Sweet little lies
Ian Gillan was a guest on the Joann Butler In Studio With… podcast, and here is the result. Some of the stories we’ve already heard before, others are new.
Thanks to Mike Whiteley for the heads-up.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride3.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey3.jpg)
Ian Gillan was a guest on the Joann Butler In Studio With… podcast, and here is the result. Some of the stories we’ve already heard before, others are new.
Thanks to Mike Whiteley for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Ian’s reference to a 7min. SOTW has to be the live version. In the USA it was the edited live SOTW that became a hit single.
September 11th, 2026 at 09:18@1 To get American radio airplay, Warner Bros. Records released a 7-inch 45 RPM single in 1973 with edited versions: [1] (https://www.discogs.com/release/10481697-Deep-Purple-Smoke-On-The-Water), [2] (https://www.facebook.com/deeppurple6876/posts/the-real-story-behind-smoke-on-the-wateron-the-7th-april-1971-deep-purples-manag/967153011436494/)Side A (Studio Edit):
The original Machine Head studio track (5:41) was trimmed down to 3 minutes and 48 seconds.Side B (Live Edit): The Made in Japan live recording was trimmed to 3 minutes and 43 seconds.
Joann, the interviewer, seems like a delightful person. Good comments by Ian.
September 11th, 2026 at 22:03Yes I totally get Ian Gillan’s admiration about lying to reporters. For example, he always claimed that interviews helps to keep his vocal cords lubricated but in this interview he claims it makes it dry.
Also I can conclude that his attempt to revive DP by calling Jon Lord after dissolving Gillan’s band didn’t happen till after he joined black Sabbath. I can only assume that Ritchie was not keen but he forced the issue by joing Black Sabbath.
Therefore I believe everything’s happens for a good reason.
Peace ✌️
September 12th, 2026 at 17:50@ 3- interesting comments Adel re Blackmore possibly hearing about the Black Sabbath fiasco and thinking, “God help us all, we better get back together and right the ship”. Probably a sense of truth in that, the same as the disastrous Page/Coverdale ‘project’ prompted Percy to get back with Jimmy Page? Interesting. Cheers.
September 12th, 2026 at 23:16Nice that Gillan is mentioning Repo Depo and that fine Bucharest show. Would love to see that getting a propper release on CD, especially as some unreleased material was played at that gig
September 14th, 2026 at 15:39“Black sabbath fiasco” (sic)….
September 14th, 2026 at 16:10“Born Again” won over an entirely new generation of fans around the world—fans who hadn’t even been born when “Paranoid” 1970 was a hit.
And IG made a ton of money joining BS, and afterwards, upon returning to DP, earned three times as much. Not bad at all.
September 14th, 2026 at 16:13The TOOLBOX tour was one of those moments in which Gillan came back with a vengeance. I saw too many great recordings to disagree with the suggestion above.
Still feel bad about missing out seeing shows then.
Yesterday I did read some BILL WARD material in which he said that BORN AGAIN was terrible.
I like his soloalbums and think its amazing that the one dismissed as not healthy enough to tour still rocks on and OZZY us gone,
September 15th, 2026 at 14:10The Toolbox Tour was musically interesting and valid, but man was obscurity beckoning dangerously at that point … A former Mk II member playing a former small cinema in a small town out in the German boondocks and it is only half-full? I was truly worried. You could hear the vultures flapping their wings on the rooftops outside.
September 15th, 2026 at 22:37#9 Uwe:
Not to mention the living conditions the band endured on that tour:
September 16th, 2026 at 09:57Big Ian, with a mix of great humility and stubbornness, insisted on doing it to prove he was still a rocker,
but given that he was no longer young, a grueling, super-economy-class tour like that took a heavy toll.
Marc Brans of the Belgian DIEP PEURPEL interviewed Ian in his trailer, I think, and he seemed angry about his management.
Which was/has been confusing to me.
Wasnt it Phil Banfield that managed him and wasnt he always his trusted partner?
September 16th, 2026 at 16:03When Ian talked about how his favorite album changes from day to day I totally get that. I feel that way about In Rock & Machine Head and also Paranoid & Master of Reality. My favorite album is which ever of these I have listened to most recently. Today is it Master of Reality. Two days ago it was Machine Head. Tomorrow it might be In Rock again.
September 17th, 2026 at 05:04Has Karin seen this? Better not. What a shameless flirt this Joann Butler is … Oiling up an old man like he was a sardine with her squeaky voice and her 24/7 toothy smile!
This just ain’t right.
PS: Can’t someone have a chat with Ian to no longer say controversial AND cruel things like “I was hugely inspired by the young Elvis Presley.“? It’s so hurtful to Karin!
September 17th, 2026 at 22:32@13
Uwe, of course I have seen it 😊
As long as I live I claim the right to dislike the BT with all my might 😄
I do believe Ian was influenced by a lot of other musicians as well as singers 🎶🙏🏼
September 21st, 2026 at 07:47