Geir Myklebust has a new old article reprinted in his blog — a New Musical Express feature on (then) upcoming Fireball that was originally published on March 27, 1971.

Deep Purple – commercial without compromise

By Richard Green

FOR Deep Purple fans the end of an era is approaching. After late April or May, familiar numbers like “Speed King,” “Child In Time” and “Wring That Neck” will almost certainly disappear from the group’s repertoire, to be replaced by new additions. And the new additions will be taken from the highly important project on which Purple is now working – the heir to “Deep Purple In Rock.”
This week is the album’s fortieth consecutive week in the NME Chart and sales are almost as healthy now as they were in the balmy days at the beginning of last summer. “In Rock,” you will remember, is the album that pulled the group together collectively after the individual depressions that were a result of the concerto.
“The next album would have been ready by now but we had to hold it back a bit because of Richie’s operation,” Ian Gillan revealed. “It should be ready for the mixing stage and the art work by mid-April. Five tracks are done and there will be seven or eight included.”
Does Ian see it as an extension on “In Rock”?
“Well, yes, quite simply,” he replied and laughed at the brevity of his answer. Then he went on: “The tracks would have been out of place on `In Rock` but they seem to be a natural extension. The only common ingredient in both albums is earthiness.”
We touched on the subject of Deep Purple’s act which Ian agreed is based on the current album.
“I think audiences now are hearing us as we want them to, they’re seeing and hearing us playing our sort of music,” Ian began. “I used to go and see someone purely because I knew they would be doing certain numbers and I think it is nice for an audience to go and hear certain numbers.
“We could have been doing new numbers three or four months ago but on the British tour we decided to give In Rock a last fling. We’ll probably retain some of the numbers we’re doing now, some seem to follow on more naturally than others. You need to play numbers to give people a lift and others to bring them down to another level. People need to go through a series of ups and downs, they need to go through certain emotions. If you play the same thing all the time people start shuffling round on their backsides.”

Continue reading in Geir’s blog.

Adrian Smith, one half of the classic Iron Maiden’s signature twin guitars, is doing interviews promoting a book of memoirs about his other passion — fishing (with a good measure of musical anecdotage thrown in). He recently guested on Blue Fish Radio to discuss the book and his career. Here’s how he describes that crucial moment in his life when he figured out that he doesn’t really want to become a fisherman:

When I was about 14 or 15, I was kind of a clueless, your usual type of teenager and I didn’t know what I wanted to do in my life. And I sort of wandered into my older sister’s bedroom to check out her albums, which were normally soul records — The Temptations and [other] Motown [artists]. And then I noticed she had some new records, and one of them was a Deep Purple record called ‘Machine Head’. So I put the album on a little record player, and I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. That was it, really. It sort of changed my life. I thought, ‘Well, I’d love to be out doing that one day.’ The fishing had kind of tapered off. In those days, I couldn’t imagine my heroes, like Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple, and people like that going fishing. So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it up and I’ll give all my time to try and make it as a professional musician.’ So that’s what I did.

Adrian’s book is called Monsters Of River & Rock and is out since September via Virgin Books.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Classic Rock magazine has a feature on the brief life of Tommy Bolin. Albeit most of us know the story, it is well researched and well written, with plenty of quotes from the contemporaries.

Having relocated to California, Bolin finally received what he had really wanted all along – the offer of a solo recording deal. But it didn’t stop there. Bolin received a phone call out of the blue, asking if he’d be interested in trying out for the job of guitarist with Deep Purple, which had just been vacated by Ritchie Blackmore.

Ex-Purple bassist Glenn Hughes recalls that Purple drummer Ian Paice “was a big Billy Cobham fan. I think he came up with [Tommy’s name]. He’d heard Spectrum, came over my house and played it for me, and Coverdale also heard it. We were blown away. I’ve always been interested in newer, cutting-edge artists, and I was also always into ‘the look’ as well – and Tommy looked bizarre.”

Bolin agreed to a tryout, which Hughes remembers fondly: “The first day, we were rehearsing at Pirate Sound. We only auditioned two people, Clem Clempson and Tommy. Clem didn’t get the gig, but not because of his ability as a guitar player. It was because to fill Ritchie Blackmore’s boots you have to be a character. When Tommy walked in and I saw him, I shouted across the room: ‘Whatever happens, you’re coming home with me!’ We were just peas in the pod together.”

Read more in louder.com.

Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the info.

David Coverdale talks to the Rhino Podcast. Amidst promoting the latest Whitesnake compilation Love Songs, he mentioned that with the things being what they are, he might not be able to tour again until 2022-ish. Continue Reading »

In the latest installment of Tales From the Bar Paicey reminisces about his stay in Hamburg in 1967 with The Maze and the shenanigans that ensued. Continue Reading »

And here’s Glenn Hughes performing a bass playthrough for the Dead Daisies single Unspoken. Continue Reading »

David Coverdale spoke to Rock Classics Radio on Apple Music Hits, and among more recent things, shed the light on his writing in th Purple days:

It’s the old cliché of they’re all your children. One of the questions I was asked at the management meeting for DEEP PURPLE was do I write. And I could honestly say yes, because I’d been encouraged by local musicians. We never announced them as written by me; we’d say, ‘This is a song by STEPPENWOLF.’

So the first thing I had to do was go down to Ritchie Blackmore’s house and see if we connected. And it was mindblowing to work with this guy who was like a Hendrix. I mean, Hendrix was my muse, and Ritchie had all of these elements there. And I was so enthusiastic, I wrote six lyrics for the song ‘Burn’. I actually used one of the lyrics not many years ago on a different song, which wasn’t used a more bluesy song. But that’s how enthusiastic I was. And ‘Stormbringer’ I wrote for him, ’cause he loved that mix of sci-fi. It really didn’t float my boat — I was much more of an emotional, physical theme, relationship scenario, search for direction…

But, yeah, so probably ‘Burn’. And then ‘Mistreated’, which came from me just making words up on the spot. That’s when my muse was just coming straight in. And I think maybe I flushed out a lyric here or there. But in essence, it was just an improvised lyric, and that song still has legs nearly 50 years later.

Apart from the snippets posted here, we have no idea if and how the rest of the interview can be accessed outside the Apple’s walled garden. Please enlighten us if you know.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info and transcription.

For all your November caroling needs, Blackmore’s Night have released a lyric video from their upcoming EP. Continue Reading »

Don Airey spoke to the Antihero Magazine about his illustrious career, his itch for the country music, the insecurities of greats, the late Gary Moore and the narrow miss with Still Got the Blues, and his bass parts on Judas Priest’s Painkiller, among other things.

ANTIHERO: Of course, you came into the band following the sad demise of the legendary Jon Lord. Given Jon’s legacy, how did you approach it? Particularly in playing his iconic songs live.

Don Airey: I never seemed to have a problem with that side of things. I never heard anybody shouting for Jon, not even on the first tour I did where I stood in on 24-hours’ notice. Obviously, it’s very difficult. On the first gig I said to myself, “If I try to be like Jon, I’ll come a cropper. I’ve just got to be myself.” I’ve really tried to honour his legacy. The Hammond has become very central again to the Deep Purple sound of late. I mean, he was an incredible person, an incredible player, and somebody I looked up to. I counted him as a friend. I’m glad to be carrying the torch.

ANTIHERO: Your influence on the band has increased with each album that you’ve recorded and it’s particularly prominent on Whoosh! I just wondered are the other band members listening to you more these days, or have they embraced your creative input more compared to when you first started?

Don Airey: It’s a question of when you’re a keyboard player in a rock band, there’s not many of us about and you have to keep quite quiet. These guitar players and these singers, they have massive personalities. I took a cue from Ian Paice, he kind of leads the band from behind. If you know what I mean? You’ve got to be a diplomat and it took me a bit to learn how Deep Purple works. It only works one way and to get in their way of thinking takes time. I think of it that I now provide 20%, my full 20% of the input. 25 on a good day.

Don also mentions that he spends his pandemic downtime working on a book of memoirs that he has to deliver to the publisher at the beginning of January.

Read more in the Antihero Magazine.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Ken Hensley — multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, producer, and founder of Uriah Heep — has passed away on November 4. Glenn Hughes pays him a tribute on social media:

So deeply saddened to hear that my long time friend & Brother, for five decades, Ken Hensley @uriahheepofficial ,has passed. An incredible songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player, and more importantly, – a beautiful kind human being. Your music will live on Ken. Honored to have sung a song called ‘Last Dance’ on your solo album, Blood on the Highway. All my Love …
G

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.