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The soundtrack of growing up
Joe Satriani recently spoke to Los Angeles radio station KLOS, and within the hour long chat several Purple related topics were touched upon.
The first time I heard ‘Hush,’ it just came to me through the radio at the perfect time of my life. So that just became ingrained in my psyche. It’s part of the soundtrack of me growing up. And hearing that at Jones Beach in the summer… Everything that was happening for a young kid like myself, that was the sound I loved.
As I became a musician and guitar player, I followed the band up until… I guess it was ‘Live in Japan.’ And, and then, of course, by then, the journey had taken me somewhere else, I got into all kinds of music. And I started to kind of drift away from what they were doing. But part of what I consider to be real heavy rock, is what they did, on the first few albums.
And I’ll tell you a funny thing. When I got the call to replace Richie in the band, of course, I turned it down immediately. Because I just thought nobody can replace Ritchie Blackmore. You just can’t do that. And then, of course, I changed my mind, because I thought, ‘I really want to play with these guys.’ And I’m willing to accept abuse from the fans. [laughs] Like get on stage or in a room with these guys and play.
I wound up getting some cassettes from Roger [Glover] a week before I had to fly to Japan to start the tour. And so I was really cramming. And the cassettes I think were from a Stuttgart show where Ritchie had left halfway through the show. So there’s guitar for the first cassette. And then the second cassette comes in, and there’s no guitar. And that’s what I had to learn, the show from there. So I get to Tokyo, and we have one rehearsal in this medium-sized, very acoustically dead room. The band is set up, just like they would be on stage, and I plugged in and we played ‘Highway Star’ and I… I could not believe it.
Because in that room, that band sounded exactly like ‘Machine Head.’ It was freaking me out. They were so good. Each person – John, Ian, Ian, and Roger, they just sounded exactly like they do on that album. And I was so impressed with their musicianship, their kindness, their acceptance of this kid from Long Island, who’s suddenly ending there in the band. It took a long time to wrap my head around that. Every night that we would play, I kept thinking like, ‘Wow, what am I doing in this band? This is, Rock Royalty to me.’ Luckily, I had so much to remember. That first set of shows in Japan was really about me remembering how not to screw up the show. Because they were a well-oiled machine on that tour. And I just wanted to make sure I didn’t screw up.
Thanks to Ultimate Guitar for the heads up and the transcription.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
It’s a shame there aren’t any official live releases from this era. I’ve heard a bootleg and it was very good. I especially liked KOYBD.
March 21st, 2022 at 22:14I’m not a Satriani fan per se, but I feel like Deep Purple have understood their fan base so well in terms of releasing generous amounts of live stuff from most of the line-ups, so it’s surprising that we haven’t gotten a Satch DP disc or a JLT one. Those guys are part of Purple’s history.
March 22nd, 2022 at 02:54Do not see any shame. As he told, nobody can replace Ritchie and this is pure truth.
March 22nd, 2022 at 04:27Hi everyone! Saw our band in Hamburg with Joe Satriani and it was FANTASTIC! I’m sure the show was filmed and recorded and I would like to have a DVD/blu-ray from that concert or another. Joe was brilliant and, as always, the whole thing was very LOUD!
March 22nd, 2022 at 11:11Have a nice Day!
You cant replace RB’s playing, or his tantrums
You cant replace Steve Morse or Joe Satriani either
March 22nd, 2022 at 11:53They all wear their own Shoes!
March 22nd, 2022 at 13:57We who love this band deserve a live album with JS and another with Joe Lynn Turner.
March 22nd, 2022 at 17:15Joe did a fine job with Purple at very short notice. I saw them in Kassel. No, I didn’t really like it back then (and wrote as much in DTB) because Ritchie was missing and I was in grief, but there was no faulting Joe’s playing (or his enthusiasm for what he was doing). He played some of the stuff more faithfully than Ritchie had. His solo during Knocking At Your Back Door when he did those lightning-fast arpeggios were a personal highlight for me. That was pretty friggin’ amazing, here at 5:30 and 6:40:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXag1wAemoU
That’s not only technically ambitious (and beyond Ritchie’s technical capabilities if that may be said here; I’m already preparing for the incoming flak shells, it’s against the rule of all rules that you may always say that Ritchie was technically better than Tommy, but never ever may you say that someone else might be more fluid than Ritchie …), but it also sounded great and fitted the song well.
Both the Mk V and the Mk VI line-up deserve an official live recording. I assume that Satriani’s deal with the Purps did not allow for him to be recorded for a release for posterity. I actually dig out my ‘Satriani with Purple’ bootlegs once in a while, they are actually the only ones I go back to. There is a very good quality Swiss radio show out there – the bootleg release was only hampered by the transfer being made at the wrong pitch (too slow). If they could ever release that legally …
March 22nd, 2022 at 19:56What I can’t understand is why is it so difficult for the promoters of DP and Joe Satraini to agree a double act show in America and Europe. It will give him the chance to join in with DP for the encore.
March 22nd, 2022 at 23:50Peace
I have seen them with Satch two times back then and liked it a lot. Given the fact they were just starting to play together … who knows what might have come out of it had they stayed together. IMHO Joe would have been a far better choice for the band than Steve was – who of course is an ace player but took the band in a totally different direction. And yes, I’m up for a live release too! (Could do without one of the JLT-lineup though, the shows I attended were pretty dreadful and even had people leaving before the end …)
March 23rd, 2022 at 07:41Joe, is a great guitarist and a wonderful person.🎸
March 23rd, 2022 at 12:19Celebro cada álbum de DP cómo si fuera la última vez que van a grabar. En mi caso crecí con la banda. Hoy tengo 61 y los sigo disfrutando. Blackmore me voló la cabeza. Siempre! Cuando vinieron a Argentina por primera vez fue con Steve Morse. Me dije quien es este tipo? Para tocar con la banda debe ser bueno. Y es exelente! Y soy fan de Satch! Y es el mejor! Escuché los conciertos que hicieron en esa gira y es una lástima el sonido por qué la banda suena mágicamente majestuosa. Sería un honor para nosotros los seguidores de la banda que editen el trabajo de Satch en la banda con un sonido honorable! Se lo merecen y lo merecemos todos! Y para ser honesto de mi parte me gusta más la banda con Steve o con Joe! Si bien Ritchie es genial los solos de guitarra que nos volaron la cabeza en sus discos en vivo no es lo mismo. Salvo en Made un Japan. Es como que te queda en deuda. El resto siempre impecables.
March 23rd, 2022 at 15:42I think Steve has led the band into a direction where they can age more gracefully. That progginess he infused goes well with elder statesmen.
Re the other Joe: I saw the second of the three Hammersmith nights and that was apparently a strong performance. I liked it (ok, JLT’s embarrassing stage raps, all is not forgiven, but most of it thankfully forgotten) although the whole gig had a bit of a “Deep Purple meets Dire Straits”-atmosphere to it. It was musicianly, but very collected. Oh, and I could have done without DP playing Long Live Rock’n’Roll, that was adding insult to injury.
Personal high point: The Welshman letting go of his Steinberger paddle bass during Lazy and playing the harmonica part!
March 23rd, 2022 at 16:51Ritchie circa 1972 – “You can’t play your best every night”
Latterly never thought I would go to a Purple gig and watch him not play at all. 😀 Glad he decided to follow his heart and only play rock again … “for the money” (I don’t grudge him that, Purple were ripped off financially) and “for the fans” He’s a brilliant acoustic player too.
Joe did a brilliant job. Been listening to him a lot recently. His live tune “Always with you” from Joe Satriani, Live is fantastic.
April 1st, 2022 at 19:33