![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/paice1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse.jpg)
Composer who plays guitar
Back in May, when Steve Morse was intermittently touring with his eponymous band, he spoke to WITH 90.1 radio station, broadcasting out of Ithaca, NY. They have published the transcript of the conversation. Here are some Purple-related bits, not that the rest is not just as interesting…
Q: Did your technique or style change at all after playing Deep Purple songs for 28 years?
SM: Yeah, I think so, in my phrasing and just a tiny, tiny, tiny bit more patience with letting things develop. But you can hear that, and a little bit more relaxed approach, a little bit more competence at improvisation. And Iām not driven so much to cram as much in as possible into a segment. So yeah, I feel I’ve grown as far as being able to write and improvise more melodically.
Q: I saw you with Deep Purple on the 2002 tour with Dio and Scorpions, and was impressed that the bandās musicianship was still so strong.
SM: When I first joined them, we only committed to four shows together ā they werenāt sure of me, and I wasnāt sure of them, especially since I didnāt want to be in a nostalgic band where the guys couldnāt play anymore.
I was warming up, with just me and my amplifier, and I played something. And Jon Lord had just sat down at his organ and played the exact same thing back to me without any hesitation. I played something else, and he played that back and then modified it. And then I played that new modification back to him. By then, the whole band was on stage playing a beat underneath us ā even Ian Gillan started playing the congas ā and it was just this wonderful, organic jam. And thatās what really brought me into the band ā like, here I am trading licks with a keyboard player who has ears like a great jazz pianist. I couldn’t believe it.
And then when Jon left, Don Airey turned out to be just as capable with the musicality ā he had a different style, different personality, and different upbringing, but he was exactly the same caliber of musician, so I was very impressed.
And from his mention of Janine, sounds like she’s doing fairly well:
[…] Iām focused on helping my wife transition back to the land of the living. Weāve had appointments all this week, and itās been just constant stuff. But it’s definitely worthwhile and this is definitely what I was meant to do.
Read more on withradio.org.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I totally disagree that the whole thing isn’t interesting. Another excellent one is the Sweetwater Dave LaRue interview from a few years ago.
July 23rd, 2023 at 22:22Yo,
Always good to hear from Steve, & yes indeed, a superb batch of musicians DP are.
We all hope that all is as best as it can be at home.
Peace !
July 24th, 2023 at 01:04Iām happy to hear that Steve is back to his first love of music and that his focus on being there for his wife seems to have born fruit. Heās a good guy.
July 24th, 2023 at 04:02Hey Steve! My Best Wishes To Your Wife. GETTIN’ BETTER, more and more.š¤ā¤
July 24th, 2023 at 05:47Pretty predictable question that one about changing things. Of course it will in certain ways. Morse joined an existing band that wasn’t anything to do him. Leave things out, try a few different things, stumble upon new this & that, not totally instrumental music etc etc. Oh well, I would have thought a question along the lines of “a similar scenario to your two albums with Kansas, DP was also a vocal song orientated band, that would have changed certain ways to approach playing & composing wouldn’t it”? Cheers.
July 24th, 2023 at 08:00Wonderful news about his wife!! I’m glad he is able to be with her on her road to getting better. Good luck with his music & he is a good guy I think we all can agree!!
July 24th, 2023 at 10:27“DP was also a vocal song orientated band …”
Not according to Ian Gillan, they aren’t! He has stated repeatedly that Purple are essentially an instrumental band with him occasionally doing guest vocals over certain parts.
It’s of course a self-deprecating statement, but he’s not entirely wrong. There was always more instrumental emphasis in DP (all those solos and the jamming) than in say their heavy rock contemporaries of the early 70ies such as LZ (them again!), BS, UH or GFR. Purple were instrumental show-offs in a good way and they had to accomodate two virtuosos with Ritchie and Jon (or even three if you count Little Ian in as you by rights should!).
July 24th, 2023 at 14:44Good interview. Liked the part about Jon Lord and the rest of Purple being such good musicians. Not that I didn’t always know that, but its good to hear an outsider at that time, say it about them. But the best thing to hear is that Steve’s wife is doing better. Amen to that news.
July 24th, 2023 at 16:50I read that wrong. It does say it’s all interesting!
July 24th, 2023 at 20:17Interestingly ‘the other Yank’, namely Tommy Bolin said the same thing, Richard, when he first jammed with Purple. He didn’t really want to go and play with them initially (his management prodded him), still smarting from the James Gang experience (which had ended unhappily) and thought any English band would have to be unfunky and stiff, but a few minutes jamming with Paicey, Lordy and Glenn opened his mind, eyes & ears.
July 24th, 2023 at 21:43Back in the day there was more instrumental prowess but that quickly dried up within a few years. Songs, songs & more songs indeed. Thankfully certain bands did include more musical ‘interludes’. Especially back then it was an accepted thing. Record companies even encouraged that, a bit hard to believe these days but thankfully they did. Whilst I like a short song of high quality very much I do have a preference for more music an experimentation within a song, as long as it all works & I have to enjoy the ‘progressive’ side to it all. Another little interesting perspective is that Ian Gillan went that ‘progressive’ way for a little stint. No harm in trying & better to go there if interested than not to. It was the 1970’s after all & history never repeats. Not to worry it is etched in stone. Cheers.
July 24th, 2023 at 22:33One think that stands out when you mention SM is the fact that he didn’t miss a single show for DP in all the time he was there on the road. He gave it all 100 percent and that’s an amazing stamina. Compare this with the boring attitude that RB had towards touring.
July 25th, 2023 at 06:35Peace āļø
Didn’t Michael Bradford sit in for him once? Or maybe that was just a one-off for a playback thing on TV?
July 25th, 2023 at 08:26@7…I disagree…
RG is up-among-the-best too…An early example of his prowess lay within Fireball, & to be able to play the new tunes within the SM era cements all credibility, as you have to be top-notch, a cut well-above-the-rest.
Peace !
July 25th, 2023 at 11:44I remember that show, but I think it was even live, Svante! Wasn’t it in connection with some televised challenge in a swimming hall? And if my memory doesn’t fail me, didn’t Bradford AND Morse play?
Couldn’t find it on YouTube though, so don’t believe any of this!
July 25th, 2023 at 12:38Svante @13 and Uwe @15
July 25th, 2023 at 18:59As far as my memory serves me, it’s the live show that IG introduced Micheal Bradford as Micheal Blackmore to the crowds on stage and he join in for Smoke on the Water.
That was during Rapture if the Deep tour, I think he joined them twice one live and once in a television audience.
But I never recall Steve Morse not turning up for a DP gig.
Peace āļø
That Bradford appearance was at a Swedish TV show that can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q4-xwh0gcQ
July 25th, 2023 at 19:59It was “tv total turmspringen” and not live.
July 25th, 2023 at 20:46You’re all right! My mind is feeble.
July 25th, 2023 at 21:52I remember them lip syncing SOTW at the āTV Total Turmspringenā. But a few days prior they played ROTD live at TV Total with Michael Bradford. A rather short Version without the solo-section in the middle.
Found a clip of the performance here:
July 26th, 2023 at 05:34https://youtu.be/MHApXxWIbrc
The german TV shows happened during the promotion touring for the album “Rapture Of The Deep” in November 2005.
https://blabbermouth.net/news/deep-purple-german-tv-appearances-announced
https://vampster.com/news/deep-purple-im-tv/
Michael Bradford replaced Steve Morse at least for both of the German shows. Steve stayed in the US because of his wife’s illness (cancer already back then?).
Watch the videos here:
November 24, 2005: TV total – Rapture Of The Deep – live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd8aFXvGzUA
November 26, 2005: TV total Turmspringen – Smoke On The Water – playback
https://www.myspass.de/shows/tvshows/tv-total-turmspringen/Deep-Purple-live–/22357/
July 26th, 2023 at 10:21Danke Martin, I remember seeing that now! Bradford (who considers himself a bassist when it actually comes down to playing and not just producing/composing) didn’t do a half-bad job deputizing for Steve either, it’s a complex number and they do play it live (he even plays a bum note at one point). I remember thinking at the time, so this is ‘Mr Garden Hose’ then (at 00:41):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gjx-ZQuQ_Y
Great song that was and lovely, trĆØs Americana video. Bradford not only played with white male angsty preconceptions about the size of black male genitals in it, but also co-wrote and produced the song.
I know that his sound engineering work for Purple is debated here, but I thought his songwriting contribution to Purple fresh at the time. Still do. It’s notable that as a black kid from Detroit, he was actually a Deep Purple fan as a 70ies teenager (he was born 1961), citing both Blackmore and Glover as inspirations to him (and how other black kids would incredulously shake their heads given his “white arena rock” tastes).
July 26th, 2023 at 15:18I was in Montreux in 2006. As it was an anniversary edition of the festival, we all hoped for Blackmore to make an appearance. As you all know that never happened.
But… If I remember well, Bradford joined in for the last few songs, as well as another singer which identity is still an enigma for me (you can see him on the Montreux DVD of the show during the “too much fun” song).
July 26th, 2023 at 17:21@16 wasn’t it “Ritchie Moreblack”? š
July 26th, 2023 at 17:26Hush with Bradford:
https://youtu.be/RKz0GNZ8seY
Too much fun with Claude Nobs and the other guy (if someone could enlighten me, it would be great!)
July 26th, 2023 at 17:34https://youtu.be/bieE2-pckjs
Jean @24
July 27th, 2023 at 04:57Spot on š you are right
Peace āļø
@7 I always liked singers who have a great voice but also know when to shut up and let the instruments take off. Gillan is the best example of this. The congas let him get away from the mic for long periods improvized fun.
July 29th, 2023 at 02:30Gregster @14, never would I dare to put my bass brethren Roger down!!! But unlike Ritchie, Jon and Paicey in their improvisational frenzy, Roger never set out to impress anybody with his playing. He summed up his mission call on the inner gatefold quotes and media snippets of WDWTWA succinctly: “When all hell is breaking loose on stage, it’s my job to stay cool and keep a firm bass line going.” Nuff said.
https://vinyl-records.nl/deep-purple/photo-gallery/gt-britain/who/deep-purple-who-do-we-think-we-are-gb-1746.jpg
And it left a lasting impression. I can’t come up with any other bassist who over the years/decades has so often had his playing described as “metronomic”. I remember a (slightly world-weary/jaded) review in 1979 of a Judas Priest gig (opening for AC/DC) which started off along the lines of:
“It’s Deep Purple time all over again: A metronomic bass thunders through the hall as if Roger Glover had been resurrected. Falsetto screams pierce the air echoing Ian Gillan’s legendary performance on Made in Japan. Mighty Blackmorian riffs stab at you. Only Jon Lord’s organ is somehow missing. Instead there is a lot of questionable uniform-style leather and whip-wielding.”
The critic wasn’t wrong either, early Priest owed a lot to Purple, I recognized that immediately when I first heard them in 1977, they filled the empty void in my heart the then rather recent Purple split had left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO7yEgpDWZM
July 30th, 2023 at 22:42@23 The unknown fellow onstage with Purple is, I seem to recall, a member (singer?) of the band Santana at the time. Perhaps Andy Vargas, but I’m not 100% certain. After the Purple gig that night, Michael Bradford, Roger G and the Santana fellow went next door to the Montreux jazz club where RG and MB had a jam with the band that was playing there. Next thing I remember, the sun was rising over Lake Geneva, and many drinks had been consumed š
July 31st, 2023 at 07:15@ 29 – that sounds like a really horrible stressful night, he he he. Still someone has to to do it I suppose. Cheers.
July 31st, 2023 at 08:44I will have to admit I have never heard a DP influence in any Judas Priest or Iron Maiden for that matter, who have proudly admitted time & time again ( Steve Harris has), of their worshipping at the DP alter. The twin guitar thing of course is reminiscent of Wishbone Ash & (possibly the early Allman Brothers), who no doubt had an influence on both bands & the Irons have always stated that, or again at least Steve Harris has. Have to like this line from that reviewer ‘Instead there is a lot of questionable uniform-style leather and whip-wielding.ā Ha ha ha. Classic. Cheers.
July 31st, 2023 at 09:00That’s why I posted the live version of that song ‘Tyrant’, Herr MacGregor, it echoes Purple songwriting craft quite a bit, the main riff, the chugging rhythm, how Halford sings above the melee, the middle eight vocals and last but not least Tipton’s neo-classical runs throughout and the Highway Star’esque harmony solo he does with KK Downing. Not to mention Les Binks’ skillful drumming which was a lot more Paice than it was Bonham. Before joining Priest, Tipton had been in The Flying Hat Band who had opened for Mk III, I believe he used the opportunity to listen and watch closely. Shortly after, he joined Priest and became their main songwriter and de-facto lead guitarist.
I’m with you re Iron Maiden, they are lovable chaps and Dickinson, Gers, McBrain and Harris are all Purple-influenced + Martin Birch became their house producer, but I never found their music purplesque. Iron Maiden’s songwriting style is essentially a little cluttered (especially the way Harris writes), something Purple never was. Judas Priest had a certain steely sparse elegance in their sound, I found that reminiscent of Purple. Purple’s (Blackmore era) and early to mid-era Priest’s music share the commonality of being “neatly constructed”, that appeals to my German engineering soul I guess. Iron Maiden sounds to me often all over the place (but I grant them that their music is often less simplistic than Priest’s).
Or as a music scribe once deadpanned: “Iron Maiden have two types of songs: The ones that start out slow to eventually turn into their trademark gallop AND the ones that already start with that gallop and then inexplicably slow down in the middle part for aimless guitar interplay.”
July 31st, 2023 at 11:29@28…Apologies Uwe, I only meant to indicate that “Fireball” ( full LP ) has RG stretching-out, & equalling the others with his prowess. We get a few moments of it again on Machine-Head, where the tunes allowed some room for the thunder roll on with it’s own voice ! All this too say, is that when the hole was there for RG to fill in the music, it was done tastefully & successfully.
I guess that’s when the early Mk-II line-up were all equal partners in the writing & composing…
Peace !
July 31st, 2023 at 11:33I don’t really know a lot of Judas Priest’s music, not a follower at all. I remember their ‘hits ‘ You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’, Living After Midnight” & ‘Breaking The Law’. I do own a cd of Screaming for Vengeance but haven’t played it a lot over the decades. Always liked Electric Eye & a few others from that back in the day. Same with Iron Maiden, I do have the Live After Death double, mainly for half a dozen songs including the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. They were rather good live in 2008 especially as they played so many 80’s songs which I knew from the live album. A few younger guitarists I knew in the late 80’s were right into all those later ‘metal’ bands. I heard a fair bit of it at the time, Maiden & Priest are good bands & musicians & I have always respected them & they are original in what they do. I preferred them to all those other newer metal bands that I heard back then. Maiden & Priest were better at songwriting & had another level to them I thought. I will have a listen to that clip again & I might venture online & check out their earlier music. Simon Phillips was on an early record of Priest’s, I think the one Roger Glover produced from memory. It will be interesting to hear Phillip’s drumming on that. I agree totally regarding Iron Maiden’s bad habit of ‘galloping’ in the middle section of so many songs, that is too predictable & repetitive for my liking, annoying even. Not to worry. Cheers.
July 31st, 2023 at 22:24No reason for apologies, Herr Gregster!
Roger was/is technically no slouch at all. He was/is precise (though I prefer him with a pick, he plays with his fingers more and more during Purple gigs today, he does that fine, but he naturally sounds less crisp with his fingers) and has a good grasp of melody, rhythm and harmony. I always dug his little solos. He just lacked virtuoso ego. Ritchie, Jon and Little Ian all had that attitude “Yes, we earn money with our not too complicated heavy rock, but watch us, we’re so much better than this!” Their competitiveness among each other was a bit adolescent/immature, but part of Purple’s charm (and appeal for real adolescents!). Roger never played that game.
August 1st, 2023 at 01:37@29 Thank you for you answer!
August 3rd, 2023 at 13:56Haha, yeah I also got great memories of drinking on the lake Geneva shoreline! …should have stayed instead of driving back home.
@ 35 – I am not sure about the the ‘competitiveness & adolescent immature ego’ comment regarding Blackmore, Lord & Paice. That was just the way they played their instruments & their previous experience of sorts, a similar thing occurred with other virtuoso bands with certain musicians. Musicians pushing & inspiring each other, searching for that proverbial lost chord perhaps. Was Roger Glover intimidated by it? Possibly in certain ways I don’t know. Did it inhibit him from being creative & going along for the ride, being inspired by it, no it doesn’t appear so. Was that a direct challenge of sorts, meaning ‘if you cannot keep up there is no point in you being here’? I doubt that also. What about Nick Simper in MK 1, was he out of his depth & battling the three Amigos egos? I remember Rick Wakeman talking about the attitude that some had to Yes & the complicated virtuoso ‘showing off’ comments. His reply was always ‘that is just the way we play our instruments, it isn’t showing off or trying to be smart asses or whatever’. Sure there is usually some ego from certain musicians more than others, but most are proud of what they are doing. The perception by some ‘as a lack of musicianship’ at that time, I recall Glover saying years ago in a interview that with him & Ian Gillan, it was that they made up for it with the songwriting aspect & no doubt that would have helped keep things on a level playing field in that aspect. It was a good combination at that time. Was Glover sacked because of his bass guitar playing? No it appears to be more ‘complicated’ than that. And then along came Glenn Hughes & look at the issues there. There should have been a movie made of all this drama. Cheers.
August 4th, 2023 at 01:40@37 said…
qt.”And then along came Glenn Hughes & look at the issues there. There should have been a movie made of all this drama. Cheers”….
ROTFLMAO !
There’s plenty of films / documentaries depicting all of these drama’s-of-the-times…This one’s a ripper, enjoy !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHrz2Tc7ZaU
Peace !
August 6th, 2023 at 02:42Iām afraid Roger was rowed out of DP for exactly the reason that Ritchie found his bass playing indeed unchallenging. Nick had to leave because Ritchie (and Paicey too) found his style to 50ies/60ies, Paicey said about Nick: “With Nick, anything he played, you knew where he came from.” Roger has himself said that Ritchie grew disillusioned with him when he realized that Roger had no competitive ambitions on bass – not within the group and not vis-Ć -vis other bassists. And donāt forget that Roger was not invited back into Rainbow as a bassist by Ritchie, but by Cozy Powell and Graham Bonnet as well as Don Airey who were all wondering at the end of the Down To Earth sessions why Roger had not received a formal invitation after having laid down all the bass parts (in addition to co-songwriting and producing).
At the same time, Ritchie has never said a bad thing about Glennās bass playing as such and he was even willing to welcome him back for the Rainbow reunion shows – as long as Glenn was content to just play bass (which he wasnāt, hence he passed on the opportunity).
Itās probably hard to explain to a non-bassist, but Glennās bass playing is a lot more assertive, commanding and pushy than Rogerās, often yanking the music around (yet retaining his own unmistakable groove). If Roger is a calm, but not sluggish, wide stream, then Glenn is a spring torrent cascading down a waterfall in the mountains. Roger is metronomic and throbbing, Glenn is at times pushing ahead of and at times playing behind the beat plus even simple root note eighths are delivered with the edge of a guitarist. Blackmore once said: āGlenn even sounds completely different when he plays the same notes as Roger to the SOTW riff, he has that syncopated emphasis.ā
August 6th, 2023 at 23:08Yes they are both excellent bass guitarists for different reasons. I do like Glover’s approach & as he was there for those songs initially it is good. However as a drummer myself I do like Hughes ‘progressive’ playing a lot, can’t beat a busy out there bass player at times. And as we have stated before Ian Paice’s playing was on fire at that Hughes time in DP. Regarding the ‘Rainbow’ 2016 approach to Hughes, that still makes me laugh a little. The first mention of his name or whoever thought of it first, “Glenn Hughes, he’s not going to sing is he”? Ha ha ha. Can you imagine the horror for Hughes upon hearing that proposal ‘what, no singing, eff off’! I still really do wonder what Blackmore or whoever was thinking at that time. That was never going to happen we would think. Cheers.
August 7th, 2023 at 23:20@39…Bob Daisly for sure, hands-down, was the best suited player for Mr.Blackmore’s Rainbow. His beat-for-beat powerful notations work perfectly for what RB wanted, & BD delivered that in aplenty…Every tune played to perfection, & he can sing too, often backing RJD superbly.
Sadly there’s little evidence to prove this, but Rainbow Live in Munich 1977 displays a pretty tight & powerful band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCO5jhb9Ro
Business is business with RB, but I bet there was a heck-of-a-lot-of-fans who were delighted with RG’s appointment with the band. I was !
I’m sorry, but I just can’t see GH getting-it-on with RB & Rainbow, though maybe on the debut album a chance existed, as it remains a funky album imo.
Peace !
August 8th, 2023 at 02:19I agree, it would have been weird to see Glenn play Rainbow chestnuts – and then not even sing. That said, Glennās bass style is way rockier than Bob Noveauās (who is probably closest to Craig Gruber of all previous Rainbow bassists), Iād go as far as to say that in the lameāish Rainbow reunion line-up, Glenn would have been by a stretch the hardest, most muscular and energetic player.
I agree, Herr Gregster, Bob Daisley was probably the closest Ritchie ever got to his dream bassist in Rainbow, an optimal combination of chops & speed, discipline, impeccable timing and even good rock star-worthy looks. Also someone who could withstand Cozyās sledgehammer approach with his style. Yet Ritchie let him inexplicably go after the LLRnR US tour ended somewhat ingloriously.
Also, Roger Glover joining Rainbow was indeed good news back then, if slightly surprising for me given Ritchieās shabby behavior towards Roger (of all people) during the end phase of Mk II. However, when I then saw Roger for the first time playing with Rainbow, it became immediately clear, disappointingly so, that his bass playing had changed a lot from the peak he had reached with Mk II. It was simpler and much less prominent than with Purple. The fact(s) that Rainbow was Ritchieās band, Cozy forcing any bass player into submission under his style, Rainbow striving for a more commercial sound and their music being less improvisational for everyone except Ritchie, plus Rogerās long pause of playing music in a live context likely all contributed to that change. Rogerās bass playing would only again liberate itself upon the Purple reunion and, later, when Steve came aboard.
August 8th, 2023 at 11:35Glenn Hughes would be too energetic & hyperactive for that version of ‘Rainbow’. Imagine him on stage chomping at the bit & starting to get it on. Blackmore would reactivate that glare of his for sure. It would have been a disaster on all levels. I still struggle to think what Blackmore or whoever was pulling the puppet strings was thinking. That version of ‘Rainbow’ was too easy going on all levels, a lounge bar jazz sort of laid back approach, everything just nice & cosy. Cheers.
August 8th, 2023 at 22:18@42…I’d suggest that once JLT joined the Rainbow ranks, that RG’s bass-lines became ever-so more important, even if a little subdued.
I have a really good recording of the “Live Between the Eyes” gig, & both RG’s bass & RB’s bass-pedals are clearly definable. RG’s playing his ass-off & having a good-‘ol-time I think. And he has some short & sweet solo spots in there too, namely “Difficult to Cure”, but his sound & playing is impeccable.
Peace !
August 9th, 2023 at 02:53Rock Candy (the mag) has a one page interview with Steve mentioned on the cover of their August/September issue somewhat eye-catchingly as “It wasn’t hard to leave Purple”. My wife was good enough to buy it for me in some airport newspaper & magazine shop, thinking it might interest me.
Respecting Rock Candy’s IP, I can’t quote the whole thing verbatim here, but there is no dirty laundry, the gist of the interview is:
– Steve felt comfortable with his musical role in DP. [“The guys were pretty receptive to me being me … my job was to supply ideas and feed the machine … By the end of of my time I had a pretty big say in how the new material came out.”]
– His choice to depart DP was entirely based on personal motives and a traumatic experience decades ago. [“About 17 years ago, Janine had an operation that went wrong, and she came close to death … (She) was in intensive care (while) I was on the road somewhere … in South America … So when Janine got sick again, … I decided that I’d be the guy to take care of her. Leaving DP was a secondary issue.”]
Steve also makes mention that he still has a trove of song ideas that he wanted to use for DP, but that are now in the process of being “reshaped” for the Steve Morse Group, since Steve’s work with Purple was more rhythm part-heavy.
August 10th, 2023 at 08:38True, Gregster, Roger did become more nimble with Rainbow again over time. I liked his bass playing on Mask especially.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbW0WWQDPUk
(Attention: NSFW – Roger in European style swimming trunks!)
That was very interesting album and you could hear that Roger had really poured his heart into it, but the Peter Gabriel’esque soundscapes were nothing for DP or Rainbow fans to fawn over + of course the album was unjustly drowned out by all the DP reunion white noise.
August 10th, 2023 at 16:15@46…What an unusual tune to say the least ! It’s certainly RG singing, but some of the credits indicate Benjamin Orr ( RIP ) participating too, (though it has RG’s sound there I guess, but I may need a few more listens to confirm who-does-what lol). Nice chord changes.
Peace !
August 11th, 2023 at 10:01You didn’t know that album, Greggie-Boy? Shame on you! ; – )
August 11th, 2023 at 13:33@48…said qt.”You didnāt know that album, Greggie-Boy? Shame on you! ; ā )”…
LOL ! I actually had no idea RG completed this project…In my defence however, it was pre-internet, pre DP Mk-II reunion, & sadly at this time in Oz, most reputable music shows on TV & radio were gone, & all sacrificed to the sounds of West-Coast US-of-A & MTV…And this stands to this day…We had for years however, a 50/50 division of UK & US-of-A musical influxes that were blended with local acts too.
Not all bad-news perhaps, but the music wasn’t equally distributed here any-more, it was all US-of-A, the UK lost it’s place in radio & TV.
Peace !
August 12th, 2023 at 02:49I recently heard ( or read, I am not sure) RG quoting that he “luckily could play the bass good enough to be kept on Purple all these years…”, or something close to that. I totally agree how different and kind of disruptive (comparing to MK2) GH bass playing was on Burn and Stormbringer, but that also took a part on Blackmore’s losing interest on DP in 1975. Considering all bass players he had around since that – and most time it was, precisely, RG, I think Ritchie ended up very fond of Roger’s bass playing ( and writing, producing , playing football and etc). That said, I like to imagine what could be if Chris Squire played bass on a Purple album. Cheers to everybody in this delightful forum!
August 24th, 2023 at 11:07Roger didnāt get in the way, but I donāt think Ritchie was ever impressed with his bass playing. He wanted players with attitude. That said, Ritchie always claimed to like sophisticated bass players, but in reality he wanted the bass in his bands mostly simple and serving.
Glenn isnāt really a more complex bass player than Roger. In fact, he plays less notes (lots of octaves and sixths and sevenths) most of the time, but he plays what he plays in different places to Roger. Places that catch more attention and sometimes yank the rhythm around and are generally more rhythm-determinative. And he does so with gung-ho aplomb and a general edginess. Roger isnāt an edgy player at all, he would have done well in The Moody Blues too with his style. Plus he doesnāt share Glennās uncanny sense of where and where not to play for maximum impact.
August 24th, 2023 at 17:34PS, lieber Fernando: “Disruptive” for Glenn’s bass approach is perhaps too strong a word, but where Roger complemented the rest of the band, Glenn (over)emphasized certain rhythmic aspects of the music with his bass playing and via that route added new influences to the picture (or at least made them more apparent). Little Ian’s drumming wouldn’t have evolved like it did from 1973-76 if it hadn’t been for Glenn, even Blackmore said that in the course of Mk III’s lifespan “the funk-bug began to bite Ian eventually too”.
When PAL was founded post-DP-split and it came to choosing a bassist for the new project, who did Little Ian pick? A Roger Glover clone? Far from it. Paul Martinez got the job and one listen to Malice In Wonderland (the album) will tell you that his bass playing is extremely close to Glenn’s (in groove, sound, choice of notes and general funk feel) and totally removed from what Roger did in 1970-73 or from 1979 (Rainbow joining and subsequent DP reunion) onward. Take away Glenn’s lead vocalist aspirations and his drug demons, and you have – in essence – Paul Martinez (with a bit more sophistication and a bit less grit than Glenn).
August 25th, 2023 at 15:19On the show with Michael Bradford: The way I read it, it was a TV show (in Germany??), and when Bradford arrived at the venue & met one of the producers, his greeting was “Hi, I’m Ritchie Moreblack!”
September 3rd, 2023 at 04:58