Many a fan who got the chance to meet members of our favourite band made a remark to the extent of how nice and down to earth gentlemen they turned out to be. Here is a story of a lad from Edinburgh who through his work connections to Gillan’s manager Phil Banfield ended up in the studio when the band were working on Purpendicular.

I sat in for about two hours and all that was being recorded was Ian Paice’s 10 second drum break between two of the verses.

‘He’s a real perfectionist’ whispered Roger Glover to me after about 12 takes, and only then did I realise how important a 10 second drum break could be (think of In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins with its iconic drum break which was immortalised by the Cadbury’s gorilla and you’ll get the gist.)

After two hours Paicey still wasn’t happy and left the studios frowning.

‘He’ll worry about that all night’ remarked Roger.

Afterwards I adjourned with Mr Gillan to a nearby bar along with some of the band members and road crew in the expectation of hearing lurid tour-related stories concerning naked groupies, outrageous imbibing of alcohol, excessive intake of Class A drugs and the old rock’n’roll favourite, destruction of hotel rooms.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. All were respectable married men in their 50s with kids and grandkids and as such the bar room banter circled around families, schools, gardens, finances, football and the other staple conversation topics of middle aged men sharing a beer after work.

Read the whole story in Once Upon a Time in The ’70s.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

There are people on youtube with thousands of dollars worth of rig. And then there’s this dude. Continue Reading »

Ian Paice was recently interviewed by an outfit called Raised On Radio. Oblivious to a hit, the steamy Knebworth, a comedy act that made no money, getting caught by the labour of love, and importance of brand names — it’s all here. Continue Reading »

Another clip from Blackmore’s Night new album — a cover of Sarah Brightman’s Second Element. Mmmm, the Strat… Continue Reading »

As part of the press surrounding the release of their new album, Nature’s Light, Blackmore’s Night did a short interview segment for CNN. Among other things, we learn about their fascination with Renaissance fairs and couture, and how they approach writing songs for the group. He even has kind words for Ian Gillan.

Watch the interview here

Thanks to Rick Damigella for the information

Remember that first time when you’ve heard Child in Time and it left you speechless? Here is one of ’em reaction videos, and while the girls are about as coherent as could be expected from giggling teenagers, their sheer youthful exuberance is kind of endearing. Continue Reading »

A year ago, on March 14, 2020, Deep Purple played in Mexico City what turned out to be their last concert before the world has shut down. Jordan Rudess stood in for Don Airey at that gig, and here he reminisces about it (he puts the date on March 13, but our records show otherwise), among many other things, not the least of them was how his first exposure to Jon Lord playing that Hammond changed his life. Continue Reading »

Guitar Player has a nice writeup on the history of the early Deep Purple and making of In Rock. Nothing particularly new here (at least not to any of our regulars), but it’s well written, and it’s a slow news day 😉

Deep Purple in Rock is many things, but subtle is not one of them. Within literally seconds of listening to it, you’re blasted by Ian Paice’s frantic, slippery drums, Jon Lord’s braying organ, and, of course, Ritchie Blackmore’s indelible guitar riffing and loopy tremolo flourishes.

Along the way, singer Ian Gillan references and rearranges rock’s DNA (“‘Good golly!’ said little Miss Molly/When she was rocking in the house of blue light!”), punctuating his Little Richard and Elvis Presley–inspired lyrics with ridiculously piercing and forceful shrieks and wails. For that matter, the frenzied rhythm, developed by bassist Roger Glover, emulates Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire.”

From there, we’re through two verses and choruses and on to bearing witness to a classic Lord–Blackmore organ-guitar battle. And we’re only a minute into the record. The song we’re listening to is called “Speed King,” and it’s a wild and breathless launch to In Rock.

It’s also completely in line with what ensues over the next 40 minutes or so. From the snaky, metallized grind of “Bloodsucker” to the breakneck gallop of “Flight of the Rat,” the monolithic guitar-organ groove of “Into the Fire,” and the thundering “Hard Lovin’ Man,” the album is a relentless sonic juggernaut, its massive and over-the-top sound reflected in both the album title and the Mount Rushmore–aping cover art.

Continue reading in Guitar Player.

Ultimate Classic Rock has a short piece in which Joe Satriani is retelling a familiar story of how he got to fill the big shoes left empty in the middle of a tour:

When Joe Satriani got a phone call from his manager in 1993 offering a chance to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple, the response was swift.

“I was offended that he would ask me that, because I was such a fan of Richie Blackmore,” Satriani explains to UCR. “Nobody can replace Ritchie Blackmore.” The guitarist remembers saying “don’t call me again,” before aggressively hanging up the phone. “Back in the pre-cellphone days. You know, just click, slam the phone down.”

Still, the thought marinated in his mind, and it didn’t take Satriani long to change his decision: “Of course, 30 minutes later I called [his manager] back and said, ‘Hey, did you tell those guys no yet?’ And he said, ‘No, I knew you’d change your mind.’”

Read more in Ultimate Classic Rock.

Thanks to Vladimir Drybushchak and Gary Poronovich for the info.

A piece promoting Blackmore’s Night latest album has appeared in Forbes, of all places, based on an interview with m’lord and m’lady:

Ritchie, I read that you were given your first guitar at 11 and the first lessons you took were actually classical guitar lessons. At what point did you actually start to embrace that sound and would that formative experience kind of loom large later as you and Candice started exchanging the ideas that would come to define Blackmore’s Night?

RITCHIE BLACKMORE: My friend brought a guitar to school when I was 11 and I just loved the instrument. I pestered my mom and dad to get me one: a cheap acoustic.

My father insisted I take lessons as he thought it was just another phase I was going through and that I would lose interest after two weeks. The teacher that was teaching me to play lived the equivalent of seven miles away. So I would ride my bicycle, holding my guitar, to his place for lessons. In the winter when there was snow on the ground, I would often fall off the bike into the snow with my guitar.

I wasn’t playing strict classical lessons. It was more standard songs with a lilt towards classical. I took some classical guitar lessons from Jimmy Sullivan who became a very good friend of mine and who was, incidentally, an amazing guitar player. But I realized the discipline of playing classical guitar was more or less out of reach for me. And I wanted to sound like Buddy Holly anyway.

However, much later, around 1972, I was listening to David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London playing Danserye by composer Tielman Susato – a 16th century composer. I would just play that day and night for years. I never really thought I would be playing that type of music. I just loved listening to it. In 1986, I met a medieval group in Germany who were playing in a castle. I realized, hearing them play, that I had to get more into Renaissance and medieval music. So I started fiddling on the guitar playing various pieces that sounded like Renaissance music, which was actually, again, by Susato. Then I met Candice. Her voice was perfect for the music of that period and we started Blackmore’s Night.

I had been playing hard rock since I was 15 or 16. So, by 1990, I was ready for a change of pace. I was tired of playing riffs and heavy music. I still like to blast out on the [Fender Stratocaster guitar] from time to time. But it’s obviously a completely different way of playing the guitar. The Renaissance music is more finger style whereas the strat is more bending and playing blues notes – distortion is very important.

Read more in Forbes.

The aforementioned 12 dances from Danserye (a book of dance music published by Tielman Susato in 1551), as arranged by David Munrow and performed by The Early Music Consort of London:

Here is another promo piece for the album, based on what looks like an EPK:

Album preview:

Thanks to Yvonne and BraveWords for the info for the info.

April 2021 issue of Burrn! magazine features Bladckmore’s Night as a cover story, with an interview inside. Akemi Ono graciously offered reverse translation of the interview for the rest of us who don’t speak Japanese.

Blackmore’s Night will release their 11th album Nature’s Light, on March 11 worldwide. Ritchie and Candice agreed to talk to us about the new album as well as the influence of the coronavirus and their future activities:

Burrn: How are you and your family doing? How is your area affected?

Ritchie: Covid started in China, but no one seems to know how it started. It is a strange situation.

B: How was your tour affected?

R: The last show we did was in Nuremberg, July 2019 (Long Island, November 2019 according to Burrn’s records). That was the last show of the last tour. It was a very good show. Usually the last show is not good, but this tour was different.

Candice: We were supposed to do more shows in the US, but they were canceled due to Covid. But it was a good timing to go back into the studio. We had many recordings, including Christmas songs. It has been a strange time for Ritchie, since he was always touring since the age of 16. He probably never had the experience of resting at home for a full year. He does not enjoy traveling so much anymore, but he must miss the energy of the audience, and playing in front of them.

R: I certainly don’t miss spending time in a hotel without enough sleep. You should bring a mask so that you don’t get infected by Covid. Do you wear a mask?

B: Of course!

R: Good.

B: I saw your internet video, Vacuum and Dust with new lyrics to Joan Baez’ Diamonds and Rust. You said you were inspired by David Coverdale?

C: Yes, we exchange emails a lot. We were discussing the pandemic, and he said all he wants to do is vacuuming and dusting since he cannot leave the house. We both thought this was like a title of a song. I asked if I could use it, and David said he was OK.

B: Have you always been touch with David?

C: David contacted us after Jon Lord passed away. I think we all realized that our lives will end some day, and we should restore what we can. David told us he is thankful to Ritchie for welcoming him to Deep Purple which also opened the door to Whitesnake.

R: It was actually Ian Paice who introduced David. Ian brought a cassette with David’s recording and asked what we thought. That was the start. Ian discovered David.

B: You released a Christmas Carols EP last year. Can you tell us about the songs?

R: I always thought Silent Night was boring, but I heard Candice singing it in the shower. Her singing was the best I heard for the song, so we decided to include it. Her voice matches the song perfectly. Regarding O Little Town of Bethlehem, the American people sing it with a jazz-like tune, but we used the original tune from the 1400’s, 1500’s, so I think it sounds different. Of all Blackmore’s Night albums, I like the Christmas Carols album the best. I am very attracted to Christmas carols, most of which were written in the 1500’s to 1600’s. I hate modernized Christmas songs like Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree or Santa’s Comin’ Down the Chimney.

C: Our daughter, Autumn sings in Silent Night. She can sing 3 octaves and can also play the guitar and cello.

B: Please tell us about the new album.

C: We were supposed to release it in 2019, but it was delayed due to Covid. We started recording in 2018. 2018 was a difficult year as Ritchie lost his brother, and I lost my father. We also lost our cat which we had for 16 years. It was difficult to be creative, but we found out that it was cathartic to reminisce positively about the people who left us and be use the energy to be creative.

R: Is there a word for cathartic in Japanese?

B: Yes, we use the word “catharsis”. You included Wish You Were Here” from your debut album Shadow of the Moon.

R: Our debut album sold well only in Germany, but it is one of my favorite albums. I think people will like the song Wish You Were Here if they listened to it properly, and it could lead to a hit. I have confidence in that song. I think it is effective in many situations, like when you lost someone or cannot meet someone….

B: How is it different from the original?

R: The vocals are different. Candice’s singing is more mature. We also added guitar parts.

B: Please comment on the other songs:

C: Once Upon a December was inspired by Owain Phyfe, whom we met at Arizona Renaissance Festival. He is a minstrel whom we invited to play at our wedding as well as tour with us. He sounds like Ian Anderson. He played a humorous Italian song Fuggi, Fuggi, Fuggi. We took the melody line from this song.

R: Feather in the Wind was composed using a mandola. There is a riff I used to play frequently, and Autumn would sing to it. I gave this riff to Candice, and she sprinkled fairy dust on it.

R: Darker Shades of Black (instrumental) is like my version of Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale. A typical downward chord progression which Bach might play.

C: The Twisted Oak is about finding your inner peace while walking amongst the trees. You can cleanse yourself from dust and everyday pressure by listening to and understanding the message with your heart and spirit.

R: Nature’s Light is one of my favorite songs, especially the riff of the orchestra’s brass section.

R: Der Lettzte Masketier is The Three Musketeers in German. I was in a three-piece band called The Three Musketeers in Germany in 1964. The other two members passed away, so I am paying my respects. They were very good friends. I could say I liked this band the most among the bands I have played in. It was not a huge success, there was not that much pressure, we just enjoyed the music and playing.

C: Both our children Autumn and Rory sing in Going to the Fair.

R: The melody from this song is from Tielman Susato’s composition from the 1500’s.

C: The Second Element is a song by Sarah Brightman. Ritchie’s electric guitar is magnificent in this song!

R: I like the guitar in Darker Shades of Black better. It’s all personal.

B: Which Blackmore’s Night album do you like best?

R: The Christmas Carols one.

C: That’s difficult. I do like Secret Voyage. I would say that and Nature’s Light.

B: Do you have anything planned for 2021?

R: It depends on what the government allows. I think there are fake stories around Covid. I hope the truth comes out and that all bands can play again.

B: Will you do any on-line work again?

C: We are exploring what we can do. I think Ritchie prefers to do something with other band members as well, not just acoustic with myself.

B: Would you have done Blackmore’s Rainbow again if it were not for Covid?

R: I was very satisfied with what I had done so far. I would have gone to Japan, if it were closer. Before I play for Rainbow, I need to have shots on my back because I have back and lower back problems. I cannot carry the heavy Stratocaster without the shots.

B: Will you play Rainbow with Ronnie Romero again after Covid?

R: I would like to keep it as a surprise. Just go day by day. I don’t want to plan ahead too much, although I know people around me want to.

B: Will you release new music as Rainbow?

R: No, that idea is not exciting. It feels like I am going backwards. I want to progress to the future with 1500’s music.