![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse5.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride3.jpg)
Aren’t very good at maths
It’s an interesting world we live in, wherein The Telegraph has better coverage of a Made in Japan reissue than both the (once) venerable Classic Rock and MOJO magazines, complete with an excellent interview with the drummer and historic photographs (one of them even from Budokan 1972).
Perhaps inevitably, the intermittently fractious Purple were themselves split on the merits of their influential creation. Keyboard player (the late) Jon Lord agreed with his drummer that the record represented the group at their best; singer Ian Gillan, meanwhile, expressed dissatisfaction at the quality of his vocal performance.
Which isn’t surprising. In 1972 alone, Deep Purple performed 127 concerts across three continents. Despite their singer requiring three months’ rest and recuperation after contracting hepatitis, in New York City, they also released two albums.
“Back in those days, if a band lasted for four or five years, that was a miracle,” Paice says. “There aren’t very many bands who can get through that first decade. It’s very, very difficult. You have to liken it to a marriage between four or five people, not two. The possibilities of it all going terminally bang are much greater. As they often do, and as we have done in the past.”
To keep with the times, there are also mentions of Ozzy Osbourne passing, and the anointment of Child in Time by the “television’s hottest show”.
Read more in The Telegraph.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Bravo for The Telegraph! Mainstream media to the rescue! At least it makes a proper effort to provide some meaningful coverage of a very deserving effort from Deep Purple (with a little help from Steven Wilson). Meanwhile Classic Rock and MOJO, as per usual (with very few exceptions) are staying true to form in their long-standing cursory treatment (and frankly insulting snubbing) of the Purps.
August 14th, 2025 at 22:25“singer Ian Gillan, meanwhile, expressed dissatisfaction at the quality of his vocal performance.”
August 15th, 2025 at 04:06– this I don’t get! To me it sounds perfect, every single note is amazing 🤩
I have heard the new and improved version now a couple of times now!
And yes, it is Apple Music, not the lp’s, but even though it isn’t the ‘real’ deal, I’m blown away 🤩😃💜💜💜💜💜
I LOVE IT SO MUCH 😍
Ohh I’m speechless! (Yes you’re welcome!)
Ian’s voice in CiT….. it’s magnetic, fantastic and everything else good and beautiful 😍😍
August 15th, 2025 at 12:18Sorry, forgot to add:
CiT is like listening to Picasso’s Guernica!
It is a masterpiece 💜
August 15th, 2025 at 12:27No surprise there , Classic Rock has been anti-purple from day one. Every mention of them comes with a sarcastic note or put down.
Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath on the other hand can do no wrong.
They always put down Whitesnake and David Coverdale too.
I only buy it still to see what is happening where.
August 15th, 2025 at 15:05First Purple album I listened to in 1973 – still fantastic!
Just checked out Highway Star on the Steven Wilson remix (Tidal), and I can’t confirm it is “better” than previous versions. It has lower volume (I always play my headset at 11 – so that is a negative :-)). I find the 2014 deluxe remaster both louder and with a fatter sound. My subjective opinion of course!
So to check out the Dolby Atmos version I only need to buy a a new home theatre system (bluray, amplifier, 4 speakers, subwoofer ). 2.000 EUR upwards i understand. Hmm, must think about this! They should have had a bundle that includes a home theatre system as well!
August 15th, 2025 at 16:16There is a difference between the three bands, though. While in the 21st century Sabbath and Zeppelin have managed to harvest an army of younger listeners, overwhelmingly Deep Purple’s audience has been by their side for decades. For all their musical accomplishments, the group’s legacy has not been very strategically marketed.
Precisely and lamentably so. Sigh.
***************************************************************************
“singer Ian Gillan, meanwhile, expressed dissatisfaction at the quality of his vocal performance.”
– this I don’t get! To me it sounds perfect, every single note is amazing
Ian’s voice sounds a little strained on MIJ because he was still recovering from bronchitis when the tour took place. You can very well hear it in comparison to his performance on Machine Head only eight months before, he sounds much cleaner there. In Japan, IG sounded husky/raspy, but not because that was his new singing style, it was a wounded voice still in recovery. For the same reason, Ian doesn’t like his performance on WDWTWA either, he still wasn’t over the side-effects of the (most likely viral) throat infection (bacterial bronchitis is much rarer) when that album was recorded.
Now I know a lot of people who actually like Ian’s huskiness/rasp and the amount of vocal distortion it brought with it on MIJ, I guess it fitted in with the overall frantic and gritty performance. But again: That is not a 100% healthy voice you are hearing, but a young man still in full possession of his vocal power giving his best with slightly damaged vocal cords on three nights. (Chris Norman’s voice – yes, he of Smokie fame or notoriety – is a product of illness too, originally a clean-voiced singer, a bout of pneumonia as a young man left him with damaged vocal cords and a raspy voice for the rest of his life.)
Had Ian been a professional opera singer, that kind of damage would have likely spelled the end of his career, but in a rock setting it just about worked and he could get away with it – as I said, a lot of people like Ian’s MIJ rasp without even realizing it was the consequence of an airways to the lungs inflammation which in Ian’s case might have even become chronic in 1972 due to the heavy touring schedule and the exhaustion of his voice as well as his then still unabated drinking, smoking & messin’ around with wimmin, NOT swimming, wimmin, WIHIMMIN!
Personally, I think Ian never quite recovered from it, he never sounded again as squeaky-clean as he did on Machine Head. That album was for me the peak of his still youthful singing.
All that said: The vocal performance, even with a slightly damaged voice, is of course still awesome on MIJ, but I can see why Ian wasn’t all that happy about the release initially, he knew what had been through healthwise and that it wasn’t his imaginably best performance but only his best one under the prevailing circumstances.
August 15th, 2025 at 16:55Having witnessed DP back in 85 in Vienna for the first time as a 16 yo die hard Fan i have to say that the CiT Ian sang Was the absolute best i ever heard….cause it happened right before my eyes
August 16th, 2025 at 05:48personnellement je trouve cet ensemble trop cher….de plus ce n’est plus le son de nos anciens vinyles…..
August 16th, 2025 at 05:48@4
I didn’t know Picasso owned a llama… oh wait, that’s Guernica not guanaco.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/The_Guanacos_of_Atacama.jpg
August 16th, 2025 at 07:25@6: Don’t worry, you can experience a watered down version of Atmos through some Apple headphones and other hardware. Oh, wait, that will cost pretty much the same. 🙂
August 16th, 2025 at 09:43Russ, Picasso‘s one and only early attempt at getting a guanaco down was aborted by him in drawing school when his favorite teacher bowed over him and said A-hump, I don‘t think that is going into the right direction, litte Pablo …
https://sugarandcanvas.com/cdn/shop/files/A_bf769cdf-bd06-46b0-b480-55608aeef92a.jpg?v=1703197426
He never even got to the camel toes.
August 16th, 2025 at 14:02Did anyone do the you tube listen along on Friday night?
I did ..and I thought it sounded brilliant….but not enough to make me fork out 70 quid for yet another version ( I already have 2 or 3 )
I think Steven Wilson must be a mate of Roger Glovers …cus the bass is definitely louder then everything else !
August 16th, 2025 at 14:37@10
“I didn’t know Picasso owned a llama”
– didn’t you know he had a complete zoo?
Why else would he call his daughter Paloma?
BTW: a maker of a beautiful scent, Paloma, not Pablo…
August 16th, 2025 at 17:29@ 7 – comparing live in concert vocals to a studio recording Uwe? Maybe it would look better if it was said that Gillan was sounding better before the tour commenced. Am I nitpicking, yes, splitting hairs, yes indeed. Any vocalist will sound better in a studio recording, well they should if their health is ok at the time. It is rock’ n roll as we say, hence certain people liking the ‘roughness’ or devil may care in big Ian’s vocal on MIJ. Looking at the In Rock and especially the Fireball tour live performances has him overcooking it even more. It is their instrument, a singer has nowhere to hide. It is much harder for them to get it up and going every night. He still sounds good on most MIJ songs. His most perfect vocal is pre In Rock, on the Concerto. But that is before all the shenanigans and the circus kicks in. Cheers.
August 16th, 2025 at 22:05It’s not just live vs studio, Herr MacGregor, of course Ian couldn’t double track his voice on MIJ like he regularly did in the studio.
But his vocals have a different quality on MIJ, they’re a bit more croaky, it’s a sound nuance you hadn’t heard with him before. Anyway, it was Ian who came up with the bronchitis explanation for not liking his performance on MIJ (in the Chris Charlesworth bio in 1980) not me!
But of course even an IG with roughened up vocal cords was in 1972 still pretty much untouchable.
August 17th, 2025 at 04:18@12
“camel toes..” gotta love ’em. And I do! 😈 😈 😈
Never saw that particular work by Picasso. You have a knack for pulling things out of your… ahem, thin air.
August 17th, 2025 at 06:31Before Karin asks:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Camel_Foot.jpg
I just dealt with that somewhat risqué situation as needlessly provoked by Russ rather elegantly I think. Someone praise me!
August 17th, 2025 at 20:07Made In Japan, the recent reissue hits #21 at UK Charts (midweek update)
The original album peaked at #16 (UK) in 1973.
Who would have sought, that this (live) album would nearly climb the Top20 in UK in 2025, would sit one position above the ABBA’s Golden Hits, and would be in charts coupled with the Pop starts like Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Oasis, Billie Eilish, Michael Jackson, Elton John, and Justin Bieber.
Enjoy! https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart-update/
August 18th, 2025 at 23:55@18
My provocation was intentional… I know you well enough to know what kind of bait to use. 🙂 Just be glad that I didn’t mention moose knuckles. Oops… I guess I just did.
August 19th, 2025 at 07:18Moose knuckle … 😂 Russ, you’re a man even I can learn an inappropriate word (or two) from! I am impressed.
Needless to say the term – like many unsavory things – found new popularity via the 2016 Olympics Aussie rowing team …
https://content.olympics.com.au/public/styles/portrait_header_section/s3/2019-06/chapman_dunkleysmith_ginn_lockwood_3D7C75F0-EF4B-11E4-A49F005056A37760_1.jpg.webp?itok=d5Wicmuw
But then again, many Australian mammals have large pouches. We would have to ask MonoGregor (how’s the bad ear?) for more details.
August 19th, 2025 at 10:32I read that the boxed set has already sold out and that Universal Music are considering a second run.
August 19th, 2025 at 13:02@21
Glad to help you broaden your vocabulary.
August 20th, 2025 at 08:54#4 in German (midweek) charts
https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-midweek
August 20th, 2025 at 16:47@ 24 Germany 5, UK 90 (down from 21 midweek) and Sweden 14 Hard Rock top 20.
August 24th, 2025 at 12:04Made in Japan got to the #1 spot in the German (and the Austrian, but, Himmel!, what’s the big dif?!) charts in 1972/73, nowhere else on Earth did it climb that high, not even in Japan (#14) (US #6, UK only #16 and – lest we forget – in the Gillandom of Denmark a respectable #8 though young Karin did not yet own a copy, which means the twelve copies needed to enter the Danish charts must have been bought by other people).
Goes to show that Tief Purpur/Dunkel Lila/Satt Vilolett is really a German band in a honorary or at least adopted sense.
August 24th, 2025 at 19:40@ 26- “lest we forget – in the Gillandom of Denmark a respectable #8 though young Karin did not yet own a copy, which means the twelve copies needed to enter the Danish charts must have been bought by other people).” ha ha ha ha, is it really THAT bad up there in Denmark? Are they that isolated? And here I was thinking we constantly miss the boat all the way out here in no man’s land. I wonder what MIJ made it to on our esteemed charts. I will see If I can find anything, wish me luck. Cheers.
August 24th, 2025 at 23:15bloody hell, it looks like we sold more copies of MIJ than in Denmark. Which begs the question, what would Lars Ulrich know about Deep Purple than us Australian’s don’t know. Interesting thought. Anyway, these chart positions, how accurate are they? Still, if we can beat the Danes, that is all that matters isn’t it? Hang on, I have just been brought back down to earth with a thud. It seems the Danes have an interest in DP after all. Cheers.
https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/Australia_Top_Albums_1973
https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/11126
https://www.danishcharts.dk/showitem.asp?interpret=Deep+Purple&titel=Tokyo+International+Forum+%2D+Tokyo%2C+Japan+2001%2F03%2F24%2D03%2F25&cat=a
August 24th, 2025 at 23:29It seems that the Danes do know a little bit about Deep Purple after all. Just in case that last post from me didn’t get through, something strange looking happened when I hit the post button. Cheers.
https://www.danishcharts.dk/showitem.asp?interpret=Deep+Purple&titel=Made+In+Japan&cat=a
August 24th, 2025 at 23:38I have it from a reliable source that the twelve people who bought Made in Japan in Denmark in 1972/73 were all German tourists. That does explain it.
Now look at Herr MacGregor becoming Karin’s knight in shining armo(u)r to the rescue!
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTOhOl-X5UkNT9zO6Q9h2o96o3ycJvEFrQVrA&s
August 25th, 2025 at 13:47@ Denmark is just about the size of Tasmania and with a population far less.. ha ha ha
August 25th, 2025 at 14:51@ 28 Seems Purple was the only band with two entries for 1973.. not bad Down Under!
August 25th, 2025 at 14:57@ 30 – it always pays to keep on the good side of people Uwe, as you would well know. @ 31- we have approximately 550,000 humans (all with two heads) here in Tassie. Not sure about those Vikings up there in Denmark. I will have look at their numbers, and then start worrying about an invasion of sorts. Red alert, Red alert, shock horror, I just had a count, it looks like approximately 6 million Vikings. Run, run to the hills. It also said about 40% of them reside in Zealand. What??? New Zealand, that is toooooooo close indeed. I knew they were up to something. Cheers.
August 25th, 2025 at 21:53@ 32 – they certainly did have two chart positions that year, the same as Neil Diamond. Although he was at number one. We must have some sort of connection with someone in Purple. They did commence their reunion tour both here and in New Zealand in December 1984. Maybe they felt sorry for us and decided to get it out of the way before the proper ‘world tour’ commenced after the new year. There is a connection of sorts to Denmark, as Purple have previously commenced touring there a few times. Maybe we do have something in common with those pesky Danes after all. Cheers.
August 25th, 2025 at 22:02I knew it, they are here, have been for a while. From the dreaded Wikipedia: “However, there is a historical connection between Denmark and New Zealand based on 19th century immigration of Scandinavians, especially Danes, to New Zealand’s North Island, particularly to the districts of the southern Hawkes Bay and the northern Wairarapa.” We are doomed, doomed I say! It is only a hop, skip and a jump from NZ to Tasmania. And as we all know, them Vikings do not respect a ‘hop, skip and a jump’ too well.
August 26th, 2025 at 00:22It makes perfect sense to start tours either in Australia or Denmark – when your set is still a bit shaky and you don’t know how the new songs will be received, there is a natural tendency to avoid the scrutiny of culturally more developed environments.
I hope that explanation helped, it is sometimes called the “bringing glass beads to the savages”-theorem.
😈😎😈😎😈😎😈😎😈😎😈😎
August 26th, 2025 at 12:14@36: This is exactly what I am reading about at this moment in that new book about DP 1980 (review will come, eventually). Back then it was Texas and Mexico, apparently. 🙂
August 26th, 2025 at 13:13@29
“It seems that the Danes do know a little bit about Deep Purple after all.”
– HEY! Didn’t I say this all along! 😄
August 26th, 2025 at 17:46@18
“Before Karin asks:”
August 26th, 2025 at 17:48– well I didn’t, did I?
@27
“though young Karin did not yet own a copy,“
August 26th, 2025 at 17:50– I owned several!
Was very happy to give them away to friends and relatives as gifts!
@30
“I have it from a reliable source that the twelve people who bought Made in Japan in Denmark in 1972/73 were all German tourists“
August 26th, 2025 at 17:53– 🤣🤣 ooohhhhh I am so impressed of your continuous support of the Danish people!
@33
“it always pays to keep on the good side of people Uwe”
– 😄 don’t we all?
“Not sure about those Vikings up there in Denmark”
– psst: I’ll let you in on a little secret – the only Vikings in Denmark are those who have been buried for centuries, millennia really!
The Danish population today mostly consists of slightly overweight people who love to eat frikadeller (meatballs) and eat ‘Friday-candy’ all week long!
We also believe we are way more fit than we really are, and the Danish taste in music is, sad to reveal this, mostly pop.
Besides that we are quite friendly and have a nice sense of smell 😄😄
August 26th, 2025 at 17:59@36
“
It makes perfect sense to start tours either in Australia or Denmark “
– I would not ask for more in my life (oh that’s not right, there is one thing more I like to ask for, but more about that later) than Purple start in Denmark, I will certainly walk in the front of the people who will welcome them with all the love we have 😍
August 26th, 2025 at 18:02@ 42 And drink Tuborg.. Hvergang..
August 26th, 2025 at 19:03@44
Tuborg 😄
Well, I prefer Carlsberg, maybe you know the commercial: probably the best beer in the world:
https://youtu.be/ZL2HacfPMrM?si=PEwzzc-L-0YWkVim
Or this:
https://youtu.be/ayQs0TnVIoM?si=M-NjqBNFXVfMHbXN
And even alcohol-free beer:
https://youtu.be/sjNQSFkEsMM?si=9rGMR62r8mkZtgQF
Or the Danish way:
https://youtu.be/Ut74TTStaP8?si=ElAp_B2HJy2xrf8W
Sorry, I stop now 😄
August 26th, 2025 at 19:52Ha ha ha ha, exactly, that Australian and Danish ‘connection’. As I stated earlier, just what would Lars Ulrich know about DP that we wouldn’t. There must be a connection of sorts between Denmark and Australia. Our IQ levels perhaps, 23 maybe. Ouch………….that is being a little unfair, it is a little higher than that surely……………32 or somewhere around that. Hence Purple initially commencing touring in Denmark in 1968 and 1973 with MKIII. ‘How doe we sound, what will people think” so it is ‘Let’s go to Denmark, they won’t even know either way’. Same in 1984, ‘how does it all sound, what will ‘they’ think?’ ‘let’s go to Australia and New Zealand, what would they know”. And there we have it, who needs an IQ test when Deep Purple are in town? Cheers.
August 26th, 2025 at 23:04OMO(din), celebrating Danish beer … “probably best beer in the world” … 🙄 … maybe after all German breweries have shut down?! 😁
https://www.liquor.com/best-german-beers-5089460
Even renowned English experts agree …
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/static/article/news/1/74341_0_wide_ver1524402356.jpg@1200
What’s next? How great Danish cars are?
August 27th, 2025 at 00:22One thing we may have on Denmark and anywhere else in this world for that matter. Has Deep Purple ever played pool side somewhere else or are we the originators of that failed promoters dream gig? Cheers.
https://surfingdownsouth.com.au/2017/11/25/1971-deep-purple-concert-at-beatty-park-aquatic-centre-images-by-ric-chan/
August 27th, 2025 at 09:44@47
“What’s next? How great Danish cars are?”
August 27th, 2025 at 11:45– yes! And wine! Denmark is supposed to be the next great wine adventure 😃
Apparently Petrus-wine will be envious of the new Danish wine conglomerate!
😄
@46
IQ levels MacGregor!
Well, apparently the Danish population is extremely intelligent 😄
“who needs an IQ test when Deep Purple are in town?”
August 27th, 2025 at 11:48– who needs ANYTHING when Purple are around 😎
If you think Carlsberg is good, then there is a fair chance that your music tastes cannot be too discerning either! 🤣
https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/viking-drunk-31160164.jpg
August 27th, 2025 at 12:21We are aware of the ‘mosh pit’ these days at concerts and even crowd control. Scroll halfway down and the image of Deep Purple on stage poolside in 1971 in Perth, Australia says it all. A pity the song ‘Twisting by the Pool’ didn’t exist at that stage. They could have covered it with aplomb no doubt. At least Ian Gillan can see the amusing side to it all. We wonder what Ritchie may have thought of it all, he could have been electrocuted or something, the amps blowing up and catching on fire. It looks like they were lucky to get out alive. Cheers.
https://www.beattypark.com.au/about/history.aspx
August 27th, 2025 at 22:17@51
“If you think Carlsberg is good,”
– ok, ok, let me tell you a secret: I almost never drink beer. I do however like a nice glass of wine, Cabernet Sauvignon is splendid!
And a little drink of whiskey is alright too. But beer, no nit very often.
But whenever Mads Mikkelsen praise a beer, I do believe him!
August 28th, 2025 at 08:22https://youtu.be/iPgL1TJ59bU?si=D3BHEZaJpY0b_IZs
Because he is funny and very intelligent 😂
Present the stinking hippy close to water makes sense!
That 1971 tour laid the seeds for the end of Mk II as they had Free (and Manfred Mann) in tow so that Ritchie had a chance to listen to (and watch perform) Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser night for night live. He would clone them with DC and GH for Mk III only a few years later.
https://youtu.be/anBGycvrkQo
As usual, Australians are to blame for everything.
August 28th, 2025 at 14:34@ 54- I do think Roger was busy doing his own security there on the front of the stage, pushing all the people back into the water, keeping the hordes at bay. Maybe Gillan looking amused is just him wondering what Ritchie is up to. Instructing a roadie to get a Marshall ready to dump into the pool, still connected to electricity and switched on! Yes, here in Australia we are quite progressive and forward thinking in our inspiration at times. So Ritchie getting the ‘Free’ idea for a future band was just another feather in our cap. We will take it, anything is better than nothing. Cheers.
August 28th, 2025 at 22:30