Author: Nathan Beaudry

Posted on

Episode #7 – Concerto for Group and Orchestra

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

Show Updates:

  • Listeners in 30 countries! Losing track! Welcome to Indonesia, Greece, and the Czech Republic!
  • Unfortunately no new listeners from Saint Pierre and Miquelon, at least not on YouTube.
  • Twitter follower numebr 100!
  • @MetallicastPod at Metallicast@SkynyrdPodcast at Skynyrd Reconsydyrd
  • Candice Night retweets our mention of “Shadow of the Moon”
  • David Coverdale with two retweets!

MKI to MKII Transition:

  • Hallelujah/April released as single/B-side.
  • Ian Gillan and Roger Glover had left Episode Six officially in July.  The Concerto was recorded in September.
  • Sheila Carter-Dimmock viewed the break up as inevitable.  In “The Road of Golden Dust: The Deep Purple Story 1968-1976” she’s quoted as saying:
    • “Sooner or later someone was going to see this good looking guy with a great voice, oozing charisma and snap him up.”
  • Legal battle between Gloria Bristow and Deep Purple management.  Allegedly settled for £3000.
  • Simper, who was furious, began legal proceedings which he ended up settling for £10,000 in lieu of a royalty deal which ended up being a bad move.
  • Rod Evans just sort of vanished, though this isn’t his last involvement with Deep Purple or their lawyers.
  • New sound, reporters were calling “progressive rock”, reminds me of how they called things “alternative” in the early 90s.
  • In the book “Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story” Jon Lord says in an interview: “We believe in experiment and excitement.  We were trying to develop unnaturally before. We would grasp all sorts of different ideas at once, like a child in a garden full of flowers  — he wants them all at once. When Ian and Roger joined something very nice happened with the group.”

History of the Concerto:

  • Released in December of 1969 in the US by Tetragrammaton and in January in the UK.
  • Jon Lord had been taken by this idea when he’d heard “Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein” while he was in the Artwoods.  He noted if they were doing this sort of thing with jazz then why not with Rock?
  • When he was with the Artwoods they planned to perform with an orchestra in Germany but the band broke up before they could realize this.
  • There had been a lot of bands who’d fused classical and rock.  In 1961 Nero & The Gladiators had done a version of “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”  In 1965 Blackmore had even done a version of this with his group The Lancasters.
  • Dave Edmund’s band Love Sculpture had done an arrangement of Kachaturian’s “Sabre Dance.”
  • Putting an actual orchestra and a rock band on the same stage was still a new concept.
  • Keith Emerson did this with his piano concerto a year previously:
  • Malcolm Jones at the new Harvest label was encouraged with the release of the “Hallelujah” single.  While he said it did nothing in sales it had received a great number of positive reviews. He felt the band could do no wrong and gave the Concerto the green light.
  • Lord had talked about doing this for a while while in Deep Purple and Tony Edwards told Jon Lord in April that he’d booked the 24th of September 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall.
  • Jon Lord had wanted to do this sort of thing for a while and claimed that while he’d been thinking of this kind of idea for five years he had never been with a band he thought could pull it off until now.  This is despite having previously tried with The Artwoods.
  • Malcolm Arnold was tasked to conduct.  More than than Arnold helped Jon Lord along the way with the composition and taking on the task of how to deal with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Malcolm Arnold:

  • Malcolm Arnold
    • Born in 1921, would have been 47 when conducting this, Jon Lord would have been 28.
    • Inspired by Louis Armstrong he took up the trumpet at age 12.  By 1943 he was the principle trumpet in the London Philharmonic
    • During WWII he registered as a conscientious objector but and as a condition was put into the National Rifle Service.
    • The army ended up putting him in a military band and he shot himself in the foot to return to civilian life.
    • He remained in the LPO until 1948 before retiring to become a full time composer.
    • He ended up being one of the most sought after composers in Britain.
    • According to an article from the Daily Mail by 1961 he had a reputation for being frequently drunk and highly promiscuous.
    • He had two failed marriages and ended up hospitalized after two suicide attempts.
    • He overcame depression and despite being given 1 year to live he surpassed that by 22 years before his death at 84 in 2006.
    • Successful composer having composed for many, many movies such as “The Bridge Over The River Kwai”
    • He would be knighted in 1993.

The Lead Up to The Concerto:

  • Ian Gillan was not happy with the project.  He was quoted as saying: “Roger and I, being the new boys, were thinking, what’s going on here? Are we in a rock band or a classical rock gimmick band?”
  • Blackmore was also against the Concerto wanting to see the band go in a harder direction.
  • Malcolm Arnold had been showed some pages of the score and was excited about the project.  The members of the Philharmonic, not so much. They scoffed at the idea of this. Since classical music is very much a dictatorship Malcolm arnold apparently cursed at them and they calmed down about it.
  • The fact that it was decided that this would be broadcast on TV ended up being a very good move for the band.
  • Roger Glover in “Roger Glover – Made in Wales” talk about being “out of [his] depth.”
  • “Deep Purple” was being released in the US just at the time they were going record the Concerto.  It got bad distribution because of the naked people displayed on the cover. Some places refused to display it and it did poorly.
  • This was the same label that had released John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Two virgins.”
  • A new label, Harvest, had been created by EMI to distribute more “prog” style acts and the Concerto was slated for release under this new label.
  • Jon Lord had to work on the Concerto nonstop, getting little sleep, while the rest of the band was a little more well-rested between gigs, rehearsal, and writing for “In Rock.”
  • Blackmore was the most adamantly against the Concerto.  While they worked on material for “In Rock” they had a little resentment toward Lord who was being perceived as the “leader” of the band.
  • There was very little time to practice as renting a symphony orchestra is not trivial.
  • The initial runthrough was, according to Jon Lord, “an unmitigated disaster.”  Lord was nearly in tears, convinced the whole thing would be a disaster.
  • One of the cellists reportedly stood up and denounced the project as performing with a “second rate Beatles.”
  • I’ve read a few versions of this.  It’s usually phrased as Malcolm Arnold giving the orchestra a “talking to” but in “The Road of Golden Dust” he’s quoted as having screamed at the orchestra members and calling them “You’re supposed to be the finest orchestra in Britain but you’re playing like a bunch of [c-words]!” and soon after that they got their act together.  He’s also quoted as saying “Tonight, we’re going to make history so we may as well make music at the same time.”
  • Jon Lord quoted as saying “the musicians were obliged to play and some of them hated it! And even the people in the audience weren’t all that thrilled. But it was 1969! But I think everything one does is a product of its time. Some things in this “Concerto” were really very much dead weight – I’d be the first to admit it but it was only an experiment. I only wanted to try and break these boundaries that separated rock ‘n’ roll from classic.  On the other hand I don’t want to reject anything I once did afterwards; I can now only look at something from an, if you like, ‘wiser’ perspective. I mean, the fact that it was important at the time. And, to be honest, I still like it p the melodies, Gillan’s singing, Ritchie’s angry guitar, the whole atmosphere. I wouldn’t distance myself from this.”
  • Some tensions in the band. Lord missed a lot of rehearsals in the lead up to completing the Concerto’s score.
  • The band had a string of live shows lined up leading to the release of the Concerto.  Not sure that the band gave him credit for the pressure he must’ve been under.
  • Gillan: “I must admit that my attitude was all wrong.  Roger and I had only just joined the bana nad we didn’t really appreciate what working with the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra at the time could do for us.  We were already writing for the album, and this seemed like an unwanted interruption. Deep Purple have always tried to be challenging, yet here we were with something truly challenging and different, and we couldn’t appreciate what we had.”

Album Details and Analysis:

  • Official release contains the three movements of the concerto, the second being split into two parts on either side of the record.
  • The cameras were not rolling as they played their three original songs.
  • The entire concert consisted of:
    • Symphony No. 6, a composition by Malcolm Arnold
    • Hush
    • Wring That Neck
    • Child in Time
    • The Concerto
    • Parts of the Concerto’s Third Movement as an encore
  1. First Movement: Moderato – Allegro (19:23)
    • After an extended orchestral introduction, the group and orchestra work as separate blocks, trying to get dominance over the main theme and working as antagonists to each other. There are cadenzas for electric guitar and clarinet.
  2. Second Movement: Andante (19:11)
    • This movement is based around two tunes that are played in various different arrangements by the orchestra and the group, individually and together. After a combined pop / blues version of the second tune, there is an organ cadenza followed by a quiet ending by the orchestra.
  3. Third Movement: Vivace-Presto (13:09)
    • Apart from Ian Paice‘s drum solo, the music combines the orchestra and group together in a “free for all”. The movement alternates between 6/8 and 2/4 time signatures.

Reception and Review

  • Ian Gillan mentions in “Child in Time” that Jon’s first child was born that night to “complete his triumph.”
  • In six months (between August of 1969 and January of 1970) Deep Purple had released three albums: Taliesyn, Deep Purple, and the Concerto.
  • Went off really well.  Lord noted a few minor sections he would have improved. There was only one major problem which is where Ritchie was supposed to play a ninety-second solo but he never stopped.  Arnold was frantically trying to get Ritchie’s attention and Ritchie seemed to be ignoring him Finally Ritchie came out of it and they hit the cue perfectly.
  • Everyone was so pleased with the show that they demanded an encore which they were not prepared for.
  • This generated a huge amount of publicity for the band.
  • The masterstroke is in John Coletta’s masterful control of the publicity around this event.
  • Deep Purple got more press in the month surrounding the concert than they had in the previous two years combined.
  • Roger Glover in an interview: “The next day the papers were full of us and Jon Lord suddenly became the main composer of the band, which really got up the noses of everyone else in the band, and Ritchie in particular felt very bitter about it.”
  • Tensions in the band were so strong that Jon Lord almost quit.  Somehow it all got smoothed out.
  • Now a lot of people were introduced to Deep Purple as this band that plays with Orchestras.
  • A monthly later the band showed up to play a gig in Ipswitch.  The promoter had apparently been unable to book an orchestra so booked a brass band thinking they could play alongside Deep Purple.  Instead the brass band opened and Deep Purple followed.
  • Some classical music critics panned it being derivative.
  • Rock critics also thought it to be derivative.  The host of Top Gear, John Peel, was so appalled he refused to play Deep Purple on his show.
  • It was popular on the BBC and they commissioned Jon Lord to write another which he did with the follow up “Gemini Suite” which was performed almost a year later in September of 1970.  This was not billed as Deep Purple and didn’t see an official release until 1971. This is credited to Jon Lord instead of Deep Purple.
  • The Concerto was performed three more times (some sources say one more time), in Vienna, Zurich, and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster at the Hollywood Bowl on 25 August 1970, after which the score was lost.
  • The score had to be recreated to perform it again in 1999.
  • Malcolm Arnold, interviewed in 1970:
    • What strikes me about Deep Purple is their tremendous musical integrity. This is so refreshing in a commercial world. I loved working with them. They’re thorough musicians. They’re not trying to prove anything. They just like to play now and again with a Symphony Orchestra. They’re not trying to prove any deep philosophical problem. They just want to write music that’s enjoyable.
  • Ritchie Blackmore in a 1979 interview:
    • I was not into classical music then. I was very very moody and just wanted to play very very loudly and jump around a lot. I couldn’t believe we were playing with orchestras. We kept getting lumbered playing with them. We started off in ’68 – this is my opinion – as a relatively competent band with a lot to say but saying it all at the same time as each other. In ’69 we went into the classical stuff because it was Jon Lord‘s big thing to write a concerto for group and orchestra. He was very sincere, but I didn’t like playing it or respect the fact that we were doing it. The orchestra was very condescending towards us, and I didn’t like playing with them, so it was one big calamity onstage. But Jon was happy with it and management was happy with it because we had a press angle, which I resented very much.
    • In 1970 I said, ‘right, we’re going to make a rock and roll LP. If this doesn’t succeed I’ll play in orchestras for the rest of my life’, because Jon wasn’t too into hard rock. Luckily it took off, so I didn’t have to play with orchestras any more.
    • I love orchestras, chamber music—unaccompanied violin is my favourite. But I respected them too much, and we just weren’t in the same calibre. I’d been playing 15 years at the time, and stuck next to some dedicated violinist who’s been playing for 50 years just to give an angle to the press—it’s insulting. That’s why it started and ended very abruptly.
  • 1999 performance included the same lineup swapping out Blackmore for Morse.  Huge set including performances of songs from Deep Purple’s catalog over the years, the Butterfly Ball, Ronnie James Dio, The Steve Morse Band joins in, and the Kick Horns doing Wring That Neck.
  • Performance is scheduled for November 19, 2019 in Quebec featuring Bruce Dickinson for 50th anniversary.

In The News . . .

  • Dio Hologram tour about to happen:
  • Dio documentary announced:
  • Ian Gillan talks about new bands/music:
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1bXuT61HsA
    • https://www.nme.com/news/music/deep-purple-ian-gillan-interview-young-artists-advice-2492137
    • Asked if he was listening to any younger bands, Gillan replied: “No, I steer clear of all that. And for a good reason. When I was in my formative years, I rejected Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Dean Martin. I now realise they were all great artists but at the time as a young man, you have to clear the decks. There’s this sort of psychological vandalism that takes place for yourself.
    • “I’m in that position now. I need to step aside. My uncle was a jazz pianist, and I remember that when we did ‘Deep Purple In Rock’ he ran from the room screaming saying ‘I can’t hear anything, I can’t hear any instruments’. I was rubbing my hands going ‘Great’. I had upset the previous generation and a man I respect highly. I don’t think it’s right to pass comment.”
    • Gillan added: “The only advice I can give is to absorb as much as you can from as wide a spectrum as you can. If you’re in a rock band and only soak up Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple kind of beginnings then you’re not going to have much leeway. We soaked up everything from Beethoven to Chopin to Jimi Hendrix to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.
    • “If you do that then it will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.”

This Week in Purple History . . .

June 10 through June 16

  • June 10, 1982 – Rainbow releases straight between the eyes
  • June 11, 1953 – Mark Nauseef is born
  • June 12, 2006 – Live in Montreux 69 is released
  • June 12, 1967 – “Hallelujah” is secretly recorded
  • June 13, 2006 – M3 (formerly Company of Snakes) release “Rough and Ready”
  • June 13, 2006 – Rainbow releases “Live in Munich”
  • June 13, 2008 – Judas Priest releases Nostradamus with Don Airey on keyboards
  • June 14, 2011 – Black Country Communion releases second album “2”
  • June 15, 1951 – Craig Gruber is born
  • June 15, 1973 – Tony Edwards notifies Roger Glover that Blackmore wants him out

Deep Purple Deep Track:

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 #6 – Episode Six

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

Show Updates:

  • Welcome to our new listeners from Korea, Germany, and Japan! Over 20 countries (23)!
  • Thanks to Kiss Podcast 2.0 @PodofThunder on Twitter – latest episode is “Gettin’ Tighter.”
  • Lots of great viewer feedback

Ian Gillan’s History

Roger Glover’s History

History of Episode Six:

  • Formed in July of 1964 from two bands, the Lightnings and the Madisons.
  • Both bands formed at the Harrow County Grammar School.
  • The carried on as the Lightnings but decided it was too old fashioned.  They based the name on a novel called “Danish Episode.”
  • Frontman Andy Ross joined the band as singer.
  • Shortly after agreeing on “Episode Six” they went pro and found a lot of work.
  • Episode Six played gigs all the time earning a reputation as a great club act.
  • In April of 1965 they went to Frankfurt, Germany where they would play from 7pm to 3am.
  • Episode Six had their eyes on the singer of Wainwright’s Gentleman, and Ian Gillan joined in May of 1965
  • Ian Gillan states in “Child in Time” that they were to get £30,000 a year with a royalty agreement of 75 percent of 1 percent, rising to 75 percent of 3 percent after twenty-five years.  Probably ended up being a good deal as Episode Six likely made most of their money after being released on CD in the 90s.
  • The band recorded their first tracks after that after being signed by Pye records.
  • First unreleased track:
    • My Babe (Demo featuring Andy Ross)
  • First single was “Put Yourself in My Place” a cover of a song by The Hollies.
  • Teamed up with Gloria Bristow (Ian Gillan referred to as “Glorious Bristols.”) to get better management.  Former employee of Helmut the original manager of the Detours who ended up becoming The Who
  • Gloria Bristow was managing Dusty Springfield at the same time booked Episode Six to play one song at the start of each half of the show.
  • Bristow planned solo singles and released “I Will Warm Your Heart” credited to Sheila Carter and Episode Six.
  • They toured all over, ending up in Beirut where they spent Christmas and landed three singles in the Lebanese Top 10.  It was great press but further research revealed this was based on sales from two record shops.
  • Ian Gillan meeting Angel Machenio
  • The band started to do more originals with Glover writing a lot of them.
  • They played regularly on Radio One on a show called Radio One Club.
  • Another single came out, “Love-Hate-Revenge.”
  • Glover on watching these recordings when they were released in the early 1990’s as quoted in “Smoke on the Water” by Dave Thompson:
    • “I love it.  I unashamedly love it.  I cringed a few times, but it brought back so many memories.  Episode Six had more or else disappeared for me — yes, I remember the singles, and yes, I remember that we spent twenty years on the road over the period of a few months, but it brought a lot of lovely memories back.”
  • They began to plan recording an album in 1967 which would use this concept of having a group side and a “solo” side.  There was pressure from the label that they needed a more successful single before they could do an album.
  • The single “Morning Dew” came out with Shields singing at the beginning.
  • Harvey Shield got unhappy with the group and quit to form a due with his Israeli Girlfriend.  John Kerrison joined for a short time after performing with the Javelins and with Nick Simper in “The Pirates” formed after Johnny Kidd had died.
  • When it came time to do Graham Carter’s single he decided he wanted to use the name “Neo Maya.”  Because of this it didn’t sell very well. “I won’t Hurt You”
  • Single: I can See Through You
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrsEutVzRLw
    • First original used as an A-side
    • Written by Roger Glover, and started to get him attention outside the group as a songwriter.
    • The group really felt this single should have done well but had poor distriution by PYE.
  • They were unhappy and signed with American label MGM for a 3-year contract.
  • First single “Little One”
  • This is when Nick Simper first asked Ian Gillan if he’d like to join Deep Purple and Gillan declined.  They really felt that with this new record deal they were on the verge of making it big.
  • In the summer of 1967 Kerrison left the band. Mick Underwood (formerly of The Herd) takes his place.
  • Shortly after this they switched labels again signing with Chapter One, a subsidiary of Decca.
  • First single on Chapter One was called “Lucky Sunday”
  • It was after this that Glover convinced Gillan to write lyrics and they began a songwriting collaboration.
  • They change their name back to Episode Six.
  • They worked on the soundtrack to the film Les Bicyclettes De Belsize with their song:
  • Last single came in January of 1969 with the single: “Mozart vs the Rest”:
  • Sheila began working on solo stuff.
  • Gillan/Glover were in London writing music with song companies. One song, Questions, was released by “The Sweet” in 1969:
  • They then began to work on the long-delayed Episode Six album.
  • One day, Underwood received call from his old friend Ritchie Blackmore (from “The Outlaws”) asking if he knew any singers.
  • Mick Underwood, knowing Ritchie, recommended Ian when he heard they may be looking for a new singer.
  • Lord and Blackmore dropped by the Ivy Loge Club in Woodford to watch Episode Six.  Blackmore even joined them on stage.
  • Lord asked Gillan if he’d like to join Deep Purple and asked if he knew any bass players that may be interested.
  • Gillan and Glover played their remaining gigs with Episode Six.
  • Glover had a harder time leaving the group having played with them for much longer than Gillan.
  • They met with Lord and Blackmore and showed them some of their songs.  Glover in an interview said:
    • We nervously played our songs . . . they were all about monkeys and lions.  Monkeys always appeared in our lyrics in those days. But there nothing that interested him.  And then he pulled out a demo of ‘Hallelujah’ and said ‘What do you think of that?”
    • Hallelujah
    • The duo went on to play out the last few shows with Episode Six while Rod Evans and Nick Simper didn’t find out until later, playing a few more shows with Deep Purple even after this single had been recorded.

History After Ian and Roger Leave:

  • John Gustafson replaced Roger Glover on bass.
  • Sheila Carter even formed a group with John Gustafson, Mick Underwood, and J. Peter Robinson.
  • They were later billed as Episode Six with Sheila Carter, later the Sheila Carter Band.  She was the constant until going into doing session work.
  • Graham Carter became a booking agent for hotels in the middle east.
  • Tony Lander went into business as a decorator after a sting with his own band.
  • Gloria Bristow was upset at her band being broken up and reached a settlement with Deep Purple’s management. She then used that money to support her new band Quatermass!

Episode Six 50th Anniversary Celebration

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

June 3 through June 9

  • June 3, 1970 – Deep Purple In Rock released
  • June 3, 1974 – Jon Lord performs last of his Munich classical dates for Windows
  • June 3, 1998 – Whitesnake releases “Starkers in Tokyo” unplugged
  • June 3, 2011 – Whitesnake releases Live at Donington 1990
  • June 4, 1969 – Ritchie and Jon catch Episode Six gig at the Ivy Lodge Club in Woodford
  • June 5, 1970 – Black Night released as single in the UK
  • June 6, 1946 – Mickey Lee Soule is born
  • June 6, 1960 – Steve Vai is born
  • June 7, 1969 – Mk II records their first session together at De Lane Lea – “Hallelujah”
  • June 7, 1995 – Glenn Hughes releases “Feel”
  • June 8, 1987 – Gary Driscoll Dies (drummer for Elf, Rainbow found murdered – still unsolved, person of interest fled the country)
  • June 9, 1941 – John Lord is born

Deep Purple Deep Track:

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 #5 – Deep Purple

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

Show Updates:

  • Welcome to Australia, Estonia, Serbia, Romania, Japan, Namibia, and the UK who just joined our listeners!  20 countries!
  • Copyright issue on Episode #4 for “The Shield” only. Pretty sure it was a glitch with the algorithm.
  • John has a new mic!

Listener Feedback:

History Leading Up to Deep Purple:

  • Commercial Entertainments price list was floating around on Twitter a few weeks ago.  Here’s a picture backing up that claim.
  • From “Deep Purple – A Critical Retrospective”:
    • Simper: “Recording was always a problem. We were always short of material, purely because of our schedule. The fact that we were always being chased by Tetragrammaton for material, we never had the luxury like most bands do now of saying, ‘hang on fellas, we need a little bit of down time to just think about stuff and try and be creative.’
    • Blackmore: “That really bugs me…going to the studio, ‘right, you gotta turn out an LP, boys.’ You know, ‘here we go, you gotta write a song…today.’ It’s just ridiculous.”
  • The cover art was from Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of Earthly Delights painted some time in the late 15th or early 16th century.
    • Tetragrammaton Records had only been active for a year at this point and was about to go bankrupt.  They didn’t have a lot of money to spend on promotion and were desperately hoping for another hit like “Hush.”
  • The record was delayed and only released in the US after they’d returned back to England after their tour.
  • In the UK it was released at the same time as Concerto for Group and Orchestra was recorded and the lineup for the band had already changed.

Album Review: Deep Purple

Tracks :

  1. Chasing Shadows (Paice, Lord)
  2. Blind (Lord)
  3. Lalena (Donovan Leitch)
  4. Fault Line (Blackmore, Simper, Lord, Paice)
  5. The Painter (Blackmore, Evans, Lord, Simper, Paice)
  6. Why Didn’t Rosemary? (Blackmore, Evans, Lord, Simper, Paice)
  7. Bird Has Flown (Lord, Evans, Blackmore)
  8. April (Blackmore, Lord)
  9. Written by Blackmore about his birth month (they were clearly running low on ideas) and had a classical interlude inserted by Jon Lord.
  10. It’s a song about how tragic the month of April is but we’re not sure why.
  11. The longest track ever recorded and released on an album by Deep Purple.
  12. Lyrically this album is a bit of a downer.
  13. Ritchie’s ex-wife has said that she and Ritchie met in April as well and this song was about that.  Given how depressing this song is it’s no wonder the marriage didn’t last.

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

May 27 through June 2

  • May 27, 1977: Steve Morse’s first album with Dixie Dregs “Free Fall” is released
  • May 28, 2001: Tony Ashton passed away
  • May 30, 1974: Jon Lord performs the first of his Munich shows which will become his “Windows” album.
  • May 30, 1987: Performance that will be released as “Nobody’s Perfect”
  • June 1, 1972: Warhorse releases their second, and final, album “Red Sea”
  • Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook where we take a deep dive into all of these on a daily basis.

Mystery Track

  • I’ll play a snippet of a song that features musicians who are linked to Deep Purple in three or less steps.  You’ll need to narrow it down to:
    • The year
    • The members or band
    • The album
  • Googling is allowed
  • Will reveal the mystery song and what the connection to Deep Purple
  • Episode #5 Mystery Track (and more!!) revealed here [SPOILERS!!]

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 #4 – The Book of Taliesyn

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

Show Updates:

  • Welcome to our new Bulgarian, Russian, and Swedish listeners who joined us this past week!  That gives us listeners from 16 different countries!
  • We went a little long last week. Wanted to make sure we were thorough. We’ll try to tighten it up a little bit this week.  Or should we not worry? Let us know what you think!
  • Continuing to get support and kind words from @sabbathbloodypc on Twitter — check his show out if you want a deep dive into the history and music of Black Sabbath!
  • Mike Ladano (who has a great music blog at mikeladano.com, @MikeLadano on Twitter) had a nice back and forth about his review on the Deep Purple – In Rock (Anniversary Edition).  Check it out at mikeladano.com. Spoiler: he gives it 6/5 stars!
  • More listener feedback: Who are we? Where do we come from?  What’s our story?
    • People want to know what we’re all about and honestly, it never occurred to me that anyone would care.
    • A little about us . . .

John’s Notes From The Field:

  • Recent Whitesnake show in Lincoln, RI on Saturday, May 11.

History Leading Up to The Book of Taliesyn:

The Book of Taliesyn Album Review

Tracks :

  1. Listen, Learn, Read On (Blackmore, Evans, Lord, Paice)
  2. Wring That Neck (Blackmore, Simper, Lord, Paice)
  3. Kentucky Woman (Neil Diamond)
  4. (a) Exposition (b) We Can Work It Out (Blackmore, Simper, Lord, Paice/Lennon, McCartney)
  5. Shield (Blackmore, Evans, Lord)
  6. Anthem (Lord, Evans)
  7. River Deep, Mountain High (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector)

History After Release:

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

May 20 through May 26

Deep Purple Mystery Track!

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 #3 – Shades of Deep Purple

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

Show Updates: & Feedback:

  • Video/audio changes made in episode #2.
  • @iandes76 on Twitter – “Nice discussion guys . . . keep the pods coming!”  Also, “Still can’t wrap my head around Stormbringer and CTTB.”
  • @joeblackrock on Twitter – “Deep Purple Podcast, who knew?”  Our calculations are correct, we may be the first!
  • @sabbathbloodypc on Twitter – “My prayers have been answered!!! Excited to go deep with this.  Welcome to the community.”
  • Bill Berry on the Website – “Good to see someone has started a DP podcast. The first show was a good start! A few tech glitches but mostly good, honest conversation about the greatest hard rock band of all time. Congrats Nathan and John, I look forward to hearing what you have up your sleeves for next time.”
  • @perroju666 on Twitter – “Grizzly Adams GIF” of approval when finding out about a Deep Purple Podcast.  High praise!
  • There were a few more, these were all received before episode #2 even released!
  • First week brings listeners from the US, Ireland, Canada, Chile, Brazil, the Philippines, Uruguay, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Estonia, and Serbia.

The Formation of Deep Purple

  • In September of 1967, Chris Curtis, former drummer for the band The Searchers, met with Tony Edwards (a London businessman) to found a band called Roundabout.  There would be a rotating cast with only Curtis staying on as singer. Edwards like this and financed the venture with Ron Hire and Jon Coletta (who would be Deep Purple’s manager through 1976).
  • Curtis’s roommate happened to be Jon Lord who was playing with Artwoods.  Art Wood, was the brother of Ronnie Wood. Jon Lord was also playing in “The Garden” which was the backing band for The Flower Pot Men with bassist Nick Simper and drummer Carlo Little.
  • They recommended Ritchie Blackmore who Curtis had been aware of while The Searchers played with The Outlaws in Hamburg.
  • Ritchie joined in December of 1967.
  • Curtis’s erratic behavior (citation) became a hindrance and HEC Enterprises dropped him entrusting Lord and Blackmore with the task of filling out the rest of the band.
  • Lord got Simper to join and Ritchie Blackmore got Bobby Woodman to join the band on drums.
  • Dave Curtiss, a friend of Woodman, was considered as singer but had other commitments.
  • Nick Simper is quoted as saying that Ian Gillan was contacted for an audition as singer but declined.
  • The band rented an old farmhouse in February of 1968 where they set up shop and continue to search for a singer.  Rod Stewart was considered as he was managed by John Coletta as well.
  • In his book, Deep Purple: A Matter of Fact, Jerry Bloom writes:
    • ” Another vocalist considered was the lead singer with the Jeff Beck Group — Rod Stewart.  The guys went to check him out at London’s Marquee club on 20 February [1968]. Blackmore was, and indeed still is to this day, a great admirer of Beck’s guitar skills, but none of the band was suitably impressed with Stewart to even offer him an audition.  It’s probably worth mentioning that Stewart had also been one of the many vocalists to enter Joe Meek’s studios several years earlier but the maverick producer was also unimpressed with the self-proclaimed ‘Scottish’ singer!”
    • “Another interesting fact concerning STewart happened shortly after this.  Simper recalled it was during Deep Purple’s tour in Denmark, but it possibly occurred at the 8th National Jazz & Blues Festival at Sunbury-on-Thames on 8th August where both bands were on the bill.  According to Simper, Blackmore was chatting to Stewart, and recalling the night at the Marquee earlier in the year, drew the singer in hook, line and sinker when he commented: “It was really great.”  Stewart apparently perked up, “yeah?” “Especially the beit when you went off stage for the band to do an instrumental.” Blackmore quipped, leaving BEck’s frontman somewhat deflated.”
  • They chose Rod Evans who was playing with The Maze.  Evans brought along Ian Paice who Blackmore remembered from Germany.
  • Woodman had been unhappy with the direction the band was heading and Ian Paice slid into that spot.

Shades of Deep Purple

  • Blackmore asked friend, Derek Lawrence, to be the band’s producer.
    • Lawrence had worked with the Outlaws previously
  • Band recorded demos to send to record label
Deep Purple’s first show in Tastrup, Denmark – April 20, 1968
  • Band went on a promotion tour and played shows in Denmark and Sweden through April and May.  They were booked as Roundabout but changed their name on the ferry ride to Tastrup, Denmark before their first show on April 20, 1968.  They were named after Ritchie Blackmore’s favore song “Deep Purple” by Peter DeRose.
    • According to the book Deep Purple: A Matter of Fact by Jerry Bloom, this could be disputed.
      • A concert poster from “The Floral Hall” lists a band called “The Deep Purple” pas a support band for The Maze, Evans and Paice’s band at the time.
      • There’s evidence of another band called Deep Purple in 1967.  Mike Wheeler was in this band which took its name from the 1933 song.
      • There is also evidence of several gigs being played elsewhere in England by a band called Deep Purple which cannot be attributed to either of these precursors or the Deep Purple we know.
      • Finally there was a fourth Deep Purple who was billed with Episode Six at “The Cobweb.”
  • They were signed upon returning by label Tetragrammaton.  Their backers, HEC, had spent most of their budget on promotion and equipment so they were relieved.
  • They had booked studio time while on tour and on May 11, 1968 they went into the studio to recorded their new material.  On Monday, May 13 they recorded “One More Rainy Day” and completed the album. They added sound effects from a BBC album as transitions and the album was mixed later that day.

Album Review: Shades of Deep Purple

Shades of Deep Purple UK Album Cover

Tracks :

  1. And the Address (Blackmore, Lord)
  2. Hush (Joe South)
  3. One More Rainy Day (Lord, Evans)
  4. Prelude: Happiness/I’m So Glad (Blackmore, Evans, Lord, Paice, Simper/Skip James)
  5. Mandrake Root (Blackmore, Lord, Evans)
  6. Help! (Lennon McCartney)
  7. Love Help Me (Blackmore, Evans)
  8. Hey Joe (Billy Roberts)

Notes:

  • After the album was approved by the label they did a photo shoot.  The cover was designed by Les Weisbrich and allegedly (according to the book “Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Star” by Dave Thompson) cost half a million dollars. This does not seem possible.
  • “Hush” released in June and was a huge success peaking at #4 on the US charts.  It did not do as well in the UK. They did a lip sync’ed appearance on to the David Frost Show with Mick Angus standing in for Blackmore who was unavailable but this did not improve interest in the UK.
  • At the time of release the band focused on the US and their reception in the UK was a bit more critical.  
  • From the book Smoke on the Water British music journalist Mick Farren described Deep Purple’s music as “a slow and pompous din, somewhere between bad Tchaikovsky and a B-52 taking off on a bombing run.”
  • There were criticised for being “too American” and “the poor man’s Vanilla Fudge.”
  • In the US they introduced them as “the English Vanilla Fudge.”
  • History looks a little more favorably on the first album.
  • In an issue of Observer Music Monthly (2013) Rick Wakeman chose “Shades of Deep Purple” as his favorite British record of all time.

In The News . . .

This Week in Purple History . . .

May 13 through May 19

  • May 13, 1948 – Colin Towns (keyboardist for Ian Gillan band) was born
  • May 13, 1968 – Completed recording of “Shades of Deep Purple” after a mere 72 hours in the studio
  • May of 1970 – Quatermass issued their self titled debut
  • May 16, 2010 – Ronnie James Dio dies
  • We go a little deeper with these on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to highlight these landmark events

Three Degrees of Deep Purple:

  • I’ll play a snippet of a song that features musicians who are linked to Deep Purple in three or less steps.  You’ll need to narrow it down to:
    • The year
    • The members or band
    • The album
  • Googling is allowed
  • Will reveal the mystery song and what the connection to Deep Purple
  • Episode #3 Mystery Track (and more!!) revealed here [SPOILERS!!]

For Further Information:

Posted on

Episode #2 – Before They Were Purple (Part 1)

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

Deep Purple Before They Were Deep Purple

Before they were in Deep Purple, what were some of their early members up to?

In The News:

Three Degrees of Deep Purple:

  • Listen to the episode to find out what the mystery track is this week!

Listener Mail/Comments

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

Recording Episode #2

On Monday we recorded Episode #2 which will be released on May 13, 2019. In this episode we’re taking a look at some of the bands that the original Mark I lineup contributed to before forming Deep Purple. This episode was a lot of fun and we hope you enjoy this discussion of the musical history behind Deep Purple.

Posted on

Episode #1 – Where Fans Begin (Show Notes)

Watch on YouTube!

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

Discussion: How did we get into Deep Purple?

  • Why are we doing this podcast?
    • There aren’t any other podcasts!  Why? There are tons on other bands.  Maybe no one out there is interested in a Deep Purple podcast and that’s why none exist.  Either way there are two possible outcomes:
      • 1. ) People will appreciate this and want to enjoy more of it or
      • 2.) we get to explore our love of Deep Purple every week and no one listens.  Either way we win!
  • To get a chance to catch up on the band!
    • There’s lots by the band that I have yet to explore and this will give me a great opportunity to do just that.
  • What is your history with the band as a fan?
    • When did you first hear of the band or what really caught your attention and made you want to learn more.

In The News:

RITCHIE BLACKMORE’s RAINBOW To Release New Version Of ‘Black Sheep Of The Family’ This Month

David Coverdale Reveals “Untold” Secret About Deep Purple

  • It’s actually just the story about how he and Ian Paice toyed with starting a band with Phil Lynott.

Paice Ashton Lord – “Malice In Wonderland” reissue

  • Excitement around this release.

Posted on

Recording Episode #1

Last night we recorded our first episode. It was a blast getting to talk about what got us into the band and our history with their music. With any luck we’ll have episode #1 posted this coming Monday. Keep a look out!