There was a gig in April 1972 when Ritchie fell ill and Randy California was called upon to save the day. A bootleg recording of When a blind man cries from that gig (April 6, 1972 in Quebec City) has been posted on Youtube. The quality is about what you’d expect from an audience recording of that era, so don’t complain. Continue Reading »

A wonderfully weird and eccentric cover of Perfect Strangers from our favourite Finnish hillbillies Steve’n’Seagulls. Continue Reading »

Glenn Hughes is on the cover of the Bass Player UK magazine issue number 404. Apparently it is out since early December and probably marked as January 2021 due to the ongoing “calendar inflation” in magazine business. The inside story contains an interview that eventually should show up on Magzter.

By the way, Roger Glover was the cover story for the September 2020 issue of the magazine. That issue is already available.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

A new book about Stormbringer is being prepared for publication in March 2021. The author of is Laura Shenton, whose Purple family credentials include a Cozy Powell biography and a Tommy Bolin one.

The publisher’s blurb reads:

In 1974, Stormbringer was a pivotal album for Deep Purple. The second one made by the Mk3 lineup of Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale, it was ultimately the album that would see Blackmore call it a day with Deep Purple until the Mk2 lineup reformed in 1984.

Blending a range of styles across heavy rock, funk and soul, Stormbringer is a very unique Deep Purple album and there is a lot to be said about the story behind it. In this book, music author Laura Shenton MA LLCM DipRSL [that’s a lot of letters! — ed.] offers an in-depth perspective on Deep Purple’s ninth album from a range of angles including how it came to be, how it was presented and received at the time (live as well as on record), and what it means in terms of Deep Purple’s legacy today.

As the author explains: “Basically, the book covers how the album was made, what was going on with the music in terms of the artist’s intentions, how it did musically and commercially and what happened next.”

The narrative is essentially driven by contemporary interviews with the artists with small bits of music theory where relevant… in some cases they delve into the structure / key signatures / time signatures, based on the original sheet music without straying away from being an engaging read for non musicians.

What: Deep Purple Stormbringer – In-depth by Laura Shenton
When: March 12. 2021
Where: Wymer Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-912782-60-4
Price: £14.99
Format: Paperback, 216 x 138 mm, 184 pages, including an 8 page colour plate section

The book can be preordered from the publisher.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

RG posted a new message on his website:

The Christmas season is perpetually tied to the turning of the year, and have little to do with each other other than proximity. But the greetings of the season will always instruct us to have both a “Merry Christmas” (or holiday) and a “Happy New Year”. My desire is that all the love, joy, and warmth of the former carries over into the latter.

…

Head over to rogerglover.com to read ROCKDOWN

A new installment of tall tales from Paicey’s bar. Prost! Continue Reading »

One Peter Carter, who was a professional musician since the 60s, tells the stories of how he crossed paths way back then with a virtuoso guitar player called Ritchie Blackmore. Continue Reading »

Glenn Hughes and Doug Aldrich were interviewed for eonmusic promoting the new Dead Daisies album. Of course, the conversation just couldn’t steer completely off the Purple connection.

Doug, you’ve previously worked with David Coverdale in Whitesnake; what’s it like come from one unrighteous brother to another?
DA: That’s a funny thing that these guys have had forever! They’re both great guys. It’s such a small world, and when you think about it, there’s so many bands under the umbrella of Richie Blackmore. And to work with two of Richie’s singers and band members – actually, three! There was also Ronnie [James Dio] – it’s crazy! But, I’ve learned a lot. I learned so much from David. We spent so many years together, writing and recording, and now the same with Glenn, and I love it! When we were working on the songs after the initial recording sessions that we had at Sunset Sound [studios], Glenn said; “I’ve got these other songs that I want to present to the band”, and I said; “cool, well, I could come down and help out, make some proper demos”, and I just came down and Glenn had these things, so I just recorded him, and really just tried to get his vision down, and it was amazing because his playing is undefinable; it’s just something from where he grew up, I guess. We’d refer back to it, and figure out the nuance that made it special, and that’s part of the reason that this record is so special.

On another subject, I wanted to ask you Glenn about your own experience of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because on speaking to David Coverdale, he eluded to some tension with the current band.
GH: Well, you’ve seen it. It was a little difficult because of; let’s call it ‘personality problems’. It was David and I holding hands, and the other guys, unfortunately! We just don’t get along with the other guys, at all. So, we kept ourselves to ourselves; David and Glenn, with our wives, and it was great. David and I, what a great time! And we closed the show with Cheap Trick and Sheryl Crow, and our friends in Chicago. You know, it’s a touchy subject. It was not an easy night for us. If you look at the body language, it’s pretty obvious, you know? But again, David and I have been thick and thin for so long, I just dearly love him. Regarding Deep Purple, I have no idea what they’re doing, and I don’t really care.

Read more in eonmusic.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Jon Lord’s press conference on September 13, 2003 outside of the Hell train station in Norway, prior to his performance at the Hell Blues Festival, and at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim the next day. Some of you may have seen it (some may have been there), others not. Continue Reading »

There’s been a bit of a soap opera going on the the family tree, particularly in its Rainbow branch.

We’ve reported earlier this year that Graham Bonnet teamed up with the original Alcatrazz bassist Gary Shea and keyboard player Jimmy Waldo for the band reunion. An album of new material came out in July, and plans were being put together to tour some time in 2021, once the pandemic is over. Apparently there has been a split between Graham on the one side, and his manager and the rest of the reformed Alcatrazz on the other. Graham announced that he will form his own version of the band and will tour with it as ‘Alcatrazz featuring Graham Bonnet’. The other Alcatrazz announced that it has hired a new singer — another ex-Rainbow man Doogie White.

Speaking of Rainbow vocalists, Ronnie Romero will perform at a live streaming event tomorrow, December 13. He is teaming up with Bulgarian outfit called Intelligent Music Project.

We will play some of the best songs of Intelligent Music Project from the last two albums of the band – Sorcery Inside and Life Motion. It’s great to be part of this amazing project. It gives a big opportunity for me to meet different audiences and to bring positive message to all of them. It’s great to work with such an amazing team!

The performance starts at 6PM CET on December 13, 2020. It will be available via Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Here’s what this particular collaboration may sound like:

The Intelligent Music Project had previously performed with other guest stars — Simon Phillips (TOTO/Protocol), John Lawton (Uriah Heep, Lucifer’s friend), Carl Sentence (Don Airey, Nazareth), Joseph Williams (TOTO), and John Payne (ex-Asia).

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.