![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/glover7.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey2.jpg)
What’s not to like?!
Simon McBride talks about touring with Deep Purple with his guitar company PRS. Sounds like a thinly veiled commercial, don’t say you haven’t been warned. Continue Reading »
The joys of country living
This is a 1977 vintage interview with the country gentleman Ian Gillan, taken during the IGB Japanese tour. Continue Reading »
Vincent Price is back again
For no apparent reason, the record company has posted a live clip of Vincent Price from To The Rising Sun (In Tokyo), released almost 10 years ago. Continue Reading »
Rarely trod the conventional path
Louder Sound has a recent (conducted in November 2024) interview with Ian Gillan about his Gillan the band years. Big Ian seems frank, not avoiding unpleasant topics, and does not mince words much.
Gillan the band’s forerunners the Ian Gillan Band had come to an end when keyboard player Colin Towns brought in a song called Fighting Man that was ridiculed by the rest of the group.
The end of the Ian Gillan Band had been coming. Things weren’t right, but it was so difficult because I was working with my heroes. I idolised Gus [bassist Johnny Gustafson, ex-The Merseybeats, Roxy Music] for being so talented. We needed to get back on track, but Ray Fenwick [guitar] and Mark Nauseef [drums] were happy with that jazzier type of rock, though I wanted to play rock’n’roll. Fighting Man was a catalyst. It was a simple song but it had a certain profundity, and when those two took the mickey out of it, that was it for me.
So you sacked yourself from your own band?
Yeah. I just left.
In forming Gillan, Colin Towns had to be there.
Colin was pivotal to it all. Rock’n’roll is good, but you also need a simple platform for virtuosity to shine. Colin kept that gravitas. He added texture and dynamics along with all of those musical elements.
Bernie Tormé was such a great guitarist.
Exactly. We had five guys that played equally well but Bernie was the one that stood out. I had spotted him some time earlier. He was amazing, and I marked him down for the future.
Shaven-headed man-mountain bassist John McCoy was almost a cartoonish character.
John was great. He made a big impact, just what we needed. He offset Bernie on the other side [of the stage].
Continue reading in Louder Sound.
Lavishly repackaged
Another massive (re-)release from Whitesnake — an 8-CD box set of live material, all of which has been previously released separately. Titled Access All Areas: Live, it is lavishly packaged in an imitation travel case, and is slated for release on April 25th, 2025, on Rhino. The material included was previously released in the following sets, all from this century:
- Live… In The Still Of The Night (Disc 1)
- Live… In The Shadow Of The Blues (Discs 2+3)
- Made In Japan (Discs 4+5)
- Made In Britain/The World Record (Discs 6+7)
- The Purple Tour (Disc 8)
The Music Universe has complete track listings, in case you wanna peruse further details.
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info and to Uwe for the heads-up.
Honeysuckle’s bloomin’ on the honeysuckle vine
We were wrong, and the classic Gillan video bonanza continues unabashedly. In this instalment: frenetic miming to New Orleans at the Top of the Pops, dated March 26th, 1981. Continue Reading »
This chord in his head
Don Airey appeared on the Sonic Perspectives podcast, promoting his upcoming solo album. The is also a fair bit of talk about his day job and the whole career. Continue Reading »
Slide down the mountain
Elizabeth the opera singer is getting her Dio fix by listening to Man on the Silver Mountain, and rather surprisingly, it is the album version. Continue Reading »
Glenn’s Chosen Years in UK
Glenn Hughes’ management has announced another leg of his Chosen Years tour — 8 dates in the UK in October 2025. Various presales seem to be already in progress, with general availability slated for March 7th. The powers that be want to steer your money towards the Ticketmaster, however we’ve also included some links to the alternative sources if you’d rather not deal with the cartel.
From the horse’s mouth:
So happy to announce I shall be with you in October for a series of shows. I will be performing songs from my new album coming this August and a selection of my solo catalog songs, in addition to collaborations with other artists, spanning my entire career. It’s always good to return home, to spend some time with you, and see your smiling faces.
Full details in our calendar.
Thanks to CTC and Daniel Bengtsson for the heads-up.
Sometimes difficult to cure
In this video, dated December 1979, Ritchie Blackmore makes some noises for a few minutes, eventually settling upon Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Supported by Messrs. Glover, Airey, and Powell. Continue Reading »
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing