Hiseman had previously had a band named Colosseum from 1968 to 1971. Colosseum II was intended to be more jazz-fusion based and as of the breakup of Tempest only Gary Moore was named as a member.
Gary had seen Tempest play at the end of April in 1974 at one of their last gigs at the Marquee. He went backstage and suggested that he and Hiseman form a band.
They hadn’t solidified working together or a project but met again at the recording of the rock version of Peter and The Wolf that JAck Lancaster and Robin Lumley were working on.
There they decided to form a band and they went to Germany to play with the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble (UJRE). This was a group of very highly trained musicians. Gary was nervous about playing with them as he would have been one of the only ones that didn’t read music.
Hiseman called Moore a “modern player” rather than a blues player and ranked him higher than Clapton for that reason. Hiseman defined him as a true original.
Gary said in an interview in Sounds magazine: “The first time I played with Jon, I alwmost fell through the floor. He played everything I’ve always heard in my head, everything that I thought a drummer should play and a lot more besides. It was just astonishing.”
The goal was to fuse strong songs and vocals with technical jazz rock. Gary stated that there were bands that had a great jazz-fusion background and bands with great vocalists but no one that was doing both.
They got a loan for 7,000 as they didn’t have any gigs or a manager and used that to pay Gary 10 a week.
They rehearsed in a studio underneath railway arches in London. Mark Clarke and Graham Bell were brought in. Mark left shortly thereafter to join Uriah Heep’s keyboardist Ken Hensley and Graham Bell left softly thereafter. Andy Pyle also played with them briefly.
Eventually they found a singer, Mike Starrs but they struggled to find a keyboard player.
Gary dealt with a lot of fear and anxiety and used alcohol to cope with it. During this time Gary and his girlfriend donna went to a bar and ran into one of Donna’s ex boyfriends. They got into an altercation and Gary got his face smashed with a bottle which lead to his signature chin scar. They went to the hospital but Gary wouldn’t even let the doctor finish stitching it up.
In April or May of 1975 Jon and Gary found Don Airey. Airey had been in Cozy Powell’s Hammer with Neil Murray. Neil had been auditioning for bands but had a short scale bass and thought he wasn’t getting gigs because he didn’t look professional. He said that he was able to get a Precision Bass before auditioning for Colosseum II and that’s what got him the job.
Gary said that he and Don didn’t see eye to eye on the composition. Gary would do things on piano and Don would tell him that you couldn’t do that. They eventually figured out a way to work together and create music and Gary would do a very good job of communicating what he wanted to hear to Don.
Mike Starrs said that they music was “completely alien” to him.
Hiseman went to Gerry Bron who had financed Tempest to get support for the new project.
Up until this point the band was being called Ghosts and Bron said that had to change. He urged Jon to reprise the name fo Colosseum and they changed their name. They entered Gerry Bron’s Roundhouse studios to record the album in August of 1975. According to Harry Shapiro in the official Gary Moore biography. It was recorded between August and January.
Wikipedia states the album was recorded in the winter of 1975-1976 at Roundhouse Studios.
London based recording studio, properly titled “Roundhouse Recording Studios”, established in 1975 by Gerry Bron. It was the studio arm of Bronze Records. Bron formed this studio after producing Uriah Heep’s debut album “Very ‘Eavy Very ‘Umble.”
Jon said Gary never really understood players like John McLaughlin or Larry Coryell. When it finally flicked and he could understand what they were doing is when his playing really took off. Jon had a jazz background and got Gary listening to Coltrane and Roland Kirk.
Don Airey said that it was at this time that Gary’s playing reached a peak. Don Airey compared Gary’s peak and how he maintained it to Oscar Peterson.
Did album covers for Roger Waters, Duran Duran, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, Manfred Mann,
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Album Tracks:
Side One:
Dark Side of the Moog (Airey/Moore)
Track is in 13/8 and features the piano, organ, and synthesizers.
Down to You (Joni Mitchell)
The album’s title was taken from one of the lyrics in the Joni Mitchell song. Gary was a huge Joni Mitchell fan. Hiseman said, “I get shivers listening to this . . . we took the melody and did it in different ways. From where the piano comes in, it is all arranged by Don and we have used Joni’s song as a piece of musical theatre . . . it develops in an orchestral way and I feel lucky to have the musicians who can play this.”
Gemini and Leo (Moore/Hiseman)
Side Two:
Secret Places (Moore/Hiseman)
On Second Thoughts (Moore)
Winds (Moore/Hiseman)
Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet
Reception and Charts:
The album was released in April of 1976 but did not chart.
Reviews
Chris Welch called the album “an imaginative and exuberant debut.”
Gary and Jon were not thrilled with the album. They referred to it as a studio performance and called it “dead.”
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“Auld Lang Purple: Reflecting on the Year in Review”: We can talk about the band’s achievements, milestones, or significant events from the past year. Also a year in review of our adventures: purple in February, Hughes in October etc
“New Year, New Purple” We can speculate about what Deep Purple might have in store for us in the coming year as well as our plans for the coming year.
“Listener Resolutions, Wishes, and Questions.”
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Peter From Illinois – Upgrades to the $10 “Some One Came” Tier!
Hi Guys – my card expired. Time for an upgrade! Best Wishes, Peter from Illinois
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Apple Podcasts Reviews:
Shamley, London, UK – 5 Stars
Outstanding
This is a great podcast. Deep Purple have always had a rich blend of genius and flaws, so the basic material is inherently fascinating. The two presenters are genuine fans and treat the band and its many offshoots and tentacles with humour and good judgement. I particularly appreciate that they give the Mark 4 lineup the respect it deserves. The main diet is album reviews; everyone has their own personal opinions on music but I find they are pretty much on the money. There is much more though, such as the brilliant episode about the bizarre ‘New Deep Purple’ in 1980, and their sonic archaeology that allowed us to hear Bolin’s last show properly. (Maybe they could do the same job on the last Mark 4 show in Liverpool?) Thanks for all your work Nathan and John – looking forward to what you will make of some of the other byways of the DP family tree – the Phenomena albums, Glenn’s time with the KLF, MGM or even Sam Brown’s ‘Stop!’ Album …
Upcoming Shows:
Glenn Hughes live at the Arcada in St. Charles, IL
Playing with Enuff Z’Nuff and Bad Marriage.
February 10, 2024 (John’s Birthday!) – Doors at 6:30pm
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I see DC
Listener Mail/Comments
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Huge resume including Lionel Richie, Dr. John, B.B. King, Huey Lewis and the News, Patti Labelle, Sly Stone, Boy George, Joe Cocker, Lamont Dozier, Aaron Neville, The Marshall Tucker Band, and many more.
Seidemann was known for his iconic photography of Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. He also took the photograph for the controversial Blind Faith album cover. The photo was called “Blind Faith” and inspired the name for the band.
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Album Tracks:
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Free Fall
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Cruise Control
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Wages of Weirdness
Northern Lights
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While Steve Morse and Don Airey were touring Australia with Deep Purple they played two live shows. The first was at The Metro in Melbourne (April 25, 2004), the second was at Fox Studios in Sydney (April 26, 2004).
Big thank you to Craig Smith for sending over the DVD!
From the DVD liner notes: “Australia’s Number 1 rock vocalist for over 20 years with a string of number 1 albums throughout his solo career and with his band Cold Chisel. Jimmy also has one of the highest selling albums by an Australian artist in history with ‘Soul Deep’, which was followed up in 2001 with the hit album ‘Soul Deeper.’ Jimmy has also recorded with numerous artists including INXS, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker and Bon Jovi to name but a few.”
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Although Jon Lord doesn’t play on Bananas (a guest spot was rumoured), he did contribute to the writing of two tracks; I’ve Got Your Number and Picture Of Innocence. We asked Roger Glover how these songs came into being:
Both I Got Your Number and Picture Of Innocence were songs that we wrote a few years ago, hence Jon’s inclusion as a writer but not as a performer, although he is on one of the demos.
POI started as a jam between IP and SM in Greg Rike Studios some 3 or 4 years ago. It was recorded on a DAT which I took home with me, put in to ProTools (a computer programme that, amongst other things, makes editing easy) in my home studio, took bits and pieces and spliced them together to form the arrangement pretty much as it now exists, adding some bass guitar. In November 2001 we had a writing session in Steve’s own studio in Ocala where I played the finished result to the rest of the band – we worked on it and eventually made a demo but with no finished lyrics. In LA, IG and I worked on the lyrics and finished it.
IGYN started at the same writing session in Orlando but by the time we made a demo in Steve’s studio it had undergone several changes; it was far, far more complicated to begin with – the riff was in various time signatures as the drums just thundered through in straight 4/4. We simplified it, wrote some lyrics, mostly IG’s, and started performing it under the title Up The Wall. However, it always felt unfinished and it was only when we got to LA and played it for Michael that he suggested that it needed a chorus, so we wrote one. As is often the case, IG sang garbled words over the band as we routined it, I thought I heard him sing the words ‘I got your number’ although he probably didn’t; he kind of sings words that aren’t words but sound like they are. Anyway, I sang them back to him and it clicked. There is the song. So, Jon wrote them with us but Don played on the record.
There are several ideas kicking around that were written while Jon was still with us and some of them have great potential. I hope one day we’ll be able to work on them again.
Good luck, RG
MB
– Those two songs started out as demos that they had recorded before I was involved. In rehearsal, we worked on the arrangements and streamlined them some more. Then we re-recorded them at Royaltone. They were pretty heavily re-arranged, just to make them flow better.
Never a Word
Bananas
Doing It Tonight
Contact Lost (Morse)
From the Bananas World Tour Programme:
Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Shawla chose Deep Purple Machine Heade and Purpendicular amongst other CDs as part of her music selection to take on the ill-fated Columbia shuttle mission ST-107. She had been to her first ever rock concert (Deep Purple of course) on the 7th June 2001 at Bossier City LA and commented that the concert was “A Spiritual Experience.”
When she decided to make “Space Truckin’ Her wake up call, her husband Jean-Pierre Harrision contacted Ian Gillan and a correspondence ensued, with Deep Purple fans worldwide being privy to the shuttle mission.
The CDs were signed by the band with the intention that they would be returned, presented with a certificate saying they had indeed been into space on a shuttle mission.
The Launce went without a hitch and the mission, some 79 scientific experiments, went very well. Ranging from meteorologicfal, monitoring dust storms and upward lightning, to the biological. Tragifcally, the shutt’es re-entry proved disastrous, with the shuttle breaking up minutes from reaching the ground as friends and family looked on.
After the disaster, Steve Morse wrote:
“While we were in California, the shuttle tragedy occurred. Ironically, I, as well as the other band members, had just gotten and e mail from one of the astronauts, Kalpana. We were lucky enough to have made acquaintance with many of the colks associated with STS 107 and were invited to the launch in a special area, but we had to go do the recording. I totally freaked out when I saw the disintegration on T.V. that afternoon, I brought in a little musical idea, which I titled, “Contact Lost,” which is probably going to be on the album to pay homage to all of them. Like combat forces, test pilots, police, and fire fighters, they all know they are exposing themselves to higher levels of risk, but nobody had ever been witness to such a horrendous accident on re-entry.”
In Mexico city, during a deep purple concert, a very special presentation took place. The husband of astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Jean-Pierre Harrison presented the band with the fragments of the recovered Deep Purple CDs she had taken into space with her.
The thoughts and prayers of the band and Deep Purple fans worldwide are with the family and friends of the crew of the Columbia.
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Reception and Charts:
MB:– Yes, it is “classic”, because it is so brave. This record was not a matter of re-creating “Machine Head” or something. In fact, “Machine Head” was great because it was a bold departure at the time. It sure did not sound like “Hush”. Deep Purple is great when they push themselves, and that is what they did. Even people who do not like “Bananas” at first have said that they like it more and more once it sinks in.
As you know Martin Birch produced the classic albums and this new CD really marks the beginning of a new era that could have you in his old role as the guy that records with Deep Purple. That is what I hear people say. People are excited.
– I would love to be known favorably as “The guy who produced Deep Purple”. I would work with them anytime.
How do you rate the CD yourself if you can have your final say on it?
– I am very satisfied with “Bananas”. Great songs, great playing, great singing. It has its own sound, so some will love it, and some will not, but at least it will not be ignored. I would not trade the experience for the world.
Charts:
Argentina – 10
Austria – 12
Belgium – 42
Czech Republic – 17
Finland – 6
France – 50
Germany – 3
Italy – 13
Japan – 212
Norway – 19
Poland – 24
Sweden – 18
In Russia it reached Gold with 10,000 albums sold.
Bananas has every sign of being a disappointment. Jon Lord‘s grandiose keyboards were always a focus but he’s gone, it’s released in the heady age of Radiohead, and it’s got one of the oddest titles and the oddest cover art that ever graced a Deep Purple album. Surprise, it’s fantastic. New keyboardist Don Airey is an effective replacement, adding new sounds and styles and working the Hammond so well that an uncredited Lord appearance was rumored among fans. Lord has said he’s not playing on the album, but he did contribute some writing on the excellent “Picture of Innocence” and “I Got Your Number.” Those two tracks, followed by the winding and pastoral “Never a Word,” add up to a strikingly impressive suite that bridges the more bombastic first half of the album with the looser and more playful second half. That’s right, “Deep Purple” and “playful” in the same sentence. The thunk and chug is still there, but Bananas often turns to mid-tempo boogie and blues, allowing Ian Gillan‘s wry and witty delivery some deserved space while guitarist Steve Morse‘s time in Kansas and the Dixie Dregs pays off as never before. The funky light reggae of “Doing It Tonight” is downright smoky-bar slinky-sexy, and if the band doesn’t add it to every one of their encores for the rest of their career they’re nuts. Filled with hooks and songs that get better with each listen, there’s little to dislike about Bananas. Certainly the urgent “House of Pain” could have benefited from punchier production, and there’s a noticeable lack of lengthy solos throughout, but these are minor quibbles. Hipsters have already decided, and some hardcore fans will pine for the monolithic sound of Machine Head, but on Bananas Deep Purple sound comfortable, free to do what they want, and more than the sum of their parts than they have in a long, long time.
Deep Purple: Bananas For Men In Bandanas Tuesday September 09, 2003 @ 04:30 PM By: ChartAttack.com Staff
Hammond-handed hard rock legends Deep Purple are returning with the rock ‘n’ rollsy Bananas, the third record of the Steve Morse era, and the first with new keyboardist/old friend Don Airey. Out everywhere by late September, all issues of the album will contain the same tracks — no bonuses apply.
“It’s broad, fresh, quick, but that’s kind of fresh. I think it’s round; it’s got a little more of a round personality,” says bassist Roger Glover when asked to come up with a few adjectives to articulate the new Deep Purple sound. “And it was done very quickly. Abandon took us five months to do. And why did it take five months? I can’t answer that. You go in the studio and you write a song and you put it down on tape. You think it would be so simple, but somehow it ends up being far more complicated because the vocals aren’t written or someone has to do a solo and they’re not feeling well that day. It gets put off and put off and put off. And then you end up, ‘Let’s take Sunday off; let’s take the weekend off’ and all of a sudden you look around and five months have gone by.”
Glover keenly understands the pitfalls of taking too long to make a record. Too much tweaking can make things too perfect.
“The album can become flattened out because you’ve perfected it to the point where you actually ironed the life out of it,” says Glover. “And as a producer, I’m aware of this but I’m also in the band. So I don’t have the authority that a producer would normally have, which is why I so welcome having a producer, something I’ve wanted, actually since Perfect Strangers. Right then, we should have had a producer, I think. But Michael [Bradford] was very good; he was very decisive and he’s very quick and he also realizes exactly the same thing; he was very good at cutting us off. Before we’d start improving things, he’d cut us off and go, ‘No, that’s good, that’s good the way it is.’ ‘But, but, but…’ ‘Sorry, move on.’ And he was very good at it because he didn’t have to say it in a forceful way. Because we had his trust, or he had our trust, it would be more like, ‘I don’t agree with you, but OK, let’s see how it works out.’ And I think for that reason, there are a couple of things that I would change. We finished a little too quickly for my liking. I wanted to do another couple days of jamming and have maybe another couple of songs in the pipeline or whatever. Then all of a sudden, we’d finished. Three weeks and four days, boom, ticket home. ‘But, but…’ ‘No buts. That’s it.'”
See www.deep-purple.com for preliminary plans for the inevitable worldwide tour, one which Roger figures will hit Canada in the dead of winter, or during the first inklings of spring.
—Martin Popoff
Jon Lord’s opinion on Bananas from the now defunct PicturedWithin.
Metal Express Radio: You’ve written a couple of the tracks on the new Deep Purple album, but have you listened to the rest of it?
Jon Lord: Yes I have, yes.
Metal Express Radio: What do you think?
Jon Lord: It’s not what I expected, to be perfectly honest, because it’s not what we were writing when I left.
I think it’s very good, but I’m not… You see, it’s not my job to criticize that but I will give you an opinion if you remember that it’s only an opinion.
I don’t think the sound is very good to be perfectly honest. I thought Roger would have done a better job producing it, but there you go. That’s just me, and Michael Bradford is a rather large black chap and he’s going to sit on my head now, I know that, and hurt me. [laughter]
A couple of the songs surprised me. Err, I can see why they put it on, but… Never A Word, is it? It’s lovely but it just starts to get going and it stops, so that worried me slightly. But it’s in the same area I suppose as The Aviator and Fingers To The Bone and that kind of thing.
I think the opening track’s fabulous. Obviously I like the two that I was involved in writing because I was involved in writing them. [laughter]
Generally speaking I don’t think it’s the best Purple album ever, but I think it’s better than Abandon, which to me had no sense of direction. I don’t think it’s as good as Purpendicular, which I thought was probably the best Purple album along with In Rock, Machine Head and Perfect Strangers. I thought Purpendicular was right in there. I was immensely proud of that album and still am immensely proud of that album.
But I’ve got a feeling in my bones. These old bones of mine are telling me that this is going to be a successful album. The time feels right for them.
And it’s really strange to say “them” and not “us”.
Banshee Bananas – Associated Press
The metal kings are back with their best album since 1984’s Perfect Strangers, one that blends Deep Purple’s power chords and banshee vocals with the memorable melodic hooks that earned the band a place in rock history.
Bananas is the third studio album with former Kansas guitarist Steve Morse, who joined the band when Ritchie Blackmore decided to flush his career and dabble in medieval folk ballads in the worst career decision since David Caruso left “NYPD Blue.”
The first single, “House of Pain,” is a crunchy, catchy nugget, and Morse evokes Blackmore’s fluid solos on “Sun Goes Down.” Perhaps the best track is “Picture of Innocence,” which rails against the right-wing’s attempts to impose its vision of morality on society.
Despite 30-plus years of screaming and howling, Ian Gillian (sic) is still in fine voice, joining longtime Purple drummer Ian Pace (sic) and bassist Roger Glover. Keyboardist Jon Lord is out, replaced by hard rock veteran Don Airey, whose work with Rainbow (Blackmore’s first solo band) and Ozzy Osbourne is legendary in its own right.
Moving on to the best album of the month – it’s the latest offering from the grand daddies of hard rock, Deep Purple. After a five-year hiatus following their last album Abandon, Deep Purple are back with Bananas – an album title inspired by a newspaper photograph that bassist and oldest band member (sic) Roger Glover happened to chance upon.
The compositions are replete with catchy melodies, Steve Morse’s trademark guitar solos, Ian Paice’s magic on the cymbals and the majestic voice of Ian Gillan. This is as good as anything they’ve done in the past.
“Haunted” is already being touted as an all-time great rock ballad, and “Silver Tongue”, “Razzle Dazzle” and “Never A Word” (a personal favourite) might soon figure on most requested tracks on stations and charts across the world.
While the musicians continue to live up to their reputations and Ian Gillan’s Jesus Christ Superstar voice continues to flower like nurtured wine, newest member Don Airey does a commendable job in fitting into the shoes of legendary organ player Jon Lord.
Lord left the band last year to pursue a career in classical music. Purple fans will be looking forward to that one, especially after his roaring work in the Concerto series at the Royal Albert Hall.
– Soumik Sen
A band that has lost its shine and is searching for itself
The problem with Deep Purple is that they keep evoking the Mk II ghost (early 70s) and the quest for that long lost time makes them look more pathetic than their talent deserves. Morse and Lord [sic] are tonic, the rhythm section is ‘the good old days’, while Gillan, poor soul, does what he can. But the compositive shine doesn’t exist anymore. Haunted, an intense and choral ballad, is the only exception to the routine.
Bananas is the first Deep Purple studio album in five years. In that time the band have performed the Concerto For Group and Orchestra and played countless live gigs all over the world. The band has also seen founder and keyboardist Jon Lord leave the band to be replaced by Don Airey. So what is the album like?
Well I actually found Bananas to be a very instant album, which grabs you from the opening notes of House Of Pain. The sound is still very much Deep Purple which means that Don Airey has fitted in almost seamlessly and not only that he has contributed to the song writing which also bodes well for the future. The old adage being that the band that writes and play together stays together right?
The sound is still very much Deep Purple which means that Don Airey has fitted in almost seamlessly and not only that he has contributed to the song writing which also bodes well for the future. The old adage being that the band that writes and play together stays together right?
The real question here is just how much of this album will make it into the live set? Well, already the band have been playing Haunted on selected dates for a while and now that the album is out I would hope and expect that a few more might make the live show like the aforementioned House Of Pain and Sun Goes Down with possibly the bluesy sounding Silver Tongue thrown in for good measure. The real test of this album will really be how much of this album makes the set and also stays in the set for a while longer than the tracks from the album Abandon. The fact is that many critics will no doubt savage this album and be reaching for their thesaurus in order to find some adjective that adequately sums up their derision. All good and well if the album was a real clunker but the fact is Bananas is a solid piece of work and the musicianship is of course up to the usual high standard. Hell even Gillan’s voice is holding up incredibly well and his performance on this album is probably the best performance since the Mark 2 line up reformed in the mid eighties.
As for the material for me at least the only filler on the album is Razzle Dazzle, which at the very least could have been saved for a bonus track or something like an extra track on a single. It just doesn’t come up to standard when placed next to excellent material like Walk On and Haunted. In fact it is those two tracks that are my favourite tracks on the album and in fact these two tracks are in my opinion better than anything on Abandon which was a pretty well received album in itself.
Other tracks of note are I Got Your Number and Never A Word which ably display both sides of the coin and in terms of song are miles apart and yet still retain that distinctive Deep Purple stamp.
In summing up Bananas should please long time Deep Purple fans who are expecting certain things from the band. Rest assured all the elements that go to make a Deep Purple album are all in evidence here. There are however subtle shifts in feel and song style that show the band are capable of moving forward which will please the fans who would like Deep Purple to be a little more adventurous. Bananas however will also frustrate the critics who will be dismayed to find that there is life in the old dog yet and Deep Purple look set certainly on the evidence presented on Bananas to be keen on sticking around for a few years yet. I for one am extremely pleased with that.
Jeff Breis for supplying photos of his amazing collection!
Listener Mail/Comments
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Jon Lord had been considering retiring from Deep Purple for some time. He suffered a knee injury in August of 2001 that prevented him from playing live with the band. They were able to get Don Airey on short notice to fill in playing his first show with the band on August 9, 2001 in Skanderburg, Denmark.
Shortly thereafter Don was asked to join the band full time.
As they weren’t able to complete a proper farewell tour due to illness they brought Jon back to play the second half of each UK tour date in 2002 culminating with his final performance in Ipswich.
February 22nd: Hammersmith Apollo. Jon Lord’s last full show with Deep Purple.
September 19th: Ipswich. Jon Lord’s farewell show, handling the keyboards alongside Don Airey.
Roger’s official statement on the departure of Jon Lord:
“I should inform you that Jon has told us he plans to retire from active participation in Deep Purple. We wish him the best.
The moment cannot pass without a personal comment. It is sad that Jon has come to this difficult decision but every one of us respects his right to determine his own life. I have learned so much from him that I could not possibly do him justice by attempting to quantify it.
Don Airey will be our keyboard player from now on and we welcome him to the band.
Roger Glover”
Don Airey in the 2003 Tour Programme:
“The thought crossed my mind a few years ago ‘ if John retired . . . ? .. . Naaaaah . . . . . they’d never ask me’. So when he did and they did I jumped at the chance and it exceeded my expectations from the first number I played with them, ‘Woman From Tokyo” at the Kanderborg Festival in 2001. Touring Russia and the US last year was a highlight and recording a new album with the band in Royaltone Studios LA, January 2003, the sort of experience I thought I’d said goodbye to years ago long may it continue!”
In April of 2002 Michael Bradford went to a Deep Purple show in Brighton. He was invited by the band to hear them play and consider producing the new album. On his website he wrote: “Incredible band! They sound as good as they did back when ‘Smoke on the Water’ was a new song, which is back when I was a kid.”
Immediately after it was announced that he was going to be producing the band he started receiving communication from Deep Purple fans. Some were wishing him well. Others were concerned that he might “take the band in a rap direction” as he had worked with Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker.
He responded: “You can be assured that I will take this opportunity to work with them as the privilege that it is, and do my best to help DP make a great record. Just good, solid rock, with great playing and singing. And, there will be no ‘rapping’ or ‘scratching’ of any kind, so you can put that little thought out of your mind.”
The band booked three weeks in Decemeber of 2002 and six weeks in January and February to work on the album.
Roger said of the sessions: “What about DP music? I am smiling, is that enough? Michael is a joy to work with – professional, witty, quick, decisive, nurturing, hungry. He has a great appetite, I am in awe of the guy. He is an excellent player and writer, does all his own engineering, runs the computer, and laughs a lot. He and the band have a genuine mutual respect.”
Bradford said: “The band has stretched in many directions, but the sound has gelled in an amazing way. Some of the songs are classic ‘rockers’ in the best DP tradition. Some others are more progressive, but they also rock like crazy. One song is even in two different time signatures, but Ian came up with a solid melody that keeps the whole thing grounded. Ian’s also doing some great multi-tracked vocals ala Brian Wilson. The studio is a different world than live, so we took out the big box of sonic crayons and had some real fun. We took advantage of great vibes, a great studio and the best that modern technology has to offer. However, there is no doubt that it’s a =Deep Purple album. This baby really rocks! You should have been there!”
MB:– In the studio I like to keep things moving. The band came in to record a rhythm track each day. Ian would come the following morning, and we would do the vocals before the band arrived to cut the next rhythm track. Ian would do a guide vocal during the recording of the rhythm track. That way, we cut a song a day. After about two weeks of basic tracking, we could concentrate on overdubs, solos and fixes. The only rule was to keep moving, so self-doubt would not have a chance to creep in. If you give a band too much free time in the studio, they over-analyze things, and they un-do a lot of good ideas, in an attempt to make them better.
Worked with Madonna, Anita Bakery, Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, Beth Hart – strong ties to the Detroit/Michigan music scene. Played Bass on Ringo Starr’s “Y Not” album along with Paul McCartney.
Producer [Assistant], Engineer [Assistant] – Chris Wonzer
Worked at Studio City Sound in LA.
Worked with Christina Aguilera, Alanis Morissette, Lisa Marie Presley, Barenaked Ladies,
Photography By [Cd Back Cover Photo] – Bill Homdell
Only credit on Discogs.
In the run up to the Liverpool Pops live show, an interview with Roger Glover has appeared in the Liverpool Daily Post in which he talks about the naming of the band’s new album..
“About three years ago we were on a plane from Australia and looking through the Sunday papers. I was looking at a travel feature about Vietnam and there was a picture of someone on a bike which was covered in bananas. I turned to Ian Gillan and said. ‘Wouldn’t that be a great picture for the front of the album, we could call it Bananas.’ Then to my surprise he was saying. ‘Yeah that’s a great idea.’ That’s where that came from. We’ve got the picture now so you will have to just wait and see what happens.”
Interview by James Eillis with Metro in 2003, Ian Gillan said:
We were in Australia four years ago and we saw a picture of this Vietnamese guy wheeling a bicycle and he had an absolute mountain of bananas. The picture was very evocative. It said to me: ‘Exploitation, exploitation, exploitation.’ I don’t know why – he probably wasn’t being exploited. My train of thought then shifted to: ‘Hmm… probably none of those bananas will find its way into the EU. What do we get? Chiquita? Mmm. Yummy.’ Then I started researching the EU regulations that are prescribed by the idiocracy, saying what size of banana we are allowed to eat and how much bend they must have. I thought: ‘Who are the only people who can fulfil these requirements?’ and the answer is those who deal in genetically controlled food and so really the only bananas we get are grey, rubbery, seedless and infertile. And my mind started twisting onto other things and I’m thinking of my freedoms being eroded. And I am so completely totally anti-EU and anti-Euro and as you can see the train of thought goes on and on and on. I’m not anti-Europe of course, I’ve got friends in every country, and I adore the culture and I respect ‘vive la difference’ but these rules aren’t what the Treaty of Rome was about. I haven’t chosen to use it as an ideogram, as a cheap trick: ‘Bananas means we’re all crazy, ha ha ha.’ It starts off with that but it develops into many things.
Deep Purple Album Title Gets Criticized Associated Press
NEW YORK – Deep Purple fans are going bananas over the title of the new album. Guitarist Steve Morse writes on his web site the album is titled “Bananas.” He says some deep-rooted fans are up in arms and are actually asking for them to change the title.
He says the title comes from Ian Gillan commenting in his proper English accent that Morse had gone bananas with an instrumental exchange with keyboardist Don Airey. Morse says anything that makes the band laugh usually sticks. However, Morse says Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover claims the title came from a photo of a skinny guy riding a bike loaded with hundreds of bananas they thought was funny.
Either way, Morse says everyone in the group is happy with the album as it has a variety of material on it and two guitar oriented instrumentals. Morse is also pleased that reviewers have been receiving the new album well so far. “Bananas” is due in August.
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Album Tracks:
All tracks by Gillan, Glover, Morse, Airey, Paice except where noted.
House of Pain (Gillan, Bradford)
MB:– It is just a blues-based rock song about having a lover who is hard to live with, but you can’t leave because the lovemaking is so good. I have lots of friends who can not quite break up with someone. Maybe they are afraid, maybe they don not want to be lonely, and maybe they just like a twisted mess. That is exciting for some people. I am not one of them.
– Gillan and Roger are doing those backgrounds.
– After mixing was done. I just thought that starting the album with a big guitar riff and Ian screaming would be a great way to say “Wake up everybody! We Are Back!”
Sun Goes Down
MB:– That one was developed in rehearsal. Steve comes up with some great riffs. The band really wrote that one as a team. It was the first song where we did background vocals on the chorus that we knew would not be doable live, but that is why albums are different. The song had lots of great parts; it was a matter of putting them in the right sequence.
His [Don’s] solo at the end of “Sun Goes Down” is a killer.
MB: They were concerned that maybe their hard rock fans would not like “Haunted”. I do not think that it is commercial sounding, because nothing on the radio sounds like it. If they were trying to sound commercial, they could have tried to imitate Linkin Park or a nu-metal band. “Haunted” is actually a throwback to a more 60s British soul music sound. It is probably more akin to Procul Harum or Spencer Davis or Traffic than anything going on today. They were not really worried about formula, because they have been together for so long and they have made so many albums. Like I said before, they have always been more versatile than people realize.
– Roger had the basic idea, and he played it for Ian and me. We made a very basic demo of it at my studio, and Ian took the CD home to write most of the lyrics. Ian and Roger worked the lyrics out, then they presented it to the rest of the band. It took its final shape in rehearsals.
– I made other mixes of it because of radio. I knew that for the single to have the best chance, we would need a few different versions. A pop station would want a little less guitar. A rock station would not necessarily want the string section. The version on the album is the one that the band wanted.
One, we were not afraid to put vocal layers on that they could not do live, so he had more harmonies than normal. Also, Ian had his own vocal studio within the main studio that was set up very comfortably for him. Once he was in his own world, he sang great, because he was relaxed and at ease. Also, we cut vocals when the band was not there, to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of having your bandmates listening to your every breath. The voice is the most delicate instrument. A relaxed singer is a happy singer.
MB: I also love the honky-tonk piano on “Razzle Dazzle”. I think he made a conscious effort to not just play organ. That was a wise choice, because that is what made his sound different from Lord’s. I did not have to coach him. Great musicians do not need coaching, just a little editing.
Silver Tongue
MB:– That song started off as a jam. It was just a matter of putting the riffs and sections in the right order. I processed Don’s clavinet to give the song a little bit of a mechanized feel. Of course, those are Ian’s cryptic lyrics.
I think it is a classic Purple tune, I even think it could work as a single.
MB: – I had actually written “Walk On” some time ago, but I never had a use for it. I played it on guitar for Ian and Roger, and they really liked it. Ian re-wrote the lyrics in a way that made the song flow better, and had removed some of the bitterness of my original lyrics. In rehearsal, I started the song off by playing that little rhythm part that gets the groove going. We did it that way for so long, that we cut it that way as well. That left Steve able to do the other stuff while the track was going down. Also, the solo that Steve played was a first-take shot from the original rhythm track!
I consider “Walk On” to be quite possibly a major hit, should it be released as a single. It is clear to me that your working relationship with Ian Gillan is a very successful one.
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.
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.
British author and producer. He worked with Decca and Deram labels in the UK in the 60s. He has written liner notes for many albums mostly in the genres of ragtime and blues.
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.
Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire, where the album was written, was supposedly haunted. Did you see any ghosts?
There’s a famous story. Blackers and I were the first two to arrive. That night, as a gag, he rigged my wardrobe with speakers to emit all sorts of scary noises. He had a microphone next door and was going: “Whoo whoo”. We did have a couple of séances, but I didn’t see any ghosts, though I know the place was haunted.
When I got the gig as bass player in Deep Purple I was only aged 21. We went to Clearwell Castle to work on the Burn album. Ritchie rigged up my room with hidden speakers. In the middle of the night I woke up to the sound of all these ghost noises. I was scared shitless! The next night me, Baz Marshall [Purple roadie] and Ritchie held a séance. Baz was a farmer and he’d recently lost one of his cows.
We started the séance and suddenly the room echoed with the sound of a cow mooing. Only this time it wasn’t a wind-up! Blackmore freaked and ran out. When it came down to it, he was a bit of a scaredy-cat. But Ritchie was the king of the prank – we all know that. Even today, he always carries a water pistol around with him. I have it on the greatest authority
Blackmore has much interest in the spiritual world and talked many times about séances and experiences he had in his life. In an interview with The Guardian back in 2017 the guitarist talked about ghosts and a haunted clock he owns.
The Guardian journalist Michael Hann visited Blackmore’s house basement that has a bar in it, in Long Island at the time. Ex-Deep Purple guitarist said when they were going downstairs that he would notice “that vibe of being haunted”.
Blackmore presented a clock in the bar that was gift from a friend and is haunted, saying: “It only chimes when it’s in agreement with something. Or when we’re talking on a frequency the clock understands. It’s a very strange thing. And if we ever talk about religious things, it gets excited and it starts going off.”
The guitarist also said he has a theory that ghosts are attracted to religious people and symbols:
“I don’t know if that taunts the ghost, or sets off an energy that excites them. I was watching a show last night. They were investigating this house and sure enough there were crucifixes and religious pictures all over the place. It’s strange they hadn’t figured that one out and thought it might have been causing ghostly activity.”
“I find it a fascinating subject. Because we’re all going to end up going somewhere and it would be nice to know if it was a nice place.”
In 1983, Jacob Aranza, a young Texan minister of the church, took it upon himself to alert parents to the dangers of rock ‘n’ roll by exposing not only the overt sinful behaviour practised by its leading exponents but also to lay bare sinister Satanic messages secreted within the grooves of popular vinyl records. In his book Backward Masking Unmasked, Aranza noted that many of these messages “are tied in closely with witchcraft and Satan worship and encourage abnormal sexual behaviour and the use of drugs.” Yikes! With the book now long out of print, we feel it is our moral duty to once again shine a light on Aranza’s findings, so that susceptible young minds may be kept pure. Here’s some things we learned while poring over this litany of wickedness…
“Ritchie Blackmore’s music and message are certainly not that of a rainbow, but rather a ‘Lake of Fire’.” He may be a guitar god, but Deep Purple/Rainbow man Ritchie Blackmore’s interest in the occult is a concern for Jacob, not least because of the revelation that during live gigs Blackmore “astro-projects out of his body to float around the concert hall.” Revealing that Blackmore likes to record in a haunted 17th century castle, and citing songs such as A Black Magician, Stargazer and Tarot Woman as problematic, Jacob notes that even Blackmore himself has cautioned against occult dabblings, saying “A lot of people go to far, too soon…” Ominous.
This is the demo Hughes/Thrall and Peter Aykroyd pitched for the movie. It was declined. There has a been a version posted on YouTube claiming to be the HT demo but it wasn’t. Here for the first time it is finally posted. The guy that mixed it had been awake for a week on cocaine. It is one of the worst mixes ever
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