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Patron News:
JJ Stannard
Nah I’m kidding. Tell you what though, something you might find interesting. My dad Terry (who passed away a couple of years back) was a drummer, and one of the records he played on was the 1977 album by Young & Moody (Bob Young and Micky Moody) which was produced by Roger Glover. Dad was also in the band Kokomo with bassist Alan Spenner, who worked with David Coverdale and played on the 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar album. Small world, eh? Love the podcast, keep up the good work!
Nate guest hosts on upcoming episode of “Gain it for Riffs”
Apple Podcasts Reviews
2020-05-11
From the UK!
5 Stars!
Gus_McCrae
Highway Stars
Deep Purple In Rock is where it started for me – I built a record collection by exploring the influences of the best hard rock band of them all. Purple were head and shoulders above Zeppelin and Sabbath and the rest – and these guys get it. Really enjoying hearing a US perspective on Deep Purple from presenters who understand there is more than Smoke on the Water. And, a year late to the party, there are over 50 episodes for me to catch up on. Great stuff.
Lead up to the Album:
Ian Gillan was out to rejoin Deep Purple.
Bill Ward had worked hard and gotten himself out of the depression he had been in.
The thought after Gillan left was to get a virtual unknown on vocals. One name thrown about was Ron Keel of the band Steeler.
David Donato was also given a shot but only got as far as recording a few demos.
Jeff Fenholt was also considered.
Bill decided after getting sober that he needed to leave for good.
Eric Singer was recruited to take his place as drummer.
Geezer, who admitted to boozing pretty hard during the Born Again tour was also out.
So now Tony realized that this group of musicians assembling was not really Black Sabbath at this point.
Dave Spitz, who had worked with producer Glixman in the past joined the band as bass player.
Iommi says the original idea was to use ten different singers but he “ended up using Glenn on all of them.”
Iommi says he and Glenn were both going through pretty major drug problems at the time.
Glenn and Geoff Nichols didn’t get song writing credits for the most part. Glenn was because of contractual reasons.
Glenn says Dio and Halford were also considered when Iommi was considering multiple singers for the album. David Coverdale and Robert Plant were also considered.
Glenn says Glixman was also undergoing a huge drug problem and that he and Glixman didn’t get along.
Glenn claims to writing a bulk of the lyrics with some help from Nichols and Glixman.
Engraving was done on copper and was called “The Temptation of Saint Anthony.”
On the back of the album cover, you can see a copper-plate engraving print by the 16th century German painter Lucas Cranach the Elder. The engraving was calledThe Temptation of Saint Anthony and shows, of course, the story of the Saint in the desert.
Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, Kronach 1472–1553 Weimar) The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1506 German, Woodcut; second state of two (Hollstein); sheet: 16 1/16 x 11 in. (40.8 x 28 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Junius S. Morgan, 1919 (19.52.17) http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/404502
Iommi stands saddened on the album cover, as a parallel to his namesake Saint Anthony standing alone in the desert of Egypt.
All music and lyrics by Tony Iommi with additional lyrics by Geoff Nichols, Glenn Hughes, and Jeff Glixman.
Side One:
In for the Kill
7/4 time signature.
Lyrics are about Vlad the Impaler and Armageddon.
Glenn said this wasn’t one of his favorites. Called it “demon and drug stuff.”
Could be he’s comparing the battle with drugs to a battle with demons.
No Stranger to Love
Gordon Copley plays bass on this track.
This song was issued as a single.
They shot a video for the song and that’s where the shot of Tony on the cover of the album comes from.
The video has Bing Crosby’s niece, Denise, in it.
Turn to Stone
Sphinx (The Guardian)
Lyrics from Nicholls.
Seventh Star
This song was most inspired by the Egyptian Saint Anthony (251-356), who developed Christian monasticism, leading the ascetic life of a hermit in the desert, in an endeavor to rid himself of the temptation to sin and attain spiritual peace and oneness with God.
Geoff Nicholls wrote lyrics for this song about the death of his mother.
Glixman wrote lyrics about the death of his dog in place of Nicholls’s lyrics.
Tony Iommi opted to go with Nicholls’s lyrics instead.
In Memory
Written about Tony’s father who had just passed away.
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Hughes tells a lot of contradicting stories about himself writing more of the lyrics than Nicholls claims. He also admits to being in very poor health and very foggy so there’s probably a lot of inaccuracies. He also admits to only really remembering showing up in the studio and singing the parts.
The ensuing tour only lasted five shows.
Hughes got into a fight with John Downing, Black Sabbath production manager, that dislodged Hughes’s eye socket sending it into his sinuses, bruising his face, and damaging his throat.
Hughes says “Somebody asked me, ‘Is there anything in your life you would like to erase?” He said that he would erase those five concerts.
Hughes says he was having issues with his voice and the injuries from the fight made it worse and he felt horrible going on stage singing in front of more than 10,000 fans knowing he couldn’t sing and he couldn’t cancel the show. He says he was very grateful to Ray Gillen for stepping in and saving him the embarrassment.
Hughes says he also didn’t like singing the old Sabbath stuff because he doesn’t believe int he devil and he doesn’t like singing about the devil.
Hughes also says that he believes that Black Sabbath belongs to Ozzy Osbourne and it doesn’t sound right when other singers sing his songs.
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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Check out more of Nick on his podcast “Pod of Thunder” here: PodofThunder.com
This podcast is a true deep dive into Purple. No stone left unturned in this podcast as Nathan and John explore those wider family tree branches (not sure that makes sense but i’m sure you get the drift!). These guys deserve your time as they explore one of the greatest bands Rock has ever seen!
Lead up to the Album:
Ozzy was in LA auditioning guitarists and hired Randy after two auditions, though Ozzy was so intoxicated he seems to think it was only one.
They two of them jammed with Dana Strum and Franki Banali.
After auditions Ozzy returned to England where he met Bob Daisley.
Management was reluctant to hire an American guitarist as the lineup was intended to be all British.
It’s said they wanted to recruit Gary Moore but that he wasn’t interested in the project.
Ozzy was in LA auditioning guitarists when Dana Strum called Randy Rhoads to persuade him to audition.
Rhoads said he never met Ozzy during the audition as he remained in the control room and told him he got the gig. It was Dana Strum to came out to tell him got the job. Rhoads said he played only a few riffs.
Steal Away (The Night) (Daisley, Osbourne, Rhoads)
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Reception and Review
According to Daisley, “When the album was released the words ‘Ozzy Osbourne’ were in bigger print than ‘The Blizzard of Ozz’ which made it look like an Ozzy Osbourne album called The Blizzard of Ozz. Randy [Rhoads] was never one to rock the boat. He knew he was in a situation which was a good opportunity for him being relatively unknown, so when Lee (Kerslake) and I were ousted, Randy had no allies and the act became ‘Ozzy Osbourne’ and no longer a band.”
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All the way from Denmark! And yes, spreading the word over here constantly , ‘cause this is a bloody awesome podcast. Very interesting, clever, funny hosts, stories, reviews etc so you never lose attention. I had a small problem in the beginning with the low audio during the songs, but I see (and hear) the point now. Plus it makes me play the records REALLY loud after end episode. Thanks a lot guys and keep up the good work! (And let me know if you’re coming to Denmark, then you can stay in my flat and we can all go Jesus Christ Superstar nuts!) BUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!!!!!!! \m/
MTV in the 80s
Our Friend Scott on MTV’s “Total Request Live” – Scott on MTV
Which member (or ex) member of DP do you think you could get an interview with? Supplementary question, same as above but for split bands? Or is that giving the game away too much?
Joe Lynn Turner’s version of The Battle Rages On got my attention. Was it ever recorded? Were there any other songs by Joe on his solo albums that came from there? Blood Red Sky sounds like a Deep Purple song, and One Man’s Meat became Stroke Of Midnight.
Actual Q? Uh… Out of all the “What if” scenarios with Purple (New Purple continuing, Ritchie never leaving, Bolin album 2, etc), which do you wish would have happened more than the others?
What do you think of the possibility to bring Coverdale, Gillan & Hughes together in a show? I know it sounds as an unreachable dream, but it would be good to know your opinion. I am from Cuba
and I follow your profile (twitter) every day. I think you are doing a great job guys
Can the shows be made shorter, like an hour? My heart sinks when I see a new show in my feed but….the running time is 2hr 15mins, because I think, I don’t have the time (or patience) to watch it all ?
Also, can the music you play be a little louder? I know you want to talk over it but we also want to hear it.
The title music is very loud, then you guys talk and it’s much lower but then you play a track and it’s lower again
Assuming someone had never heard the band, What ONE DP song could you play for them that would give them the best feel or understanding of what the band is about?
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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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This is a really enjoyable podcast about the best rock band ever (Deep Purple if you didn’t know!) plus the entire Purple family tree. Give it a listen and you will be entertained by the music and the banter between the two hosts!
Lead up to the Album:
Tony Ashton had previously worked with Jon Lord when Ashton, Gardner, and Dyke had worked with Jon Lord on his movie soundtrack for “The Last Rebel.”
It was recorded at three studios: Air Studios, Apple Studios, and De Lane Lea, all in London.
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As a Purple fan, I have been following them since the age of 2 and listening to the Concerto 1999 at that age was something really bissare, but that was my first introduction to the band and Pictured Within has become the song in which I have gotten into music today and Purple and then 13 years later getting to go to the Albert Hall for the Jon Lord tribute concert was something I will never forget and getting to live that like the 1999 concert was something special. I first saw this podcast when I saw a review of the video version to the Butterfly Ball concert and I immediately got into it just because of how they can review all sorts of purple family tree content and I have become a huge fan of it and hopefully many more great episodes to come. I would recommend this to every Purple fan there is.
Lead up to the Album:
The album was recorded in April and May of 1979 at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire using the Rolling Stones Mobile.
Marsden says it was freezing cold during the recording. He said the cold and “soulless” nature of the castle made you work harder. He says there were enormous banquets at night with a lot of drinking.
Marsden says they put a sign up at the castle entrance saying that it was closed because John Travolta was filming a movie there. He said this was right after “Grease” was released and the people nearby went crazy trying to get in.
Chris sent us a section of his preliminary master drawing for the album artwork. The whole piece is for sale so please contact him here if interested: http://chrisachilleos.co.uk/contact/
Also, mention that you heard about it on The Deep Purple Podcast if you could!
Did illustration for Uriah Heep’s “Fallen Angel” album, Heavy Metal The Motion Picture.
It’s been reported that after designing this controversial cover he had a policy of not working with bands. Chris debunked this in a discussion with the show.
The original artwork for this album was stolen and sold to a private collector.
The official word from Chris Achilleos in discussion with The Deep Purple Podcast:
I am quite reluctant to talk about this artwork to strangers. I have been stung before in the past and don’t want it to happen again.
I just want you to know that the painting was taken from me in good faith by someone I came to trust as a friend from LA in the ’80s, together with six other important paintings and then just disappeared on me!
The Whitesnake a/w was listed to be auctioned in the ’90s by someone, but I put a stop to it when I heard about it. The painting was never returned to me by the NY auction company, in spite of me asking many times for its return. They claim that it’s somewhere in there building, but they cannot find it!
If somebody has claimed that they have it, then they got it by not legal means. The rest of the paintings turned up in NY. Somebody bought them for nothing from a street market but refuses to deal with me. The world is full of bastards!
I do still have my prelim/master drawing for it if you know of anyone who might be interested in it.
Worked with Whitesnake on a number of albums after this.
Also worked with Dr. Feelgood (the band, not the Motley Crue album).
The cover obviously caused some controversy.
Marsden says that he doesn’t remember that much push back about the cover. Marsden remembers that “Come an Get It” caused many more problems and had to have an alternate cover in America.
Whitesnake Lovehunter cover!!! Immediately after seeing that for the first time I went through the entirety of puberty in like 5 minutes and emerged with a beard and a soothing baritone.
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Album Tracks:
Side One:
Long Way from Home (Coverdale)
Was the first single issued from the album. It reached No. 55 in the British charts. B-side was “Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues.”
Marsden says that Coverdale delivered this song pretty much as is to the band and that he just dubbed guitar parts. He said David did very good demos. “Good song, very good song.”
Foreigner had had a hit in 1977 called “Long, Long Way From Home” so even though Coverdale pretty much says the same thing in this song they decided to take one Long out of the title to avoid any confusion.
Walking in the Shadow of the Blues (Coverdale, Marsden)
Marsden says this is one of the best songs they ever wrote.
Help Me Thro’ the Day (Leon Russell)
Marsden describes this as a follow up to “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City.”
Medicine Man (Coverdale)
You ‘n’ Me (Coverdale, Marsden)
This was recorded first for Bernie Marsden’s solo album “And About Time Too.”
Coverdale suggested they do it with the band as well.
Marsden: “It’s just the usual kind of rhythm and blues, girl meets boy, girl loses boy, man loses girl, kind of thing. Nothing too deal, really.”
Side Two:
Mean Business (Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Murray, Lord, Dowle)
Marsden says this was the only time he and Coverdale had a disagreement in the studio in the early days. Bernie thought it was too heavy metal. He didn’t think it’s how the band should be sounding. He says over the years he’s realized that David was right.
Marsden says he doesn’t think there’s a heavier Whitesnake song up until the 1987 album.
Love Hunter (Coverdale, Moody, Marsden)
Martin Popoff says of this track: “It has a bit of a Kiss vibe down Gene Simmons’ side of the stage.”
Marsden says he wrote the riff and verse, Moody wrote the slide parts, and Marsden wrote some lyrics something along the lines of “looking out for your, babe.” He says David went off and came back with better lyrics and that it was recorded very quickly.
Outlaw (Coverdale, Marsden, Lord)
Coverdale calls The Allman Brothers’ first album his blueprint for Whitesnake.
Marsden says Coverdale told Bernie this was his song and Lord didn’t even want writing credits but Marsden insisted given how much impact his parts had on the song.
Sort of made it into a tradition of Marsden getting a vocal on each album.
Marsden says there’s a little Thin Lizzy in there as he always respected Phil Lynott.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Women (Coverdale, Moody)
Marsden thinks he may not play on this track and that it happened from time to time.
We Wish You Well (Coverdale)
Edited cover on the Argentinian release.
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Reception and Review
Marsden said that critics were starting to take the lyrics of the band too seriously and that they didn’t take themselves very seriously. Marsden: “Lie down, I love you; it’s not Shakespeare. You know, if somebody’s going to say that, it’s like, seriously, what do you think? No, of course I’m not being serious.”
Ian Paice joined Whitesnake so soon after recording that Coverdale wanted to have him do the drums over but management vetoed the idea for financial reasons.
Marsden says this is a transitional album. He says Lovehunter is where they started to blossom in terms of signs and performances. Marsden says the first to albums before Paice were solid but they lacked direction.
Trouser Press’s Jon Young:
When a heavy-duty macho band starts to slow down, or exhibits less than blind certainty about what it’s doing, expect trouble. The problem isn’t that Whiesnake is engaged in a rehash of boogie/Bad Co. riffs (though that is certainly the case); the fatal flaw is they sound like they’ve heard it all before. How many ways can you thump your chest and grunt?”
Moody says that the budget on the first two albums was pretty limited.
Moody and Marsden seem to credit Ian Paice with putting the band more on course to what it would inevitably become.
Marsden says they toured mostly in the UK and Europe and that they were accused of being “unfashionable.” He says that when they realized they were selling out all the venues on the tour they said, “Well, let’s carry on being unfashionable.”
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With faces for radio, and voices for podcasts, Nate and John bring an awkward enthusiasm for Deep Purple and the extended Purple family. Their banter is genuine, and even when it goes off-topic, it remains entertaining and an easy listen. I will definitely remain a patron, at least until the pandemic ends and the strip clubs re-open. Raise your glass of coffee milk, cheers to Deep Purple and the Deep Purple Podcast! This review is approved by Spike the Rock Cat.
Chlll Gill, 20/03/2021, FIVE STARS!
Deep Purple Podcast #100
I’ve just been listening to these 2 great guys- Nathan and John- on this DP podcast for short while now and love their interaction as they really feed and bounce off each other
Gone back to start and onto episode #14 while keeping up with latest episodes
Perfect Strangers was that reincarnation Mk2 for me having been fan since original Mk2 in 1969
They have great knowledge DP and what I also like is the branching into what members of band past/ present / dead or alive got up to when not in DP
Highly recommend take a listen as easy to get hooked by the format and chat and fascinating pieces info pick up each episode Keep it up guys Gill in Wales UK
A Note From Jeff Breis:
Hey Nate,
I just now finished listening to your 4 part series on Jesus Christ Superstar, an album that I only occasionally pulled out in the past four decades.
You guys did a wonderful job presenting this work.
As a Catholic up until 12th grade (38 years ago), I was inundated with these biblical stories, so I shied away from this album for many years.
I enjoyed the performances by everyone on it, but I didn’t really care about the subject matter much.
Well, you three guys brought a new light to an excellent piece of work, with Paul adding a lot to the story with his knowledge of the subject. Very well done.
Thanks for making me a fan of an album I didn’t know as well as all the other Deep Purple related music that I enjoy. I have been playing it all week.
One more thing, your friend Paul Hughes made me think of one of the voices inside the piano on Frank Zappa’s Lumpy Gravy album, and that’s a good thing.
All the best,
FOLLOW UP:
Because of your show, I ordered the JCSuperstar DVD. I have not seen it since I was a kid.
As for Paul, he sounds like the guy in the piano who seems like the leader, who tells the others about the ponies and pigs and the smoke, the big note.
Lumpy Gravy – Part Two (Paul’s vocal doppelganger starts up at the beginning of this one)
Check it out.
Personal Memories:
Paul and John backstage on the 1993 Jesus Christ Superstar tour.
John Mottola, Ted Neeley, Paul Hughes, unidentified backstage worker, and redacted.Paul Hughes, Carl Anderson, and John Mottola.John Mottola and Ted Neeley.Paul Hughes and Ted Neeley.
Personnel
Reprising roles: Yvonna Elliman, Barry Dennen
Only Barry Dennen and Josh Mostel had ever been on camera before.
Dennen suggested to Norman Jewison that he should make a movie around this album.
Norman Jewison said he was very moved listening to the record.
Barry Dennen says that they were in Yugoslavia filming Fiddler on the Roof and he approached Barry Dennen about it after discovering the album.
Jewison says he had someone else in mind but ended up going with Carl Anderson. He tested 4-5 other actors.
He was hesitant about casting Carl Anderson because he didn’t want it to come across that the black man was the traitor and the white man was the son of god. Jewison eventually decided he couldn’t do that because it would be denying him the role because of being black.
Played Judas during pre-Broadway but wasn’t given the role.
Understudied for the role of Judas but wasn’t given part on Broadway under Ben Vereen as he had more star power.
Was on Stevie Wonder’s “Song in the Key of Life” album but is not credited. Stevie performed two songs from the album at Anderson’s funeral.
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Congrats on the 100 shows. In honour of this landmark I’ve finally dipped my hand into my pocket and subscribed, which I’ve been meaning to do for ages! Loved the SBTE episode. Other highlights for me are the Rising episode and WDWTWA. Look forward to many more!
Always cool to hear other fans talking about a band you like. Great podcast with some good research and cool infos. Don’t miss it if you’re a fan of Deep Purple and its extended family.
Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos
Album Tracks:
Side Two:
Perfect Strangers (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
Released as a single with the B-side of “Son of Alerik” which would later be released as a bonus track in later releases.
Glover said this was one of the best tracks he’d ever been involved with either in writing, producing, or playing and it was his favorite track on the album.
A Gypsy’s Kiss (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
Wasted Sunsets (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
Hungry Daze (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
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Copy of Elements with review on the cover “Mostly Mellow Jazz”
Hey guys, I thought this was funny so I had to share it. I picked up a copy of Elements on vinyl the other day. It’s a white label promo copy. The funny thing is that someone wrote “mostly mellow jazz” on the cover” it looks like someone also scratched “rock &” in between the words mellow and jazz. So it could have read as “ mostly mellow rock & jazz” if the “rock &” part had been in ink too. The picture doesn’t really show that though. I don’t think I would use those adjectives to describe this album, but okay…
Now since this was a promo copy, it makes me wonder if the person who originally owned this received a lot of promo records and marked all of them this way by writing directly on the album cover? It seems like a barbaric way to catalog something and one that would only be employed if you received so many albums that you no longer cared about them.
Anyway, I thought this was funny. It adds a bit of mystery to the ownership chain of the album if nothing else.
Picture attached.
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Reception and Review
After a few weeks of recording Ritchie and Roger flew to Hamburg to mix the album.
Ian Paice said in Tommy Vance interview that he hoped they could inject a little more thought and class into Rock and Roll. Described what was going on with pop in the mid 80s as a “fashion show.”
Ian Paice: “It’s kind of annoying because all the exciting bands seem to be coming from America at the moment and that’s not the way that God intended it.”
The CD and cassette original release contained the extra track “Not Responsible.”
The CD re-release contained the bonus track “Son of Alerik” a solo Blackmore composition which was released as a B-side to the Perfect Strangers single.
The album was a huge success. It reached #5 in the UK charts and #17 on the Billboard 200 in the US.
It was the second album to be certified platinum in the US after Machine Head.
The following tour was such a success that they had to add many additional dates as shows sold out very quickly.
Their 1985 tour was only out-grossed by Bruce Springsteen that year.
Roger Glover has said of this album, “A great moment in time, but, as an album it doesn’t quite hang together.”
Paice: “To me, it’s a natural progression from [the] earlier records, but with a ten-year growth period in between. It was a revelation to capture the spirit of the Mark II Purple once again . . . very refreshing.”
Lord: “a perfect album. IT said everything about the band that needed to be said. We weren’t trying to be a super new 1980s band, and at the same time we weren’t just a nostalgia band.”
Ritchie: “We put [Deep Purple] back together to annoy the press, basically. Give them something to btch about. That really is our No. 1 priority — to upset the critics.”
The title track comes blasting out of nowhere, like an I’m-alive-and-well message from an old friend you’d given up for dead. With its steamy vocal and genuine, if uncharacteristic, touches of wit throbbing above Deep Purple’s heavy signature sound, “Perfect Strangers” sets the tone for this venerable band’s reunion album. Lead singer Ian Gillan — who’s never been in finer, and deeper, throat — sinuously glides into lyrics that suggest these veterans have something to say about where they’ve been in the last few years (“Can you remember, remember my name … I am the echo of your past”) and have lots more to offer in the future. For a moment, you almost wonder why Purple ever faded away in the first place. Until, that is, you hear the rest of the album.
Excepting the title cut and the rambunctious but less effective “Knocking at Your Back Door,” the material consists of hastily knocked-off jams that allow guitar demigod Ritchie Blackmore to whip out his finger exercises in public. The band spent about six to eight weeks recording this comeback. (The current lineup is actually neither the original nor the final Deep Purple but the most successful — of “Smoke on the Water” fame.) It doesn’t sound as if they spent much more time thinking about it, either.
Blackmore’s Strat has such a great roar that you’re willing to just let it reverberate in your eardrums for a bit. And it’s nice to hear Jon Lord’s unsynthesized organ squalls, Ian Paice’s meaty pounding, Gillan’s howls and whispers and Roger Glover’s solid bass lines once again. Eventually, though, it’s “enough of the sound check already — where are the songs?” Instead of Glover, an outside producer might have forced the band to tighten up its licks and arrangements. Then again, did Deep Purple ever have more than one or two really good, concise numbers on an album? Maybe they’re just making the kind of record they always did, the only kind they know how to make.
So why are they doing this? To cash in on the current heavy-metal craze, in which dozens of young upstarts are making fortunes playing Purple riffs? Following a recent meet-the-press shebang promoting the album and impending world tour, the band members (minus the temperamental Blackmore, who, true to his “enigmage,” didn’t show) insisted they don’t need the dough. Perhaps the answer lies in “Wasted Sunsets,” a portrait of an aging rock star who’s got “gold and silver for the blues” but nothing to do except drink the nights away. It’s nice that Perfect Strangers got the Purples out of their respective mansions; too bad they didn’t venture farther from home.
The album hit the record stores here on October 29th, though most London stores held out for the official release date of November 2nd. The cover appalls me; looks like something a thirteen year old would carve into a school desk in a moment of boredom. The music; you know damn well that what went down at those rehearsals and in the studio must have been electric, yet the energy doesn’t always communicate itself to the listener, which is a shame. The temptation in reviewing it is to get carried away by the fact that they are back together, and rave about the goodies while playing down the more mediocre stuff. That would be wrong.
‘Knocking At Your Back Door’ effortlessly crosses the gap between commercial and hard rock in a way Rainbow tried so long to achieve… lovely chugging strings at the intro, Paicey lays into it, the Hammond swirling about, and a very typical Blackmore riff. Polished performances all round and disgustingly catchy. ‘Nobody’s Home’ is a hard rocking steal from ‘Lay Down Stay Down’ amongst others. ‘Mean Streak’ doesn’t consist of much at all – pounding bass, hi-hat and what sounds like good organ work buried in a really muddy sound. I find it hard to say a lot about the title track. It is everything Purple ever were to me, if I had to justify the reunion to anyone this cut would suffice. Ian’s vocals charged with emotion, all set over a gorgeous piece of work from the band. It belongs up there with the best of everything they’ve done before. ‘Wasted Sunsets’ is nicely predictable. It could have made a blinder, I’d have liked a quiet start, taking it up gradually to increase the power. ‘Hungry Daze’ is a bit of a let down, the best bit being the middle part – Third Stone From The Sun revisited!
The Burn album is probably the closest point of reference in terms of how I feel about the album overall. That too was recorded quickly, and showed a marked change of style. This time we’ve been prepared somewhat with Rainbow, and the shadow of that band is fairly strong. More variety in the manner of Gillan’s output over the past few years wouldn’t go amiss.
“Leaden Grandads” Record Mirror; “Some things never change, and this is one of them.” Melody Maker; “Bland and sluggish” Bury Times; “Dated plodding heavy metal” Music Week; “Old gits” NME. Great reviews for what most fans still regard as one of the best tracks of the reunion to date.
After the album’s release the band would embark upon
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Lead up to the Album:
1978 event planned? Jerry Bloom’s Black Night, page 255.
For years there had been rumors of a Deep Purple Mk 2 reunion. In late 1982 it had come very close to becoming a reality.
Gillan said in his book “Child in Time” that he’d been over to Ritchie’s to meet with Bruce Payne but says he got extremely drunk and probably spoiled any chance at an ‘82 reunion.
The ‘82 attempt was discussed by Roger in an interview in the LA Times shortly after the release of “Perfect Strangers”:
“Ian came over from England to talk to Ritchie and me about re-forming Deep Purple,” Glover recalled. “He had been singing in some bands, but none had been that big. He was just about to join Black Sabbath, but what he really wanted was a Deep Purple reunion.
“We had dinner in a restaurant and Ian got totally drunk by the end of the meal. Ritchie and I looked at each other and said: ‘Do we really want to deal with this?’ The answer was no. So Ian went back to England with a terrible hangover and no Deep Purple.”
There was even a rumor of a 1982 reunion as David Coverdale was approached and reportedly turned it down.
Things weren’t going great in Rainbow. The US tour they embarked on in 1983 was one of their smallest ever. There was even talk of canceled shows due to poor ticket sales.
Colin Hart writes in his book “A Hart Life” that Ritchie Blackmore was not a fun person to be around at this time. The recent shows had included Blackmore including Deep Purple classics into the setlist to get more interest from fans. Hart says these songs were a little outside of Joe’s wheelhouse.
Bruce Payne had seen the writing on the wall and had already been in contact with Gillan.
Jon was playing with Whitesnake, Gillan with Gillan, Ritchie and Roger with Rainbow, and Ian Paice was with Gary Moore. This was right around the time Gillan had suffered vocal nodes and for whatever reason the 1982 reunion never came together.
Ian Paice was back home and enjoying his time as a highly sought after session drummer.
The five members met up in April of 1984 in Kentucky for talks. Blackmore called Jon Lord personally to ask him over.
The band members had mostly been in touch for the previous 9 years but the five of them had not been together since 1973.
In DPAS Issue 29 there was talk of a Swedish newspaper ran a story in 1983 that there was a Deep Purple reunion in the works with dates as the summer of 1984 pending Jon Lord’s agreement. This seemed to be mostly dismissed as rumor but it turns out it may have been the case.
Gillan said that Blackmore and Payne were looking to get Blackmore 50% of the writing credits for the reunion and it was up to the rest of the band how the remaining 50% was split.
Gillan, not surprisingly, didn’t go for this and they agreed on a three way split between Blackmore, Glover, and Gillan.
Gillan admits to being foggy on the financial details and says he could have asked Ian Paice if he was more interested as he seemed to be very good with the numbers.
Bruce Payne represented everyone in the band but Ian who remained represented by Phil Banfield and still does to this day.
Gillan and Glover reportedly tried to get the five way split they had in the early days but Blackmore held firm and it remained a three way songwriting split of Gillan, Glover, Blackmore. It would remain that way until Blackmore left in 1993.
Tony Edwards and John Coletta were still around, the duo who had managed Deep Purple from 1968 to 1976. They saw that Bruce Payne was in a position to take over and they were not happy with this turn of events. There were a lot of legal battles that would be fought.
Gillan also owed Virgin Records one more album.
On April 18, 1984, all five members met again at Thames Talent in New York and signed a contract to reform the band.
Colin Hart tells of picking them up and booking them separate rooms for the negotiations. He said he was worried about what they would be like but he knew he’d be able to read the expressions of Ian and Ritchie. He was worried that they’d be glum and the deal would be off but he said instead they were chatting like old school buddies.
The announcement of the reunion was made on April 27, 1984 in the Evening Standard as well as on BBC Radio One on the Tommy Vance programme. Vance had gotten the scoop from Gillan the previous day.
Bruce Payne is said to have told Joe Lynn Turner that Rainbow wasn’t disbanding but merely being put on a hiatus of sorts. It seems that he was likely hedging his bets, not sure of the longevity of the Deep Purple reunion.
Rainbow played one last gig at the Budokan in Tokyo with the band performing “Difficult to Cure” with an orchestra with the orchestrations written by David Rosenthal.
According to the DPAS magazine Tommy Vance teased it by saying he had news that a very big band from the 70s was about to reform. He said, “I’m going to play four records which featured the members of this band before the group was formed.” The first single was a Ritchie solo single and it became very clear what was happening.
Colin Hart was given instruction to find them a place in the Northeastern US to record. He booked them a place in Massachusetts called Bass Lodge. It was an ideal location but it was so isolated that they eventually decided the band would have nothing to do with their leisure time so they found a new location in Vermont which Hart was familiar with as Rainbow had rehearsed there previously.
Gillan said in his book that once they started playing together the magic was back and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
Gillan describes the band getting together, coming in one by one and him just sitting there with a smile on his face thinking that these were the best players he’d ever worked with.
The album was recorded at “Horizons” in Stowe, Vermont with Le Mobile Studio.
A remote recording truck based in Carlsbad, California since 1984.
Used by Gwen Stefani, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, Herbie Hancock.
Still in use today.
Le Mobile was unfortunately drew too much power so they had to have an electrician wire it directly to the electrical pole with extra breakers so they didn’t start a fire.
John Lord said in an interview with Tommy Vance that he arrived in Vermont with “bits and pieces” of ideas that he’d had in the back of his mind but that Ritchie arrived “bursting at the seams” with ideas and songs so Lord said he basically just threw all his stuff away.
Jon Lord also says “If it didn’t have Ritchie in it, it isn’t really Deep Purple.”
Gillan and Blackmore both said in interviews that they felt an enormous relief in not having to be the overall band leader, manager, etc. They both seemed to really like the idea that they could settle back and be a lead guitarist or a lead singer with all the other stuff being handled by other people.
Gillan cites his experience in Black Sabbath as getting a taste of that and really enjoying it.
Glover said from the beginning in the meetings that he didn’t want to be the producer. He said he wanted this to be a representation of what the band was. It turned out to go back to the old way with the band doing it. After about a week Ritchie had been asking Roger for help and against his wishes he fell into the producer role. He said he didn’t want to be a scape goat either if things didn’t go quite right.
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Album Art & Booklet Review
Ritchie Blackmore originally suggested that they title the album “At Last, the 1974 Album.” Like most things with Ritchie it’s not clear how much of this was serious and how much was a joke.
A lot of fans were looking for the follow up to “Who Do We Think We Are” but Jon Lord wanted the album to sound like 1984 not 1974.
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Album Tracks:
Side One:
Knocking at Your Back Door (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
Under the Gun (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
When asked by Tommy Vance about what his favorite solo is that he ever recorded Ritchie said he couldn’t really say but added: “I’m quite pleased with the solo work I did on this new song, ‘Under the Gun.’ That wasn’t bad.”
Nobody’s Home (Gillan, Paice, Lord, Blackmore, Glover)
Mean Streak (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos
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FIVE STARS!
Electric_Mayhem!, 31/10/2020
One Of Rocks Best
DP as a band & their contribution is criminally underrated – this is a great podcast that shines light on the band, it’s members & their musical family tree. Great listen!
Thank you to all the listeners that we don’t hear from!
The songs!
Listener Mail/Comments
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