![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/paice3.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/glover2.jpg)
The doorstop-of-a-book
Houston Press has a quite in-depth (for a mainstream publication) review of Martin Popoff’s book Seven Decades of Deep Purple: An Unofficial History.
Like some of his previous books, Popoff waltzes chronologically through the band’s discography as the spine for telling the story. What makes Seven Decades of Deep Purple likely more aimed toward the hardcore fan though is this. By the book’s midway-point, the narrative has already gone through the band’s ‘70s heyday and even up to 1983’s great Mk. II reunion effort Perfect Strangers.
That leaves the entire second half concentrating on their output from that time forward, covering records that probably are not in a lot of folks’ collections like The Battle Rages On…, Abandon, Bananas, and Rapture of the Deep.
Which is perfectly fine with us. 😉
Read more in Houston Press.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
In Canada they had this brick of a book on sale for $18. I couldn’t pass it up. It’s one of the best Purple books ever produced.
December 24th, 2025 at 05:21That is a good idea actually, get it for a door stop. At least it won’t gather dust as much after your peruse through it.
December 24th, 2025 at 06:52Can’t wait to read it!
And I tell ya: while I read it I can exercise my biceps 😄 because woah it’s a heavy book.
I like the way Martin is thorough when he describes and explains 😊
December 24th, 2025 at 08:17Got this weighty tome and so far, a really good, balanced, account. Good to remember the thrill of In Rock in 1971
December 24th, 2025 at 10:48That book weighs 2222 grams!
Without the book cover!
Woah I’m going to be soooo fit done reading that 🤩
December 24th, 2025 at 12:16A question to those of you who have read it, is it a book for the casual fan or does it offer new insights for the average THS reader? Ie, a detailed account of the lawsuit between DP and Dipak Rao and similar storylines? 🙂
December 24th, 2025 at 13:03Well, I’m reading it from Kindle. It weighs exactly what my reader weighs (not much).
December 24th, 2025 at 13:49I know so many stories and interviews about this band, but this book is so tempting by one of my favorites rock writers
December 24th, 2025 at 14:59I have my copy sitting here on my desk. Can’t wait to dig into it!
December 24th, 2025 at 16:47@1 Scott
December 24th, 2025 at 17:15$18 in Canada? Where! I see it for $80! Maybe Boxing Day….
For 20 bucks I would buy it!
Merry Christmas!
It would be great if Ian Paice did a book on his life inside Purple. Just like Nick Mason did with his ‘Inside Out’ story with Pink Floyd. Straight from the horses mouth, so to speak. And as Nick so eloquently put it, ‘from my position behind the drum kit, you get the see and hear EVERYTHING’. Perhaps once Ian hangs up the sticks he can pick up the quill and parchment. I would buy that. Cheers.
December 24th, 2025 at 19:58#11: Count me in, if Little Ian writes it, I will buy it.
December 24th, 2025 at 23:00But not buying this one, $55 (USD) on Amazon!!
December 24th, 2025 at 23:02Gentlemen!
At FaceBook there was an interesting post regarding what happened in the Gillan days!
I remember have read in here that John McCoy was so sad and also angry because Ian left Gillan to join Black Sabbath.
Well in that post I read, Ian needed to take off a year because some doctor had said he had nodules on his vocal cords and the nodules were to be removed by an operation.
And because of that diagnosis he had told the guys in Gillan he needed to take off a year to be healed.
But Ian got a second opinion from a doctor in Germany, and he told Ian that removing the nodules wouldn’t help, instead he needed to get his tonsils out.
Ian, as the clever man he is and always was, listened to the German doc and got the tonsils removed, and that’s why he was able to join BS much earlier than expected. (Was it clever to join and scream his head off the next year? Maybe not, but it’s his life and he can do exactly whatever he wants to do, and I guess that’s what he always have done 😉☺️)
Re the money issue, Ian was in dire straits because of tax problems. And he explained that he payed Gillan out of his own pockets.
But because he didn’t communicate very well with the rest of the guys in Gillan, there were misunderstandings 😞
I honestly don’t think Ian would ever cheat anyone.
But otoh I get why John and the rest of them felt let down.
No matter what, Gillan made some very very good records, and they were extremely popular in Denmark… And I’ll always be grateful for their hard work, their great musicality and I’m thankful I have those magnificent records 😊
December 25th, 2025 at 07:33You are right Karin. Those Gillan records were excellent!! I think they were right up there with the Best Rainbow and WhiteSnake albums!! The IGB albums were also very very good!!
December 26th, 2025 at 08:04@15
Ahem Leslie, well, excuse me but in my honest and humble opinion the Gillan Records are way better than both Rainbow and Whitesnake records put together 😄
Why, you ask? Well mostly because they have Ian as the vocalist! 🤩
I have been listening pretty much to this guy:
https://youtu.be/KiZ5H6_Fosw
And besides I miss Dave Letterman and his sarcastic view on life in general and USA in particular, I wonder if SRV would have been a nice attribute to Purple?
I mean – listen to this, and behold how cool he is when he all of a sudden needs another guitar 😃
https://youtu.be/3woPVQExDsQ
I honestly don’t think RB could have been that nonchalant if a guitar string snapped 😊☺️
(And now I wouldn’t mind if Uwe showed a couple of hundred different clips where RB is even more cool 😎)
Sadly he died way too young so I’m aware this is a moot question, but woah he has caught my ears!
And no, he does not at all remind me of this wonderful banjoplayer:
https://youtu.be/RX-pQOaTiMM
But both are worth listening to 😊
Finally this one is adorable:
December 26th, 2025 at 13:46https://youtu.be/i0hVIrQm0KM
@7
Alright Jan, but can you use a Kindle as a door stop?
December 26th, 2025 at 15:46– I am asking for a friend 😁
@16
That clip of Little Sister was from the TV show Austin City Limits, I remember watching that one back in 86-87? when it was first broadcast.
SRV was a shit-hot guitar slinger… but way too steeped in the blues to fit in with Purple.
Check this one out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9-Y0VubMA
David Bowie was so impressed by the then unknown SRV’s performance that he had him play on the album Let’s Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbD_kBJc_gI
Yes it is a crying-ass shame that he died so young… just when he finally got his shit together too.
His older brother Jimmie is pretty damn good too.
Check out the two of them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfQXwXdI8gs
December 27th, 2025 at 08:49@18
Well Russ, I guess you’re right: no Rock’n’Roll bone in SRV!
I had no idea SRV was acknowledged by Bowie! Well there you have it! Bowie was not just a pretty face ☺️
Thanks for the links. Yes Jimmie is very good too.
I don’t know how you feel about blues, but I love to hear some tunes, and then it’s ok! Stop now please, and give me some more hardcore rock 😃
December 27th, 2025 at 11:06@17
I don’t know yet, I’ve only gotten to “Come Taste the Band”…
Godt nytår.
December 27th, 2025 at 14:44@20
Ok, glæder mig til at høre når du er færdig med den ☺️
Og godt nytår til dig og dine 😊
December 27th, 2025 at 15:42SRV is among the most overrated guitarists ever – I fail to see what he did that people like Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Alvin Lee, Robin Trower or Rory Gallagher had not done long before him. Sure he could play fluidly and had technique plus loads of tone, but I don’t think I ever heard him play a single note that surprised me. Nor was he a stylistic innovator like, say, Eddie Van Halen, Reeves Gabrels, Jeff Healey or Adrian Belew … instead he played the most mundane, “well-trodden path” bluesy cock rock imaginable which only in the authenticity-starved 80s could have found such a large audience.
Discuss! 😈
December 27th, 2025 at 16:01@22
😄😄
First of all: welcome back! Where have you been the last days! I won’t say I have been bored in here, not at all actually, but I have missed your snappy comments 😃
Discuss you say!
Alright then….
I don’t know most of the guitarists you are mentioning, and I am entertained by SRV in a gentle way.
This one:
https://youtu.be/SR9GOQ4GXvk
Maybe not surprising but man he is great!
He is not a rock guitarist but he surely plays with his heart 😃
December 27th, 2025 at 19:08@22
No SRV didn’t do anything new but that doesn’t change the fact that he excelled at what he did. Call it “bluesy cock rock” or whatever you like… Maybe you just don’t get what the Blues are about.
BTW, if that is cock rock what is this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr-_1ddndkE
December 27th, 2025 at 19:37@19
“…give me some more hardcore rock”
Your command is my wish… wait, I think I got that backwards.
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg2eSSnOYUY
December 27th, 2025 at 20:19hooray, Uwe is back in the land of the living. Withdrawal symptoms were beginning to shake the foundations of THS site. Seriously, I agree with Uwe, SRV was the flavour of the decade back in the 80’s and that was after EVH ruled the roost for a while. The media and certain popular music followers of that blues rock genre were getting desperate to find someone ‘new’ to elevate to higher grounds. Did SRV reach even greater heights after his unfortunate passing, that usually happens. As Paul Simon sang ‘every generation has a hero to put up the pop charts’, or something like that. Bonamassa is today’s Blues rock ‘hero’, media wise. There will always be someone to worship and as the 1960’s and 70’s exploded with guitar ‘heroes’, since then the media has become ‘desperate’ in a sense. Who will it be next? Cheers.
December 27th, 2025 at 21:04Not much to disagree, Uwe. I’m far from being an expert when it comes to judging the technical abilities of a guitarist but I tend to find SRV overrated too. A very good blues player but not more special than other heros in that genre. And not much of an inovator I’d think. A cood enough singer but not a great one…and his songwriting pretty mediocre. I think it’s the fact that he died too early (and fought addictkon before that) that made him a legend. Like in some other cases… (Did I hear somebody mentionimg Cobain?)
December 27th, 2025 at 21:16Good blues guitarists arrive at open air venues by helicopter (and also leave thereby), nuff said. When it comes to energetic White Boy Blues, these guys here wrote the rule book …
https://youtu.be/IaKgQATdB6I
If aliens ever abducted me (what am I saying, they do so regularly!)
https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/1-alien-abduction-science-picture-co.jpg
(Wouldn’t that make great cover art for a remix of Difficult to Cure, the album?)
and asked me if I could explain to them how three repetitive chords and some pentatonic riffing and soloing could be exciting, this is the vid I ‘d pull up to elucidate the magic of bluesy rock’n’roll to them.
Besides, Alvin Lee was more handsome than SRV, pulled better faces and sang better – that all must count for something!
December 28th, 2025 at 00:50I was a big fan of SRV in his early days, BUT: #22, you’ve got it right. SRV was essentially a combination of Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter.
December 28th, 2025 at 01:11Ohhh my!!
OHHH MY!!
What’s the matter people?😄
Do you always drink the most sublime wine? Only digest the finest cuisine?
Sometimes my dear Purple-people it’s necessary, beneficial actually, to eat kale, boring old carrots or drink water (purified of course) and get som lentils and beans….
What I’m hinting at is the fact that to appreciate the foie gras (as an illustration!) the Petrus 1961 etc, it’s vital to feed on the common greens and water.
Please stop being so blasé! 😄
I admit wholeheartedly that Purple (when Ian is singing!) is the finest art, the best ‘dining’ I can imagine… but it’s very nice now and then to snack on the roots (no I’m not thinking Purple aren’t the root of my musical experience, but that’s another discussion!) to listen to more mediocre bands, guitarists, singers, to appreciate the most sublime I can imagine 😍
Let’s – for arguments sake – listen to this guy:
https://youtu.be/a5kwyHjL7ZU
He might not have invented the wheel or the soup bowl, but ohhh man I love listening to him 🤩
And no, you’re right Uwe, his clothing isn’t pretty, and no, his appearance could be more refined but WOAH he can sing, and he is authentic, he is no ‘plastic-fantastic’, you get what you see with this man!
Just like SRV:
https://youtu.be/i0hVIrQm0KM
He was 29 – 30 here!
He might have been fighting drugs and alcohol too, I’m not sure, but looking at him, listening to him – 😍
Yeah Max his songwriting may not be Ian Gillan’esque but his sentiments are pure: he loves his lady and that’s what he’s singing out ☺️
He is passionate! 😃
Hendrix may have been first, well ok he was 😃, but woah SRV did so much more!
Today I will indeed be snacking on some beetroots, celery and carrots, in other words:
– when BB and Lucille wanted to be at the same stage as SRV, well, enough said my dears ☺️😉
https://youtu.be/m9S-4ab14sk
But I’ll also listen to this:
https://youtu.be/XBIyFiGzWZs
Because no matter what, he also has something to say 😊 may be one of the finest lovesongs ever!
And not to forget ‘our kid’:
https://youtu.be/GP98Qo9p94I
Yes I know his voice is a bit rough but he has been fighting diseases. He still sings better than me 😄
Have a lovely Sunday everybody and enjoy that the days are a tiny bit longer already, and soon we will be bathing in the sunlight with birds chirping all over the place 😊
December 28th, 2025 at 06:14@25
Thank you Russ, but Blue Oyster Cult? Alright then….
I was more into this:
https://youtu.be/UNacKTzsTw0
And this!
https://youtu.be/-H7s2vcjY8o
Not to forget these gentlemen:
https://youtu.be/bbkNm739ULA
😃
December 28th, 2025 at 06:18But Karin, noone here was putting ole Stevie down… I even got his albums….it’s just debateable if he was the guitar god from outer space some people seem to see in him. He’s up there with the good ones, no doubt, but he might not fly above them.
December 28th, 2025 at 13:06I can hear in a split second if it is SRV playing. To me, that is someone who developed a personal style.
December 28th, 2025 at 15:06Ol’ SRV was one of a kind. He had a distinctive sound, played with tons of feeling, and always sounded in complete control, even on uptempo numbers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUsvRaRk9Fs
A little jazzier than Hendrix or Winter at times, too. Kind of like Alvin Lee in that respect. Though a much more lyrical player, reminiscent of Robin Trower.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfGBQHM1EzI&list=RDKfGBQHM1EzI&start_radio=1
Wouldn’t consider him over-rated at all. Rather, justly acknowledged for being one of the greats.
Rory Gallagher is the guitar hero I don’t get. Good player, but put out a lot of very average material with few strong songs that really stood out.
More of a shouter than a singer, too – SRV is like Pavarotti compared to Gallagher.
December 28th, 2025 at 16:28@33
Gentlemen:
WHAT SVANTE SAID 😃
December 28th, 2025 at 16:29@32
Ohh ok Max, so no one was putting Stevie down? 😁
Alright then, but what did Uwe mean when he wrote this in @22:
“SRV is among the most overrated guitarists ever”? 😃
Or this:
“but I don’t think I ever heard him play a single note that surprised me.”?? (Also @22)
And finally this:
“instead he played the most mundane, “well-trodden path” bluesy cock rock imaginable which only in the authenticity-starved 80s could have found such a large audience.”
All from just one post! @22…☺️
And this from MacGregor, @26:
“I agree with Uwe, SRV was the flavour of the decade back in the 80’s and that was after EVH ruled the roost for a while. “??
– well, maybe I’m just very sensitive and/or fragile when it comes to great musicians, but that is certainly not any praise, at least not in my little black book!
And from your own fingers Max:
“Not much to disagree, Uwe.” (@27)
And this:
“and his songwriting pretty mediocre.” (Also @27)
Well, I would indeed define these opinions as some sort of ‘put downs’!
And I can assure you this! Had anyone said anything remotely like that about Ian Gillan and the rest of Purple, I would be tempted big time to force them to drink really bad and lukewarm coffee! (Noooo, not even I can be so evil 😈 )
But as our dear Admin Svante said:
“I can hear in a split second if it is SRV playing. To me, that is someone who developed a personal style.” (Post @33)
Let me give you an example:
Roger Whittaker was brilliant doing this!
https://youtu.be/HzKQfrNseo
I could never, not even if my miserable life depended on it, whistle like that!
But when I was invited to a concert with RW, I politely declined because even though he was magnificent, my ears would bleed and my head eventually explode, because in my head even the most beautiful whistling can be too much. But I would never put him down or call him mediocre or last decades flavour 😄
Ohhh man, I can see how bored I have been the last days 😝 but thank you all for the chance to a little debate in here 😃
P.S. Max, you write this: “I even got his albums“ – so come on! Do you also have some albums with Jeff Lynne and ELO? I’m asking because I remember you told us in here how you do NOT like him 😄
December 28th, 2025 at 16:58For the record, SRV was a skilled guitarist, perhaps a little overly busy, and in the early 80s certainly stood out with his rootsy yet exuberant style. David Bowie, who has played with people like Mick Ronson, Earl Slick, Carlos Alomar, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Peter Frampton and Reeves Gabrels doesn’t hire subpar guitarists.
But his songwriting was nothing to write home about. Nor was he a great storyteller like, say, Robert Cray could be. Granted, the mostly white Blues Rock audience starting from the 70s doesn’t really want innovation.
December 28th, 2025 at 21:52@ 36 – just for the record I agree with Uwe in regard to the ‘well worn path’ ie the blues etc. NOT the ‘cock rock’ comment. My take on the blues has that well worn path running through it with many players, but it also does with other genres of music. After all the influences and as the years go by, many are walking a line of similarity. That is the way it is. I have respect for many of those guitarists, it just doesn’t make me want to buy it, that is all. I purchase music that really moves me, it isn’t disrespectful not getting into certain artists. There are plenty of good guitarists that impressed in the 1980’s, SRV was one of many. At least SRV mixed it up a little. Robert Cray is a fine blues guitarist. Derek Trucks is also a very good guitarist as is Joe Bonamassa, but I do not own any of their music. The same with Joe Satriani (i do own Alien on cd) and Steve Vai. The guitarists whose music I purchased and I also witnessed in action, Steve Morse and Eric Johnson were the big shakers for me in the 1980’s. Robben Ford impressed me live in concert in the 1990’s. Back in the day so did Eric Clapton and Santana and I owned a few vinyl albums of both artists, but haven’t replaced any of those with cd’s, except for Cream. Electric guitarists are just like different genres of music, they come and they go, some stay forever. Cheers.
December 29th, 2025 at 05:58@ 34 – we all hear certain things differently Skippy. Gallagher to me is more ‘original’ with his rock music and a much stronger songwriter. Not a great singer as SRV wasn’t either, but Rory certainly got the job done for his style on it all. The rock music with Rory is also the main reason that I like his take on the blues. Each to their own. And Rory also coming from the other side of the pond makes it all a little more interesting and he wasn’t influenced by Hendrix at all, which is refreshing in that sense. Cheers
December 29th, 2025 at 06:17@38 Adding to this list of illustrious names, meet Eddie Clearwater:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_msRYl2Pk8A_Ima8ljJ6qKl2YZY6g1KTuo
Saw him in live Chicago circa 2000 and was much impressed.
December 29th, 2025 at 08:37😃😂
Alright then Gentlemen 🙏
We agree than SRV was a very good banjo player 💛
December 29th, 2025 at 09:02@41 I guess we can. I do. I just find him a tad overrated. He was very good but I cannot see why he should rise high above all the other guitar slingers mentioned in the above posts. I got his albums as well as many a blues- or blues-rock-outfit’s albums and enjoy them all for various reasons. Which doesn’t go for ELO, sorry. If there were more albums of them I could not buy I would do it.
December 29th, 2025 at 09:59Ooops! It doesn’t bode well that there’s a howler on the first page of chapter one.
December 29th, 2025 at 11:42“Jonathan Douglas Lord”?
The great man’s given name was simply John.
@43 “The great man’s given name was simply John”
No it wasn’t.
December 29th, 2025 at 18:22Rory’s voice was raw and untutored, streets of Cork working class credibility – and I really liked that. I thought he was a versatile writer, not just Folk & Blues, but with even pop senibilities, though one who would leave things “in the rough” on purpose, rather than polish them to death. SRV sounded so much smoother, he had undeniable Texas groove, but not Irish grit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_NPKSNMKpM
I wouldn’t have wanted him to join either the Rolling Stones or Deep Purple, because we would have lost that honest and totally unpretentious voice of his in the process.
“Rory was probably the most natural player I’ve ever seen. In all the gigs we did together I don’t think I ever heard him play the same thing twice … He was the ultimate performer.” –
December 29th, 2025 at 20:38-𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲
The fact that SRV arrived much later than the previous blues rockers will always have him playing catchup, the same as Bonamassa and others. It is the way is and there is also more influence from the previous rock guitarists too for the later day players. Blues music has to be ‘rocked up’ for me to enjoy it. Ironic that it is white blues player that do that much more, Hendrix excepted of course. At least the 80’s blues guitarist are preferred more by many popular music lovers than any of those over the top shredders and show offs. The dread of the 1980’s electric guitar for many people. That could be one reason in itself why SRV and a few others were so popular in that 80’s era, after EVH, Moore and Malmsteen came along. Give us some melody, feel and emotion. Not ten zillion notes a second anal cabaret guitar solos. The very reason Gary Moore attempted his foray into the ‘blues’ later on wasn’t it. I say ‘attempted’ because to me that didn’t work, it sounded too ‘out of touch’ for want of a more descriptive expression. His best blues solos were in his rock music from late 70’s into the early 80’s, minus the over top shred solos of course. Cheers.
December 29th, 2025 at 20:56Well, let’s not split hairs here, it was “John Douglas” and he deleted the h even pre-Artwoods, possibly because there were already too many “Johns” in the London blues circuit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11dKGNnXZms
But I believed for decades he was named Jonathan too.
December 30th, 2025 at 00:49Great book, but cost me $130.00 Aussie dolla😵💫
December 30th, 2025 at 01:24@42
Max, you say: “Which doesn’t go for ELO, sorry. If there were more albums of them I could not buy I would do it.”
– oh I’m completely ok with that 😃
I mean, I don’t get any royalties or any % from the records the Brummie is selling!
And in strictest confidence I can tell you that I even have a double cd with this guy: (Hope the link works..)
https://youtu.be/HzKQfrNseoI
And my collection contains a couple of this bearded guy:
https://youtu.be/boeZOAX_dwY
But none of them are stored away in my safe 😄
December 30th, 2025 at 05:42@43
Hello Phil 😊
If Wikipedia can be trusted, his name was indeed Jonathan Douglas Lord
https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Lord
And what a very great and fantastic man he was 💜
December 30th, 2025 at 07:01@33
Exactly, he had a very singular style; part Lonnie Mack-Albert King, a little bit Jimi Hendrix, to name a few. The influence of his brother Jimmie shows itself as well. He was more than just a guy who played a rocked up style of blues.
December 30th, 2025 at 09:07@27
“…and his songwriting pretty mediocre.”
You are aware that over 50% of the stuff he recorded were covers, right?
Lyrically, he was no Ian Gillan, John Prine or Elton John or John Hiatt; but I’ve heard a lot worse from a lot of “popular” songwriters. He kept it simple.
December 30th, 2025 at 10:13@28
“Besides, Alvin Lee was more handsome than SRV, pulled better faces and sang better.”
True, and I love Ten Years after… especially stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ncg22czF4o
But I find myself listening to SRV a lot more.
I’ll close this by stating that I’m also a huge fan of Dr. John. Feel free to rip on me for that as well. 😈
December 30th, 2025 at 10:27@ 44
I meant his first name was simply John, his middle name was indeed Douglas if that’s what you’re arguing about. If you think his first name wasn’t John, here’s his birth registration, Hudson being Miriam’s maiden name [by coincidence, her mother’s maiden name was Glover];
Births Jun 1941
Lord John D Hudson Leicester 7a 689
He was also “LORD John Douglas” on his school record as seen in ‘Jon Lord – It’s All Music’.
December 30th, 2025 at 10:27.
@31
” but Blue Oyster Cult? Alright then….”
I considered giving you something by DP but I figured that you’ve heard it all by now. Or have you… maybe I have other “rare” DP songs for you to discover. Maybe I’m just pulling your leg… or am I?
Here’s something that you haven’t heard (only played live, never formally recorded) by a band that many consider “overrated”. I don’t really like their studio work all that much but they tore it up live, especially in their early years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXqSmF4p5bQ
December 30th, 2025 at 10:51@50. Karin, the page you link to starts, “John Douglas Lord (9. juni 1941 – 16. juli 2012) var en engelsk komponist…”??
December 30th, 2025 at 14:24I do remember Wikipedia used to have the wrong name but corrected it long ago.
BTW, in general it can’t be trusted!
See comment 54 above.
@ 52
Of course I am … and the fact adds to my point. He might not have enough original songs or the ones he had were too weak.
Elton John doesn’t write lyrics as far as I know.
And when it comes to Dr. John … I think I got every single album of the Good Doctor and I feel lucky I have seen him on stage. He was a giant. I wish his jam with Bolin would see a proper release.
December 30th, 2025 at 14:36@56
Exactly Phil, that’s why I normally call it: Wikiverywrongdia…
Ohh I linked it in Danish 😂 so sorry… I sometimes forget Danish isn’t a world language 😄
December 30th, 2025 at 16:12I saw Dr John in a small Yuppie & DINKs bar in NYC in 1988 – his career was in the doldrums at the time, but he performed great all by himself. I would never dare call that man overrated, Right Place, Wrong Time is a classic (which shamefully at the bar gig no-0ne seemed to remember). The current keyboard player of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Peter Keys, is heavily inspired by him, not just visually
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS_UzDp4gC1C2eos8MSQmrxqo85d_J0PGbjI5ZIfSqDil6-AevFvY4uFI-u-4x6TsWXDLNkfUYHeyW1lFnfN9_2g2UHD7Gz8mPPlQutEwE&s=10
very “swampy“ and not as flourishingly embelllished as the great late Billy Powell he replaced, but excellent in his own right.
Sir Elton, an underrated rock pianist (and appreciated for his piano playing by Jo(h)n Lord, has in his huge oeuvre indeed only written a handful of lyrics, all the great Elton John lyrics we tend to think about are written by his lyric foil Bernie Taupin, but our Reginald brought them to life beautifully.
Karin, are your sloppy reading skills a worrisome reflection of your housekeeping work for René? 😎 The Wikipedia link you included references “John”, not “Jonathan”! 😂
Besides his real name was Rick. Rick Emerson.
December 30th, 2025 at 17:43@57
Of course Elton John doesn’t write lyrics… just the music. 😈
By and large most blues lyrics are rather straightforward and simple.
Dr. John was a real musical heavyweight… He oozed funkiness. This video of his set at the 2013 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience is one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9_qMFgFPQ
December 31st, 2025 at 00:38@59
“…Right Place, Wrong Time is a classic (which shamefully at the bar gig no-0ne seemed to remember)”
That’s probably ’cause all them Yuppies & DINK’s weren’t into Dr. John as much they were into to being seen attending a Dr. John show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S05qag7ymDQ
December 31st, 2025 at 08:52It was worse. Russ, this was the late 80s and they (mostly) didn’t even know who he was, the place wasn’t even full. I was at the time interning at the NYC office of our firm (9 West 57, the address is ingrained with me) and one of the resident partners just took me along with his wife to that “in place”-bar and mentioned in passing that Dr John was playing there too. By that time I already had the reputation in our firm of being the rock music geek so he was pleased that I knew who Dr John was and said I’d gladly go. (I knew him from records my nine year older brother had.)
December 31st, 2025 at 17:59Good morning Purple-people 😃
Rise and shine! ☕️☕️
Happy to say only a few major accidents this last night in Denmark… phew 😃
And here is a little tune to start the new and promising 2026:
https://youtu.be/JiFOlv-YAb8?si=Bu5o4YYnygHiUP0W
And please: full blast so all the neighbours also can start their day on good terms ☺️
January 1st, 2026 at 07:39@58
January 3rd, 2026 at 12:41Karin,
Just wanted to say that I wasn’t questioning your linking us to a Danish language site, just that you appeared to suggest it supported the notion that Jon was baptised Jonathan while it actually has him as John.
I still think it’s odd that Martin Popoff got this wrong, and that people here want to split hairs when they must know I was only writing about Jon’s first name – mind you, they’d argue about night following day.
@64
Alright then Phil 😄
I don’t know what to say….. other than I miss Mr. Lord (see, no first name mentioned 😅) so much.
I do like Don Airey (name remotely correct?) but ohhh man Mr Lord really had that extra something….
This song brings me to tears every single time I hear it, and when I really don’t wanna be in danger of withering and drying out, I don’t listen to it very often….
https://youtu.be/gZQJuOyDJtU
I would have loved to know him personally because a man who can write music like this, well, he must be lovely ☺️ no matter what his name was 😄
January 4th, 2026 at 17:53@65
January 5th, 2026 at 11:16Oh dear, you seem to have taken my comment badly, which was absolutely not how it was intended.
Jon was a lovely chap. I met him, all too briefly, a number of times and he was unfailingly generous and considerate, even at his last DP gig.
I think Music for Miriam – the second of the three versions – is my favourite solo track of his.
@66
Oh no Phil, I really didn’t! But of course you don’t know that 99% of what I write in here is with a big smile and some 😈 too (don’t know how to write this sentiment😈 – 😄)
And I am very very difficult to upset and insult, actually it’s impossible I think, so just keep them coming and let’s all have a laugh and 1/2!
Ohhh you met him 🤩
How I would loved to shake his hand and say “THANK YOU Jon”
I will tonight listen to the tune you mention tonight 😊
And if I may do a little commercial for a brilliant Danish band called D.A.D, no not some kind of father, but they called themselves Disneyland after Dark when they started out, but some institution in the US was not happy about that, go figure, so they changed it to DAD, or D.A.D
Enjoy:
https://youtu.be/Frg9xqAX2Io
Recorded at the Faroe Islands, sadly I couldn’t find anything from Greenland (again, completely innocent, no political agenda at all 😄 I just really love Faroe Islands as much as Greenland 🥰)
January 5th, 2026 at 13:00I’m reading Popoff’s DIO book currently – it’s a great deep dive.
Question for all: some decades ago, I came across a website with some hilarious transcripts of Mark IV era concerts, focusing on the stage patter (“Woooo!”). I can no longer find it. Does anyone have that link, or similar links? It still makes me laugh. Thanks in advance for any help!
January 21st, 2026 at 13:50