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That dreaded dress code

Louder Sound reprints Ian Gillan’s 1973-84 out-of-Purple career retrospective that originally appeared in the Classic Rock magazine issue #92. There has never been a dull moment in Ian Gillan’s career. From his 60s bands The Moonshiners, The Javelins and Episode Six to his three separate stints in Deep Purple, via an unlikely one-album service in […]

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The duck that quacks

Ritchie Blackmore reminisces from his bar about various encounters with Eric Clapton he had over the years.

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From Chris Curtis to Hush

A pretty well put together 20-minute documentary about the formation of Deep Purple. For whatever reason, the channel that published it does not allow us to post it here, so you’ll have to head to YouTube to watch it.

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The times they are a’changin’

The famed Los Angeles recording studio The Record Plant is closing down after 55 years in business. It has a Purple connection — Stormbringer was mixed there, together with some last minute recording additions. But that’s beside the point. The reasons for closure reflect the overall state of the music business today. Longtime studio engineer […]

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The Bombshell

Nick Simper continues working on his autobiography, which has now reached the summer of 1969 and his dismissal from Deep Purple. June ended with a show at London’s prestigious Revolution Club, followed by a BBC recording session for the David Symonds radio show. On July 1st I again met Rod Freeman, who was now manager […]

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A timely investment

Guitar World is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Fender Stratocaster with an anecdote of how Blackmore bought his first one from an Eric Clapton’s roadie: I was in Deep Purple in 1969, and I was living in Acton, London. We were all in the same house, the whole band, and Eric Clapton’s roadie came by […]

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Get away with and get paid for it

Louder Sound reprints an old Classic Rock feature on the formation of Mark 2, from Chris Curtis to Fireball. This was originally penned by late Pete Makowski for the Re-Machined: A Tribute To Deep Purple special issue. It all began when Chris Curtis, the former drummer/singer with Merseybeat band The Searchers, approached London businessman Tony […]

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With baby face on the cover

Sweden Rock Magazine issue #5/2024 features the 1971 Blackmore/Paice/Lynott project Babyface as their cover story, with a seven-page feature inside. Also in the issue: 4-page feature on the current Deep Purple, with Roger Glover being interviewed. The magazine also mentions that “Glenn Hughes has finished writing the music for his first solo album since 2016”. […]

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Eventful times

Reprint of an article from New Musical Express, June 26, 1971, on Deep Purple’s visit to Iceland and review of the gig, in which the author reveals that he has absolutely no clue what Aurora borealis actually is. But that’s beside the point. A trot round town revealed every record shop with its windows full […]

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The loudest and longest encore

Bristol 24/7 has a review of a new book The West’s Greatest Rock Shows 1963-1978, complete with the cover photo of Deep Purple Mark 3 on stage in all their bell-bottomed and platform-shoed glory, and excerpts covering reviews of several local gigs, including said Mark 3 at the Colston Hall in Bristol, on May 20, […]

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