost 40 years now, he also happens to be the man who mixed the original MAde in Japan!  So it is a great honor to have these tapes in the hands of the only man that could’ve possibly mixed this show for us.
  • Roger Glover in the liner notes:
    • When I heard that Dream Theater had performed MAde in Japan (in Osaka, the site of our recording thirty five years ago) I was somewhat skeptical that they could pull it off since it was a stage performance that included a lot of spontaneity, and how can you plan spontaneity?  So, when Mike Portnoy contacted me and invited me to mix the recording, I was intrigued enough to agree.
    • I sat in the studio with PEter Denberg, the sound engineer with whom I’ve worked for many years, and was amazed by what I heard.  Not only had they captured the essence of the performance but had injected their own brand of fireworks into the process. IT almost goes without saying that they are all top shelf musicians, but I’ll say it anyway because I was thoroughly impressed by their dedication and their obvious respect for the original show — they had picked up many of Deep Purple’s musical idiosyncrasies and reinvented them for Dream Theater.  The energy of their performance is impressive and I felt honoured to be a part of it. I also thank them for tipping their hat to what was for us in Deep Purple one of the most important defining moments in our career.
    • Roger Glover, March 2007

Personnel

Album Art & Booklet Review

Notes:

Album Tracks:

  1. Highway Star
  2. Child in Time
  3. Smoke on the Water
  4. The Mule
  5. Strange Kind of Woman
  6. Lazy
  7. Space Truckin’

In The News . . .

  • Trinkelbonker – Whoosh!
    • Produced by Bob Ezrin, it is said to feature only seven new songs, all of them quite lengthy. In fact, you need to go back to “Machine Head” (1972) and “Who Do We Think We Are” (1973) to find that kind of format, so in a way this is pretty exciting news.
  • Whoosh Track Listing Song Titles:
    • Throw My Bones 
    • No Need to Shout
    • Nothing At All 
    • The Long Way Round
    • What the What!
    • Man Alive
    • The Power of the Moon

This Week in Purple History . . .

March 16 through March 22

  • March 19, 1971 – first official release of Green Bullfrog (covered on episode #43)
  • March 18, 1995 – Steve Morse’s first official show as guitarist in Seoule, Korea
  • March 17, 2002 – Mark 10 lineup plays its first gig in St. Petersburg, Russia at the New Ice Arena
    • setlist
    • Woman From Tokyo
    • Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic
    • Mary Long
    • Lazy
    • Child In Time
    • The Aviator
    • No One Came
    • The Well Dressed Guitar
    • Fools
    • Keyboard Solo
    • Perfect Strangers
    • When A Blind Man Cries
    • Guitar Solo
    • Smoke On The Water
    • Speed King
    • —
    • Hush
    • Black Night
    • Highway Star
    • bootlegs
    • An Evening With The Locals – DVD … GMV-007
    • St Petersburg – 2 CD
  • Review of GreatKat.com website

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 #46 – Captain Beyond – Sufficiently Breathless

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  • $1 The Made Up Name Tier
    • Ells Murders
    • Spacey Noodles
    • Leaky Mausoleum

Thanks to our Brothers at the Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Thanks to the Patron Saint and Archivist of The Deep Purple Podcast:

Show Updates:

  • Comments from social media.

Word from Our Sponsor:

  • Joe Lynn Turner & Sudafed
    • Michael Eriksson says: “By the way, Turner told me once that the commercials he has done was extremely well payed and that very few performers was on the short list. In other words, he made a fortune on them. But it has to be noted he got them because he could deliver. Good fun to hear that stuff now.”

Personnel

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Design [Album Design] – Pacific Eye & Ear
    • Did design for Lou Reed’s Berlin and Black Sabbath’s “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
  • Many other albums between 1972 and 1980 when they were in business
  • Illustration – Carl Ramsey
    • Worked on illustration for Count Basie, Benny Goodnman, Buddy Miles, The Turtles, Cameo, Dreamgirls, Black Oak ARkansas, Nazareth, 
  • Illustration – Joe Petagno
    • The Kids From The Brady Bunch, Five Man Electrical Band, The Kinks,  Dr. Feelgood, Nazareth’s Rampant album (produced by Roger Glover), 
    • petagno.dk
  • Photography By – Bob Jenkins
    • Worked with Iron Butterfly, The Beach Boys,The Doors, Kris Kristofferson, Joe Walsh, and a group called Providence, 
  • Original release on cream/marble labels
Captain Beyond LP 1
  • On both inner and outer gatefold sleeve, tracks A1 and A2 are listed in reverse order.
  • “Dedicated to the memory of Berry Oakley” printed on inner gatefold sleeve.
    • Bass player for Allman Brothers who died on November 11, 1972
  • Produced by Captain Beyond for Capricorn Records, Inc. by special arrangement with Phil Walden and Associates, Inc., Macon, GA.
  • Published by Starship Music D/b/a Beyond Music (ASCAP)
  • Made in U.S.A.
  • Tracks A1 & A4: Recorded at The Record Plant, Sausalito, California
  • Remaining tracks: Recorded at Capricorn Studios, Macon, Georgia
Captain Beyond LP 2

Credits

Album Tracks:

Side One:

  1. Sufficiently Breathless
  2. Bright Blue Tango
  3. Drifting in Space
  4. Evil Men

Side Two

  1. Starglow Energy
  2. Distant Sun
  3. Voyages of Past Travellers
  4. Everything’s a Circle

Reception and Review

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

March 9 through March 15

  • March 10, 1980 – Blackmore gets on stage and plays with Gillan at the Rainbow
  • March 15, 1993 – Coverdale Page is released internationally

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 #45 – Weird Versions of “Smoke on the Water” (Part 1)

Note: This week’s episode was banned on YouTube. 🙁

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    • Clay Wombacher
    • Greg Sealby
    • PATRON UPGRADE from $3 tier to $5 tier – Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
  • $3 Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Mark Roback
  • $1 The Made Up Name Tier
    • Ells Murders
    • Spacey Noodles
    • NEW PATRON ALERT!!! — Leaky Mausoleum

Thanks to our Brothers at the Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Thanks to the Patron Saint and Archivist of The Deep Purple Podcast:

Show Updates:

  • Comments from social media.
  • Norman writes in to ask if we’ve seen Discoverdale – A fly-on-the-wall film crew follow cult Comedy Rock Band ‘Dead Cat Bounce’ on a desperate quest across Europe to reunite lead singer Jim with his long lost father, who he believes is the legendary rock singer and Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale. Crossing Ireland, England, Norway & Denmark the band follow the Whitesnake Forevermore tour across Europe. They’ve got no money and no idea what they’re doing – just blind faith that one day soon Jim will be sharing a jacuzzi in a 5 star hotel with the Dad of his dreams… and hopefully some hot Asian chicks.

Word from Our Sponsor:

  • Joe Lynn Turner & Burger King

The Versions

  1. Jorg: НОВЫЙ ХИТ Deep Purple Smoke on the Water HIT Самохина Евгения цимбалы Dulcimer Hackbrett cover
  2. Jorg: SMOKE ON THE WATER by RED FOLEY (1944) – “Smoke on the Water” was written in 1944 by Zeke Clements and recorded shortly thereafter by Red Foley. 
  3. Jorg: CARLOS LYRA – Maria Moita (1964) – 
  4. Jorg: deep purple – jazz tribute – smoke on the water – new edition 2017 – by Alain Rabiat 
  5. Jorg: Moscow Symphony Orchestra – The Music Of Deep Purple (Full Album) –  A Symphonic Tribute To Deep Purple:
  6. David Rushworth on Twitter & Jorg: Pat Boone – Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple cover – feat. Ritchie Blackmore) (1997) 
  7. Pantse67 on Twitter: Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water (Bluegrass Version)  – 
  8. Jorg: “Smoke on the Water” Roy Acuff & SmokyMountain Boys and Girls – from the movie 1943 “O, My Darling Clementine” Edited to Starts with Brother Oswald’s famous Laugh Jimmie Riddle, Pete Kirby(Bro.Oswald),Lonnie Wilson,Velma Smith,Jess Easterday, Rachael Veach
  9. Mike Healy: Two and a Half Men – Smoke on the Water
  10. Jake Harper – Smoke on the water (Two and a half man)  
  11. Mike Healy: Two and a half men – Smoke On The Water with tongue 
  12. Mike Healy: Gerard playing smoke on the water – From “Everybody Loves Raymond” 
  14. Lord Balckmore von Decker on Twitter: SENOR COCONUT – SMOKE ON THE WATER – 
  15. John’s Bahamas Vacation Video
  16. Jorg: Nebel auf dem Wasser – German folk music version
  17. Elías on Twitter: – Marcelo ‘Teto’ Medina – Humo sobre el Agua This is the weirdest thing you are going to listen to… In 1992, an Argentinian TV presenter called ‘Teto’ Medina decided to record his own version of this classic… What do you think about?
  18. Elías on Twitter: Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water by Sueños Purpura Tribute Album – www.dontpaymusic.com I can offer this version featuring some of the most important rock musicians from Argentina… Maybe it redeems me haha
  19. Black Sabbath – Smoke on the Water – No, it’s not a typo. Black Sabbath performed “Smoke on the Water” as an encore during Gillan’s tenure in the band. This rendition comes from Worcester, MA on 11/4/1983. Quite good.
  20. Jorg: Kid Abelha – Smoke on The Water – 1995 Jazzmania
  21. DEEP PURPLE – «Smoke on the water» Live (Jazz version) – source: Interview Ian GILLAN France 2 – 14.11.2012 – 

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

March 2 through March 8

  • March 4, 1948 – Mike Moran is born
  • March 8, 1948 – Mel Galley is born
  • March 4, 1977 – Paice Ashton Lord releases Malice in Wonderland

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 #44 – Deep Purple and The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

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  • $10 Super Champion Tier
  • $5 Tier
    • Clay Wombacher
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  • $3 Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
    • Mark Roback
  • $1 The Made Up Name Tier
    • Ells Murders
    • Spacey Noodles

Thanks to our Brothers at the Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Thanks to the Patron Saint and Archivist of The Deep Purple Podcast:

Show Updates:

  • Comments from social media.
  • Regarding the German man reading the poetry on the “Windows” episode. Jörg Planer writes: “The German Vincent Price is an German actor, Klaus Löwitsch. You won’t find him in the album credits, because his part isn’t on the album. I don’t know why, maybe just the German language, maybe copyright reasons…”
  • Ritchie Blackmore . . . is left handed! — More to come, Candice Night may disagree with this assessment!

Word from Our Sponsor:

  • Joe Lynn Turner & Covergirl

Hall of Fame History

  • History of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
    • https://www.rockhall.com/
    • Established April 20, 1983
    • Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record
    • Official induction process:
      • A nominating committee composed of rock and roll historians selects names for the “Performers” category (singers, vocal groups, bands, and instrumentalists of all kinds), which are then voted on by roughly 500 experts across the world. Those selected to vote include academics, journalists, producers, and others with music industry experience. Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. Block approval voting is used, with those nominees who receive the most votes being inducted, subject to a minimum of 50% approval. Around five to seven performers are inducted each year.
      • List of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees by year
  • Deep Purple history of not getting in
    • First year eligible would have been 1993
    • Took 23 years for them to get in
  • Who was admitted into the Hall of Fame
  • Fan anger around band not being admitted:
  • Controversy surrounding Ritchie being inducted, attending
  • Interviews with band members
    • Deep Purple’s Roger Glover on Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: ‘It’s not that important’ – December 12, 2017
      • Roger told Morgan Richards Interviews: “It’s not that special to us. I mean, it’s special that people support us, yes — we’re very thankful for that. And lots of people – from Metallica to Alice Cooper to RUSH, lots of people – wondered why we weren’t in there.
      • “Actually, we didn’t get it twice (Deep Purple were previously nominated in 2013 and 2014) before we got it, and what do you answer that with? Well, it’s not that important to us. And now that we’ve got it, it’s still not that important to us. It hasn’t changed my life in any way except I got a gong and a free mug. But it’s a bit of icing on the cake.
      • “A friend of mine, when he was getting an award like that, said, ‘The real reward for what you do is getting onstage and playing. Every night, that’s the reward.’ Something like a recognition like that, it’s just a little bit of icing on the cake — that’s all. It’s not that important.”
    • Deep Purple | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
    • DEEP PURPLE COVERDALE, HUGHES INDUCTED INTO ROCK HALL – BLACKMORE, LONG WAIT
      • 0:30 – Coverdale asked about if he’s been in touch with Ritchie
      • 1:20 – Coverdale/Hughes photo shoot
      • 1:55 – Coverdale/Hughes on mic answering questions
      • 3:30 – Coverdale talks meeting Gillan, Butterfly Ball, etc.
    • Deep Purple Legend Glenn Hughes on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
    • Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan Has ‘No Respect’ For Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame – October of 2015
      • “I have no respect for them They’re the kind of people that having seen A Hard Day’s Night decided that The Monkees would be America’s equivalent to The Beatles. They’ve no idea what goes on in the big, wide world outside of their self-arbitrating surroundings.
      • “To me, those people are bloody arrogant and rude. I’ve heard that somebody on their committee dismissed us as one-hit wonders. I couldn’t figure out whether that was Hush, Kentucky Woman, Black Night, Stange Kind of Woman, Child In Time, Perfect Strangers, Knocking At Your Back Door, or perhaps even âSmoke On The Water.
      • “I’m very grateful for the other bands and artists that stood up for us with a view to our induction – that’s nice of them. But I wish that the Hall Of Fame had had the discretion to ask us first. It’s now become a debate in which we are too late to have the final word.”
    • DF 58 – Hall of Fame on Ian Gillan’s Caramba! In December of 2015
    • Ritchie’s Official Facebook
      • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame update
      • Ritchie was honored by the offer of induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was discussing the possibility of attending, until we received correspondence from the President of the Rock Hall of Fame, who said that Bruce Payne, management for the current Deep Purple Touring Band, had said “No”……….!!!!!”
      • Therefore Ritchie will not be attending the ceremony. He sincerely thanks all the fans that voted for him for their support.
  • Induction Ceremony

Eight Inductees:

  • Ian Gillan
  • Ian Paice
  • Jon Lord
  • Ian Paice
  • Roger Glover
  • Ritchie Blackmore
  • David Coverdale
  • Glenn Hughes
  • Rod Evans

Not Inducted:

  • Nick Simper
  • Tommy Bolin
  • Joe Lynn Turner
  • Joe Satriani
  • Don Airey
  • Steve Morse

In The News . . .

  • https://rockcandymag.com/ – Michael Schenker talks about a potential collaboration with David Coverdale that never happened:
    • Back in the early ’80s when I had the Michael Schenker Group my manager at the time, Peter Mensch, believed we needed a new singer to replace Gary Barden. I’d picked Gary for a reason, but Peter wanted to take the band to the next level and he wanted David Coverdale to work with me.
    • Coverdale probably asked Mensch to get me and Cozy Powell and [bassist] Chris Glen over to Whitesnake to replace Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody and whoever else was in that band at the time. I think that was the idea, but I didn’t want to let go of MSG. I said, ‘No, you ask Coverdale to join us.’
    • You know that song ‘Dancer’ from the MSG Assault Attack album? I actually jammed that song with Coverdale. I already had the music and he sung it differently, with some different words. So we tried something, but I didn’t really want to do it.

This Week in Purple History . . .

February 24 through March 2

  • March 1, 1946 – Tony Ashton is born
  • February 28, 1970 – Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar is stolen in Liverpool – serial number 221737

For Further Information:

  • Links throughout document.

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 #43 – Green Bullfrog

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

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

Thanks to Our Patrons:

  • $10 Super Champion Tier
  • $5 Tier
    • Clay Wombacher
  • $3 Tier
    • Peter Gardow
    • Ian Desrosiers
    • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
    • Mark Roback
  • $1 The Made Up Name Tier
    • Ells Murders
    • Spacey Noodles

Thanks to our Brothers at the Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Thanks to the Patron Saint and Archivist of The Deep Purple Podcast:

Show Updates:

  • Comments from social media.
  • Glenn Hughes is following us on Twitter!

A Word from Our Sponsor:

  • Joe Lynn Turner & Hess Express

Lead up to the Album:

  • Derek Lawrence, who’d produced music with Ritchie Blackmore in the past, began working with Albert Lee.  Their intent was to produce this album with Tony Dangerfield, the bass player for Screaming Lord Sutch.
  • After a while the sessions weren’t working out and the two decided to invite other session musicians that they knew and jam in the studio to record an album.
  • The entire album was recorded in two overnight sessions on April 20 1970 and May 23 1970.
  • Blackmore was invited and brought along Paice.
  • It’s stated in Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee by Derek Watts by that they both came directly to the studio after Deep Purple shows.  I can’t find any evidence in their 1970 tour schedule that they played shows on either of these dates.
    • They played on April 18 at Ewell Technical College and on April 21 at BBC in London. 
    • They played the 22 May in London at Brighton at The Dome so it’s possible they recorded the studio time as May 23 after the show.  That or they recorded in the early morning on the 23rd and concluded with the show later in the day.
  • All the musicians on the album had wanted to play together but were all so busy with their own individual projects that this was the only chance they had to do it.
  • One final session was done with strings and brass being overdubbed on January 4, 1971.

Personnel

Since nearly everyone were under contract they chose to use pseudonyms for everyone on the album.

  • “Speedy” (Ian Paice) – drums
    • Nickname from his speedy drum playing
  • “Sleepy” (Chas Hodges) – bass
    • https://www.chashodges.co.uk/
    • Played with Ritchie Blackmore in the Outlaws
    • Went on later for form the group Chas ‘n’ Dave
    • Nickname from falling asleep during sessions
  • “Bevy” (Tony Ashton) – piano / organ
    • Nickname because he used to store bottles of light ale under his organ
  • “Sorry” (Matthew Fisher) – piano
    • Keyboardist in Procol Harum
    • Screaming Lord Sutch
    • Hundreds of other credits including Jerry Lee Lewis, Joe Cocker, Ringo Starr
    • Nickname because he would apologize if a second take was needed
  • “Boots” (Ritchie Blackmore) – guitar
    • Nickname from his suede cowboy boots
  • “Pinta” (Albert Lee) – guitar
    • http://www.albertleeofficial.com/
    • Worked with Derek Lawrence, Eric Clapton, Jon Lord on Gemini Suite, The Everly Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Jackson Brown, Joe Cocker, and on, and on.
    • Nickname from in-joke about how he would say “I’m only delivering the milk!” if they needed to do a second take
  • “The Boss” (Big Jim Sullivan) – guitar
    • Prolific session player
    • Played on 59 #1 UK hits
    • Played on hundreds of recordings and had stints with Tom Jones
    • Nickname because everyone respected him as an elder and one of the best session players
  • “The Vicar” (Rod Alexander) – guitar
    • Played with Blackwater Junction and Axe
    • Also did production with Axe
    • In the Green Bullfrog liner notes it says that he was friends with Blackmore and worked at a nearby music shop.  He stopped by to drop off some guitar strings and they convinced him to stay and record.
    • Nickname because Lawrence would always say, “Hello, Vicar” to him
  • “Jordan” (Earl Jordan) – vocals[8]
    • Les Humphries Singers
    • Sang “Old Blind Mole” on live performance of “The Butterfly Ball”
    • Nickname is pretty obvious

There had been rumors that Jeff Beck, Roger Glover, and Jon Lord were involved but none of them were at either of the sessions.

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Original Black Cover
  • 1980 “Green Bullfrog – Natural Magic” Vinyl Reissue
  • 1991 – Green Bullfrog – The Green Bullfrog Sessions
    • Featuring bonus tracks and tracks reordered

Credits

  • Album produced by Derek Lawrence
  • Engineered by Martin Birch

Album Tracks:

Side one

  1. “My Baby Left Me” (Arthur Crudup)
  2. “Makin’ Time” (Eddie Phillips, Kenny Pickett)
    1. Something Lawrence and Blackmore were looking to do since the very beginning of Deep Purple and were finally able to put this down at this session.
  3. “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” (Lloyd Price)
  4. “Bullfrog” (Derek Lawrence, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice)
    1. This was the leftover remnants of the song “Jam Stew” that Deep Purple had worked on and abandoned.
    2. Blackmore plays the riff once then Sullivan and Lee play on the second go around and harmonize with it.
    3. Tony Ashton on Hammond organ.

Side two

  1. “I Want You” (Tony Joe White)
  2. “I’m a Free Man” (Mark “Moogy” Klingman)
  3. “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” (Joe South)
  4. “Lovin’ You is Good for Me Baby” (Lawrence/Corlett/Hutton)
    1. Rearranged by Lawrence in 17/9 time to make it more interesting.

CD Reissue Contains 3 Bonus Tracks:

  • Ain’t Nobody Home (Jerry Ragovoy)
  • Louisiana Man (Doug Kershaw)
  • Who Do You Love? (Ellas McDaniel)

Reception and Review

  • The first release was the session along with the single of “My Baby Left Me” and “Lovin’ You Is Good For Me, Baby” was released on 19 March 1971.  
  • The UK release was a year later in March of 1972.  Lawrence had played some tracks for Mike Maitland of MCA (the president) but he left the company before the release and it was not promoted at all.
  • Some records say it sold less than 500 copies.
  • Album was re-released in 1980 under ECY Street Records in the US.  The sleeve notes were written by Ed Chapero. There was a quote from Blackmore from Guitar Player interview in 1978 quoting that he, Paice, Lee, and Sullivan all played on the LP.  The LP mistakenly credited Roger Glover.
  • Album was remixed at Abbey Road in 1991 by Lawrence and Peter Vince and released again on LP and CD containing the extra tracks not on the original release.  This was the first time all the musicians were properly credited on a release.
  • Short snippet in Technical Audio in November of 1972.
  • https://martinleedham.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/album-review-green-bullfrog-bullfrog-1971/ 

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

February 17 through February23

  • February 19, 1949 – Eddie Hardin is born
  • February 17, 1996 – Purpendicular is released

For Further Information:

Listener Mail/Comments

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Episode #42 – Nick Simper’s Fandango – Slipstreaming

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Personnel

  • Bass Guitar – Nick Simper
  • Drums – Ron Penney
    • Only credit is with Nick Simper’s Fandango on this album
  • Guitar – Pete Parks*
    • Guitarist on second Warhorse album “Red Sea”
    • Later would be in Nick Simper’s Dynamite
  • Piano, Organ – Neil McArthur (2)
    • Only credit is with Nick Simper’s Fandango on this album
  • Vocals – Jim Proops
    • Only credit is with Nick Simper’s Fandango an on the next album “Future Times”
  • Produced by Nick Simper and Pete Parks

Credits

Album Art & Booklet Review

Album Tracks:

Side One:

  1. Candice Larene
    • Written by Jim Proops, Nick Simper, and Peter Parks
  2. Rocky Road Blues
    • Written by Nick Simper and Peter Parks
  3. Independent Man (Hey Mama)
    • Written by Nick Simper and Peter Parks
    • Reminds me of the song “China Grove” by The Doobie Brothers
  4. The Stallion
    • Written by Nick Simper and Peter Parks

Side Two:

  1. Slipstreaming
    • Written by Jim Proops, Nick Simper and Peter Parks
  2. Schoolhouse Party
    • Written by Nick Simper and Peter Parks
  3. Sister
    • Written by Nick Simper and Peter Parks
  4. Mississippi Lady
    • Written by Jim Croce
    • Original by Jim Croce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1HxIcqfO_Q
  5. Time Will Tell
    • Written by Nick Simper and Peter Parks

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

February 10 through February 16

  • February 14, 1941 – Big Jim Sullivan is born
  • February 12, 1971 – Strange Kind of Woman single released
  • February 15, 1974 – Burn is released

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Listener Mail/Comments

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Episode #41 – Jon Lord – Windows

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    • Probably from my older brother, I got a 45 of Kentucky Woman when I was 8. The guitar solo was mesmerizing to me at the time, … perfectly crafted. Since then, the band has always been floating in my top 10. Knowledgeable in-depth discussion covering all MK incarnations by the hosts, track by track. Definitely worth a listen for older DP fans or someone curious about the band. Learn about one of the greatest, more under appreciated, influential bands in rock music.
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  • Rich Shailor on Facebook: Great podcast! These are not experts flexing their knowledge of facts and trivia. It’s two friends having casual and entertaining discussions about all things Deep Purple related. It reminds me of hanging out and talking music with my friends. I consider myself a die hard Deep Purple fan but these guys have opened my eyes up to things I never noticed and given me a fresh perspective on things I know by heart.
  • Roger Glover’s year end message for 2019.
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Personnel

Additional Credits

  • Recorded At – Herkulessaal, München
    • The Herkulessal in Munich is the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs in the center of the city.
  • Recorded during the Eurovision Presentation of Prix Jeunesse on Saturday, June 1st, 1974.
  • Mixed at Musicland Studios in Munich.
  • 2017 release was remastered at Abbey Road Studios.

Lead up to the Album:

  • The record sleeve indicates that there are no overdubs on this album.

Album Art & Booklet Review

Album Tracks:

Recorded on June 1st, 1974 at the Herkules-Saal OF the Munic Residenz with the Orchestra of Munich Chamber Opera

  1. Continuo On B.A.C.H.
    • Posted by Easy Livin on: https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=15343
    • From the back of the album: “Continuo on B.A.C.H. (Lord-Schoener) This piece is a realization of a a well known incomplete fugue by BACH which was based on a scale using the notes represented by his own name.  In english notation these would be Bb – A – C – B#. It’s intended to represent a sort of battle over “who shall play what” BACH himself died before being able to finish this fugue — I hope he approves of the way we finished it for him.”
    • However, in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia, the label B is used for what, above, is called B-flat, and the note a semitone below C is called H. This makes possible certain spellings which are otherwise impossible, such as the BACH motif.
      • In music, the BACH motif is the motif, a succession of notes important or characteristic to a piece, B flat, A, C, B natural. In German musical nomenclature, in which the note B natural is named H and the B flat named B, it forms Johann Sebastian Bach‘s family name. One of the most frequently occurring examples of a musical cryptogram, the motif has been used by countless composers, especially after the Bach Revival in the first half of the 19th century. 
    • Continuo on B.A.C.H” is a variation on an incomplete fugue composed by Bach which was based on the four letters of his surname. There is of course no letter H in music notation, so it is represented by B sharp. (A fellow member with greater music knowledge than I explains that “In Germany the letter H is formally the way to describe the b sharp note as it is in most countries”.) While for obvious reasons the piece has been well rehearsed, it generally has the feel of an improvisation. Off key playing of various instruments and jazz like passages combine to create an atmosphere of looseness. The purely orchestra sections therefore contrast more obviously than they would with a more rigid composition. The risk with such pieces is that they come over as pretentious and insincere. While Lord just about manages to keep such thoughts at bay, the symphonic passages do suffer from the usual malaise of rock stars who wannabee classical composers in that they become pseudo-classical. As with Bach’s original composition on which this piece is based, there is a feeling as it ends that it is incomplete.
  2. Window: 1st Movement: Renga
    • From the back album cover: “During the 14th centuryin the Far East, a form of chain poetry was developed called a “Renga.”  This involved a group of poets co-writing a poem. They would lock themselves away, and writing each verse in turn, continue until the finished product emerged.  The idea for WINDOW was borrowed from this Renga chain poetry. Indeed the words of the 1st and 3rd movements are taken from a contemporary Renga. Eberhard Schoener and myself worked on the idea during the first part of this year, after bieng asked to perform a concert for the 1974 Prix Jeunesse in Munich.  The first movent was then written by Eberhard adn the last movement by myself. The central section is ten, with a few changes, from the vocal movement of my own GEMINI SUITE which was written and recorded in 1971.
    • Window is based on 14th century collaborative poetry from the far east called Renga.  The lyrics for the 1st and 3rd movements are taken from a contemporary renga found by Michael Kruuger.
    • Coverdale and Ashton with two sopranos.
  3. Window: 2nd Movement: Gemini
    • The second movement is based on the vocal section of “Gemini Suite.”
  4. Window: 3rd Movement: Alla Marcia-Allegro

Reception and Review

  • From the back album cover: “This is a live recording.  As with all such recordings, no possibility exists to go back and do again any part that might have gone wrong; and to carry this through we subsequently made no over-dubs, and used on what was on teh tape.  We felt that the very exciting atmosphere of the concert was best preserved this way.” Jon Lord.

In The News . . .

  • Nick Blagona R.I.P. from RogerGlover.com
    • He was the house engineer at Le Studio in Morin Heights when, in the winter of 1981, Rainbow started recording Straight Between The Eyes. As the producer, I spent a lot of time with him, sitting at the SSL desk, drinking endless cups of coffee and playing Battleships late into the night. We hit it off immediately.
    • One day, he saw a folder of my lyrics and poems and suggested that I do a solo album, offering me four days of free studio time as an incentive. After the album was released, we went on tour. He came to see us in Toronto and challenged me about the solo album again. So, when the tour was over, I travelled to Morin Heights with Colin Hart and started recording what would end up as Mask. I had no band––just a couple of guitars, a drum machine, synthesizer, sequencer, and some percussion instruments––so Nick introduced me to Jean Roussel, keyboards, and Joe Jammer, guitar. Those four days whetted my appetite, Nick and I went on to complete the album in New York. One of the memorable moments was when he introduced me to the wonderful Canadian singer Kate McGarrigle, who flew down to record some vocals. He had connections.
    • He was a lovely man, full of fun and wisdom, liked to enjoy himself, and a good listener. Had good ears. I am lucky and privileged to have had him in my life.

This Week in Purple History . . .

February 3 through February 9

  • February 9, 1977 – David Coverdale releases “White Snake”
  • February 3, 1987 – Whitesnake releases “Here I Go Again” as a single — well, not really actually. 🙂
  • February 8, 2000 – Deep Purple releases “Live in Concert” at the Royal Albert Hall

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Episode #40 – Trapeze – Medusa

Video blocked on YouTube this week. 🙁

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Personnel

  • Glenn Hughes – Bass and Vocals
    • Glenn Hughes on Wikipedia
    • Glenn Hughes on Discogs
    • Well covered in many episodes starting with Episode # – Before they were Purple (Part 3: Coverdale & Hughes)
  • Mel Galley – Guitar and Vocals
  • Dave Holland – Drums
    • Dave Holland on Wikipedia
    • Dave Holland on Discogs
    • Went on to play in Judas Priest
    • Also worked with Tony Iommi
    • Passed away January 16, 2018
    • Sad story of imprisonment and abuse plagued him until his death
    • Iommi had his drums re-recorded by another drummer after word of his illegal acts became public

Lead up to the Album:

  • First album with the trio lineup after Terry Rowley and John Jones left the band.
  • Mel Galley handled the bulk of the songwriting with his brother, Tom.
  • Signed to record label, Threshold Records, set up by The Moody Blues’s bass player John Lodge.
  • Trapeze would tour America six times in three years.  Very big in America, not as popular in the UK, much like early Deep Purple.

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Cover [Illustration] – Phil Travers
    • Mistakenly credited as Pat Travers
      Did many Moody Blues album covers
  • Photography By – David Rohl

Companies, etc.

Credits

Album Tracks:

  1. Black Cloud (Mel Galley, Tom Galley)
    • Was released as a single
  2. Jury (Mel Galley, Tom Galley)
  3. Your Love Is Alright (Mel Galley, Glenn Hughes, Dave Holland)
  4. Touch My Life (Mel Galley, Tom Galley)
  5. Seafull (Hughes)
  6. Makes You Wanna Cry (Mel Galley, Tom Galley)
  7. Medusa (Hughes)
    • Favorite of John Bonham as we discussed in a previous episode
    • Glenn says in his book that this along with Black Cloud were huge for the band in the US and were played all over the radio.

Reception and Review

  • The band toured the USA supporting the Moody Blues including two shows at Carnegie Hall.
  • Review in American Hi

This Week in Purple History . . .

January 27 through February 2

  • February of 1976 – Rainbow begins recording Rising
  • January 28, 1986 – Black Sabbath releases Seventh Star
  • February 1, 2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates on re-entry – Kaplana Chawla had copies of Machine Head, Purpendicular, and Rainbow’s Down to Earth on Board. Steve Morse would later write “Contact Lost.”  Liked to wake up to “Space Truckin’” while in space. She had emailed the band members while in space.

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Episode #39 – Rainbow – Rising

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Personnel

  • Ronnie James Dio
  • Ritchie Blackmore
  • Tony Carey
    • Wikipedia: Tony Carey
    • Discogs: Tony Carey
    • Grew up in California
    • Started off playing piano in church and eventually was allowed to play the organ
    • At 17 he started a band called The Blessings but after two years they failed to get a contract
    • While they were working on finishing their album at the studio, Blackmore was in the studio next door and liked what he heard from Carey’s playing – they were auditioning Jimmy Bain at the time
    • Carey was frustrated with his band’s inability to finish their album and accepted Blackmore’s invitation to join
    • Blackmore, in Sensitive to Light, describes Tony Carey as a very talented musician only lacking in discipline. Blackmore also describes him as a great singer though he didn’t sing in the band and he didn’t know it until later on.
  • Jimmy Bain
    • Wikipedia: Jimmy Bain
    • Discogs: Jimmy Bain
    • Born in Scotland
    • First played with a band called Street Noise
    • Later joined a band called Harlot, I believe this is the band he was playing in when Blackmore saw him and recruited him to join
    • Ritchie, from Popoff’s book “Sensitive to Light” says: Jimmy Bain was a wonderful human being. He’s such a happy-go-lucky guy. The only thing I could say about Jim was that he used to pick his nose a lot. Excellent guy, really nice guy, and I can see why Ronnie keeps him around.  He’s a very positive fellow to have around.
    • Bain says in an interview with Popoff in the same book that he loved the album Stormbringer and one day he was playing it in the limo and Blackmore took it out and threw it out the window of the moving car.
    • Cites John Paul Jones and Geddy Lee as his idols.
  • Cozy Powell
    • Wikipedia: Cozy Powell
    • Discogs: Cozy Powell
    • Born Colin Flooks in Cirencester, Gloucestershire and adopoted
    • Started playing the drums at the age of 12
    • Took the stage name of “Cozy” from jazz drummer Cozy Cole
    • Played with a pop group The Sorcerers in the 1960s
    • Formed relationships with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and Tony Iommi at an early age while they were all unknowns
    • In April of 1970 he got the job as the drummer in the Jeff Beck Group and remained for two albums before the group split up
    • Did a lot of session work then joined a group called Bedlam
    • Formed Cozy Powell’s Hammer with Bernie Marsden and Don Airey
    • Also had a power trio with Clem Clemson and and Greg Ridley (trying to emulate Cream)
    • After this he left the music business briefly to take up a career racing motorcycles (like the bubble we talked about in the previous episode)
    • He was then recruited by Blackmore to join Rainbow

Lead up to the Album:

  • As a rule they laid down all the basic tracks with the trio of Blackmore, Bain, and Powell.
  • Dio and Carey would do their tracks as overdubs.
  • In “Senstive to Light” Powell writes in an interview with Craig Gruber that Ritchie and the record company talked about how huge Rainbow was going to be and talked them all into moving from New York to California.
  • He also talks about how Ritchie liked the drums to be very much on the eights or sixteenths.  Gary Driscoll was very busy and Ritchie didn’t like it. Since Gruber played along to the drums and was used to this style from Elf they both had to go.
  • As stated in previous episodes Mickey Lee Soule just quit because he saw the writing on the wall.
  • Ronnie was reportedly pretty upset about Driscoll being fired.
  • Gruber and Cozy played together but it was very busy still so Gruber had to go.  He said Ritchie would micromanage his playing with Cozy and eventually Gruber lost it and threw his bass to the ground as did Ritchie and Dio broke up the fight after which Gruber left.
  • The album was recorded in ten days.
  • The unusual thing is that they used the Rolling Stones mobile unit instead of the gear at Musicland.
  • Was recorded at Musicland directly after Ian Gillan had recorded Child in Time there and just a few months after Deep Purple had finished Come Taste The Band.

Credits

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Painting – Ken Kelly
    • Did the cover for Kiss’s Destroyer and Love Gun albums and a lot of Manowar albums 
    • Also did art for Conan the Barbarian and other fantasy works
    • Ritchie says that there were about seven versions of this painting before they got it just right
  • Art Direction, Photography By – Fin Costello
    • Prolific rock photographer covered on previous episodes
  • Album cover was voted one of the best of the decade in contemporary polls
  • Gatefold features black and white photos with the lyrics to Stargazer – much like the debut album featured only the lyrics to Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
  • This time the album is credited to “Blackmore’s Rainbow” a sort of bridge between “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow” and “Rainbow” which they would eventually settle in on on the next album.

Album Tracks:

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio

  1. Tarot Woman
    • Blackmore asked Carey to come up with this opening but he still doesn’t get a writing credit on the song
    • Dio sings about visiting a Tarot reader who warns him of an upcoming relationship
    • Leaves the bluesiness behind, straight forward classical/rock
    • Was never played live by the band
    • In “Sensitive to Light” Popoff says that Carey played the first take of the keyboard solo but he didn’t like it.  Ritchie said he liked it and Carey did takes all day that didn’t match up to that first one. Ritchie was very happy they’d kept the first take.
    • Dio states that Ritchie asked him one day, out of the blue, to write a song about a Tarot reader.  So Dio did just that.
  2. Run With the Wolf
    • Song about werewolves
    • Another song that was never played live
    • Drums were set up in an echoey hallway
    • Ronnie says: “We were a little more Beowulf-ish at that time.”
  3. Starstruck
    • Tells the story of a stalker that began stalking Blackmore when they were in France
    • Referred to as Muriel but it’s unclear if that’s the real name
    • The band states that she would be at the airport when they arrived, would be at every gig before they got there, and they once found her hiding in the bushes outside Blackmore’s window.
    • Ritchie, in Sensitive to Light: “I found a girl in my garden once. I saw the bushes move and a little head popped up.  It was a French girl of 18 who somehow followed me to England. I set the dogs on her. They’re friendly dogs; they just jumped into the bushes and she came out screaming. It was strange how she found my house. She went around touching the walls, caressing the house.”
    • The song was only ever played live as a middle part of “Man on the Silver Mountain.”
  4. Do You Close Your Eyes
    • Was written and played on tour by the band before being recorded for the album.
    • Used largely as an encore for the band.
    • In Pilkington’s book he says that Rainbow did not regularly do encores at this time.  If Blackmore felt the audience didn’t “deserve” and encore then he would not do one. He tells a story of going to see a show in 1977 where the audience was chanting for an encore but one never came.
    • The next night they did a huge encore where Blackmore climbed up the speakers and damaged part of the theater.
    • Ritchie said he was told that this should be the single but he didn’t feel it was representative of where the band was going musically.
    • Ronnie: “The song was okay.”
  5. Stargazer
    • Solo uses the Phrygian dominant scale commonly used in Arabic music.
    • Munich Philharmonic Orchestra plays on this track.
    • Blackmore says this song was inspired by Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.”
    • Pilkington says in his book: “Dio’s fantastically evocative tale of the wizard using the mass forced labor to build his incredible tower, and his final, climactic fall.
    • A keyboard instrument called Vako Orchestron is used on the track.
    • They wrote and played this one in 1975 before recording the album.
    • In an interview with Steve Pilkington Ritchie says, “You really need an orchestra to build at the end of it.  It’s a strange song, and working on it from that angle I didn’t think it worked so much live. IT really needs to build, and whereas on the record you’ve got the orchestra, on stage you’ve just got keyboards, and I didn’t think it was right.”
    • Ritchie says he wrote the riff to this song on the cello.
    • Ronnie says it’s the story of an Egyptian slave who is serving the wizard and building a tower so the Wizard can jump off and fly.
    • At the end the wizard jumps and falls to his death and the slaves are freed.
    • Ritchie says there was a violinist playing a solo at the end of Stargazer when they ran out of tape and the violin played this amazing solo that they weren’t able to record.
    • At the point they did this song they didn’t have an album title and when Ronnie sang “I see a rainbow rising” they decided to name the album that.
    • Tony says about the orchestra that the musicians just aren’t into it, they’re looking at the clock and just wanting to get a check.  He says people misunderstand it that it’s some sort of magical experience. He says what they’re doing is very simplistic and he could do they whole thing on a synth in five minutes.
  6. Light in the Black
    • Tell the story of the slaves after the wizard is beaten.  A continuation of “Stargazer.”
    • Song was also written and performed during 1975 tour generally right after Stargazer as on the album.  It was played early on the tour supporting “Rising” but was eventually dropped. It was asking too much of Cozy to keep up that pace, similar we read about Deep Purple dropping (was it “Flight of the Rat?”) because Paice just couldn’t do it live.
    • Tony talks in Sensitive to Light about them trying it live a few times and how it and explains that Cozy had an incredible amount of stamina.

Reception and Review

  • The Deep Purple Appreciation Society which would launch the magazine Darker than Blue started out in the 70s when it was called Stargazer.  In their Issue Six, Aug./Sept.1976 they reviewed “Rising.”
    • Tarot Woman’- Good melody, and a great chorus tune. The difference between this line-up and the first is immediate, Cozy seems to provide that drive which spurs Blackmore on. ‘Run With The Wolf’- More uninspired, Dio sounds good, but can’t make up for the lack of a tune. ‘Starstruck’ – reminds us of ‘Hold On’, strange as Ritchie doesn’t like that track. ‘Do You Close Your Eyes’ – a reasonable track, a bit Elf-like, but still the most dispensable one on the album.’Stargazer’ – I’d have to go back to the ‘Fireball’ LP to find a track which had as much impact on me the first time I heard it as this did. Undoubtedly one of the best things Blackmore has ever been involved in; perverse epic grandeur as NME put it. ‘A Light InThe Black’ – I wondered how they’d follow it but they do. These two numbers combine to form one of the most devastating album sides I’ve ever heard. It’s going to be incredible live, we can only wait and see.
    • Tour Schedule: Rainbow are currently touring America on a two month cross country blitz. According to Purple Records UK dates are on for August, final venues still being worked out.
    • Dio: “Rising, the album that everyone says ‘ehh, it’s one of the greatest, mah’ . . . this album is about a bunch of self-indulgent shit on the second side as far as I’m concerned I think the first side is great, it’s got real songs on it. The second one was hey let’s play a drum solo for 18 minutes, and hey Ritchie you can play guitar too, good for you.”
    • Ritchie picks Rising as his favorite Rainbow album in an interview with Martin Popoff: “We had ‘Stargazer’ on it, and ‘Stargazer,’ I felt, was very reflective of where we were trying to go, with the orchestra playing away, and I think it was a good riff.  And Ronnie sang extremely well. I think there are only nine tracks on it. And we were still having fun, whereas for the next one we started getting a little bit tired of each other.”
    • In a later interview with Popoff Ritchie says “There are only seven tracks on it.” 
    • Glover, in Popoff’s book: “I think the era of Rainbow that really contributed most was the era before I had joined the band. After I joined them, I joind them with the specific brief to commercialize the band and sell more records–otherwise it was going to fold. So I think the real cult era of Rainbow was the first two or three records, Rainbow Rising in particular.”
    • Glover goes on to tell about bumping into the Ritchie in 1976 for the first time since leaving Deep Purple.  Ritchie took him into the studio and played him Stargazer and Glover was blown away.
    • Ronnie: “. . . but as a vocalist you kind of feel out of the loop a little bit.  So I look at that whole album and say, well, I was on the first side, and half of the second side, and not very much of the other part.  So it just seems to me that there were better songs on the first album, although there were some good ones on the second one.”
    • Ronnie: “I thought the second one [Rising] was amateurish and looking up people’s asses, to tell you the truth.”
    • Ronnie felt Rising was just a vehicle for Ritchie and Cozy to play and show off.
    • Tony Carey holds up side 1 as the weaker of the two sides.  He says they did the songs all quickly. “The important ones for us were ‘Stargazer’ and :’Light in the Black.’”
    • Tony puts it more bluntly in Sensitive to Light: “I think it sucks. No, I don’t like it.  Yeah, I don’t like it. But you know, it’s 30 years later and I get fan mail from that record.  No, I don’t think it sucks, but it’s very naive. Side two was like two songs, like mega-long solos, both for me and for Ritchie.  I don’t know if that’s necessary to the song. I hated the lyrics; I didn’t like the lyrics. But what people react to and the emotional response that Rising invokes in people is because of the power, and the power is there… All this shit about wizards and dragons and my eyes are bleeding and all that shit.”
    • Peaked at #48 in the US on Billboard and #11 in the UK.

This Week in Purple History . . .

January 20 through January 26

  • January 23, 1971 – Purple records was formed and announced in NME
  • January 26, 1976 – Deep Purple performs live on the King Biscuit Flower Hour
  • January 23, 2016 – Jimmy Bain dies

For Further Information:

Listener Mail/Comments

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

Episode #38 – Ian Gillan Band – Child in Time

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Show Updates:

  • Comments from social media.
  • Strange Brew Podcast came out with episode on Howie Casey the same day our Paice Ashton Lord episode dropped.  Check it out here: https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/howie-casey/
  • Come.taste.the.memes
  • Riding_the_meme_out: “Hey I just finished your Teaser episode and enjoyed it a lot and I just wanted to say I love your show and appreciate the work you guys do for the podcast!”
  • Rich on Facebook:
    • Hey guys just stumbled across your podcast. So far so good! I realize that it sounds like an insult but…. I like that you are not experts. There is a charm to listening to 2 good friends discuss the music they love and discovering/rediscovering the music of Deep Purple as well as their story.
    • I’m now 7 or episodes in and very much looking forward to hearing you guys as you listen to the Morse era albums, for my money some of their best. My only criticism would be the balance between the sound clips and your voices. Maybe this corrects itself in future episodes or maybe it was you guys paying homage to the poor production of the first three albums
    • Keep up the good work.
    • By the way, I spotted the RI accent right off the bat, Long Island?
  • Mo Foster:
  • Snippet from his talk promoting British Rock Guitar.
  • Email from Mo on Roger Glover:
    • Thanks Nate
    • I have a quick story for you.
    • Some years ago I had a call from Roger Glover who was visiting London. He fancied popping over for a cup of tea and a chat.
    • Just before he’d rung, my wife Kay — a New Zealander and a big Purple fan — had gone for a long walk on a very soggy Hampstead Heath.
    • When she returned home a couple of hours later — sweaty, and with her boots and clothes covered in mud  — she came into the room where we were sitting,
    • I introduced them: “Kay, this is Roger”. The expression on her face was priceless.
    • Cheers
    • Mo
  • We wondered in our Paice Ashton Lord episode (Episode #33) what George Harrison played with Deep Purple when he joined them on stage in 1984.  Joerg Planer answers our question with the following link: Deep Purple Feat George Harrison – LUCILLE (1984 – 12- 13, Sydney )
  • Also in our Paice Ashton Lord episode (Episode #33) John mentioned imagining the songs being done by Coverdale.  According to Joerg Planer Coverdale had been approached about doing the second album but it didn’t come together.  Coverdale refers to it as CLAP.
  • On Facebook, about our Teaser episode (Episode #32): Frank Krøier Theilgaard-Mortensen What a great episode! Im so glad I found your podcast! 🎶 It takes me back to the time in the late 90s when me and my friend got into Purple and suddenly found All these fantastic sideprojects/solostuff in the Purple family. I absolutely love Teaser and it was great to hear your thoughts about the songs. Looking forward to dive into another episode 😎

Gillan’s Financial Endeavors:

  • Deep Purple’s finances were taken care of by their accountant, Bill Reid.  He had invested most of their money in off shore bank accounts but before anyone could ask him about these investments he died suddenly and with him went the knowledge of how and where to access this money.
  • Gillan had decided he would never sing again and went into a new phase of his life. He didn’t, however, really know or understand how much money he was going to need to make this possible.
  • Bill Reid remained Gillan’s financial adviser.
  • Gillan cut his hair short, dressed more “normal” and decided he was going to turn an old building into the “finest country hotel in the world.”
  • He got taken advantage of by many contractors and sunk a lot of money into the renovations after paying 100,000 in cash for the property.
  • Opening party on November 30, 1974.
  • A second venture was the Mantis Motor Cycles company which Gillan helped finance after visiting a race and falling in love with the sport.  He then opened his own motorcycle shop World of Wheels in September of 1975.
  • The British motorcycle industry was experiencing a bit of a bubble which popped.
  • From then on things started falling apart for Gillan financially.
  • Martin Birch came to Gillan and asked him if he’d be willing to buy De Lane Lea studios as they’d moved De Lane Lea to a new location and left all the old equipment behind.  Gillan felt he missed all of these old friends and purchased the studio renaming it Kingsway after the street it was on.
  • Immediately they began running into problems with recording and were only allowed to record after 6:00pm.  They could only record quiet (string quartets) or use the place as an office during the day.
  • Gillan says it was a stupid move as he was never at all interested in the techinical aspects of making records.
  • Four days after this venture Martin came to see Gillan and told him that Purple offered him a permanent retainer.  It was something he couldn’t refuse having just gotten married. This left him without any qualified audio engineers.
  • Glover, mostly producing, still used the studio.
  • This is when Gillan was recruited to The Butterfly Ball and his interest in singing was rekindled as we discussed in our Butterfly Ball epiosdes.
  • He had three ventures going now and all of them were falling apart.  Bill Reid met with Gillan to discuss his finances.
  • By this point he had used all of his money up.  Gillan had no chance but to liquidate, selling the hotel for what he paid for it (losing possibly 300,000 on the deal).
  • Gillan tells the story of having one of his friends go fill up his car with gas for him at a station where he had an account.  In his book Gillan says “. . . a guy called Gary, whith whom I was on first name terms, came screaming out, shouting, ‘Take the pump out of the car. Don’t put petrol in it. It’s Gillan’s car — he’s bankrupt!’

Forming of the Band:

  • In the aftermath of “The Butterfly Ball” live at the Royal Albert Hall where Gillan performed with Ray Fenwick and John Gustafson he put together this band.
    • Ian Gillan
      • I think we’ve covered Ian Gillan by now
    • Ray Fenwick [wiki, discogs]
      • Covered extensively in previous episodes
    • John Gustafson [wiki, discogs]
      • Covered extensively in previous episodes
    • Mike Moran [wiki, discogs]
    • Covered in Episode #28 – The Butterfly Ball (Part 1: The Musicians)
      • Went on to work with Queen, Ozzy, George Harrison, David Bowie
      • Moran would drop out after the album being replaced by Mickey Lee Soule
    • Mark Nauseef [wiki, discogs]
      • Born in New York
      • At this point had performed with The Velvet Underground and Elf
      • Would go on to perform with Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott, Gary Moore
      • Played on Wizard’s Convention

Back in the Business:

  • Ian went back to Paris to focus on singing.
  • He set up a meeting with John Coletta to discuss making a new album.
  • Coletta demanded very high percentages but Gillan, out of desperation, agreed to the deal.
  • Then Coletta demanded the publishing.
  • At this point Gillan had his own publishing company, Pussy Music.
  • Gillan took the band to meet Coletta and Bill Reid.
  • There was a journalist present and they went back to the apartment that the band was sharing.
  • Gillan said as he was talking to the journalist he looked over and saw John Gustafson pissing in her handbag which he then threw out the window.
  • Needless to say the evening did not end on good terms.
  • Gillan then tells a story of him and John Gustafson having a “screaming contest” which he describes as “. . . we lay on the floor, face down and nose to nose. We then started to scream, and this continued for about two or three hours. I vaguely remember Zoe saying she was going to bed, and Mark also disappeared as the city came to life.”

Lead up to the Album:

  • In Dave Thompson’s “Smoke on the Water” he mentions that Gillan wanted to call the band Shand Grenade, a portmanteau of Shangri-La and Hand Grenade.
  • Made their debut just before Christmas in 1975 on German TV with Glover on Bass on Mickey Lee Soule on keyboards.The band went to Munich to make the album on the Oyster label.
  • They recorded at Musicland Studio, with Roger producing.
  • They got to the studio only after all being arrested at the airport for “making a nuisance of themselves on the plane.”
  • Gillan described the music as “now sort of music at the time.”
  • Recording began in January of 1976 (just three months after Butterfly Ball)
  • Gilan decided not to use Coletta’s management.
  • They stayed at the Arabella Huas Hotel while recording.
  • He said they all made friends with a group of hookers who were hanging out at the hotel.
  • Very odd story about how a short man with a cigar came into the hotel with the hookers one night and Ray Fenwick, for some reason, decided to drop his pants and sit in the plate of canapes the man was sharing with one of the hookers.  Gillan says that “Ray has one of the hariest arses in the world.” When he stood up there were bits of cucumber and carrot all stuck to his ass. Gillan says the man with the cigar only reacted by taking the lit cigar and sticking it Ray’s butt.
  • Gillan says that the group was out of control and when they went to America he traveled separately because he couldn’t keep up with them.

Album Art & Booklet Review

Album Credits (from Discogs):

  • Bass, Vocals – John Gustafson
  • Drums, Marimba, Bells [Tubular, Various], Triangle, Steel Drums, Drum [African Log], Percussion [Flexatone, Darabukka, Thunder Sheet, Ko-Daiko, Various Shakers], Cabasa, Claves, Gong, Congas, Bongos, Finger Cymbals, Temple Block, Gong [Water], Rototoms, Cymbal [Cymbal Tree], Bell Tree, Guiro [Shekere], Agogô [Agogo] – Mark Nauseef
  • Guitar, Slide Guitar [Slide], Vocals – Ray Fenwick
  • Mastered By – G.K.*
  • Organ [Rhodes, Hammond], Clavinet, Synthesizer [ARP 2600, ARP String Ensemble], Piano – Mike Moran
  • Producer, Synthesizer [ARP 2600], Kalimba, Vocals – Roger Glover
  • Vocals – Ian Gillan

Album Tracks:

  1. Lay Me Down (Gillan, Fenwick, Nauseef, Gustafson)
  2. You Make Me Feel So Good (Gillan, Moran, Dave Wintour, Bernie Holland, Andy Steele)
  3. Shame (Gillan, Fenwick, Nauseef, Gustafson)
  4. My Baby Loves Me (Gillan, Fenwick, Nauseef, Glover)
  5. Down the Road (Gillan, Fenwick, Nauseef, Gustafson, Glover)
  6. Child in Time (Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice)
  7. Let it Slide (Gillan, Fenwick, Nauseef, Gustafson, Moran)

Reception and Review

  • The Deep Purple Appreciation Society which would launch the magazine Darker than Blue started out in the 70s when it was called Stargazer.  In their Issue Seven, June/July 1976 they reviewed “Rising.”
    • “The production has left the potential of the band completely hidden. It’s overproduced to a point where the group’s natural energy sounds contrived, it’s usually the drive and freshness of a new band which attracts attention – vis. ‘In Rock’. Gillan sings on typical rock themes, ie. bed, but the backing is incongruous. Everything has a soft Americanised touch, and is altogether too rich. It will appeal more to the 25-35 age group. It sounds old.” Ann.
    • Ian Gillan’s personnel is changing faster than Blackmore’s! Keyboard player Mike Moran was replaced for the French Tour by Micky Lee Soule (ex. Elf), who was in turn replaced by Colin Towns after the tour before they left for America.1
  • In Dave Thompson’s “Smoke on the Water” Gillan says about their first show: “The audience went berserk as soon as we walked out onstage; they were hyped up, ready to headbang and everything else.  And our opening number went, ‘Dink-dink-a-dink, dink-dink-a-dink,; it was a jazzy, funky thing. And the crowd didn’t know what was happening. They were going, ‘Eh?What they hell’s that?’ But we stuck with it.  You’ve got to do what you believe in. You’ve got to take risks.
  • Fenwick: “A lot of the Deep Purple fans were getting a little unhappy — ‘Hey Ian’s getting funky!’ — and, of course, by the time the second album [Clear Air Turbulence’, that terrible word ‘jazz; was coming in. But the worst thing we could have done was be another Deep Purple. We started to really experience and, by the time we got to the third album [Scarabus], although we started doing shorter songs because we were thinking about radio play, we were also getting into some really strange stuff.”

This Week in Purple History . . .

January 13 through January 19

  • January 19, 1947 – Rod Evans is born
  • January 13, 1973 – Deep Purple releases Who Do We Think We Are
  • January 15, 2006 – Dream Theater performs Made in Japan in Osaka – Roger Glover does the mix

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.