Japanese publisher Shinko Music Mook has a new book out. Published in December 2018, it is titled Stories and Works of Don Airey and is dedicated to all things pertaining to Deep Purple’s keyboard player.

Contents

• Introduction
• Don Airey Live Tours In Japan 1980-2018
• Exclusive long interview
• Don Airey Story ~ From Sunderland to Infinite
• Discography part 1: solo albums
• Discography part 2: principal contributions
• Discography part 3: session work
• Singles & EPs label/artwork collection
• Nostalgic gallery of Japanese editions “Obi” wrappers
• Memorabilia 1: Rainbow 1980 European Tour programme
• Overview of the current tour equipment
• Equipment used for the 1980’s tours
• Column: Who is Don Airey?
• History of concerts in Japan (live dates/places/band members/songs played)
• Column: Repertoire of the live solo shows
• Don Airey vs. Guitarist ~ relations with acclaimed guitarists: Bernie Marsden/Gary
  Moore/Ritchie Blackmore/Randy Rhoads/Michael Schenker/Uli Jon Roth/Glenn Tipton/Steve Morse
• Over The Top Beyond The Rainbow – Cozy Powell and Don Airey
• Neil Murray/Colin Hart
• Memorabilia 2: Tickets and flyers
• Interview reprints:
  1. 1980: First arrival date in Rainbow from “Music Life” July 1980 issue;
  2. 1988: 1st solo album “K2” released from “Metallion 4”;
  3. 2001: Uli Jon Roth’s visit to Japan from “BURRN!” August 2001 issue;
  4. 2004: Deep Purple ‘Bananas’ tour to Japan from ‘BURRN!’ June 2004 issue.
• Epilogue

Cover photo by Richard Ecclestone, 5th April 2005.

The book is, naturally, all in Japanese and can be ordered via Amazon.

Thanks to Nigel Young for the info.

The first 2019 tour dates for Deep Purple have been announced. These are the six dates in early December in Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Tickets go on sale this week, either on Wednesday, March 27, or Friday, March 29.

Full details in our calendar.
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Yngwie Malmsteen’s new album Blue Lightning, due for release on March 29 via Mascot Records, contains two Deep Purple covers — Demon’s Eye and Smoke on the Water. Plus a cover of Paint it Black, which may or may not be closer to Purple’s version than to the original. The album is said to pay homage to blues and is a collection of covers much in the same vein as his 1996 Inspiration album.

When I was ten years old, I got Deep Purple’s ‘Fireball’ album, which I have always thought was very undervalued. And the song that really killed me was ‘Demon’s Eye’. And I was very keen to do it for the album. Thankfully, the key was just right for my voice, and I had so much fun doing it. In fact, I would say that I had a great time doing all the songs here.

Track listing:

1. Blue Lightning
2. Foxy Lady
3. Demon’s Eye
4. 1911 Strut
5. Blue Jeans Blues
6. Purple Haze
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
8. Sun’s Up Top’s Down
9. Peace, Please
10. Paint It Black
11. Smoke On The Water
12. Forever Man

Bonus tracks (vinyl and deluxe CD only)

13. Little Miss Lover
14. Jumping Jack Fish

It is too early to say if the whole album is any good, but the preview track While My Guitar Gently Weeps, love it or hate it, sounds exactly what it says on the cover — blues a-la Yngwie:

Thanks to our editor emeritus Benny Holmström and Blabbermouth for the info.

Another death in the Purple family. Former Gillan band guitar player Bernie Tormé has passed away on Sunday, March 17.

His family issued the following statement:

Bernie Tormé passed away peacefully on the 17th March 2019, one day short of his 67th birthday, surrounded by his family. He had been on life support for the past four weeks at a London hospital following post-flu complications. Bernie will be remembered for dedicating his life to his music for five decades. He will be sorely missed.

Last November, Tormé released a double album called Shadowland, which we somehow failed to mention at the time. Recorded last year at Barnroom Studios, the album was the first release from Bernie’s new trio. It also featured guest appearance from Colin Towns.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the sad news and to Jim Collins for the heads up.

David Coverdale did an over-the-phone interview with Atlanta radio station Rock 100.5 WNNX. Amongst other rather entertaining things, he went on the record to admit that he had underwent a knee replacement surgery a couple of years ago.

When I see people have trouble getting up out of a chair in a restaurant or in the street, just my heart aches for them immediately, because it was miserable for me. And, basically, for 10 years, we’d been covering it up with shots, injections and stuff for tours, pain-killing ointments, and I was fine on stage until I had some shots in South America, and they were hurting me through the show. Now, when I go on stage, I go into the zone. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. My job is just to have fun with the audience and encourage them to have fun. I totally trust my band to kick ass, ’cause that’s the driving force behind me, and the energy from the crowd, which is an intense power crowds have, how the evening’s gonna go, and channel that energy back to them — constant refueling from the audience and sending it back. But to be pulled out of the zone by insane bone-on-bone pain was ‘ouch.’ And that happened in South America. And, fortunately, it was near the end of my tour cycle. There was no question — had I not gone in to have knee replacement surgery for both knees, I would have certainly been in a wheelchair, and I could not see myself within that picture.

His 2018 tour with Foreigner and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience was an opportunity to “test drive” the new body parts:

I didn’t have the courage to say, ‘Let’s book a world tour,’ ’cause I had no idea how my knees were gonna be. I was doing physical therapy for over a year every day of the week to rebuild strength and stamina. And I’m just not the kind of performer who just stands there and sings. I have to work that stage and interact with the audience and my musicians. I went in to see my surgeon. I said, ‘I’m gonna go out for two months.’ He said, ‘No. I never thought you’d do it till next year’ — till this year, 2019. I said, ‘It’s only an hour [on stage].’ And he said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t do any bending and rotating.’ And I went, ‘Christ, that’s what I do.’ [Laughs] I’m a singer, bender and rotator, for God’s sakes.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Consequences of Sound has a lengthy interview with David Coverdale, done to promote his upcoming new album and tour. It starts, however, with David’s relationship to the old bandmates.

I went out on the Forevermore tour, which was really successful. It was a two-year world tour. And I thought I could comfortably leave that as my last studio record. And then, the consequence of losing Jon Lord — who called me, to tell me of his illness, that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and [asked] if I would be there for him to do something Purple-related. Of course, I said yes. But I have no desire to go back — I love what I do — but Jon Lord’s Jon Lord, and I love him dearly. Sadly, as you know, he didn’t survive. A huge loss. It was a terrible, challenging time that my wife and I went through, because I lost Jon, I’d lost my favorite aunt, and my wife lost her beloved brother, in this small window of time. I was thinking, “What the hell am I supposed to learn from this? This is so savage.” And my feeling was, “I want to reach out and reconnect with people — privately and professionally — as we’re all getting older.” At least Jon Lord knew that I loved him. We had certainly expressed that sentiment. He was absolutely pivotal in relaxing me at my audition for Deep Purple, and then the rehearsals for the Burn record. He was just a beautiful gentleman. But it also inspired me.

And I had a dreadful, 30-year competitive negative energy with Ritchie Blackmore. Who, initially, I was a disciple at his feet. I learned a great deal of things — and unbelievable amount. So, these two guys, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore, were immense. And I thought, “I can’t let this go.” Ritchie was so important to me and pivotal in being who I am, and the generosity of these guys giving me — a complete unknown singer — the job with Deep Purple. When I reflect upon it, it’s ridiculous. So, one of the people I reached out to bury the hatchet was Ritchie. And Ritchie, we shared our condolences on the loss of Jon, and were speaking quite regularly. He asked me to speak to his manager, Carol, who said, “Would you be interested in doing anything with Ritchie?” And I said, “Well, I really am really very happy with where I am. There was no agenda in me reaching out, other than to bury the hatchet — fueled by the horrible loss of Jon.

Read more in Consequences of Sound.

Thanks to Jim Collins for the info.

Ian Gillan was once again a guest at the Cayman Islands radio station Cayrock 96.5. This resulted in a 45-minute chat that you can hear below.
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Purpendicular, the tribute band Paicey have been touring with, have posted the following on their Facebook yesterday, February 18 (emphasis ours):

+++IAN PAICE/PURPENDICULAR COMPLETE SECOND LEG OF SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TOUR+++
The band now take a couple of weeks break while Ian is writing with Deep Purple.
This tour has been regarded the best by promoters, fans and Ian himself.
Thanks to all fans who came out to see the shows.
The tour will continue in Germany Bensheim next month. Do not miss this!

This means that Deep Purple are writing new material right about now. Various members of the band will resume their solo touring activities in early March — Don Airey on March 7, and Ian Paice on March 12. Gillan starts his tour on February 27, but he usually joins the writing later, once backing tracks are already developed.

Thanks to Akemi Ono for the info.

The previously mentioned source for these news has withdrawn his report as apparently it was not meant for public consumption.

Back in 2016 Toronto Sun run a story about a legendary, uhm, entertainer that some 30-odd years earlier fascinated both Canadian lumberjacks and a certain British rock star.

Western Canada in the early 1980s was a lot like Western Canada now, burdened with a sputtering economy and a lot of long faces to go with the doom, gloom and daily unemployment statistics.

That may explain why something so hilarious, pointless and vulgar captured the popular imagination of the time so completely: There was nothing serious about Mitzi Dupree, and love the act or hate it, she offered a distraction and something to talk about that could only leave people blushing and laughing.

Unless you were the Kamloops RCMP of course, in which case, ping-pong balls were suddenly very serious business.

In October 1981, after a local newspaper reporter broke the story of the ping-pong ball sensation at the Bar-K, police filed charges against Dupree under her real name (Michelle Pradia), claiming the 22-year-old American dancer had violated local obscenity laws.

Of course, a phalanx of cops had been forced to watch the entire show in Thompson’s sold-out bar to reach this conclusion, and so on Jan. 12, Dupree went to trial to explain herself and her unusual talents to a judge.

Read more in Toronto Sun.

Thanks to Mark Bryant for the heads up.

A great piece of history — an ’85 interview with the band (sans the obvious) after a record store signing session in Houston, Texas, during the US leg of the reunion tour.
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