The Deep Purple Podcast

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Upcoming Shows & Listener Meet Ups:

• September Glenn Hughes Dates
  • September 17, 2024
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  • https://www.vixenmchenry.com/event/glenn-hughes/
  • For additional shows:https://www.glennhughes.com/tour.html
• Deep Purple Upcoming Tour Dates
  • https://deeppurple.com/pages/tours
  • Potential UK Patron Meet Up

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• Deep Purple In Rock
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• From Vermont and elsewhere!

Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.

• Deep Dive Podcast Network

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Album Tracks:

1. Drifter version 2
   • This was felt to lack the overall edge over the version used on disc I, but the ending is if anything even more powerful.
2. Sail Away riff
   • How did Tommy know this track from “Burn” we wondered? Then we saw the photograph of David with a Stratocaster on! Jon Lord makes a useful tutor too. Later David slips into an early rehearsal for the Coverdale/Page album….
3. You Keep On Moving (take one)
   • An early run-through of one of the best tracks on “Come Taste.” It’s hesitant, so it was left off “Days,” but it is interesting to hear how the track started out, and there’s some great bass from Glenn who along with David wrote the track.
4. Pirate Blues (jam)
   • There are over forty minutes of jamming on “Days.” This is a little shaky compared to those but does have its moments – once they get the riff right that is!
5. Say You Love Me
   • David Coverdale’s reaction upon Ritchie’s departure was to start writing a solo album. During the rehearsals Purple tried a version of this Coverdale number. The light hearted bits in the middle tend to detract from the song (which is why it didn’t go on “Days”), but it’s great singing. It didn’t make the Purple album but David later recorded it for his 1978 solo outing “Northwinds.”

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• £3.50 “Deep Purple NY” Tier
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  • Stephen Sharpe
  • Duncan Leask
• $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
  • Peter Gardow
  • Ian Desrosiers
  • Mark Roback
  • Stuart McCord
  • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
  • Øyvind Fjeldbu –
  • Runar Simonsen –
  • Ruinous Inadequacies
  • Corey Morrissette
  • Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose
  • Weston-super-Mare pilgrim
  • Joe “Dopefish” Siegler
• The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
  • Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
• The 10 kr “” Tier
  • Carsten Lau
• $1 Made Up Name Tier
  • The “Jamming Blues Guy” Leaky Mausoleum
  • Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
  • Hank the Tank
  • Private Eyes
  • Ashen Lionel
  • Blackmore’s Tights
  • Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
  • Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
  • Anders Engstrom
  • I see DC
  • Durple Purple
  • Purple Swede
  • David Hattam
  • Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
  • Eddie Lion

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.

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

How To Support Our Show:

The Deep Purple Podcast is 100% listener supported and ad-free! If you receive value from our show please consider supporting us!

• Support Our Show

• Leave us a 5-Star Review on Apple Podcasts
• Buy Merch at Our Etsy Store!
• Become a Patron on Patreon
• Donate on Paypal (Donate one time or click “make this a monthly donation” box)
• Donate to $DPPOD Using Cash App
• Support Us on Ko-fi

Brendan Ashbrook – Logo Designer

New Patron/Patron Upgrades:

• Welcome Evan Robison joining us at the $5 “Money Lender” Tier
  • Sounds awesome! My very first Deep Purple album was a Stormbringer LP, I had absolutely no idea of the history of the band or the members of the band at the time, but I remember thinking “Whoa it says they have two lead singers here”. I liked the album and eventually I got myself a copy of Machine Head as well. But it wasn’t until later when I listened to Black Sabbath’s Born Again until I really wanted to go and check out what else Ian Gillan had done and what else he had done in Deep Purple.
  • I was quite simply amazed at the musicianship and the vocals and the entire vibe of it all. And being that I am a little younger for Purple fan (32) ,their music reminded me of music from the video game Final Fantasy 7.
  • I probably first discovered the Deep Purple Podcast in one of the Purple Facebook groups but what really got my attention was their respect for every era of the band , as well as all the side projects from members of the band. I was helping to start up a Deep Purple Facebook group when I first started interacting with Nate and John, and they suggested to automatically ban people who say “No Blackmore, No Purple” 

Thanks to Our Executive Level Patrons:

• The “In Memorium” Tier
  • Gerald “Jerry” Kelly & Family
• The $25 “Uncommon Man” Tier
  • Ovais Naqvi
• The £15 “”Fifteen Squid” Tier
  • Alan “Ain’t Too Proud To” Begg
• The £10 “Good Doctor” Tier
  • Dr. Mike Kattan
• The Turn it up to $11 Tier
  • Clay Wombacher
  • Frank Theilgaard-Mortensen
  • Mikkel Steen
  • Will Porter, PhDPP
  • Michael Bagford
• $10 “Some One Came” Tier
  • Ryan M
  • Jeff Breis
  • Victor Campos
  • “Better Call” Saul Evans
  • Peter from Illinois
• The “Hughes-O-Ween by 2033” Tier
  • Fielding Fowler

Upcoming Shows & Listener Meet Ups:

• September Glenn Hughes Dates
  • September 17, 2024
  • At The Vixen in McHenry, IL
  • https://www.vixenmchenry.com/event/glenn-hughes/
  • For additional shows:https://www.glennhughes.com/tour.html
• Deep Purple Upcoming Tour Dates
  • https://deeppurple.com/pages/tours
  • Potential UK Patron Meet Up

Show Review

• Deep Purple at BankNH Pavilion, New Hampshire. August 28, 2024.

Upcoming Rankings Show:

• Deep Purple In Rock
  • Patron rankings needed by October 27th
  • Become a patron if you want to be invited to the live stream and submit your rankings!

Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!

• From New York, Rhode Island, and Las Vegas
• Scott Haskin sends Deep Purple related trading cards including cards signed by Graham Bonnet!

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Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.

• Deep Dive Podcast Network

Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:

• The $8.99 “What’s Goin’ On Here” Tier
  • Richard Fusey
• The $7.77 KeepItWarmRat Tier
  • Michael Vader
• The $6.99 “New Nice Price” Tier
  • Spike the Rock Cat
  • Sugar T
• The Episode $6.66 Tier
  • Steve Coldwell
  • Arthur Smith
  • Anton Glaving
  • Charles Meadows
• The $6.65 “Almost Evil” Tier
  • Kenny Wymore
  • Richie Sucksmith
• $5.99 The “Nice Price” Tier
  • Robert Smith
  • Karl Hellberg
• The 60 Kroner “Scandinavian Nights” Tier
  • Knut Morten Johansen – 
• $5 “Money Lender” Tier
  • John Convery
  • German Heindl
  • Adrian Hernandez
  • Jesper Almén
  • Oleksiy The Perfect Stranger Slyepukhov
  • Kev Roberts
  • Percival Frequency
  • Scott Zerns
  • Cynthia Dube
  • Raff Kaff
  • Coyote Bongwater
  • John Miceli
  • Sarah Sanders
  • Jellybean
  • Evan Robison – NEW PATRON ALERT !!!!

Album Tracks:

All songs written by Don Airey, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Steve Morse, Ian Paice, and Bob Ezrin.

1. Blood from a Stone
   • Working title was “Sweet as a Nut”
   • Roger describes it as “an idea from El Cortijo, a year and a half ago.”
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-78.html
     • This is a withering attack on the world of usury and banking (the collective noun for bankers is ‘A Wunch’).
     • I think it is fair to say that the perceived image of bankers has changed from the rock-solid financial advisor, friend of business and family alike; up there with doctors, priests, magistrates and other dignitaries (we’ll come to all of them eventually); reliable enough to counter sign official documents, to their current identity as parasites who profit from the misery of others.
     • Describe them as you will: Scum of the Earth; Chancers; Jack the Lads, Thieves or whatever, there are no more friendly bank managers, all bankers are tarred with the same dirty brush; they have become untrustworthy.
     • On a lighter note – a very close musician friend of mine thought this was not a generalised attack but aimed at a specific person; she is not a banker but fits the descriptions perfectly.
   • Morse told Don that it had a “Riders on the Storm” vibe to it in reference the Wurlizer and the sustained notes.
2. Uncommon Man
   • Keyboards [Additional Keyboards] – David Hamilton (2)
   • Partially inspired by “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Aaron Copland.
     • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanfare_for_the_Common_Man
   • Bob said when he saw the band in Toronto he loved they way they improvised in the studio and wanted to capture that on the album.
   • They decide to try with an intro to this song.
   • Roger said that Steve and Don did the intro to the song in one take.
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-85.html
     • Sometimes writing lyrics is akin to creating an impressionist water colour whilst sitting at the bottom of a pool. All those legs are very interesting but it’s a challenge to capture them as the paint is all over the place. When you look at the results a few days later it’s hard to know what to call it. Then a title leaps from your Inbox and you gratefully explain to a bemused audience that you meant it all along, even if it is now the story of a lame mermaid caught in the ideological struggle for control of Ruislip Lido.
   • When asked about “Uncommon Man” by Goldmine Roger Glover said: “It is very difficult with Don Airey and Steve Morse, who are such great musicians, to play anything simple. They come up with ideas I would never have through of, and, whether it’s prog or jazz or classical, it doesn’;t really matter to us.”
   • When asked if this was a reference to Emerson, Lake & Palmer Morse said that he, Don, and Keith Emerson are all fans of Aaron Copland’s writing and that he had a huge influence on Dixie Dregs music. He also states this is a play on “Fanfare for the Common Man.”
3. Apres Vous
   • Working title was originally “Big Riff” then changed to “Slow Burn,” then “One Way.”
   • Song was almost abandoned as Gillan b _________________———-
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-79.html
     • You’ve heard of the famous Michelin Man no doubt; he’s the front man for the tyre company.
     • One evening, somewhere in Germany on the Rock Meets Classic tour in January 2012, I was confronted by Michelin Girl. We were preparing for the encore; all the performers were to join me in a mass murder of ‘Smoke on the Water’. Steve Lukather was strapping on his banjo as the audience rushed forward, led by Michelin Girl who was dressed (just about) in erotic threads that barely contained her wobbly bits. Throw in some big hair and a faceful of scarlet lipstick and you can imagine a scary figure lusting after me or Steve. I wasn’t certain which of us she was aiming for but to be on the safe side I whispered in his ear ‘Steve…You saw her first…après vous’.
     • That was the inspiration for an ‘imaginary’ night on the town that ended with my ‘imaginary’ friend making a complete arse of himself – as always.
4. All the Time in the World
   • Acoustic Guitar – Jason Roller
     • Worked with Kristin Chenoweth, Alice Cooper,  and many others
   • Percussion – Eric Darken
   • Steel Guitar – Mike Johnson (4)
     • https://www.mikejohnsonproductions.com/
     • 4x ACM Award Winning guitarist
     • Mike was voted the Academy of Country Music “STEEL PLAYER OF THE YEAR” for 2006, 2012, 2018 and 2020.
     • Worked with Faith Hill, Juice Newton, Kenny Chesney, The Charlie Daniels Band, and many more
   • Glover says that this song just came out of thin air in July while they were working on other songs in Portugal. He described it as “One from nothing!”
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-75.html
     • There’s something about old Zeno.
     • The idea that a tortoise cannot be beaten in a race is of course really ridiculous but mathematically possible if you allow the finishing line to be moved – and the pursuer to be elastically challenged – with every stride. How small (or large) can a space or time be?
     • Each is a moving number consistently defined by our ability to measure it.
     • Such wondrous thinking can be done sitting down just as easily as when out chasing reptiles.
5. Vincent Price
   • Steel Guitar – Mike Johnson (4)
   • This was the first song they worked on when Roger and Ian returned from Portugal in late September.
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-80.html
     • As musical idea rose from the depths and began to coagulate it was given the working title of ‘Vincent Price’; it sounded like the sound track to a horror movie. When Roger and I were tackling the lyrics we started with a list. Something we imagined would be drawn up by the director of a Hammer Horror movie; a list of essential ingredients for any self-respecting Vincent Price movie of the 1960’s.
     • So: Creaking doors, dungeons, rattling chains, howling dogs, dripping blood, vampires, thunder and lightning, sacrificial virgins and zombies to die for, etc.
     • And there you have it; the lyrics in a casket…manic laughter…fade.

Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

• £3.50 “Deep Purple NY” Tier
  • Lord Longford
• The £3 “The Aromatic Feed” Tier
  • Simon Ford
  • Richard Breese
• The $3.33 Half Way to Evil Tier
  • Stephen Sharpe
  • Duncan Leask
• $3 “Nobody’s Perfect” Tier
  • Peter Gardow
  • Ian Desrosiers
  • Mark Roback
  • Stuart McCord
  • Flight of the Rat Bat Blue Light
  • Øyvind Fjeldbu –
  • Runar Simonsen –
  • Ruinous Inadequacies
  • Corey Morrissette
  • Ashely { Still I hear, “Burn” } Rose
  • Weston-super-Mare pilgrim
  • Joe “Dopefish” Siegler
• The $1.71 “I Want My Own Tier” Tier
  • Rich “Yngwie” Shailor
• The 10 kr “” Tier
  • Carsten Lau
• $1 Made Up Name Tier
  • The “Above and Beyond” Leaky Mausoleum
  • Stephen Sommerville The Concerto 1999 Fanatic
  • Hank the Tank
  • Private Eyes
  • Ashen Lionel
  • Blackmore’s Tights
  • Steve “Down to Earth” Koeller
  • Zwopper The Electric Alchemist
  • Anders Engstrom
  • I see DC
  • Durple Purple
  • Purple Swede
  • David Hattam
  • Graham Bonnet’s Disco Pants and Haircuts
  • Eddie Lion

Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet

Reception and Charts:

• The album appeared at No. 104 on Sputnikmusic’s list of the “Best Progressive Rock Albums of 2013.”^[14]
• Now What?! sold 4,000 copies in its first week in the US.^[15] Six months after its release, Now What?! was certified gold in Germany (100 000 copies sold).^[16] It was the first Deep Purple studio album to enter both the Billboard 200 and the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart since The Battle Rages On… in 1993.
• An acoustic song called “No End To This Party” was worked on during sessions.
• From Roger’s diary: “ Bob doesn’t think it belongs on the album.   I, Don and IP agree.  Steve and IG hold out for it but are outnumbered.”
• Roger says that Bob asked him to stay behind a few days for the mixing as he would like his input. Roger said he didn’t want to be involved and that he trusted Bob and Corky to do the mix.
• Bonus Track “It’ll Be Me” written by Jack Clement appeared on the deluxe version
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27ll_Be_Me_(Jerry_Lee_Lewis_song)
• Songs that didn’t make the album include:
  • Mentioned in Roger’s Diary:
  • No End to this Party, Bob thought it didn’t belong on the album
  • First Sign of Madness, Roger said it wasn’t quite ready
    • Lyrics to song and Gillan’s thoughts here: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-83.html
  • Roger Glover: “It’s very difficult to come up with good hard rock without sounding like a parody of yourself. I think we have achieved it.” 

Reviews

• AllMusic
  • http://www.allmusic.com/album/now-what%21-mw0002505037
  • Now What?! Review by Steve Leggett
  • Deep Purple have never quite been placed in the revered 1960s canon that includes the Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, or any of the other British rock bands who continue to reunite in various configurations to tour and even periodically release new albums, but given that the group has always been a riveting and brilliant live act, part prog, part heavy metal, part funky R&B, and imminently theatrical, that second-tier designation seems like both an oversight and a shame. Returning with this set, the band’s first since 2005’s Rapture of the Deep, and featuring a near-classic lineup of vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Steve Morse, bassist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice, and keyboardist Don Airey (Jon Lord, whose distorted organ parts were so much a part of the classic Deep Purple sound, left the band in 2002 and died in 2012 of pancreatic cancer), one can only marvel at how timeless it sounds, as if it were actually recorded in the early ’70s and not tracked a little more than a decade into the 21st century. Produced by Bob Ezrin, Now What?! sounds exactly like Deep Purple in the band’s prime, moving from swirling, massive soundscapes to tight, riff-laden sections and back again with a swaggering confidence that is really pretty amazing, particularly given the senior-citizen ages of the band’s members. The opener, “A Simple Song,” is vintage Deep Purple, while “Weirdistan” and “Hell to Pay” simply rock by anyone’s definition of the term, while the closing track, the massive, powerful, and just slightly eerie “Vincent Price,” seems like a prog rock metal opera scaled down to single-track size. It’s easy to imagine this version of Deep Purple slipping any of these songs into their live set alongside the group’s classic tracks from days past without skipping a beat. Now What?! shows a band that still knows what to do, and that the album doesn’t cater to the current studio tricks and processes only makes it feel and sound even more like it comes from the golden age of British prog metal. Some things really shouldn’t change, and Deep Purple recognize that. They haven’t changed a bit, and the group’s many fans are going to find this release comforting in that regard.
  • ⅘ stars
• Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles
  • https://bravewords.com/reviews/deep-purple-now-what?!
  • DEEP PURPLE – NOW What?!
  • May 8, 2013, 11 years ago
  • (Eaglerock)
  • Martin Popoff
  • Rating: 8.0
  • review deep purple
  • The chorus of ‘Hell To Pay’ is the worst decision since ‘Razzle Dazzle’ but once past that and the album’s strange lack of treble, DEEP PURPLE spreads keyboard-grinding joy all over their pan-world listening audience of UN proportions, underscoring the fact that they are probably the most creatively vital of all hoary rock acts with roots in the ‘60s. Seriously, for the first time there’s dialogues brewin’ about the noticeable effects of age on some of these guys. It used to be just jocularity at various intensities of ill-meaning, when we’d be grousing ‘Pack it up and go,’ but some of these guys are falling asleep on stage…. Not Purple though; NOW What?! is a tour de force of funky heaviness, loaded up by Don Airey and producer Bob Ezrin with a bag of keyboard tricks, as the rest of the band tries to keep up with the prog metal zaniness of the parts and arrangements, everybody the winner, including the listener who might find this an elixir. To generalize, NOW What?! to these ears sounds like a cross between ELP, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR and the best intentions of the classic Purpendicular album, the first of this esteemed Morse era, especially anything funky and circular, recalling perhaps the Coverdale era to some extent. But yeah, I suspect a weird feedback logic, where Ian and Roger have taken to heart their own assessments of the band as jazzy, proggy, hard rock, a jam band, improvisers, a live band, a blues band, anything but a metal band, but then coyly injected enough Egypto snarl and Ritchie riffing into things so that NOW What?! comes out marbled heavily with metal, although it never quite dominates. I’m totally digging, in this regard, ‘Uncommon Man’, ‘Out Of Hand’ and the killer attack of ‘Apres Vous’. Late in the smug boomer trip is ‘Vincent Price’, on which Ezrin goes to town loading up on scary movie accents on a muscular mid-paced rocker smeared with camp Hammer horror. And what of Morse? His riffing is quite lost in the warm and layered mix, but that’s OK, and then when he solos, it’s usually quite memorable, seemingly composed, and singularly Morse in style, Steve lodging in that group of 25 or so hard rock guitarists who has that extra feather in his cap: an identifiable sound, and even one rarely copied. Conclusion: I’m trying to temper my admittedly off-average enthusiasm for modern Purple and call this an 8, ‘cos I now rate both Bananas and Rapture Of The Deep as 8s, although I’ll argue ‘til the last Hammond is toppled that both Purpendicular and Abandon are drop-dead 10s.
  • Review by Martin Popoff
  • 8/10
• Daily Express
  • http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/394893/CD-Review-Deep-Purple-Now-What
  • CD Review: Deep Purple – Now What?!
  • DEEP PURPLE are a live band. None of this studio nonsense. If any of them were reading this right now they’d probably be nodding.
  • By Stephen Unwin
  • CD Review: Deep Purple – Now What?!
  • DEEP PURPLE are a live band. None of this studio nonsense. If any of them were reading this right now they’d probably be nodding.
  • By Stephen Unwin
  • 04:44, Fri, Apr 26, 2013
  • So a new album from the godlike rock stars, who need to be seen/heard to be really understood, feels a little bread and butter when you know they’d rather be entertaining their considerable masses than churning out more of the same.
  • It is more of that same perfect fodder and if any of them were reading this right now they’d probably be nodding thinking they’d rather be on stage.
  • Verdict: 4/5
  • ⅘
• Metal Hammer (Germany)
  • https://www.metal-hammer.de/reviews/deep-purple-now-what/
  • 6/7
• Record Collector
  • http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/now-what-golden-deluxe-edition
  • Whether Now What?!, the curiously-punctuated latest album from the oldest warhorses of heavy rock still to be operating at stadium level, is really “the best Purple album in 30 years” – as more than a few overexcited Euro-hacks have claimed – is impossible to prove, but it’s a decent set of tunes by anyone’s standards. High points are Above And Beyond (about the departed Jon Lord, to whom Now What?! is dedicated), and Vincent Price, a throwback, lyrically and otherwise, to the swingin’ B-movie era in which Purple first got their act together.
  • This Golden Deluxe version (record companies and their big ideas, eh?) is one of three luxury spin-offs. It comes with a live disc called The Live Tapes (well, duh), also available as a double-LP, and a box set including both discs, a DVD, CD singles, T-shirt, poster and other fluff. It’s genuinely satisfying to see Purple’s new work treated with as much care as their back catalogue, and doubly so on listening to the live material, which is clear evidence of the current line-up performing at its peak. Guitarist Steve Morse and organist Don Airey, forever the new boys in many fans’ eyes, shred their way through classic and new songs with an energy that has to be at least partly responsible for the band’s return to form. Keep it up, gentlemen.
  • ⅘
• Sputnikmusic
  • https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/56564/Deep-Purple-Now-What%21/
  • Deep Purple
  • Now What?!
  • 3.5
  • great
  • Review by manosg EMERITUS
  • April 30th, 2013 | 94 replies
  • Release Date: 2013 | Tracklist
  • Review Summary: A worthy addition to the long Deep Purple catalogue.
  • We had to wait almost 8 long years in order to listen to new music by Deep Purple. According to Steve Morse, the main reason was the limited funding allocated by music labels when it comes to recording and promoting a new LP. The band has toured a lot since Rapture of the Deep which included numerous great ideas but had one significant drawback; its production. The band decided to hire veteran producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, KISS, Alice Cooper) for this album and it seems that their choice was spot-on. Bob Ezrin helped the band organize their ideas, keep what is necessary and get rid of any inessential material. Moreover, in Now What?! the listener is able to easily distinguish among the various band members whereas in Bananas and Rapture of the Deep the approach was a bit pedal to the medal in regards to the volume level of all the musical instruments.
  • In addition, from time to time the album has been characterized as a fusion of Machine Head and Made in Japan by the record label, the best in 30 years by music critics and having elements from Fireball by various fans of the band. So, is it that good? Has a group that counts 320 years accumulatively on this planet managed to release such a gem towards the end of their careers? Well, the answer is apparently no. This album cannot be compared to those masterpieces simply because their two main soloists are different. However, Now What?! is a solid effort, worthy of the band’s name and one of the best of the Steve Morse-era.
  • So, how does the album sound like? To begin with, it is typical of the Mark VIII era with one important differentiation though. Whereas Rapture of the Deep was more guitar-oriented, this one revolves around Don Airey’s keyboards. Now What?! is one of the most, if not THE most, organ-oriented album in the band’s catalogue. Deep Purple have dedicated this LP to Jon Lord (RIP) and their choice to put the organ in the forefront is probably conscious and a successful one. Moreover, the tracks’ intros are very carefully crafted in order to attract the listener’s attention while most of the songs are mid-paced. In addition, the rhythm section is doing a great job even though Ian Paice doesn’t provide any paicey drum fills and Roger Glover’s bass is as audible as usual. One can feel the direction of this album by listening carefully to its opener. Nonetheless, the album contains some rocking moments (“Hell to Pay”), classical influences (“Uncommon Man”), some progressive passages (“Out of Hand”, “Apres Vous”) and laid back tracks (“All the Time in the World”, “Blood From a Stone”).
  • On the other hand, any Deep Purple album has some innate deficiencies. One characteristic is Ian Gillan’s nasally singing. While it may not be a huge problem to Purple fans, his singing has undoubtedly deteriorated during the past 20-25 years or so. The one time he tries to deliver his characteristic scream reminds us why he doesn’t use this technique anymore. That’s no news however, hence the use of the word “innate”. Moreover, even though Steve Morse is a remarkable guitarist and has been part of this band for 17 years now, his playing doesn’t fit 100% with the rest of the guys. His solos seem a bit out of place in some instances (“Out of Hand”) and the same can be stated regarding his guitar tone. While Rapture of the Deep was a personal win of his, in this album he could have done better bearing in mind his talent.
  • Overall, Now What?! is a worthy addition to the long Deep Purple catalogue. Fans of Purpendicular and the group’s last two albums will find several pleasing moments and the band should feel proud of the outcome too. After 45 years of creating music, this album is in all probability the best they could have offered. On the other hand, those who expect “Child in Time” screams, “Fireball” drum fills and “Burn” guitar harmonies will be disappointed. However, this is not the case for 2013 Deep Purple and the way one approaches this album will have an impact upon their impression.
  • 3.5/5
• The Quietus
  • http://thequietus.com/articles/12440-deep-purple-now-what-review
  • “Favourable”
• Ultimate Guitar Archive
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_What%3F!#cite_note-13
  • Deep Purple
  • Now What?!
  • Mick Middles
  • Published 7:14am 4 June 2013
  • Iwas 15 when I first saw Deep Purple. This was 1971, at Belle Vue King’s Hall, Manchester. It was my first experience of a live concert and proved suitably thrilling. Three rows in, I felt absorbed by the eerie silence that immediately preceded the band’s arrival onstage. The thrilling blackness punctuated by the little red lights of the WEM speakers. Then – POW – band exploded into ‘Speed King’. Quite a punk moment, ironically enough, and one that would always sit alongside the sheer white explosion of the Pistols, five years later.
  • That is always how I have liked to think of Deep Purple. Back in the conservative context of ’71, the classic line up of Deep Purple In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and Made in Japan seemed every bit as important as their gargantuan peers, Zeps and Sabs et al.
  • And yet Deep Purple always suffered in latter-day comparisons. Perhaps it was the nature of a band that actually went on to greater global glory in fluctuating line-ups of later years? Perhaps it was the sheer fact that those later line-ups would contain egos, talents and large enough to muddy the general waters? But when I think of Deep Purple, I cannot visualise Glenn Hughes or David Coverdale. I see Gillan unleashing a banshee scream stage-front. I see moody enigmatic Ritchie Blackmore unleashing lightening chops to the rear. I see Roger Glover pumping away in perfect sync with the thunderous pounding of Ian Paice. And I see Jon Lord spinning keyboard delight into the crowd. I see a rock & roll band.
  • What once seemed utterly at ease in its contemporary setting, now seems positively anarchic. My god, those wild keyboards? No producer or studio would, I am sad to say, allow such freedom these days, no matter how many derivative Purple-ite bands arrive smiling within the pages of Classic Rock)
  • All this is precisely the point of Now What?! Technically the band’s 19th studio album although it is the first time in decades that they have openly sought to “capture the spirit of ’71 and fuse it with the production qualities of today”. A slight juxtaposition there, although one listen in and you can’t fail to be warmed by the roots that so obviously curl back to those halcyon days. Not that, given time, this will sit levelly with ‘Machine Head’ of In Rock. Such a beast would be truly miraculous. But there is enough here to separate the Purps from other bands pushing through silvered years. 45 years on and they can still cause a tingle.
  • Of course, this cannot be the classic line-up. The album is dedicated to the memory of Jon Lord although the skills of keyboardist Don Airey seem to cast Lord’s presence throughout this album. In addition the band continues to contend with the enigmatic hole left by the belligerent Blackmore. However, guitarist Steve Morse might attack his instrument in a different way, but his 20 years with ‘Purple has seen him build a comparable platform. But with Gillan, Glover and Paice still firmly in place, it is as close as it is possible to get.
  • You can tell this from three seconds onto the opening ‘A Simple Song’. Morse and Paice trade gentle opening chimes, leading you to the heart of a song that sets up residence in the rear of your head. This could be partly due to the extraordinary production of Bob Ezrin, a man who seems capable of evoking the ancient through the medium of the new. Could anyone be so perfect for this album and there is no doubt that, sonically, this is occupying unique territory.
  • Thankfully, there is a little essential oddness going on. The funky ‘Weirdistan’ – framed around Glover’s heart-troubling basslines and the keyboard heavy ‘Out Of Hand’, which surprisingly evokes early E.L.P- in a good way – both serve to pull the album away from the sharks of ageing mundanity. It is odd to think of men deep into their 60s still capable of taking such risks. Would the die-hards travel with them? I sense so and I, for one, prefer this loose concept to the sheeny perfection of, say, ‘Perfect Strangers’.
  • Naturally, there are moments of essential rock out. ‘Hell To Pay’ will cause much stomping in the aisles during their Autumn UK tour without unduly stretching musical boundaries and ‘Body Line’ , as the title suggests, abounds in pre-PC ethos. It is, in effect, about little more than a song about ogling. If you can forgive that, then Now What?! will provide enough spirit and verve to throw a steely gauntlet to the legions of tattooed young pretenders amassing at the door. Will it fade as the months pass by? Despite a disappointing final three songs, I genuinely believe not. This is far more than mere continuum. It is a record made by old men for precisely the right reasons. It reaches back through the years and glimpses the brilliance that created a legend.
  • 8.3/10

For Further Information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_What%3F!
• https://www.discogs.com/release/4524222-Deep-urpe-Now-What
• https://musicbrainz.org/release/67ab415d-5a0b-46fe-9a03-e5d012dc84a9
• Roger Glover recording diary:http://deeppurple-nowwhat.com/wp/?page_id=114
• https://musicbrainz.org/release/bb79a825-27ae-40a7-abd1-1c6ba770c3cf
• https://www.gillan.com/wordography-dex.html
• Goldmine Magazine, September 2013
• https://973thedawg.com/finger-nails-freddy/

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Postcards From The Edge . . . OF CONNECTICUT!

Deep Dive Podcast Network:

Check out our website to find other like-minded shows taking deep dives into individual songs, bands, and albums.

• Deep Dive Podcast Network

Lead up to the Album:

• Bob Ezrin stated that Neil Warnock who managed Deep Purple’s booking had approached him about producing the album. He working with Pink Floyd and been a friend of Ezrin’ for a while. At first Ezrin didn’t want to do it because he was working with Alice Cooper and was afraid he was working with too many legacy acts.
• Ezrin went to see them at Massey Hall in Toronto and was blown away by their improvisational jam. He agreed to do it but said he wasn’t interested in making a contemporary rock album and that they wouldn’t be getting radio play. But he was in if they were interested in making a musician’s album.
• Ezrin described the band as lacking confidence so he made it his job to help them regain it.
• Sunday, June 24, 2012. The band assembles in the rehearsal studio to begin work in Nashville.
• Last day of rehearsals was July 5th.
• July 7th they get together in Studio Room 2 which Roger describes as “huge but comfortable.”
• On July 14th they got a call that Jon was not doing well.
• On the morning of July 16th they got the call that Jon had passed away. Roger said that it was a very sad day. He said they all went into the studio but got very little accomplished. They took the following day off.
• “Yesterday, I told Bob about an obscure Elvis Costello song called The Hoover Factory that I hadn’t heard since the 70s. So Bob texts Elvis, who immediately emails a version of the song back.  This is typical Bob; instant solutions! “
• In Late July Roger and Ian go to his home in Portugal to finish up working on lyrics and writing.
• “RZA changes my iPhone ringtone to Jon’s solo in Ramshackle Man.   Corky mixes the latest versions of several of the songs for IG and I to work on in Portugal.”
• July 25th:
• Roger: “Bob suggests a meal and I accompany him to a restaurant called Sambucca, a jazz place.  The air conditioning is a bit much and I am only in a tee shirt, so Bob calls Don, who is soon about to join us, and tells him to bring a jacket for me – another example of Bob solving problems immediately.  The food is good and the band – piano, bass, drums, guitar and trumpet – is very good.  Bob introduces himself and suggests that Don from Deep Purple get up for a jam.  It is a wonderful moment to see these jazzers drop their jaws and bury their misconceptions as Don effortlessly breezes though several standards.  In fact, he is brilliant, I am proud of him.  Bob is as impressed as the band.  Bob picks up the check and it has a 40% musicians’ discount!  Afterwards, we go to see 45RPM, a band featuring some of the finest country musicians in Tennessee. They are superb.  I sit there in a dream as this soothing, beautifully played music envelops me like a warm bath.”
• 
  
  

Core Band:

• Bass Guitar – Roger Glover
• Drums – Ian Paice
• Guitar – Steve Morse
• Keyboards – Don Airey
• Vocals [Singer] – Ian Gillan

Additional Musicians:

• Musician [Additional], Backing Vocals, Percussion – Bob Ezrin

Technical:

• Producer – Bob Ezrin
• Production Manager – Lothar Strunk
  • Production and technical credits for Deep Purple and Gotthard.
• Technician [Drum] – Pauly Simmons
  • Went on to work on Whoosh.
• Technician [Guitar] – Thomas “Tommy” Alderson*
  • Worked with Deep Purple and Flying Colours.
• Technician [Keyboards/Backline] – Mike Airey
  • Son of Don Airey.
  • Went on to be Deep Purple’s tour manager.
• Tour Manager – Ian ‘Spider’ Digance*
• Engineer [Assistant] – Li Xiao Le
• Engineer [Rainbow Recorders] – Mike Airey
• Engineer [Rainbow Recorders] – Nathan Sage
  • Worked with Deep Purple, Saxon, and Don Airey’s “All Out” solo album
• Engineer [Rainbow Recorders] – Rob Harris (5)
• Engineer [Tracking Room Assistant] – Jarad Clement
  • Worked with Michael McDonald, Alixon Krauss, Van Zant
• Engineer [Tracking Room Assistant] – Zach Allan*
  • http://www.redarmorproductions.com/
  • Worked with Kingfish, Buddy Guy, Toby Keith
• Engineer, Mixed By – Justin Cortelyou
  • Went on to work on = 1, Phish, Alice Cooper, Winger, 
• Booking [Agency] – The Agency*
• Booking [Agent] – Neil Warnock
• Management [Accountant] – Mark Zuckerman (2)
• Management [Business Manager] – Barbara Fucigna, Thames Talent, Ltd.*
• Management [Personal Manager] – Bruce Payne, Thames Talent, Ltd.*
• Mastered By – Greg Calbi

Album Art & Booklet Review

• Layout, Artwork – Antje Warnecke
  • http://www.antje-warnecke.de/
  • https://nordendesign.de/
  • Worked with many bands.
  • Did the album covers for the two live CD/DVD sets that came out of this tour.
• Photography By [Photos] – Jim Rakete
  • https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Rakete
  • German photographer
  • Worked with many bands – over 600 entries on Discogs
• Cover [Front Cover by] – Ear Music

Recorded at: The Tracking Room, Nashville, TN, USA,

Anarchy Studios, Nashville, TN, USA,

Additional Keyboards recorded at Rainbow Recorders,

Mixed at Anarchy Studios, Nashville, TN, USA,

Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, NY, USA.

Thanks to: Max Vaccaro, Michael Hedges, Kat Rallis, Sally Day, Jenny DiMauro and Kim Markovchick.

Roger Glover thanks: Vigier Excess RG Custom and Fender Precision bass guitars, TC Electronic Blacksmith amplification & effects, EBS pedals.

Ian Paice thanks: Pearl drums, Paiste cymbals, Remo drumheads, ProMark sticks, Protection Racket softcases, Hardcase hardcases, May mic system, AKG mics, Beyer Dynamic mics & headphones, HK Stage Monitors.

Steve Morse thanks: Ernie Ball, Musicman, Engl. Dimarzio, TC Electronic, Presonus.

Don Airey thanks: Keith Watson at Soundcraft, John Haburay at The Hammond Store, Clive Botterill at Hammond Services, Mike Swains at MLS Electronics, Hughes & Kettner.

This album is dedicated to Jon Lord.

Souls, having touched, are forever entwined.

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Album Tracks:

All songs written by Don Airey, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Steve Morse, Ian Paice, and Bob Ezrin.

1. A Simple Song
   • Working title was “Glover’s Fifth”
   • Gillan’s notes: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-77.html
     • Breathe in, breathe out; that’s all there is to it really. Oh, now I can walk; left, right, left, right. Look up, down, straight ahead and occasionally behind (just in case). Now, do I go left, right or straight ahead? Follow the crowd or take the scenic route? Conform or rebel?
     • It was all so easy to start with.
   • Steve Morse said the original idea was on the bass brought in by Roger.  He said they tried it a bunch of different ways and that Bob and Roger really liked the melody line he brought in.
2. Weirdistan
   • Keyboards [Additional Keyboards] – David Hamilton (2)
   • https://hamiltonmusic.net/
   • Keyboardist, composer, arranger based in Nashville.
   • Worked with Shania Twain, John Legend, Josh Groban
   • Worked on this one with Bob Ezrin who helped them come up with a new melody.
   • Gillan’s notes: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-86.html
     • It’s not a country – it’s a state of mind, or rather – many states of mind. Each trying to reach out to the others but held back by convention, taboo and suspicion of the unknown.
     • Then driven forward again by the lust for life.
   • Steve Morse said he liked any Eastern influence mixed with rock music.  He said he didn’t know the phaser sound was going to be in it until he heard the mix but that he loved it.
3. Out of Hand
   • Working title was “Pint of Heavy”
   • Gillan’s notes: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-81.html
     • A friend wrote to me…’Ian, is this song about the music business?’
     • I replied…’Oh dear, you mustn’t think that…’
     • Of course that’s the problem with being enigmatic, everything is open to interpretation.
     • It seems obvious to me that Francesco del Giocondo’s wife had haemorrhoids when sitting for Leonardo da Vinci and that Eric Cantona’s famous quip – “When seagulls follow a trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.” – was rhetoric at its finest. The media has never been insulted so cleverly – most journalists publicly chose not to understand it – Ha!
   • Morse says this was inspired by English rockers like Page and Blackmore.
4. Hell to Pay
   • Roger says in his diary that they tried multiple different tuned down version but end up going back to the original key.
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-84.html
     • Eddie was an armchair revolutionary; always whipping us into a frenzy of anti-establishment activity. When I say activity it was really just animated talk, fuelled by alcohol and the need to impress our fellow revolutionaries. Eddie was ‘All talk and no trousers’. At the first sign of trouble he’d be under the table or out the door like the proverbial rat up a drainpipe. But he had a Che Guevara T-shirt, a wispy moustache and a flinty stare that gave him a manic edge over his impressionable coterie. His hair was never right though, I think his ‘two-tone’ soubriquet came from the comb-over; his pale skull showed through in stripes beneath his greasy barnet (Barnet Fair = Hair; rhyming slang) as the evenings wore on.
   • Morse said: “The choices that the core members made in terms of what sounds too weird, or what works, were very well done. I really like the way I play with Don on this one.”
5. Body Line
   • Percussion – Eric Darken
   • https://www.ericdarken.com/
   • Worked with Amy Grant, Michael Sweet, Barry Maniolow, and many others.
   • Working title was “The Bubble.”
   • Roger said there was a “slight disagreement” about the main riff but does not elaborate.
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-82.html
     1. When I was a kid we played a game of silhouettes; basically you had to empty your pockets of string, marbles, keys, candles, coins, book matches etc (don’t look at me like that) and throw the contents on a sheet of paper, then draw around the edges of the items creating a single line perimeter inside which you had to use your imagination to create a picture.
     • Roald Dahl’s TV series Tales of the Unexpected had the silhouette of a naked woman dancing in the flames. Well, she seemed to be naked but she may have been wearing modesty items of the sheerest gossamer or possibly a rubber leotard; both of them a risky bet so close to the flames.
     • So, this is an erotic three-dimensional game of silhouettes. Feel free to let your imagination take the reins but don’t get too close to the fire; you’ll lose all perspective.
6. Above and Beyond
   • Keyboards [Additional Keyboards] – David Hamilton (2)
   • Working title is “Over and Overture” and is referred to as “Steve’s” by Roger Glover. Roger said Ian was confused by it at first and then he loved it.
   • Gillan’s thoughts and lyrics: https://www.gillan.com/wordography-76.html
     • It was during the writing of this song that Ian Paice brought us the news of Jon Lord’s death. Jon was the nearest thing we ever had to a leader and – along with Ritchie and Ian – was the founder of Deep Purple in 1968. Roger and I were the new boys (we joined in ’69). But the house is still standing and here we were in Nashville with Steve and Don, in the summer of 2012. After a period of quiet reflection we shared some old familiar anecdotes about Jon and before long his spirit filled the room. I scribbled the line ‘Souls, having touched, are forever entwined.’ And then he sang these words to us all.

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For Further Information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_What%3F!
• https://www.discogs.com/release/4524222-Deep-urpe-Now-What
• https://musicbrainz.org/release/67ab415d-5a0b-46fe-9a03-e5d012dc84a9
• Roger Glover recording diary:http://deeppurple-nowwhat.com/wp/?page_id=114
• https://musicbrainz.org/release/bb79a825-27ae-40a7-abd1-1c6ba770c3cf
• https://www.gillan.com/wordography-dex.html
• Goldmine Magazine, September 2013

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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Lead up to the Album:

• In 1994 Nick Simper joined Mick Underwood to form a project called Quatermass II. They also got Bernie Torme on guitar and Peter Taylor on vocals.
• Simper and Underwood met up at an RPM records party and agreed to organize a jam. They eventually recruited session singer Peter Taylor and Bernie Torme. Torme reported backed out in case they got a heavy touring schedule.
• Dave Hodgkinson writes on The Highway Star
  • “Mick Underwood and Nick Simper got together at the RPM records Christmas party in 1995 and started recording some tracks with Bernie Torme and an old friend vocalist, Pete Taylor.”
• Peter Taylor and Bernie Torme left together to record the album Wild Irish. Taylor doesn’t have performance credits on the album but is credited with co-writing the song “Ghost Walking” which appears on the album.
• Darker Than Blue #49, February 1997
  • http://www.deep-purple.net/dpasmags/dtb49.html#10

Quatermass II – News

From Darker Than Blue, Issue #49, February 1997 Last issue we reported this reunion, and we can now bring the story up to date. I hinted that we weren’t 100% happy with the vocal sound on the first demos, well it turned out that neither Nick nor Mick were convinced either. So Pete Taylor went, to be replaced by singer Bart Foley. Again not a name that will ring bells with too many of us, but he has worked mainly as a writer (and notched up hit songs both here and in America). Hearing the newer tapes, his voice certainly fits the band more.It’s very good quality rock, perhaps a little AOR for my particular listening tastes these days, but it’ll be interesting to hear the final mixes, which will also have keyboards on courtesy of Don Airey. The band have decided that without major label input it would be very difficult to tour in any way, so for now Quatermass 2 will remain a recording project. Foley is signed to EMI for a solo album which makes it hard for them to gig. The CD is provisionally titled Long Road and release should be sometime in the spring / early summer.

• From DPAS:
  • Drummer Mick Underwood originally launched a band called Quatermass back in September 1969, along with current Episode Six bandmates Pete Robinson and John Gustafson. They made one (now cult classic) album on Harvest, and split up in 1971. Ritchie Blackmore later covered ‘Black Sheep Of The Family’ on the first Rainbow album.
  • In 1994 Underwood got talking to Nick Simper at an RPM Records bash, and arranged to have a jam, which lead to the formation of a new band. Experienced session singer Peter Taylor and ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme were brought in, but after initial rehearsals Torme decided to back out in case a heavy touring schedule became a possibility. Nick replaced him with Gary Davis. At this point the band settled on the name Quatermass 2, and recorded a three track demo tape. However, neither Nick nor Mick were 100% happy with the vocal sound on the demos, leading Peter Taylor to be replaced by singer Bart Foley.
  • As well as bringing in Bart Foley, the band also decided that without major label input it would be very difficult to tour in any way, so Quatermass 2 (like Fandango before) were to remain a studio-based project. The fact that Foley was signed to EMI for a solo album also made it hard for them to gig.
  • Much of the material for their album was written by Foley and Davis, with two tracks contributed by original Quatermass bass player John Gustafson, and one by guitarist Bernie Torme. Don Airey was brought in to add keyboard touches, and the album, aptly titled ‘Long Road,’ was finally released in the UK on RPM / Thunderbird in November 1997. It was a quality rock album, veering towards AOR at times, and was generally very well received.
  • However, it proved to be a one-off, and Nick Simper returned to playing rock’n’roll in the London area with The Good Old Boys.
• Order form to order the album: https://www.thehighwaystar.com/rosas/connoiss/ceedee.htm

From Original Announcement:

Quatermass II features four of the finest British players and songwriters in the UK today.
Mick Underwood (drums) and Nick Simper (bass) have long-standing careers in rock music having been founder members of Gillan and Deep Purple respectively. The other two members, Bart Foley (vocals, guitar)  who has worked with Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) and Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Gary Davis (guitar) complete an impressive line-up and they are all joined by ace keyboard player Don Airey (Rainbow, Brian May).

Back in the early 1970s the original Quatermass was a archtypal “Progressive” rock band featuring Underwood on drums and John Gustafson (who contributes two tracks to “Long Road”) on bass. Nick Simper was in the original line-up of Deep Purple at the time of the highly successful single “Hush”. Following Purple, Simper fromed Warhorse.

The idea behind Quatermass II is to write and perform music in a modern 90s idiom, whilst maintaining the original (70s) group’s high standards in songwriting and playing. In 1997 the album “Long Road” was released in Japan and Europe. The Angel Air release includes specially commissioned photos, liner notes and a bonus track.

Please note, this title not available in Japan / Asia

Core Band:

• Bass – Nick Simper
• Drums, Percussion – Mick Underwood
• Guitar [Lead] – Gary Davis (7)
  • Was in a band called Raw Glory with Mick Underwood.
• Keyboards – Don Airey
• Vocals, Guitar – Bart Foley
  • Irish singer
  • Worked with Randy Bachman, Cilla Black
  • Frontman of Celtic / Folk Rock band Creeds Cross

Technical:

• Produced by Quatermass II
• Engineered by Andrew Le Vien
• Executive Producer: Peter Purnell
• Recorded at RMS Studios, London, England

Album Art & Booklet Review

• Band photos by Dawson Strange Photography
• Front cover CD artwork by Pier 32 (Angel Air release)

Quatermass II would like to thank Val, Sue and Lauren for their support and patience. Dave at The Shack, Trevor at Peter Cokkes, Roger at Sound services, John (The Terminator) Savage, Laney Amplifications, all at peer especially Andrew Greasley and Jennifer Burns, all at CeeDee Management and CeeDee Music UK and last but not least Don Airey.

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Listen to Album on Spotify:

Album Tracks:

1. Prayer for the dying (Bart Foley)
2. Good day to die (Gary Davis/Bart Foley)
3. Wild wedding (John Gustafson)
4. Suicide blond (Gary Davis/Bart Foley)
5. River (Bernie Torme)
6. Long road (Bart Foley)
7. Woman in love (Bart Foley)
8. Hit and run (Bart Foley)
9. Daylight robbery (John Gustafson)
10. Coming home (Bart Foley)
11. Circus (Gary Davis/Bart Foley/Nick Simper/Mick Underwood)

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Bustin’ Out The Spreadsheet

Reviews

• https://www.allmusic.com/album/long-road-mw0000605887
  • 3 Stars
  • Long Road Review by Keith Pettipas
  • The original Quartermass was an early ’70s progressive band that recorded for the Harvest label in 1970. Widely sought after by collectors, the original lineup consisted of John Gustafson, Peter Robinson and Mick Underwood. The original band only recorded one album then split, with band members going on to other projects. Quartermass II was formed by original band member Mick Underwood in the mid ’90s. This incarnation of the band also features founding member of Deep Purple Nick Simper and top session players Bart Foley and Gary Davis. The music of Quartermass II is not progressive like that of its predecessor, but it is your basic commercial hard rock sound from bands as Whitesnake, Starship, Aerosmith or many others. While not overly spectacular, this band could attract some notice from the curious who were familiar with the original Quartermass or the reputations of Underwood and Simper.
• Darker Thank Blue #50, February 1998
  • http://www.deep-purple.net/dpasmags/dtb50/dtb50.html#16

Quatermass II / Long Road – Album Review – Darker Thank Blue #50

QUATERMASS II LONG ROAD : Thunderbird GSA 108 : UK : November 1997 CDNick has been involved in a few projects recently. QUATERMASS 2 finally came out in Britain in December 1997. There is a “bonus” track on the Japanese edition. In fact the group didn’t have any extra tracks, so they used an old demo instead! There are a total of eleven tracks on the European edition, written either by the band, or by people like John Gustafson and Bernie Torme. Gustafson was the original Quatermass bassist. The other original member, Pete Robinson, now lives and works in America and couldn’t find enough free time to get involved in the project, though he did give it his blessing.We might as well kick off this issue with the first new offering to involve Nick Simper in over ten years. I’m still not over keen to review CDs on one’s own label, so we sent a copy to a freelancer who as well as writing for Beat Goes On, Mojo and others, is also interested in all things Purple.”Deep Purple’s original bassist Nick Simper and Ian Gillan’s erstwhile drummer Mick Underwood have pooled their considerable resources – and the outcome offers more than a whiff of Whitesnake at their best. Titles like Prayer for the Dying, Good Day To Die and Suicide Blonde do not exactly lead to expectations of a pleasant listening experience. But don’t be misled; those three are among the highlights of an album which offers much in the way of seriously appealing quality rock. There are delightful melodic touches and memorable hooks that linger in the brain long after the album stops playing. But that’s not to say that the material is wishy washy – just that it’s not made up of mindless thrashing about. Simper’s bass, so prominent on his work with Purple Mk 1, is again a forceful presence – now set against the driving drums of Underwood, whose own Purple links also extend to his having played with Ritchie Blackmore in the Outlaws and with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover in Episode Six. Singer Bart Foley and lead guitarist Gary Davis are more than credible cohorts, some assured vocals and fiercely-wrenched guitar work gracing the scene as Simper and Underwood readily convince you that they’re not lust grizzled old veterans simply going through the motions. The guesting Don Airey’s sensitively-applied keyboards are the icing on the cake. One must however single out River, penned by former Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme, as a real stand-out track while the final cut, Circus – credited to Davis/Foley/ Simper/Underwood – is a fine send-off which ensures the standard has been maintained throughout.” Russell Newmark

• Dave Hodgkinson on The Highway Star:
  • The album, aptly titled “Long Road” features eight rock-solid compositions with Underwood and Simper’s fat rocking rhythm section backing Davis’ excellent guitar work. Foley’s slightly gravely vocals top it perfectly.
  • So?
  • Here’s the tragedy – there’s nothing in this album to offend. There’s nothing to challenge the listener. It’s all beautifully executed and produced; the slow numbers like “River” and “Woman in Love” descend with aplomb, guitar and vocals soaring above moody bass and drums; the pacier numbers zip along above a thumping rhythm section. But where are the songs that make you go “What the F*** was that?”, or simply “Huh?”.
• On The Highway Star:
  • When I played the album for the first time – at max volume – I jumped up shouting out “What the bl..dy h.ll” is this? Well this was the song ‘River’ a wonderful piece of music. And if that was not enough there are some more gems on the album like the rocking Coming home, Daylight robbery with the sing-a-long chorus and there’s very good guitar playing in every song. Everybody who loves guitar dominated albums with good rocking songs must go and get this one.
  • Hans van der Meiden.
  • The Netherlands

From old Angel Air Website:

“Long Road” (SJPCD033)

…filled with the kind of modern prog frills, thrills and riffs which one would expect.

Martin Hudson, “Wondrous Stories“

---

…The songs on “Long Road” are perfect in every conceivable way, from their loving construction straight on through to the final studio performances…This is a very upbeat album and, dare I say, danceable! It is melody and rhythm in complete synchronicity…

There is a power here that is uncontrived and intangible and no other song on this record is a better example than, “River”…beautiful, powerful and moving…grab this disc…

“On The Record“, Music America Magazine

---

Recorded in 1997 this is heavy metal of the melodic variety ­ perhaps for the specialist of metal Quartermass II may sound like many others ­ bits of Deep Purple, Cold Chisel, Zed, Export, Asia, Choirboys, Ian Gillan Band, etc ­ screaming vocals unnerving but nevertheless for the most part a pleasurable listen…
Standout tracks are ‘Wild Wedding’ reminds of Dave Edmunds, ‘Long Road’ brilliant the way it splutters into life plus scinterlating vocal & fretboard meanderings, ‘Suicide Blonde’ AOR with plenty of emotion, ‘Daylight Robbery’ vocalist Foley sounding so much like Ian Gillan. All songs written by the band except two tracks from John Gustafson
(founder member of Quartermass as well as member of Ian Gillan Band) and one from Bernie Torme (Mick Underwood’s formor mate from Gillan).

Zabadak magazine

---

One may snicker at this rather dated concept, but Quatermass 11 does it so well, one must look beyond and focus on the music itself, which is quite good considering. With up-front production, crunchy guitars, angelic, soaring vocals and strong performances from all members, Long Road will please those who fondly remember those late-seventies arena rock bands.

The River Reporter (USA), April 1999

---

…their creation has been repackaged with a 12-page booklet replete with decent photos and info…
A fairly decent slice of melodic hard rock…

Tim Jones, Record Collector (May 1999)

---

This is an absolute cracker of an album and should ensure that Quatermass II’ makes more of an impact than the original band…

Terry Craven, Wondrous Stories (May 1999)

---

Some Angel Air releases are more important historically than they are musically but, in this case, the album is a damn fine listen…One to savour.

Rock ‘n’ Reel, Autumn 1999

For Further Information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatermass_(band)
• https://www.discogs.com/release/6557152-Quatermass-II-Long-Road
• http://www.deep-purple.net/dpasmags/dtb49.html#10
• http://www.deep-purple.net/dpasmags/dtb50/dtb50.html#16
• https://web.archive.org/web/20000229071456fw_/http://www.angelair.force9.co.uk/reviews.htm
• http://www.deep-purple.net/tree/quatermass2.htm
• https://www.giginjapan.com/quatermass-ii-feat-nick-simper-demo-sessions-and-rarities/
• https://www.thehighwaystar.com/rosas/simper/QMII.html

Listener Mail/Comments

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