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Hell of a thing on a resume
Joe Lynn Turner was a guest on BraveWords’ Streaming For Vengeance podcast promoting his upcoming solo album. And he was asked about his stint as the Purple’s lead singer.
BraveWords: What is a project that you had your heart and soul set on, but it didn’t click?
Turner: That’s an interesting question. Nobody has ever asked me that before. I mean, look, from one album with Deep Purple, it was, I have to say, a disappointment, but I knew what was happening. I knew why it was happening. I knew that they got this huge deal from BMG to get Gillan back in the band. You can’t pass up a couple of million dollars like that. So, they were like, ‘Joe, sorry’. Everyone likes to say ‘Joe was fired’, but I wasn’t really fired, I was let go. I was explained the situation, and I said let me bow out to let Purple come forward again. Because I’ve always loved Purple. I was a big fan of the band my whole life, so I feel, as Ian Paice said, and I love this comment, I have a screen shot of it, and I’ll paraphrase it. He basically said, ‘Joe Lynn Turner was the link’. We would have never gotten to Perfect Strangers or anything if he hadn’t been there for Slaves And Masters, because Ritchie would have bolted. Ritchie would have left and done something else, and then there would have been no chance for them to regroup. So, I was kind of like the middle man, to keep it together. And he said many other kind words about me. I love the guy, but not because he’s flattering me, but because he’s accurate. And I knew that was the accuracy. We got so much flack for that album, but you listen to that album, it’s a damn good album.
BraveWords: Absolutely. And it has stood the test of time.
Turner: Exactly. The writing the production, the performances. Come on, it’s a good record.
BraveWords: But, despite that you’re only on one Deep Purple record, that’s a hell of a thing to have on a resume.
Turner: Oh yeah. I’m proud of it. I’m honoured and blessed to be on it. I was very fortunate. I mean, they had somebody lined up to be a singer and I was the last-minute call because at that point Colin Hart, the road manager called me up and said, ‘You fancy coming up for a month to audition?’, and I said, ‘I gotta audition?’. So I drove up for a month, and there they were in this beat-up, old, abandoned ski lodge, in the bar area, stinking of cigarettes and beer, and as soon as I walked in Blackmore started playing and I went up to the mike. And then John Lord, rest his soul, he started playing this piano bit, and that turned into ‘The Cut Runs Deep’. Right there and then. And they looked at each other after the jam and said, ‘He’s the guy!’, and Ritchie went, ‘I told you. He can write, he can sing. There it is, we got him.’ And they all said, that’s it. And that’s how it happened. Quite, in a way, last-minute. But I must say, at that time, I was coming out, I was already in Foreigner and out of Foreigner, that’s because during the time when Lou had quit, I call it the ‘Say You Will’ period. And I had a falling out with Bud Prager, the manager, because he was a complete arsehole, and I just told him he was. You don’t do that, right? Then Bad Company was also interested in a singer before they got Brian Howe. So, it was a peak of that leg of my career, and I went, ‘I want to go with Purple’, and that’s what I did. And I never looked back, and I don’t regret a damn minute of it.
BraveWords: Well, when you look at the lineage of singers, it’s a pretty exclusive grouping.
Turner: You know what? Absolutely. That legacy, to be part of that, I’m so blessed and fortunate, really I am. It’s like, ‘Pinch me’, it’s a dream. Really.
Thanks to BraveWords for all the heavy lifting.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
JLT was in Russia a few weeks ago for a concert. Isn’t that weird while Ukraine is at war ?
https://youtu.be/BTDL2ff_lAw
October 12th, 2022 at 20:23An interesting interview, except for the PS to S&M comment. There wasn’t any talk of world politics. He should keep it that way.
October 12th, 2022 at 21:40Yo…Well done JLT !!! Let the truth behind all the past-mess come out ! Show-biz is a strange & uncertain beast, that’s for sure, & you made the right decision at the right time imo. I also don’t mind Slaves & Masters, it’s just an awkward fit in-between the other albums, but that’s history for you.
Good luck with the new album, what a beast !!!
Peace !
October 12th, 2022 at 22:56Frankyb: Not if you know how Joe thinks about Russia and some other things …
https://blabbermouth.net/news/joe-lynn-turner-thanks-roger-waters-for-his-comments-on-russia-taiwan-and-joe-biden-he-speaks-truth-to-power
I hesitated including this link because I fear it will prove divisive here. But if BLABBERMOUTH reports about it (and Joe doesn’t deny having said anything like it), we can’t really pretend at The Highway Star that those views of an Ex-DP member don’t exist.
I take issue with a lot of things Joe says in that BLABBERMOUTH interview – I sure wouldn’t want to be caught with a quote like “There’s more freedom in Russia (Uwe’s edit: than in the US); I can tell you that.” – ouch!, but I’m not condemning him for gigging in Russia. I have my doubts whether vast economic and cultural sanctions (that smash decades of previously built East/West-relations) will actually help end Russia’s war and question the wisdom of betting on a conventional victory by Ukraine – that is taking a huge gamble in my view that nobody acts even more irresponsibly than they have already shown in the recent past.
I don’t deny Ukraine’s right to defend itself, but the longterm perspective of that understandable and legitimate reaction is bleak. There is a difference between legitimate and wise.
Anyway back to the music. Joe is in fine voice and the band is tight and convincing. I also take note that Western sanctions have not noticeably reduced the amount of Russian guitarists (I assume the band is Russian, but I might be wrong), perhaps the military draft will. There are three guitarists playing throughout and sometimes even four (not counting the bassist), but for the most part they don’t get in each other’s way.
October 12th, 2022 at 23:23Yeah. He gave an interview to Blabbermouth and did nothing but praise Putin as a “good gangster.” It made my skin crawl.
October 13th, 2022 at 00:31I dont think I’ll be listening to any of his “drivel” any time soon.
@4 Yo folks, JLT has the right to his opinion, & imo, he’s well on the right track when compared with all the research I’ve done over many, many years, into answering the question “How did the world become such a mess” ?…
I haven’t watched the video posted above, as his new tune speaks volumes about his openness & truths. And I have to be careful too, as I’ve been censored here a few times already, not knowing where I’d crossed the line, so-to-speak…Perhaps if some people were to address the NATO treaties signed in the 1990’s by certain countries, they’d learn that these treaties were not honored…And history also reveals with investigation that financiers from the US-of-A certainly helped build Russia up to what it is today, right after the Bolshevik revolution…All this to say, do your homework, & don’t believe all you see & read on the TV & newspapers…Enough said…
I think we’re all going to be alright however, all one needs to do is be a decent human being, starting at home, & all good things will prosper from there. And I hope JLT sells a bundle of CD’s, & gets people investigating issues close-to-home.
Peace !
October 13th, 2022 at 07:17So It was JLT that saved DP!
Is their anything he doesnt lay claim to?
A legend in his own mind
October 13th, 2022 at 08:19Here my views on playing in Russia.
October 13th, 2022 at 11:59Music has nothing to do with dictators or governments. Music is a media of entertainment and as long as it’s safe to play in country then it’s music is the winner.
Joe Lynn Turner can have his views about Putin but his views can’t be the views of all his fans so the fans are separate dimension.
Lots of musicians have political, Religious views but gone the days when they were stoned to death.
The world is never and will never be a perfect place but getting group of people to enjoy the magic of music is not a crime and doesn’t make the actions of dictatorship glamorous.
The problem is if Putin and his gangs come to watch him and invite him for dinner after the show that will not be accepted.
Peace ✌️
So, they would never have got to Perfect Strangers if it hadn’t been for Slaves and Masters??? Come on Joe, get your history right. BTW, let me say I saw him live once and had a great time.
October 13th, 2022 at 12:37Must have been referring to The Battle Rages On. Bit of a knowledge gap though
October 13th, 2022 at 13:18I blame endorphins really. Joe, that great lyrical metaphorist, would probably speak of a “fire in the basement”.
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/11/53/e6/76/chef-lapunov-with-joe.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hi3zCWAN00
Yeah, I like 10cc too. Clever pop, quite unlike some of Joe’s comments.
October 13th, 2022 at 13:53It doesn’t surprise me that Turner sang in Russia, it would surprise me if he didn’t. But I did pay attention to the songs from Deep Purple that he performed on this tour – Hush, Perfect Strangers, Pictures Of Home, Black Night, Highway Star and Smoke On The Water – that is, songs from the Blackmore era that Gillan performs on this tour 2022 (and no Coverdale with Hughes) and in the light of this interview, I have a question, is little Napoleon still trying to prove, 30 years later, that they were wrong to fire him?
October 13th, 2022 at 14:04I just rearranged my DP CD collection, Mark! I had up to now falsely assumed that Perfect Strangers preceded Slaves & Masters, but now that I know that Joe most likely also collaborated in writing the song, it all begins to make sense …
October 13th, 2022 at 14:37@Adel Faragella
I agree with you 100% when you say about JLT that “his views can’t be the views of all his fans”.
We all know that the members of DP had a meeting and drank tea with the russian president, it does not mean that DP fans are behind Putin and Russia.
The music produced by an artist and his political views are two different things. It does not make his or her music better or worse.
October 13th, 2022 at 16:38Joe is right that the cards were stacked against him in Deep Purple. He just wasn’t the right fit for the group’s sound. I recall Ian Gillan telling me he loved Dan McCafferty’s vocal style, “But I could never get my voice to do that!”
October 13th, 2022 at 19:11Of course not. Nor could Dan do what Gillan does. People always want to compare everybody, rather than just enjoying what they bring to the plate. Same with Joe. Enjoyed him in Rainbow, a fine singer. Didn’t enjoy him in Purple.
As for the politics, as an American I’m not going to get my undies in a bunch over Joe’s statement about “more freedom” in Russia. Hey, we’ve got our problems in the United States. But we are allowed to voice our opinions here, whereas you might be jailed or worse in places like Russia or China for not speaking the government line. Having said all that, things have gone overboard in the U.S. when it comes to political correctness. A little bit is good: let’s be sensitive to people’s feelings. But it’s gotten out of hand. I don’t know how it is in Europe, but from watching videos it may not be much different there?
Isn’t there a clip online somewhere of that era of Rainbow working on Perfect Strangers? Well at least Blackmore & Bob Rondinelli, or am I thinking of something else. Cheers.
October 13th, 2022 at 21:57@MacGregor
I think you talk about this => https://youtu.be/utXgiReGYsk
Cheers
October 14th, 2022 at 08:17Nino@11
October 14th, 2022 at 08:42JLT and Ian Gillan will do a duet of Hush on stage one day. He claims to be best friends and loves Ian Gillan so much.
The BS lingers on 😂
Peace ✌️
Uwe @12
October 14th, 2022 at 08:53That’s what normally happens to bald people when they lose their wigs.
The cold air penetrate through the scalp and causes reshuffling of historical events in the brain.
It also increases tendency to talking BS and couple that with the introduction of a white snake of your neck and you constantly have verbal diarrhea even when your asleep 😂
Peace ✌️
Joe is an interesting example of a brilliant musician and a total jerk with uber-inflated ego in the same personality (IMO, of course). He’s a great singer. But when he opens his mouth not to sing but to talk… Oh boy.
October 14th, 2022 at 11:54I don’t have issues with him performing songs originally sung by Dio or Gillan – he was with Rainbow and Purple and had to sing his respective predecessors’ songs there. In my book that gives him sufficient legitimacy to forever sing those songs. And he doesn’t really ape Dio or Gillan when singing them, but does it in his own style. It’s not Dio or Gillan (who both would have a much harder time singing each other’s material credibly), but it’s not horrible either. He’s technically an excellent singer and has a flexible, yet recognizable voice.
I wonder in hindsight though whether Bad Company wouldn’t have been a better choice for him rather than joining DP. But he didn’t hammer at their door. they (Ritchie!) wanted him and he convinced the rest of the band at the audition, just like David Coverdale and Tommy Bolin had done at their auditions.
And to be fair, Joe can sometimes really add something to other people’s material:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNDs2_Bwcos
October 14th, 2022 at 12:09Robert @19
October 14th, 2022 at 13:34I love how you put it, you are 100 percent spot on.👏👏👏👏
Peace ✌️
Generally,I try to stay away from JLT interviews,but,in the wake of his doffing his coif,I watched this BraveWords/Streaming For Vengeance piece.
In what world did S&M come before Perfect Strangers ?? Utter nonsense.
I don’t blame the interviewer for steering JLT towards Purple,it always gets Joe going.
I like Slaves and Masters…..as the Foreigner album RB always wanted to make.
October 14th, 2022 at 14:21It’s just not the pillar of the Purple catalog that Joe makes it out to be.
“Having said all that, things have gone overboard in the U.S. when it comes to political correctness. A little bit is good: let’s be sensitive to people’s feelings. But it’s gotten out of hand. I don’t know how it is in Europe, but from watching videos it may not be much different there?”
My view exactly, James, a measured approach makes sense and shows how a society’s beliefs and values change with the times. But we can’t rewrite history and that means that nearly all historical figures offer light and shade. I’m always ok with putting the finger also on the shade, but not with the consequence of then blotting out a person or any other element of history completely. That is too archaic-tribal for me, “let’s not mention the demons that lurk in the jungle or even acknowledge their existence”.
Cancel culture both from the left and right (one side doesn’t like to face up that not everyone is gay, the other side likes to protect their children from the perceived evil realization that we’re not all straight either) is often sheer intellectual and cultural laziness/inflexibility, people refusing to muster the energy to be confronted with and think about views they don’t share or are alien to them. Everyone wanting his/her own echo chamber for constant reassurance that everything they think and believe is right and any opposition views are evil and best shut out. But a society needs discourse to go anywhere. We’d still be burning witches if not.
As with most cultural developments, Europe is a few years behind the US as regards political correctness/cancel culture/wokeness/conspiracy theories etc, but we’re catching up fast!
October 14th, 2022 at 14:46My view too, Mike, S&M was an interesting detour by Purple and I don’t mind listening to it even today (it sure beats all Rainbow albums with Joe). But that doesn’t mean it would have been the way forward for DP or that I would have preferred five more albums with Joe at the helm.
They really should have offered Joe a job in The Sopranos series. His New Jersey big mouth would have fitted right in.
Robert @15: Well, what do you expect?! He learned from Yngwie Malmsteen! ; – )
Or perhaps Joe was a natural talent. Growing up with alopecia probably gave him a “first strike with my big mouth”-attitude.
Enough, I’m gonna jump in the car and see DP in Stuttgart, I have tickets for another gig of their German autumn tour too (Oberhausen), but decided on the spot that I’m gonna take another look at the new boy tonight.
October 14th, 2022 at 15:02What to say about this…
The expected parts he talks bs , the other political ahem stuff…..
I still am a fan of loads what he did.
Same goes for my love of what Roger Waters produced, I try to shove aside his insane obsession for that tiny country.
Would Waters also love David Ickes views, you know the reptilestheoryman?
Its a weird world. What do we really know for sure?
October 14th, 2022 at 19:51@ 16 -frankyb – that is the one, cheers for that link.
October 14th, 2022 at 20:32JLT has a memory blip, anyone can make a memory mistake. What about that one with Blackmore years ago, Clapton with Free, it was obviously a simple error in the making, it doesn’t matter. We all know the history. Cheers.
October 14th, 2022 at 20:45I so wanted to give him credit talking about his alopecia. But his interviews are too much. Anti vax, pro Putin and claiming credit for Perfect Strangers. Enough now Joe, enough.
October 14th, 2022 at 21:19@ 25 – ‘ it sure beats all Rainbow albums with Joe’! Now that is a good one Uwe. Each to their own as we say. However I didn’t hear anything on S&M that came remotely close to the song quality from the JLT era Rainbow. And the production & recording of Difficult to Cure is another one up also. Sheesh to my ears S&M sounds like everyone is asleep or something. No Fire in the Basement there. That is half the problem with S&M, there isn’t any fire on it, no get up & rock hard etc. Pedestrian songs & of course no wonderful instrumentals from the band either. Oh well, a missed opportunity perhaps, or perhaps not. The other problem with S & M is that it has JLT on it from Rainbow. If he wasn’t previously from Rainbow & we hadn’t heard him in that setup before, it may have been a lot different to our ears & not have a sense of repeating that AOR style etc. Cheers.
October 15th, 2022 at 04:41I enjoy JLTs work with Rainbow, actually Slaves and Masters too! He is however so full of himself he’s hard to take seriously……..@29 spot on!!
October 15th, 2022 at 10:27What makes S&M superior to any late Rainbow output is for me the groove of Little Ian and Jon. Rainbow – any Rainbow line-up – always sounded stiff to me, it didn’t swing, because Ritchie wasn’t looking for or did not find the right people.
Of the three Turner era Rainbow albums, Bent Out Of Shape is my favorite one, though that has fillers too.
When Difficult To Cure came out, it had none of the panache Down To Earth had, which almost had a glam rock production and was kind of chest-beating. Turner had none of Bonnet’s laddish outrageousness or his ebullient live presence. I really would have liked to have heard another album of the Down To Earth line-up.
I’ve written this before, S&M has a Dire Straits vibe for me, after the abrasive sounding TBRO, I found that a pleasant change. The music was warmer. It had lost edge, but it didn’t sound as gratingly disparate as the predecessor album. Listening to TBRO is for me almost physically unpleasant. There is no communication on that album.
October 16th, 2022 at 03:32S&M is a great album but it’s not a DP album.
October 16th, 2022 at 07:06It’s even better than The Battle Rages on in terms of musical material.
Sometimes you have to give credit when credit is due.
Peace ✌️
Joe is great… He chose to save DP rather than Foreigner and Bad Co… What a joke the man is.
Good singer but what an ego, he’s ridiculous.
October 16th, 2022 at 10:03Poor guy still doesn’t accept that he is FAR from having the talent of Gillan, Dio and Paul Rodgers (though he has some of course).
Album “Bent Out of Shape” with Perfect Strangers” has similarities only in song .”Fire Dance” is atmospheric and rhythmically similar to “Gipsy Kiss”.The best song after the reunion until today, DP classic “Perfect Strangers”, the most similar “Makin’ Love” from the Down To the Earth album from 1979, but dimensions better song.
Deep Purple on “Slaves and Masters” does not sound like classic Deep Purple. The first song “King Of Dreams” with Joe Lynn Turner reminds of “Can’t Let You Go”, “Fire in the Basement” is looking for “Lazy” but unsuccessfully. On the album No serious organ, no Gillan, no Deep Purple sound. Turner did not suit Deep Purple. The best example is the song with wonderful potential “Love Conquers All”, which should have become the new “When a Blind Man Cries”, and which is so sugar-coated that no one listens to it anymore, except I guess Def Leppard fans. And all that is a shame, the base of the songs is stronger than on the album earlier, and on the album later, the album is not bad, but this is just not Deep Purple. More AOR Rainbow after “Bent Out of Shape”.
Finally, some politics that I don’t like, but I have to react
October 16th, 2022 at 11:16Roger Waters is a great musician, genius …but speaks nonsense, together with JLT, which is not surprising, and it is understandable.Turner is married to Belarusian woman a lawyer from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, who supported Russia throughout the invasion of Ukraine. Roger and Joe should know
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, independent Ukraine possessed the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world. At that time, Ukraine’s nuclear arsenal was larger than the arsenals of Great Britain, France and China together. In March 1994, due to its own and international security, Ukraine decided to become a non-nuclear power by 1996, which was also an incentive to all other former Soviet states. republics (except Russia) to give up nuclear weapons, in exchange for security guarantees, as a document shown to be quite worthless after the events of the 2014 annexation Krim peninsula near the Black Sea. If Ukraine had remained a nuclear power, this brutal aggression would not have occurred
The global politics of the USA is not a flower , but it is less evil…since I come from the country (Croatia ex Yugoslavia, I am 60 years old and for 30 years I lived in communism – one leader, one politcal party, and for 30 years I lived in capitalism-democracy, 1992 Croatia became independent, democracy and all Western values were introduced (and Yugoslavia was much more liberal than the countries of the Warsaw Pact).
For me, the last 30 years (with the exception of the bloody war in 1991-1995) have been better.I have more chances for a better life (it’s a pity that I’m not younger)) I understand the desire of Ukrainians to join the EU and NATO, and that should be respected, even Russia
The best example of which system is a better example of Germany, which was divided after World War II. West Germany (Westdeutschland) is much more prosperous than DDR – GDR (German Democratic Republic), which Uwe could explain better.I hope that the war will be over, and that Russians and Ukrainians will continue to live peacefully.
It is all about the compositions for me, quality songs & instrumentals, the music & how it sounds, moves & creates a feeling & an atmosphere etc. I thought you would ‘swing’ with Ian Paice & Jon Lord, each to their own. However it takes more than that for me to be moved, so to speak. Not to worry as Keith Richards says ‘it’s all music’. Regarding Down to Earth & how it failed, the only epic Rainbow song on that album is Eyes Of The World. It was the bridge that joined post Dio classic Rainbow to the commercial sounding Rainbow. For me Difficult to Cure is a rather strong album in so many ways, much more to my liking & it did resurrect Rainbow in many ways after DTE. Regarding Dire Straits I would presume you mean the commercial Brothers In Arms era & not the Sultans of Swing era. TBRO album is good for me as it has that edge to it, abrasive if you want, plenty of fire again, there is no Smoke without fire. The same with THOBL. When Blackers is annoyed he plays better in many ways, S&M is too easy going, too smooth as you say & resting on a laurel of previous ways, AOR ways, too lame to my ears & not really DP. You cannot tell me the other guys would have been gunning for JLT in DP. Hence
October 16th, 2022 at 21:09we hear a easy come & easy go sort of vibe to the album. As soon as Turner was announced as Gillan’s replacement there were audible groans & sighs around planet earth & plenty more of ‘Oh No”. It was an unnecessary move indeed. Cheers.
I like tension as an undercurrent in DP’s music too, Herr MacGregor, and you’re right that was lacking on S&M, hence it is not a very ‘deep’ album. That is why I really like THOBL, but on TBRO the tension had become oppressive to my ears.
“When Blackers is annoyed he plays better in many ways …” – well-put!
Adel is right, S&M is not really a Puple album, just a listenable record featuring all Purple instrumentalists. And lyrically it of course falls flat on its face, nothing grips me on it. But that to me is a weakness of any DP line-up not featuring Gillan, no one writes lyrics like he does. (To give credit where credit is due: Rod Evans within Mk I came up with some lyrics too that transcended what you usually hear with rock bands.)
October 17th, 2022 at 08:08Yes indeed Mr Gillan is a wordsmith & 9 times out of 10 he delivers good clever lyrics. The trouble with JLT is he is obviously influenced by what came before him in that power ballad sort of thing. Which I don’t like no matter who sings that way, it is melodic & emotional & there are good songs but not my favourite to hear. Tearing Out My Heart & Can’t Let You Go, those sort of ‘ my baby left me & never said a word’ songs. They had already been done to death by so many, even Kansas went there during the 1980’s. JLT & Coverdale also lack the nuance to ordinary rock ‘n roll song story telling for me. Gillan is ‘old school’ & has his own style & apart from an early ‘rock ‘ roll influence, he quickly developed his own. I suppose being around earlier is usually a good thing as he didn’t pick up too much influence or possible bad habits from other vocalists at the time. The same with the 6 & 4 string guitarists, drummers & keyboard players from the early days. Am I going on about ‘old school’ again, yes it appears so. Oh well, maybe we were lucky during that era, much more original, so to speak. Cheers.
October 17th, 2022 at 21:57Joe Lynn Turner writes lyrics like Steven Spielberg does movies – it’s often all too much.
Ian Gillan’s approach is more like Woody Allen’s.
October 18th, 2022 at 13:15Uwe @39
October 18th, 2022 at 19:00I love your description of both writing approach.
Ian Gillan always put in the lyrics with Roger after the instrumental side of the songs are done.
With Joe he always brings in the melodies coupled with words and ready for the guys to put in the meat on the skeleton.
I love the acoustic version of King of Dreams that Joe sang live on a radio channel to promote the album.
I truly admire the guy and I think he did a lot and brought in lots of idea while at Rainbow.
I think Ritchie, Ian Paice and Jon Lord as a trio were not creater of songs but they were the dressing part of a skeleton of a song.
Peace ✌️
@32 Uwe
Interesting you mentioned Dire Straights. IMHO I think the Brothers In Arms album had the greatest sound engineering of any album I’ve ever heard, save (maybe) Dark Side of the Moon. If only, to me, Deep Purple had that level of engineering prior to Bob Ezrin . . . Led Zeppelin would no longer be at the top of so many opinion polls. Such a shame that the sound engineering on so many Purple records is just ____.
October 19th, 2022 at 02:58A good comparison of the two lyricists. Cheers.
October 19th, 2022 at 04:29In regards to JLT Rainbow era there also could have been Roger Glover writing certain lyrics. Can’t Happen Here has very good lyrics for me, also Spotlight Kid has a story regularly heard about. There are a few others here & there & the Down to Earth album would have been Glover writing lyrics I would think. I don’t think I remember Graeme Bonnet having any writing credits on that album, however I may be wrong on that one. Cheers.
October 19th, 2022 at 09:33I like that acoustic version of King of Dreams too, didn’t he play the guitar on that as well? Or was it Roger Glover? As usual, Ritchie couldn’t be bothered. : – )
That was a great track, untypical for Purple in how subdued it was, but much more organic and groovy than anything Turner era Rainbow ever recorded. The Rainbow singles especially always sounded a little clinical to me, like ABBA doing hard rock (for the record: I love ABBA, but groove monsters they weren’t, their strength was always melodies and harmonies, very European).
October 19th, 2022 at 11:22While he did say he was the link to Perfect Strangers, it sounded more like he lost track of the timeline naming the wrong album while talking fast. He may have meant TBRO and beyond.
October 19th, 2022 at 20:17Compared to you chaps, I would have to say I am a casual listener. I listen a lot, but not for the details. I do enjoy your detailed thoughts and respect for others.
To me, S&M sounds like Rainbow, the same way Come Taste the Band sounds like Whitesnake.
@41 Hey Dan, don’t be too hard on the recordings of early DP, as imo, you can clearly hear improvements album to album, & by 1973, with WDWTWA, the sound was pretty awesome, but took a sidestep with little-to-no bass on Burn, & found its feet again from Stormbringer onwards…
Also, there was often a “bass envelope filter” added to early 1970’s recordings, likely to enhance the sound-quality on the then outnumbered AM to FM radio stations. I bought a boxed-set of DP recordings with all the Mk-II, Mk-III, & Mk-IV, studio recordings in around 1988. ( The box was an all blue enclosure featuring the “In Rock” design / cover ). All the CD’s within it were sourced / made in different parts of the world, such as Italy, Germany, the UK etc etc, & to my ears, were direct tape transfers of the original masters, that had this subtle “bass envelope filter” within the sound. This was fine-by-me, as I had CD versions that were clearer than my tapes & records, yet retained “that” sound…
That said, I bought a Warner Brothers boxed set around 2010, that featured the live albums MIJ, MIE, & the Concerto, plus being mini-LP packages & they sounded completely different than the European disc-set, being clearer, warmer sounding & arguably an improvement over the original-release set that I had…However, the issue with these US-of-A discs were that certain songs were missing & / or substituted with others… eg The intro to “Speed King” was missing off the “In Rock” album, which is an incredible tragedy, as the intro sets the template for the rest of the album. Fireball lost “Demons eye” for “Strange kind of woman”…
All this to say, that by 1973, recorded-studio-sound-quality-to-masters was as good as it gets, (& I’d argue sounds better than the current digital world reproductions in many ways). But what happened afterwards, once the masters were sent to different parts of the world that manufactured these items locally, is where the sound quality may vary.
Mostly all the LZ albums sound great because Jimmy set the template for all heavy-rock music, by ensuring that the bass & drums were “up-in-the-mix”, & though LZ, Black Sabbath, & DP are often compared , & share the title of the “Grand-fathers of Metal”, their music is completely different from one-another, with only the “blues” having a direct link between them all. LZ were a blues-band that could get heavy whilst mixing elements of folk / traditional music into their sound. Black Sabbath were essentially a heavy blues band that went progressive for a while, & soared to great heights imo, far higher than DP musically in the 1970’s starting with “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” onwards, whilst DP were more Rock’n-Roll, but had an energy & musicianship in the live arena that left the others way-behind imo.
Peace !
October 19th, 2022 at 23:19@ 46 – a interesting article Gregster & thank you for that information. The last paragraph will no doubt raise a comment or two from Uwe. Anything with Led Zeppelin in it hooks & reels him in big time. It is a wonder he isn’t declared an endangered species, he he he! Not to mention your Sabbath comment also, regarding them ‘soaring to greater heights than DP musically’. I will sit back & watch & read & think about it all with curiosity. Cheers.
October 20th, 2022 at 02:17Gregster, the bass on Burn is hard to make out, because it is recorded too deep and lacks audible mids. Glenn obviously played the Rickenbacker in a well-meant attempt to replicate Roger’s sound. But hat didn’t work out, Martin Birch could not capture it on tape like he had captured Roger’s iconic Ric sound. Glenn wasn’t happy with the sound either and switched back to Fender basses (which he had played with Trapeze) during the Burn tour and on Stormbringer that is what you hear a lot better, the Ric had been discarded.
It’s a common experience among musiscians, two people play the exact same instrument and amp and even the same musical parts, yet sound completely different.
This is how Glenn’s original bass track with a Ric on Burn over a Hiwatt amp sounds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2OakB8fg-w
Compare it to Roger, also with a Ric on SOTW over a Marshall amp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsBqHWvJJ4A
The dif between the two is that Roger’s sound has much more mids which helps it being audible in the final mix. In comparison, Glenn’s sound is heavily scooped in the mid range, maybe also a characteristic of the Hiwatt amplification he used (generally regarded as more powerful than Marshall amps, but volume isn’t everything if you want to be properly heard). As a bassist you know that no amount of bass and high frequencies will get you heard in a loud rock band if you don’t have sufficient mids. Given that both Glenn and Martin Birch had extensive previous prior recording experience (and Martin generally mixed bass well and loud), I’m still at a loss explaining how neither of them noticed that mids were severely missing and that consequently Glenn’s lively bass playing got all but lost in the end mix. It’s the one stain in the Burn album’s otherwise overall neat production vest.
October 20th, 2022 at 02:56@48: Bass hard to make out? The bass line in Burn has been one of the highlights for me ever since I heard it the first time as a young boy without any knowledge about what “a bass guitar” or “good sound” was. But I guess for a bass player, it can never be too loud, right? 🙂
October 20th, 2022 at 08:37Quite darn right, it can never be too loud, how did you know, Svanny?! Good bass mixes sound like that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIAS9mygJi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtznhhKOW5k
I didn’t say the Burn bass line is not well-constructed or played well (with some slightly sloppy panache by Glenn, but I love him for just that). The bass track also doesn’t lack volume as such, but it misses mid range frequencies, hence you have to really focus on it to single it out (and I’m elated to learn that a Swedish kid/’deep pojke’ did already back then!). In Rock and Burn are the two 70ies DP albums where the bass has the least audibility and both Roger and Glenn were unhappy about that in the aftermath.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:37@47 LOL !!! Everything appears ok for the moment ! And I retain a lot of info from reading Guitar Player magazines & other stuff over the years, like DPAS magazines too. And since I do a lot of recording myself at home, all these little suggestions & tips you’ve read from the “masters” over the years flood back, so I guess that’s where it all comes from. It’s nice to remember, & to share, & have people actually read this too lol !
@48 Thanks Uwe for the links & post, very much appreciated, & I couldn’t agree more !
@49 Svante, we’ve all likely acquired differing versions of the same albums, so there will be some differences in what we hear, not to mention stereo types & volume levels we play at, along with EQ settings too ( I leave everything flat / neutral / no enhancement )… I must also point-out here too, that when I listen to these bands, it’s not just the one CD that I listen to, it’s as many as I can fit in with the time allowed, meaning one after the other, so you do get hear the differences between the recordings. The beauty of the pre-CD era, is that every record or tape was around 40-minutes duration or less for single albums, so you can easily listen through all the Mk-II studio recordings in a couple of hours or so, which is what I often do…And then follow up with Mk-III & IV, & the mornings never been better ! ( The Mk-I discs I play when I’m in the mood for something 60’s sounding, & the later music of DP I’m a little more selective over, as they’re much longer in duration, since each CD offers almost double the music time ).
Peace !
October 20th, 2022 at 12:22Herr MacGregor @47: Here I was consciously trying to restrain myself, yet you mock me! : – )
As I have now been thoroughly provoked … I think Zep’s music is best enjoyed via this little gem of a vid here (and don’t forget to turn up loud):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYJUN9V6q5A&t=10s
Sometimes less is more – especially with those Zepsters.
Nuff ranted.
October 20th, 2022 at 15:01@ 52 – Whoah, Percy removing his shirt, that was a bit too much for my innocent eyes first thing in the morning, luckily I hadn’t consumed my coffee yet. I didn’t realise Johnny Depp was also around in those days, @ 2.09 minutes in. Everyone looked so innocent back then, even Peter Grant ha ha ha, before all the hedonism & debauchery set in. Rock ‘n Roll eh? Cheers.
October 20th, 2022 at 21:29@52 Wow…That was a great home-movie I reckon, the lads were very young indeed ! Not much to say except “Can we have everything louder than everything else”?…
October 22nd, 2022 at 10:27I liked the audio best.
https://c.tenor.com/ptyLUAI819MAAAAd/tim-curry-devil.gif
October 22nd, 2022 at 20:54JLT played in Russia? Do you play gigs where you live?
October 23rd, 2022 at 08:25I’m not a fan of JLT being in Russia , but you do know he’s been living there for several years with his Russian wife right?
Didn’t he want to live in Belarus (once referred to as White Russia) – that sparkling home of democracy, free speech and unhindered airplane transit – and his wife, born Russian and an attorney, lived/lives there too? Anything to get away from New Jersey, I guess!
Seriously: Joe can live, marry and play where the hell he wants, I have no issues with that. Let’s not get carried away with measuring personal life choices up against perceived standards of what is right and good.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:55I don’t agree very often with Joe amd always doublecheck when I accidentally do, but, yeah, regarding the Rainbow ‘reunions’ since 2016 I’m certainly with him.
https://blabbermouth.net/news/rainbow-singer-ronnie-romero-fires-back-at-joe-lynn-turner-over-cheap-imitation-comments
I wouldn’t blame Ronnie Romero though, he got a once-in-a-lifetime job offer and took it. And I wouldn’t attribute ‘cheap’ to the band members of the current (?) Rainbow live project (Bob Curiano aka Nouveau is a fine bass player, just not a hard rock one, of all his predecessors he is ironically closest to how Craig Gruber played on the Rainbow debut which wasn’t heavy enough for Ritchie), but to the decision of their boss and his mother-in-law to do this solely with people outside of the Rainbow legacy. That sure smacks of Sharon Osbourne and keeping a close look on the wallet.
October 24th, 2022 at 13:17Were those ‘Rainbow’ gigs ever billed officially as ‘reunions’? More likely media hype rubbish. Ronnie Romero was as he says doing a job he was incredibly surprised to be able to do. JLT has no class at all, if he did he wouldn’t keep talking out of his ego about his one & only (according to him) opportunity to look at the camera again & tell everyone, ‘look, that’s me everybody, look’. The positive thing to do when asked about something you have already commented on is to say nothing or if you are going to comment when prompted to ‘I have already commented on that scenario, years ago’. However an empty vessel does make the loudest noise. Another reason Turner should have never been in DP & most of us knew that back then, his sad insecure ego!. So many are relieved that Blackmore didn’t get Turner for the latest ‘Rainbow’ incursion, this planet has too many ego trippers on it already.
October 24th, 2022 at 22:02A nice positive response from Ronnie Romero by the way. Class. Cheers.
An alleged conversation between Blackmore & JLT regarding the alleged ‘Rainbow’ reunion a few years ago.
October 25th, 2022 at 02:34JLT: Ritchie I NEED you more than ever, this is going to be mega, an extravaganza of huge proportions. Oh Ritchie please please let me take control of all of this & it will be, did I say MEGA. I can be on top of the world again, oh sorry WE can be superstars again. I have it all sorted Ritchie, trust me this is going to be colossal & the biggest thing since the last biggest thing, whatever that was. Ritchie: Oh yes Joe you do all that & you keep me informed etc, just text or email or whatever it is you people do. It sounds like you have it all sorted out Joe, well in your mind that is.
JLT: Oh thank you Ritchie you are the best, honestly I don’t know where I would be without you & I truly mean that. There will be so many interviews around the world everywhere, but I can do all those, you know me & you don’t have to be there at all as I do remember you don’t do all that shite. I don’t mind talking bollocks, you know that Ritchie. I am serious about this Ritchie, we can even pay tribute to RJ Dio, whoever he was. Ritchie: Bye bye Joe.
LOL !!! I can’t believe what I’m reading…All this venting about JLT…
Re-watch the new track way-up above & crank-it-up !!!
JLT may just have the last-laugh here lads. I’d gladly buy & listen to his new recording than the new Christmas edition special from “Blackmore’s Night” LOL !
At least he’s revealing some truths about his home country & making songs about his anxt with-it-all.
Perhaps RB should have taken-up on JLT’s offer ???…
Peace !
October 25th, 2022 at 09:20I’m happy for Ronnie R as a new talent on the block that he had the chance, but is there really someone here believing that a line-up consisting of JLT on voc (with or without hair), Bob Daisley on bass, Bobby Rondinelli on drums and Tony Carey on keys wouldn’t have creamed the ‘mostly-Blacckmore’s-Night-musicians-on-loan’-Rainbow line-up into the ground? It would have been a bunch of old men alright, but a bunch of old men with hard rock abilities and credentials.
So I’m in the middle on this. Joe is a big mouth alright and he’s totally delusional on the commercial aspects of a Rainbow reunion, but to his credit I have never seen/heard him sing badly and he always treated the Dio material well. And yes, he would have given the whole thing more gravitas and credibility than a charming, but over-eager Ronnie Romero and the band of merry minstrels plus one Viking who was obviously totally uncomfortable in his role.
October 25th, 2022 at 12:38The thing many people don’t get is that Rainbow was a band that mattered to a certain audience back in the ‘glory’ days. Blackmore was NEVER going to do the wank fest JLT was on about which was all about him & no one else. Yes it was BN in many ways & I didn’t really go for that either, but it is what it is & we have all (well some) have moved on. Blackmore had already stated he was having certain difficulties in playing like he used to & it wasn’t going to be anything other than playing some older songs that many people for some reason would still like to hear. Something along those lines I don’t know what part of that statement it is that certain people do not get. Good luck to Ronnie Romero in his life & he seems like a nice chap doing whatever comes his way. The same to Jens Johansson, it probably didn’t turn out the way he may have thought it was going to be, it is what it is. We can also look back at what happened in 1995, a decent album & some touring , however Blackmore wasn’t into it back then in many ways. Then there were so called rumours of the ‘classic’c lineup getting back together, which was NEVER going to happen either. As one commentator said on that link from the other day. The problem with this ‘Rainbow’ thing is that it seems to be more important to everyone else other than the Man In Black himself. Enough said there. Carey, Daisley & Rondinelli & whoever else are so far back in the past like Turner, it is all irrelevant. Dreamers dream on. JLT belongs in 1981 to 1983. It is all over Joe, almost 40 years ago. Time to grow up me thinks. It was NEVER going to happen. Remember that song Roger Daltrey did back in the 1970’s, a wonderful song on one of his solo albums. ‘Say it ain’t so Joe please, Say it ain’t so! Cheers.
October 25th, 2022 at 21:40The Roger Daltrey version is Murray Head’s song Say it Ain’t So Joe. Head was the lead vocalist on the musical Jesus Christ Superstar song ‘Superstar’ & he played Judas Iscariot if I am not mistaken. He also had that hit in the early 80’s ‘One Night in Bangkok’ & I remember that hit as we were talking about the 1980’s recently. That song was written by the two Abba men & Tim Rice I think. Murray Head was an actor also, a talented individual indeed. I do admit to only listening to many of his early songs now as I type this & also reading about his acting career. Daltrey recorded many cover songs on his solo albums from the 70’s, the wonderful Written On The Wind & a couple of Leo Sayer penned hits amongst others. I had most of this ready earlier to send but somehow it disappeared into the ether, must have accidentally bumped a key or something. Uwe would remember this song no doubt. Cheers.
October 26th, 2022 at 01:56https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgc_LRjlbTU
@64: And if someone mentions One Night in Bangkok and maybe get sick of just hearing the name of that song, I must draw your attention to the excellent intro to that song on the original album, simply called, “Bangkok”. It’s right up there in the vein of Gates of Babylon and other Blackmore snake charmer goodies. Especially when played by Steve Vai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7WZzgjdiBw
October 26th, 2022 at 07:50@ 65 – excellent & thanks for that link. The Garden Suite that segues from that is good also, very Zappa influenced in ways. I will have to admit to not listening to enough of Vai’s orchestral progressive music over the years, especially after reading reviews which are usually positive. I will try out a few others. Cheers.
October 26th, 2022 at 08:09Svante @65, well observed, but in this case your good countrymen lifted ideas from Ritchie (or – even farther back – as The Daily Doug has rightfully observed in his comment on GoB: from Andew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar) and not vice versa, GoB came first! And I wouldn’t rule out an inspiration as Björn and Benny were on record for liking Deep Purple (don’t all Swedes?), just as Ritchie professed to like ABBA. When I first heard Eyes of the World, that piano middle part by Don Airey at 05:01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8FcrH1lDeY
had me gobsmacked, it was so ABBAresque, it sounded like they had asked Benny to guest!
Returning to One Night in Bangkok, has anybody ever given any thought that those melodies and scales have nothing whatsoever to do with traditional Thai music? : – )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PLl2eFB_y8
Björn and Benny must have gotten lost with their fingers on the map and landed somewhere in the Middle rather than the Far East.
Finally, I can’t let this posting about the gift Swedish music has bestowed upon the world – zank you for ze muzik indeed (and Agnetha’s and Frida’s cute accent is key here!) – end without a bow to another timeless Scandinavian classic …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5jkAkm4JmM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MUICnRCGNM
A glorious rendition of a song, even if the other Björn (Skifs) sounds a bit rough on the live recording, that US tour on the back of the 1974 international hit must have been tasking.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:35That Don Airey keyboard section at 5.01 from the Eyes Of the World song has always reminded me of Rick Wakeman. I am not that familiar with the Abba music so to speak, I remember plenty of their hit songs from the 1970’s, but I am not familiar enough with the musical arrangements etc. Wow that ‘Hooked On a Feeling’ song took me right back to the 70’s. I haven’t heard that song for so long, it is a good song. His voice reminded me of Graham Bonnet’s in a way, not as raspy though, but a similar style & power. Oh what a tangled web they all weaved. Cheers.
October 26th, 2022 at 21:23I found this article on Abba & the music & lyrics that has influences spread throughout this western world until this day & no doubt into the future.
https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/05/23/408844375/abbas-essential-influential-melancholy
October 27th, 2022 at 01:13Wot???!!! How can you live to the left side of New Zealand and not absolutely adore ABBA? The mind boggles. It’s like a ‘roo without a pouch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLDcevp5w5o
I hate it when you refuse to align with my deeply entrenched preconceptions, I really do, Herr MaGregor.
October 27th, 2022 at 14:44And the c-key on my laptop sometimes has inexpli – c – able issues, sorry, hence the missing letter …
Note to self: Don’t eat crumbly stuff when typing!
October 27th, 2022 at 16:05The Antipodean @69: That ABBA article is excellent, in depth and succinct, danke schön!
ABBA was always melodic rock-palatable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoBzAm_zwBc
You might remember Frau Beck …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh6-L98l6eE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIaVbipL0ow
That overt melancholy element in ABBA’s music must have appealed to Blackmore, he has that in him too. It is what ties DP, Rainbow and BN together. And probably also explains the lasting popularity of Blackmore’s music in Germany, melancholy is part of our national psyche as well.
October 27th, 2022 at 16:30Uwe you do realise we still live under rocks out here in Antipodean land, New Zealand isn’t much different either. And we all look the same, just like the Men At Work song describes us. So be careful if you ever ventures out this way, you will never know which one is me. Ha ha ha, six foot tall & full of muscle, where beer flows & men chunder etc etc. Oh dear oh dear, what a ghastly perception that is! Although I do like Vegemite sandwiches though. I don’t mind Abba, they have good melodies & arrangements etc. It is a memory of back then that that is all we seemed to hear for a while, no matter where one did venture. I have never disliked them though. Yes that article I stumbled upon yesterday looking for who & what did influence Abba themselves. A talented group of individuals indeed. I wasn’t surprised many years ago when I read that Blackmore liked them. although as we know with him, you do at times stop & think, is he being sarcastic etc or genuine. Cheers.
October 28th, 2022 at 02:18I keep four Australian monitor lizards (= Varanus tristis or black-headed monitor) and a blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua) in my terrarium so I have your type around every single day, Herr MacGregor. ; – )
You have no idea how much all that ultraviolet lighting (they need a lot of it) for the little critters costs me energy-wise in this day and age. I get a tan just watching them through the glass!
Australia is still on my bucket list, but I’ve been to New Zealand a few years ago and loved it. I even have Split Enz and Skyhooks CDs.
October 28th, 2022 at 12:49Blackmore was only after Agnetha, he ain’t fooling me.
October 28th, 2022 at 13:54@ 74 – I do remember you saying a while ago that you kept a few Gondwana lizards. I am not sure how that works in relation to people keeping wildlife from other locations around the world, but no doubt you would have sorted all that out well before you began that hobby. The Eastern Blue tongue I have come across all my life, even here in Van Diemen’s land Tasmania they are in the back yard, eating all our strawberries if unprotected, which I don’t mind as I like the wildlife that I prefer to see everywhere. They apparently deter other snakes, well that is the story or a myth perhaps. The Dutch lady I share the house with has a daughter in Canberra & she has a few Blue Tongues kept in glass fish tanks, they all have names. The Lace Monitor I have had many experiences in the wild with those, a majestic lizard they are. The largest I have come across was about 2 to 2 & 1/2 metres in length. They are around in suburbia also like the blue tongue, eating poultry eggs, rummaging through garbage if left out & digging around etc. Unfortunately they are not in Tasmania. I miss so much of the mainland wildlife that are not down here & as I previously lived in South East QLD & inland & north eastern NSW they are everywhere, as are the various snakes: pythons, tree snakes & the very venomous types. I can still wander down to the local creek here & watch the Platypus & there are Bandicoots (Brown & Eastern Barred) always digging in the yards of properties including ours, so that is something to always enjoy. In regards to Australian and New Zealanders of the popular music variety. I used to own the first 2 Skyhooks albums a long time ago. Some very good songs & Split Enz I have the Second Thoughts album, the English recording of that album. I used to own the later & more commercial True Colours album. Other Australian bands I have are the first 2 LRB albums with the superb guitarist Rick Formosa. Spy v Spy’s first 4 albums, Midnight Oil’s 10 to 1 album, Richard Clapton’s first two albums. A few other lesser know bands from the 70’s Madder Lake & Ayers Rock. I was once told by a guy who was a rabid Cold Chisel & Oils fan amongst other bands, that I didn’t support ‘Aussie’ music enough. Who would have ever thought that patriotism would enter the musical realms, but it certainly does exist with some people from different countries at times. I did see Cold Chisel in concert back in 1981, a good show it was & they had some good songs. That was when Barnes could still sing & not wail & screech like he has for some time now. I caught the last half hour of a Men At Work gig in the mid 80’s with Chad Wackerman on the drums, formerly of Allan Holdsworth & previously Zappa’s band. I find Australian music pretty limiting in many regards, good artists & songs here & there but nothing on the level compared to the mother land & other European & American (60’s & 70’s) artists. Cheers.
October 29th, 2022 at 00:44Apologies for my rather large comment at 76, going off track there a little. Cheers.
October 29th, 2022 at 22:55@76…I’m surprised you didn’t mention “Mondo Rock” or “Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs”…
Rick Formosa from LRB had a definite “Blackmoresque” style of playing, clearly heard on the track “It’s a long way there”, which remains about their best tune imo, especially the long version. You got Queen-like harmony vocals, a killer funky groove, memorable lyric, & superb solo guitar…
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs was a kick-ass, riff-laden band at their best, that didn’t mind turning-up the volume to match DP in effect ! Billy sung hard & loud, & his guitar work, though on a Les Paul, was “Blackmoresque” too at its best. I’ll link up a tune for all to enjoy & experience, but there’s many to choose from for the same / similar effect. All this to say, Oz was blessed with more than just AC/DC for the world to enjoy !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQodj0QZo-o
Peace !
October 29th, 2022 at 23:31@ 78 -nice to see someone who knows of Rick Formosa & his very talented guitar playing. I rate that first & the second LRB albums highly, wonderful songs & yes the It’s A Long Way There original album length song is sublime. A little Blackmorish with the Strat & a few similar styles there. I also thought he was right up there with those gifted American session players that Steely Dan used. That sort of playing he did would have landed him plenty of session work if he went down that road. Formosa cut his teeth in Canada or was it the US? Italian born & then to Canada & USA & then ended up in Oz as a young adult. He was also responsible for the orchestral scores on those first 3 LRB albums, from my memory. He then quit LRB & moved to Italy to study further Classical arranging & conducting & has excelled at that over there & here in Australia. Something along those lines. I am fairly sure he never played guitar in a band again after LRB. Bill Thorpe now there is an oldie but goody. Those earlier Aussie rock & blues guitarists were rather good. Thorpe, Phil Manning & Kevin Borich. I remember Mondo Rock & Ross Wilson & also Daddy Cool. Thanks for the clip, I remember that Thorpe & The Aztecs song very well. Cheers.
October 30th, 2022 at 10:08@79 Great reply & info MacGregor…I didn’t know about Rick & what he went on to do…I did see a US-of-A interview of LRB from 1978, & generally speaking , a few of the lads were homesick, & discovered that “the road” was not for them, & hence the following & continued line-up changes, that still goes on to this day, with no original members in the band, & the band name now a “franchise” trade name…So that’s show-biz for you if you don’t watch yourself lol !
It’s probably wrong for me to say RB influenced this or that players style of playing, but you can hear elements of it in the phrasing I’d suggest, & there’s no doubt about how popular DP were / are down here in Oz. In fact, most single-note-solo-style guitarists, that like RB’s attack & phrasing, would be surprised to learn that it actually likely derives from a genius gypsy musician from the 1930’s, known as Django Reinhardt…Truly, an amazing player…I have some of Django’s work, & you clearly hear even EVH lines in his playing, no-bull ! But what puts me off listening to him regularly, is that these old recordings make the violin of Steffan Grappelli really harsh on the ears, ( for me at least ), & then one is truly blown away when you discover that he had only 2 x working fingers to play with on his left hand, the fret-board fingering hand…
So there you have it…Before Ritchie Blackmore blowing everyone away with his style of guitar playing, there was Django Reinhardt, so give him a listen, & see what you think 🙂 !…( It’s only a short clip, but you will here some similarities in there for sure ).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ308aOOX04
Peace !
October 30th, 2022 at 23:07Gregster @ 80 – I forgot to tell you I witnessed LRB in action in 1976 & they did the long version of IALWT, It was the After Hours tour. An outdoor gig not far from my home town Griffith in NSW, a wonderful performance. Formosa left the band after that tour in 1976. I just looked up Ric, short for Riccardo, I forgot about that & there is a interview done in recent years where he talks about his blues rock influences as a youngster. Beck, Clapton, Hendrix & other British players, no doubt Blackmore most probably too. He mentions Johnny Winter also & that era of the blues rock world. He also talks about playing BB King’s guitar whilst sitting in King’s dressing room back in Canada & how King prompted him to plug it in & go for it. King also complemented Formosa on his playing & then took him out after the gig with the other band members to a night club, even though Formosa says he was only 15. Not a bad thing to have happen to a young budding guitarist. Django Reinhardt indeed, I have him with The Hot Club of France on cd. He is a legend & he also influenced Tony Iommi to keep playing guitar after Iommi’s accident as a youngster. Not personally but he did inspire Iommi to not give up after he heard about & then saw Django performing on tv. An inspiration Django is, I like some of that Gypsy styled jazz music & Grappelli & other violinists. As we can understand the recordings are a little rough & the mix not always the best, but that was early days technology. That Glissando technique of sliding up the neck Django uses is a clever thing for him to do with his handicap. Violinists, harpists & the like use it frequently. I only know that because of the younger guy I know here who is learning violin & he is into all those old school players. Thanks for the mention & link, I will pull out that cd & give it another listen. Talking of Grappelli have you hear him at the end of Floyd’s Wish You Were Here song, on the alternative mix version. He was apparently in the studio next door at the time & someone managed to coerce him into theirs for a quick little jam. Cheers.
October 31st, 2022 at 02:40@ 80- quickly regarding Ric Formosa & that guitar solo. He says on the video interview that he nailed it first take whilst laid low with a heavy flu. He wanted to go home but the band wanted him to finish the song so they could begin the mixing process, so he did. How many times do we hear about that regarding the spontaneous delivery of a unique solo. At least they were in a recording studio at the time. So many great off the top moments in music were lost forever because of no recording device being available at the time. Cheers
October 31st, 2022 at 04:32@82 Whoaa !!! The world is getting smaller & smaller indeed…Thanks for the added info on the sublime LRB solo on “It’s a long way there”, as every phrase he played was right-on with the tune…That said, imo, LRB’s guitarists over the years (through the 1970’s at least), delivered what I call “perfect solos”, as they simply are perfect, where no-one could possibly play anything else to top what was delivered on the recording. As an example, “Help is on it’s way” & “Shut down turn off” respectively, have these simply perfect, & melodic solos.
PF & Steffan getting-it-on in the studio would have been interesting indeed…I bet he taught the boys a thing or two about playing through “the changes” lol !
Anyhow, JLT is currently raising eyebrows I’d suggest with the new offerings from his new album, & good on him too. Lots of folks out there are likely feeling some pressure releasing with the revealing content & truth within his tunes…He may not climb too high on the charts perhaps with this one, but the well-being of some of his fans is being addressed for sure, & that’s a great thing to do imo…(Not to mention the dodgy-truth about what some folks do get up to, that do govern within the US-of-A)…
Peace !
October 31st, 2022 at 09:38No worries, Herr MacGregor, all my reptiles are legal, CITES-registered as well as born and bred here in Germany (not taken from the wild). Monitor lizards especially have enjoyed a protected status for ages in Europe – and rightly so.
I think the Australian music scene is nothing to be ashamed of at all, lots of good stuff. Midnight Oil is a national treasure of course, but INXS were great too, I loved Baby Don’t Cry’s grand (and very George Martin’esque) arrangement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABbBTbB3Bxc
October 31st, 2022 at 12:05@ 83- I hear you regarding David Briggs as a guitarist, a wonderful melodic player & LRB were incredibly fortunate in finding him. I didn’t buy any albums after their 3rd Diamantina Cocktail, I thought they went too commercial etc. I still took note of the occasional song & enjoyed a few, however by the end of the 70’s that was it. I still cannot believe one of the original members didn’t register the name, how could any of them be so naive about doing that. Cheers.
October 31st, 2022 at 21:45Uwe, as we are talking about Australian bands & the lizards that you have, I am wondering about Goanna, the Oz band from the 1980s’. Sorry that was an ordinary attempt at implying there might be a connection of sorts. They did have a few hits here or at least one that I can remember, Solid Rock. Regarding the lizards I am curious as to the admiration of those that you have. Cheers.
November 1st, 2022 at 03:26@84 INXS were quite a good 1980’s pop-band, in fact, one could say they were leading the way with everyone else following in their wake…What is surprising however, imo, they were also a really good late 70’s rock band, with tunes like “Don’t change”…But the over-driven guitar was generally replaced with synths, & solos with saxophone, but things “had” to change, & you had to sound “new” to establish yourself I suppose in the new dacade. They were certainly quite popular.
@86 Goanna came & went like Rose Tattoo I suppose, here one minute, looking good with some success, & now a distant memory. Ayers Rock made 2 x very good prog albums with an Oz feel throughout that I liked quite a bit. One unsung hero was Brian Cadd, who could really arrange a great song with orchestration & the works, & play some really inspired rock & roll on his piano, whilst laying down some capable vocals…Alas however, “The class of ’74” is nearly 50…He did find decades of success in the US-of-A as a song writer. I wanted to post up “Suite for life”, but its not available, so sorry folks…It had quite a unique & inspired bass solo in the middle too ! ( Perhaps someone can find a version ? )…
Peace !
November 1st, 2022 at 11:55How you insult me, Herr MacGregor, of course I have a Goanna CD, took me ages to get it, the debut with the airplane and Uluru in the background (aka Ayers Rock)! But you know what, I only learned now via your post that “Goanna” stands for Australian monitor lizards (genus Varanus), I never gave it a thought – how embarrassing … Thanks for the enlightenment!!!
Ever since I was a child I’ve had a penchant for reptiles and amphibians. I took whatever I could find home – and my parents were very pet-tolerant, they let me. My stint in the Congo/Zaire in the mid-70ies only reinforced that. I like the “design” of especially reptiles, they look cool to me and their archaic heritage speaks to me as well.
Interesting, “goanna” is not even an Aboriginal word (which I had always assumed), but just a lazily pronounced “iguana” as I’ve now learned. Monitor lizards and iguanas are not really closely related other than that they are both reptiles, but they assume pretty much the same positions in the ecological environments where they do exist (monitors are more carnivorous though, iguanas eat fruits and plants too). That is why in any habitat you either have monitors OR (to the exclusion of the other) iguanas assuming their role, never both (exception: Florida, where – together with pythons – they both are invasive species/pests that have build sizable populations from once fled/abandoned pets). Monitors only exist in Africa, Asia and Australia/Oceania, iguanas only in the Americas and the Carribean. They’ve got the world nicely carved up between them, obviously no one wanted to go/crawl to less than sun-soaked Europe or Antarctica!
November 1st, 2022 at 15:01The thing is Turner is missing the whole point. Blackmore since forming Blackmore’s Night, is much more interested in songwriting than virtuosity. Not that Purple and Rainbow didn’t have good songs, unlike Yngwie Malmsteen, who is all technique, but can’t write a song to save his life. Blackmore was influenced by Mountain and Vanilla Fudge, but he was also deeply influenced by Bob Dylan and Abba. Just adding my two cents
November 1st, 2022 at 22:29@ 88 – Who would have ever thought that a Deep Purple related site would garner such information. I can just imagine the Academics being outraged with their cigars, caviar & gentleman’s club meanderings. ‘Were they not the barbarians that invaded The Royal Albert Hall all those years ago & now their miscreants are purporting to know the science of Australian flora & fauna & indigenous language, it’s preposterous’! Over the years I have researched certain botanical, amphibian & reptilian names but never really thought anymore about the ‘common’ or the origins of the aboriginal names associated with our wildlife. We learnt some of them at school of course but it is easy to take the names we constantly hear & use those over time & never think about their origins or meaning. Thanks for the enlightenment & here is an interesting article, well for me it is in certain ways, as strange as that may sound for an ‘Aussie’. Cheers
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2016/02/whats-in-a-name/
November 1st, 2022 at 22:37To appease my guilty conscience with all these recent Australian wildlife postings, I have gone in search of Deep Purple or a band member cuddling a koala or something similar. I have come across these images from the 1971 tour here of a Perth concert with Free & Manfred Mann supporting. Note the pool in front of the stage, that is hilarious. There are good images of all the bands, although Roger Glover is listed as being Ritchie Blackmore in a few. Cheers.
https://surfingdownsouth.com.au/2017/11/25/1971-deep-purple-concert-at-beatty-park-aquatic-centre-images-by-ric-chan/
November 2nd, 2022 at 01:37Those pis are great, danke. Wasn’t that the tour where they had rented an Australian PA system which looked impressive from the outside, but had much less speakers than usual leading to a reduced speaker cone area and therefore a badly overdriven sound? I remember Roger mentioning something along those lines in the Chris Charlesworth bio.
November 2nd, 2022 at 12:06There is nothing you cannot find on the internet these days though the audio is obviously overdubbed, but for historical accuracy: a few seconds of DP live at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse in 1971 here at 01:22 …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEzHwAhjASw
In the comments section an ear witness of another gig of the same tour writes:
“I was at the Adelaide concert in South Australia … Free were the band of the moment and Deep Purple also played well, just went on a bit long with solos …”
LOL! Wring that mandrake root!
November 2nd, 2022 at 12:23@91 Wow…Thanks for the pictures, & yes the pool is quite funny indeed, but maybe funnier is seeing people swimming in there too lol ! Perth does get very hot however during summer, have no doubt…If it’s mid-30’s anywhere else around the country, Perth will be in the 40’s… – But they do get a gentle, cool, sea-breeze known as “the doctor” everyday around 13-14:00…
@89 Don’t be too hard on Yngwie, he plays great imo, & perhaps joined the ranks along side folks such as EVH, but with a European flavor to the music…And I can’t say enough good things about “Mountain”, they were a great band, along with “West Bruce & Laing” as a side-step in their hey-day, before reforming again as “Mountain” in 1974…But it seemed that their time had come & gone with the release of Avalanche, which is a really awesome kick-ass album tinged with some Southern funk through it…But there-you-go, audiences were clearly more interested in ABBA by that time I suppose, & they were like the “Beatles” in popularity here in Oz at that time. Great music with awesome chords throughout, eg, “Waterloo” &/or”Dancing Queen”…
But there’s always that involved & engaging instrumental sections of music with the early DP of the “In Rock” era that I always get drawn back into.
November 2nd, 2022 at 13:02I am not sure about the dodgy PA system, I haven’t heard about that at all. Not that I have read everything out there. I might have a look today as my efforts yesterday to find a band member cuddling some Aussie wildlife has not proved fruitful at all. I do think Roger Glover has that Aussie look about him, with his hat & all back then. That Australian bushman look, I could see him out there ala Harry Butler. Gregster would know of him, a wildlife consultant & tv presenter of all things wild. Talking of the pool being used as they were playing. Initially I couldn’t see Blackmore on the stage & then thought it was him in the pool after Gillan tossed him in, ha ha ha. It sort of looks like him. However as we know Blackers as ever was lurking in the darkness. Cheers.
November 2nd, 2022 at 22:19Had a dig around online & there isn’t really anything about the dodgy PA system on that 1971 tour. Other than this link to the PA company Lenard who supplied the PA for that 1971 tour & a few pieces of information etc.
http://www.milesago.com/industry/lenard.htm
November 3rd, 2022 at 01:50Mac the Gregor @95: Before you start spreading rumors again, can Ritchie even swim? He’s been seen in the proximity of swimming pools, yes,
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/3f/89/b73f89e012926ab63b4407b8e342f5ed.jpg
and I have witnessed him playing soccer/football, but do we have real aquatic proof?
Didn’t Gillan have to save him from drowning once on some river boat trip?
November 4th, 2022 at 03:27Looky here, some obscure online fanzine reported about the tour quite some time back …
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/australia71/page2.html
November 4th, 2022 at 10:27I stumbled upon that article myself & was perplexed as to the reviewers take on DP. ‘Powerful, erotic & progressive’. Now I do get the powerful & even the progressive, however I am still wondering about the other? Cheers.
November 4th, 2022 at 22:02@99 Ahhh…I can answer that one…You see, once the longer solo’s started, often Ian Gillan would get the conga’s out & add a very sensual sound to the overall mix…This helped ease the “head-banging” so-to-speak, & got your hips moving !
Too bad the conga’s are usually difficult-to-hear, but there are a few early live recordings circa 1970 where they can be heard. Once again, the DP (overseas) Live Series finds the conga’s at audible levels, even on the later 1972 Copenhagen CD you can hear them.
Peace !
November 5th, 2022 at 22:38I dunno, but maybe the erotic standards of MacGregor’s countrymen were mostly formed during those long cool grasslands nights herding sheep? Far from laying blame on anybody, they might have been not THAT demanding then?
My son always says that LZ is sexy and Purple isn’t (which would probably insult David Coverdale greatly). You have little power how your children turn out, sigh!
November 6th, 2022 at 04:02I think it was mean tot be exotic, a typo perhaps or the wrong word used. Those congas & sheep herding can be intoxicating, exotic & other worldly, he he he. Cheers.
November 6th, 2022 at 21:35Uwe
Never thought of Ritchie swimming, do recall Gillans ventures in the Thames. probably the reason he got bald…..
Is than another troublepic, 40 years out of my reach or is that still Amy?
November 7th, 2022 at 21:23Yup, RV, you old gossip/geroddel addict, that is Mrs Blackmore #3 in the swim suit.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/57/5a/a7/575aa726fdbf4df61f1f36b9cb4404ea–guitar-players-deep-purple.jpg
Ritchie’s first two wives were German, his last two wives Jewish-American. Make of that what you will, some historical balance maybe.
He also balanced hair colors between blond and dark:
Mk 1 Margit (blond; I will not speculate on the reasons for that marriage, like most marriages in 1964, there might have been compulsory elements we don’t know about, but who would later play guitar as well)
https://images.bild.de/62c6907bf261a306986ad4d5/e8bed24688a8e0a2c0f89c8678ced375,b4e29611?w=992
Mk 2.1 Babs (blond):
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/37/0f/1f/370f1f12173300ed1b4dc9e4b1136014.jpg
Mk 2.2 Babs (dark):
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/99/ec/56/99ec56bd0a76ba92dad14139c5b98c60.jpg
Honorary mention #1: Shoshana (dark):
http://suwalkiblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/foto1.jpg
Mk 3 Amy (dark):
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c4/97/ed/c497edd1b8a03243dde512e6c23f950b.jpg
Honorary mention #2: Tammi (blond)
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ba/dc/dd/badcdd3912a3709bb2ce6fba0f42bdbf.jpg
Mk 4 Candice (blond):
https://www.infotextmanuscripts.org/candice-night-gallery/candice-u-13.jpg
November 8th, 2022 at 13:04@104…Wow…What an incredible range of historical photographs…I had no idea that RB had been through the “grinding-machine” so-many-times…( I thought Candice was his 2nd-wife )…
I’m glad he’s happy & settled with Candice…It now makes much more sense why he’s doing the BN gig…
Peace !
November 8th, 2022 at 23:52The way Candice handles and massages the old badger with all his quirks and idiosyncracies is nothing short of bloody amazing. She can even elicit a smile from him when he is in one of his baddest moods, I’ve seen it (and I’ve seen how cold she can get – the room temperature drops – when he rubs her the wrong way). She also seems to be the only person you can reach out to these days if you want to get anything done with him.
November 9th, 2022 at 14:39@106…I was half expecting a flurry of replies following the last few posts, but thanks for the amazing insights none-the-less Uwe.
I’m really quite happy for them both, & no doubt the family are blessed with good-times & a home-life that is quite busy & eventful. It’s surprising that they have the time to continue recording & touring as they still do. I hope that continues !
Peace !
November 10th, 2022 at 11:31This is just between us, Gregster, as usual no one is watching. Only we two really care about Ritchie’s emotional wellbeing.
November 10th, 2022 at 18:51Hmmm…Maybe so Uwe…But there’s also been quite a few new posts coming-in keeping people occupied.
Thanks again for sharing the above photo’s, they are quite personal & revealing, & in a way, it’s kind-of good that it stays that way too, though I’m grateful for getting to know Ritchie a lot better for them.
Cheers !
November 11th, 2022 at 09:51Ritchie’s personal affairs don’t raise eyebrows with me – over a period of almost 60 years, he can hardly be seen as a womanizer, espeially in comparison to other rock stars. And he didn’t secretly date underage girls either like some members of other prominent bands/Deep Purple contemporaries who were sick again (and again).
Ritchie’s treatment of his first son, Jürgen Blackmore, born 1964 from his first marriage, has been less than great though.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nGR5i74PDcU/hqdefault.jpg
That is a sentiment widely shared within the Purple organisation, just read Colin Hart’s bio. There are other ways to handle this, see DC with Jessica, the daughter from his first marriage with Julia.
November 11th, 2022 at 13:04@110… Thanks Uwe ! For myself, there’s a certain invisible line that exists that I don’t cross, since I have no wish to know about “skeletons in the closet” about someones past, be it great or other. We all have made errors-in-judgement, & could have managed a circumstance better. This is where life’s lessons make an impression on your future actions, & hopefully one makes better decisions from them.
Ritchie is not family or friend…He is a skilled musician, who’s body-of-work has made a lasting impression on many people, of which I am one. Beyond that, & knowing that he’s alive & well, I have no need to know or learn anything further about him or his activity. There is little to no personal privacy existing in the world anymore, & that’s a sad state-of-affairs imo.
We’re living on a prison-planet as it is for the moment, which is quite a negative way of being. I’d prefer to focus on the more positive side-of-things, & work towards positive changes given the opportunity, as they make for a better way of going-about-life !
Peace !
November 11th, 2022 at 20:29@ 111- excellent comments Gregster, I agree wholeheartedly. What does the famous Belgian sleuth Poirot say when asked to keep it discreet etc, ‘I will be discretion itself’ or ‘discretion is my middle name’. Anyway Sherlock Holmes also used to say similar things. Privacy is paramount in my world also. This planet earth or I should say many of it’s human inhabitants, not all mind as there are still some good people thankfully, has become far too noisy. Cheers.
November 12th, 2022 at 02:49