Blabbermouth reports that David Coverdale was on the Eddie Trunk show on February 18th, and spoke about a possible reissue of the Coverdale/Page album. He said that he obtained the rights to the album from the record company (Geffen, now owned by the Universal Music Group behemoth) and is in discussions with his co-conspirator about what to do with it.

Among the ideas being kicked around is a luxurious box set for the 30th anniversary of the album in 2023, including a remaster of the original album, two complete album remixes — one done by DC and one by Page, some unreleased tracks from the original sessions, and possibly some new material “if we can write courtesy of FaceTime or Zoom”. It is unlikely, however, that the work will begin in earnest before the end of the pandemic:

At this moment in time, at his country estate, I don’t think [Jimmy] has a studio. And he certainly doesn’t wanna drive into London. He and I are target ages for this dreadful virus. So I completely support him in that scenario, ’cause there isn’t any rush. Nothing is gonna be going on this year. Even if we have the opportunity of recording, I can record stuff over here, send him the drive for him to do his part, and we can mix it through the technology now, which is something you couldn’t do before. But I have a studio at home, and Jimmy doesn’t. So I’m hoping we can get some new bits and pieces and ideas and put that into play next year when it will be safer to get around.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

In what may very well be a sign of things to come, Hellfest organizers have announced that the 2021 festival has been cancelled. This follows the last year cancellation due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Last year tickets were promised to be accepted for this year event and most of the bands from the last year confirmed their appearance, effectively moving the event for one year.

However, the newly issued regulations from the French government state that summer festivals will only be allowed to proceed with a maximum of 5,000 people in attendance, all seated, and all socially distanced. With Hellfest having sold in excess of 60,000 passes to a primarily heavy metal festival that is not exactly receptive of an all seated audience, the organizers decided to nix this year as well.

In a “final” meeting on Thursday, the 18th of February, the verdict was returned. Summer festivals will be allowed under drastic conditions : 5,000 seated people and social distancing. These requirements make the organization of our 2021 festival imposible and force us to postpone once again our anniversary edition. We do not wish to blame the government. We are well aware that the health situation requires everyone to be cautious. However, these measures are more or less the same as last year resulting in a “dead summer” for the festivals and culture in general.

As we offered last year, you can keep your 3-day or 1-day pass purchased in 2020 in a safe place. This pass will be valid for the 2022 edition, which will be held on June 17th, 18th and 19th 2022. You don’t have to do anything, just keep your ticket safely.

It should be noted that at the time of this writing (Feb 20, 2021), no festival lineup for 2022 has been announced, nor Deep Purple’s appearance have been confirmed or denied.

Don’t be surprised if other summer festivals will follow suit. Most developed countries have just started the vaccination and plan to run them all through the summer finishing some time in the fall. That’s the earliest we can hope for things to start returning to normal.

Blackmore’s Night has a promo video for the title track of their upcoming album Nature’s Light: Continue Reading »

Glenn Hughes spoke to Kiki Classic Rock some time earlier this year. He reminisced about joining Deep Purple, performing at the California Jam, meeting a 9 year old Lars Ulrich before the 1973 show in Copenhagen, the infamous Mark 4 visit to Indonesia, Black Country Communion, the then upcoming Dead Daisies new album, and a few other things.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Speaking of Ronnie James Dio, his semi-auto biography will come out on July 27, 2021, via Permuted Press. This is a book RJD started working on before his death, in collaboration with Mick Wall, who finished it after Ronnie’s passing.

The promotional blurb reads:

Prior to his tragic death in 2010, Ronnie James Dio had been writing his autobiography, looking back on the remarkable life that led him from his hometown in upstate New York to the biggest stages in the world, including the arena that represented the pinnacle of success to him—Madison Square Garden, where this book begins and ends.

As Ronnie contemplates the achievement of a dream, he reflects on the key aspects that coalesced into this moment—the close gang of friends that gave him his start in music, playing parties, bars, frats, and clubs; the sudden transition that moved him to the microphone and changed his life forever; the luck that led to the birth of Rainbow and a productive but difficult collaboration with Ritchie Blackmore; the chance meeting that made him the second singer of Black Sabbath, taking them to new levels of success; the surprisingly tender story behind the birth of the Devil Horns, the lasting symbol of heavy metal; his marriage to Wendy, which stabilized his life, and the huge bet they placed together to launch the most successful endeavor of his career…his own band, Dio.

Everything is described in great detail and in the frankest terms, from his fallout with Blackmore, to the drugs that derailed the resurrection of Black Sabbath, to the personality clashes that frayed each band.

Written with longtime friend of thirty years and esteemed music writer, Mick Wall, who took up the mantle after Ronnie’s passing, Rainbow In The Dark is a frank, startling, often hilarious, sometimes sad testament to dedication and ambition, filled with moving coming-of-age tales, glorious stories of excess, and candid recollections of what really happened backstage at the hotel, in the studio, and back home behind closed doors far away from the road.

What: Ronnie James Dio autobiography
Title: Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography
Authors: Ronnie James Dio, Mick Wall, Wendy Dio
Format: hardcover, 352 pages
When: July 27, 2021
Where: Permuted Press
ISBN: 978-1642939743

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Louder Sound (nee Classic Rock magazine) has a feature on Rainbow’s Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll album, and it’s a good read.

There is, however, one chink of light in the bleak, drowsy fug of that UK chart in May 1978. Straight in this week at No.7, pop pickers, it’s Rainbow and Long Live Rock ’N’ Roll. The third album by the band formed by former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and previously unknown American singer Ronnie James Dio, Long Live Rock ’N’ Roll is proof that, far from dead, rock with a capital ‘R’ is alive and well, and in exile no more.

“I don’t think any of us paid any attention whatsoever to punk,” Ronnie Dio would tell me years later. “I still saw what we did as being more unique, what Ritchie and I called ‘medieval blues’.”

But where the unpredictable Blackmore had originally seen his collaboration with Dio as an upgrade on the rock-meets-classical format of heyday Purple, three years on he was now more interested in the colossal success of Foreigner – the US-based rock band built around the abundant talents of another English guitarist, Mick Jones.

Blackmore was by a mile the better player. Jones was by a mile the better hit maker. The result: two Rainbow albums weighted with accolades and plentiful sales in every country in the world – except America. In the same period were two multi-platinum Foreigner albums that no one outside America rated at all, but with combined sales of more than 10 million in the US, along with four giant hit singles.

“I think Ritchie was getting a lot of people at the record label whispering in his ear too,” said Dio. “Pushing for the band to go commercial. Hence the actual song Long Live Rock ’N’ Roll. I didn’t consciously write the lyrics that way, but it was definitely seen as having ‘hit potential’, as they called it.”

Ritchie certainly hoped so. He liked having Ronnie around.

Continue reading on Louder Sound.

Thanks to Amit for the info.

A little lull in the news is interrupted by an interview we’ve missed when it came out in September issue of the Goldmine magazine. Ian & Ian talk to Martin Popoff. The freshly released Whoosh was obviously discussed at lengths, as well as this bit on In Rock:

GM: To take you back 50 years with a historical question, over the years I’ve asked everybody this except for you: why is In Rock such a heavy record? It’s essentially music that previously hadn’t existed.

IP: By the time we had done the third record, with (vocalist) Rod Evans and (bassist) Nick Simper, there was an unconscious realization from definitely Ritchie and I, and somewhat Jon (Lord), that our music was actually getting harder. And because we were playing live so often, and we were getting better at it, the ideas were becoming slightly more aggressive. And we needed a different sound at the top. Rod Evans’ voice was lovely, but he wasn’t what I would call a rock and roll voice; it really wasn’t. So when that change came and we got Ian and Roger (Glover) in, not only did we get that voice, we got a couple of songwriters in. And so the shift was sort of inevitable. The amalgamation of those five musical influences, and the way that the musical dynamic was shifting, we had to make a statement and say let’s make sure everybody realizes this is a big shift from the first Deep Purple. I wouldn’t say it was a conscious thought, but there was a deliberate effort. In Rock was very, very hard. And then we heard Mountain’s first record, and we went back and said, “We’ve got to do some work.” (laughs)

…And the symbiotic songwriting relationship that Big Ian and Roger enjoyed for so many years:

GM: What would Roger’s preoccupations be in terms of lyrical subjects versus you? I mean, if an outsider was to try to pick apart what a Roger lyric is verses an Ian lyric, what does Roger concern himself with more than you?

IG: Well, Roger and I have worked together since ’65. And it’s like the odd couple, I suppose (laughs), in that sense. Roger did virtually all the lyrics on the last album. And here, the gates just flung open. I just started scribbling one night and I didn’t stop and there it was, all finished. The first one I wrote was “Drop the Weapon,” which is because I was very moved about kids dying on the street, shooting each other, stabbing each other in London. It’s getting worse and worse. And it was a kind of metaphorical arm around the shoulder: “Hey kid, you know, your pride can take a hit. Let’s drop the weapon. There’s other things we can do.” That came out, and it was just stream of consciousness, and before I knew it, it was all finished.

But to answer your question, I think Roger’s style is more romantic. He’s a much nicer person than I am. In fact I complain about it all the time: “I hate you Roger, ‘cos you’re just too nice.” And, well, he’s the nearest thing I ever had to a brother. He’s more poetic. And he’s very good at narratives. I’m probably more aggressive than Roger, and probably more cryptic. Roger is much more straightforward when he’s telling a story. I tend to bury meanings in two or three layers. Of the songs we’ve written, over the years… I mean, I’ve written 500 or more songs now, and probably half of them are with Roger. Of the songs we’ve written, you know, he’s probably written 30% and I’ve written 30% on my own and the rest we’ve written together. We don’t actually count. If somebody has a good idea, we go with that.

Read the whole thing in Goldmine.

Speaking of fresh releases, The Dead Daisies will take the cover of the March issue of the magazine:

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

Here is a Ronnie James Dio interview from 1981, where he talks about his current band (Black Sabbath) and the previous one (you might have heard about them — Rainbow). The recording is from the collection of Sabbath keyboard player Geoff Nicholls, who passed away in 2017. It was posted by someone dealing with his estate:

I found a cassette with not much information on the label and found a great interview with Ronnie on Radio Trent Nottingham by Graham Neale.
Recorded on the last leg of the Heaven & Hell tour at Bingley Hall, Stafford, England, 25th January 1981.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

The recent Dead Daisies release — and their first with Glenn Hughes — charted quite respectably around the globe. Continue Reading »

Steve Morse spoke to The Sessions. His enthusiasm when he talks about playing the guitar is truly infectious, and that’s probably the best thing you can get infected these days.

The chat is rather long, nearly 50 minutes, so pour yourself your favourite drink, kick back and enjoy! Continue Reading »