Loudest thing since El Alamein
Being on tour with his other band, Don Airey was interviewed in Prague by Jan Krempl and Petr Cejka from Deep Purple CZ, who graciously offered us the original text for publication here on THS.
Youāve already done a number of shows on this tour. How have things gone so far?
Weāve got eleven shows on this tour in eleven days, so Iām a bit tired, the afternoons before the sound check are the worst but Iām alright.
Youāve got a brilliant band to back you up. Could you describe the musical background of your band mates and how you met and started working together?
The guitar player is called Rob Harris, he plays with Jamiroquai and Iāve known him since he was sixteen. He lives near me and he once knocked on my door and said: āIām Rob Harris, I live two miles away, Iām a guitar player.ā So I said: āYouād better come in, then!ā (laughs) So, we started writing from that moment, I still have the first track we did with him. We always keep in touch and heās just a great musician. Laurence Cottle is the bass player, a world-renowned jazz bass player, master of a fretless but I met him through Cozy Powell 25 years ago on a session and he played on K2 actually, so heās been on all of my solo albums. Heās a great guy and he likes to play a little bit of rock n roll every now and then, so if I call him, he just says: āIāll be there, Iāll be there!!!ā The drummer is Darrin Mooney, Iāve known Darren for 25 years, too. And I recommended him to Gary Moore. Itās just that getting everyone together is very difficult but weāve managed it for this tour, Darrin was free, Laurence was free, Rob was free. And the singer is Carl Sentance, who was in the band called Persian Risk and they were fantastic. We write the songs together, we have a very good partnership. And heās a great singer.
How do you enjoy a smaller tour which is the exact opposite of touring with Purple? You get way closer to the fans; you even hang out with them after the shows…
It reminds me of the days when I started playing with Colosseum II. And this is where the music comes from, rock n roll comes from clubs, jazz comes from clubs. You get a great sound that you donāt get in arenas. And youāre close up to everyone and thatās great. You know, thereās a great difference between this and a Purple tour but in reality itās the same deal. You gotta play your music right and thatās it.
Keyed Up is quite difficult to define in terms of genre, itās very diverse. Could you describe what was the goal of the recording and what were you going for production-wise, because it sounds very interesting?
We just did it as quickly as possible. I didnāt have much time, so the backing tracks were done with Laurence and Darrin and Hammond live, we were all in the same room, so you have a bit of drums on the Leslies, you have a bit of organ on the bass and that gives you a bit of an edge. I didnāt overdub any solos, the solos are live. And there are constraints on time, it was 3 tracks a day that we had to finish, no choice. We had another rhythm section in there Alex Meadows and Tim Goodyer. And Iāve known Alex for 25 years, too, he wasnāt available for this tour, so… good chance to have Laurence.
There are some very interesting guest appearances on the record, so could you shortly describe the part these people played in creation of Keyed Up?
Graham Bonnetās one of my greatest friends, you know, and I love the guy to death, heās an amazing bloke. While we were recording in Lincolnshire, he was back from LA visiting his family, who live near there. So, he phoned me up and says: āIām on my way to Lincolnshireā and i replied: āCall in, Iāve got some work for you to do!ā And he called in and I played him the song and he was like āOh, thatās beautiful!ā It was a bit early for him because he never sings before six and it was eleven in the morning. āBut, for you…ā So, he was in for an hour, put on amazing backing vocals and it was great seeing him, heās crazy!
With Gary, Adagio was supposed to be on All Out. And he came for a session, we went to a studio between where he lives and where we were (recording) and it didnāt work out, so we never finished the track, he said: āWeāll do this another time, weāll finish it off.ā And I said: āThereās no hurry.ā Of course, the terrible thing happened with him and I didnāt know what to do with the track but at the studio, Ewan Davies said that they had a demo which Rob had done for Gary to show him how it went and they mixed it like a duet, bit of Rob, bit of Gary, all done in fifteen minutes.
Deep Purple also have a relatively recent release out and the response and reviews have been exceptionally good. How does the band perceive Now What?!ās success?
It took us by surprise, it was a big surprise and a very nice one, you know. Seeing the audience singing along to Vincent Price, All the Time in the World…
Production-wise and in terms of general feel, Now What?! is very different to the previous releases. Itās heavier and has a progressive touch. Was it some sort of objective or did it just happen organically?
Yes, itās a lot heavier, Bob Ezrinās a top producer, you know, heās the business and heās just knocked us into shape. He came to rehearsals and was all like: āthis works, that doesnāt work, take that bridge out…ā We wanted to explore music a bit and if youāre not gonna get any radio play on your singles, you may as well go for it…
In a few interviews, you guys indicated that there may be a successor to Now What?! quite soon. Whatās your point of view on this?
Yes, thereās a talk going on about doing a new record. I know Bob would definitely be interested and Iād also be up for it.
Well, but it was a long journey before Purple and you donāt seem to forget about your past. Thereās something weāve always wanted to ask you: One can notice at the shows that thereās a little figurine of Ozzy Osbourne on your Leslie boxes. Is there any specific story connected to this?
Ozzy watches over me! (laughs) It was a present from Steve Morseās guitar tech. Michael Berger, who, when he was young, was a big Ozzy fan. He loved Ozzy, he loved Mr. Crowley, so he gave me that as a present and Ozzyās always stood there.
You mentioned Mr. Crowley, which is one of the most iconic motives in rock music. Do you remember anything about recording it?
I was in the control room with my keyboards and the band was sitting along there. And I was playing and they were all āno, not this, not that…ā So I said: āGET OUT! Come back in half an hour.ā Ozzy came back and asked: āWhat youāve got?ā So I played him the intro to Mr. Crowley and he told me: āYouāve just plugged into my fuckinā head!ā
Letās talk about Ozzy for a sec. He has this reputation of drinking way too much, using drugs, being a trouble maker. But is it all true or was it just an image? How did you know Ozzy as a person from close up?
Well, I was with him for four years. And we did five shows a week, 35 weeks a year. And it was a very successful band, you canāt do that if youāre drunk out of your mind. It was just a good publicity angle from him.
Once, we went to Milwaukee and they tried to ban us. The tour bus arrived at two in the afternoon and there was a big demonstration held by Christians, they had banners about Satan, waving with crosses in the air. There may have been 150 of them walking around. I was looking at them with Tommy Aldridge and then he says: āLook, look, itās funny!ā And thereās Ozzy! Ozzy was walking around with them āprotestingā and they didnāt spot him!
You also played with Rainbow in this period and it was the times of their main commercial success. How did you enjoy all the popularity?
We got to Japan and it was like being in the Beatles. Interestingly, especially Graham and I were the ones who made the girls go mad, which upset Cozy and Roger. We were at the main station in Tokyo. We were coming up the escalator, just me, Graham and two of the bodyguards. And there were maybe hundred schoolgirls on a school outing coming down the escalator and they spotted me and Graham and they started screaming and yelling and they all turned around and started running up the down-going escalator, one stumbling over another… The escalator stopped and there was this heap of girls out of which were sticking hands and legs. (laughs)
Ritchie Blackmore is said by many to be quite difficult to work with. How did you get along with him both as a musician and as a person?
I got along with him very well in the studio but not so well on the road as he tended to isolate himself from the band but the band and I had a lot of fun anyways. We had a great tour manager called Colin Hart and we enjoyed everything a lot, it was one big laugh.
I saw Joe Lynn Turner recently. We did a show with him in Innsbruck, a Christmas metal show. And I havenāt seen Joe for thirty years but we got together and it was like we havenāt seen for thirty minutes, we just couldnāt stop talking.
Thereās a new version of Difficult to Cure on Keyed Up. Why this song?
I just like playing it, itās a good one to play live. Weāve changed the arrangement a lot and weāve put some Beethoven back in, especially the double fugue, which isnāt the easiest thing in the world to play. (laughs)
Your CV looks like an encyclopaedia of top quality rock music. Whitesnake were yet another band you worked with when they were on absolute top. What are your memories of David Coverdale and the music you created with Whitesnake?
David is a very talented guy. Whitesnake 1987 was recorded in 85, though. It just took him two years to find the courage to do the vocals, I donāt know why. But sometimes, albums just sit there, they refuse to come out and donāt let you finish them, itās like theyāre waiting for the right time. If that came out in 85, it wouldnāt be a hit but it came out in 87 and it was a huge success, the time was just right.
You were also connected to Gary Moore by long years of cooperation. But heās said to had had quite a specific personality and not everyone got along great with him. What was your relationship with him like and did he influence you in any way?
I find the world a very hard place to adjust to without him in it. Itās very strange because I suddenly realized that about everything I do, I wonder āwhat would Gary think of this?ā I still keep Gary in mind; he was such an influence on me. He was a perfectionist; he was a wonderful singer, wonderful songwriter and a wonderful lyricist, as well, his lyrics were really poetic. And his guitar playing… amazing, a gift of God.
And after all those years, you came to Purple… Was there anything that, despite your remarkable experience, surprised you about the way Purple had worked either on stage or in studio?
They surprise me every day! Every day is a new adventure! (laughs)
Youāve really worked with an incredible amount of musicians but can you think of anyone (either from present or past) with whom youād love to make a record?
(Tour manager walks in, pointing at himself vigorously) Oh this band right here! With Manni (the tour manager) managing it!
Itās hard to believe how many shows you gave in such a small country like the Czech Republic, either on your own or with Purple. Do you have any memories of our country? And how come that we get not one but two shows on this tour?
I remember playing in Prague for the first time and in my solo I did a bit of Vltava. I burned the house down, it was like theyāve won the world cup at football, it was amazing! And when I came off the stage into the dressing room, nobody in the band mentioned it (laughs).
If none of what weāve talked about during this interview happened and youād never become a musician. Can you imagine a different career? Where would you be, what would you do?
Without music? I donāt know. A road sweeper, maybe? I wanted to be a professional cricketer but I had no talent for it at all but thatās what I dreamed of doing, thatās the only other thing I ever wanted to do.
It was difficult when I was young. When you wanted to be a musician, it was impossible. You know, I used to say to my father: āI wanna be a musician!ā And heād tell me: āOh, donāt be silly Donald, thereās no money in it!ā So, he eventually came to a Rainbow gig at the Newcastle city hall when we were at the top of the charts. And he came back to me afterwards and I could see in his eyes that he was impressed. I said: āSo? What did you think, dad?ā He said: āItās the loudest, most impressive thing Iāve experienced since El Alamein!ā
awesome read
April 11th, 2014 at 23:21Master Don Airey.
April 12th, 2014 at 00:50Dear Don…
You are the one and only ………… real (kind of) replacement of JON.
Does not mean as a joke – it means it sincerely !!
I have had said this, when you were in Rainbow
and now YOU ARE … member of the Best of the BEST ROCK GROUP ever !!
LLRnR
LLDnP
kraatzy
April 12th, 2014 at 12:18Don is always interesting in interviews. I think his dads remark about Rainbow and El Alamein is one of the best quotes I have seen in years. Thank you for charing. MIKE
April 12th, 2014 at 14:26Don Ariey is now the absolute highlight of the current purple line up.
April 12th, 2014 at 14:33We are so lucky ( fans) to have guys like Don and Steve.
They keep us alive, they keep Deep Purple alive, and they keep Rock.n.roll alive.
Thank you Mr Airey.
Long live DP.
Richard.
April 14th, 2014 at 02:39Great interview š Some good stories (Ozzy with the protesters, and others), and an enjoyable read. Well done! I still play my Colosseum II stuff now & then š
April 14th, 2014 at 12:00Good questions and even better answers, covering a lot of material and artists?! Thanks…………………
April 14th, 2014 at 22:01As one of “authors” of this interview I have to add few comments here. š First – thank you for publishing it here on THS! š
WeĀ“re very sorry for couple of “mistakes” which happened. So please allow me to do a little correction. š
First one: “Keyed Upā is quite difficult to define in terms of genre, itās very diverse.” is beginning of the question…
Second one: “How did you Ozzy as person from close up?” we forgot the obvious word – know!
We also have to thank Don – because itĀ“s him who made this interview very interesting, we just gave him a couple of questions which we thought that they could be interesting for us – as fans. The atmosphere of interview was very friendly, there was a lot of laughter during DonĀ“s storytelling. š
Thanks everyone for reading and we are really happy because of your comments here!
April 15th, 2014 at 11:04Don, I totally concur with your remarks about the world being hard to deal with without Gary Moore. He by far is my most missed musician whom has passed into the ‘other side’. As the song says that he wrote and that I dedicated to my father when he passed…. “Nothing’s the Same without you”…….
Nice interview. Great answers. Don Airey is First Class!!!!
!Ch-BeerZ?
April 16th, 2014 at 03:24Peter @9:
The pleasure is all ours. i’ve corrected the mistakes you pointed out as well as couple of others that were my fault.
April 16th, 2014 at 18:37@ 10
I m so glad you did not mention that The Loner story again.
April 24th, 2014 at 18:23# 12,
Which story? Please enlighten us all…..
April 28th, 2014 at 14:47Great interview, thanks!
October 22nd, 2014 at 05:36