The title says pretty much all of it: another preview track My Town from the upcoming Glenn Hughes solo album Resonate:
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Ian Paice, Steve Morse and Glenn Hughes will take part in the Purple themed Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp that will take place in Hollywood, California, on March 2-5, 2017.

The idea behind Rock and Roll Fantasy Camps is to “give the public the experience of living the life of a Rock Star, with Rock Stars, for a few days, and gain their knowledge along the way”.

This camp will include jams and master classes with the three stars, along with ‘camp councelors’ that list Vinny Appice and Joel Hekstra in their ranks, among other equally accomplished musicians. The camp concludes with the grand finale of Glenn Hughes performing at the Whisky A Go Go.

Living the life of a rock star doesn’t come cheap, and packages vary from $799 for a groupie (access to meet and greets, master classes, and a ticket to Whisky A Go Go) to $7749 for a headline/recording one (private jam with Paicey, Steve and Glenn, performing live with Glenn at the Whisky A Go Go, 8 hour studio session with a yet unnamed ‘famed producer’, plus the kitchen sink). And that does not include accommodation.

The packages are now on sale with early bird discounts before November 1. Tickets to the Whisky a Go Go show might probably be also available separately at some point in the future.

Any further questions can be resolved by either visiting www.rockcamp.com or contacting Monica Michaels at (888) 762-2263 ext. 7 or monica@rockcamp.com.

Glenn Hughes goes through his on stage gear setup in this latest episode of Gear Masters:
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Couple of weeks ago Team Rock did a small feature focusing on Big Ian talking about the truly sad state of affairs in the band surrounding his departure in 1973. Here is the quote:

It was bizarre, actually. Because I had actually handed in my letter of resignation to the band months earlier, while we were in Dayton, Ohio. I told them in this letter that I intended to leave Purple at the end of the next tour. But, at the time nobody said anything at all to me about my decision. We just got on with making the new album Who Do We Think We Are and then we went out on the road.

We went to Japan in June 73, and the last date was in Osaka on the 29th. That was the end of the touring schedule, and therefore my final show with the band. Still no-one said a word to me. We got onstage, did the gig, and… well, that was it! I left the venue on my own, and went back the hotel. There were no goodbyes from anybody connected to Purple. None of the other four in the band, none of the crew, nobody from the management. It was almost as if it had been swept under the carpet. As I said, the whole thing was bizarre. I never expected a farewell gift or an emotional outburst from anybody, but just to ignore the whole thing was really weird.

I never said anything after the gig. It just didn’t feel right that I should say something. The atmosphere at the time in Purple was just horrible, and for me it was just such a relief to have it all done and dusted. To understand what was going on in the band you’d need to be a trained psychologist. Everyone in the line-up at the time behaved like an asshole – and I am including myself here. I was as bad as the rest of them.

What wasn’t helping us at the time was that a lot of other people got involved, and they had agendas which meant we were worked to the bone. If we had been able to take a break, then maybe it could have been worked out. But we were on a treadmill, and I got to the point when I just had to leave. Which is why I gave in my notice by letter.

Maybe none of the other guys knew what t say to me, and I certainly didn’t know what to say to them. So that night in Osaka we all acted as if nothing was going, and everything was fine. Which it clearly was not.

The next day, I left for the airport by myself, got on the flight alone and came back home. It was as if the moment I came offstage, I was no longer regarded as a member of the band. Therefore, I was left to fend for myself. But that was no problem. Once back in England, I half expected somebody from the band to phone. However, nobody did. They’d moved on. Eventually, Roger Glover did call some time later, to tell me he’d been fired from Purple.

Thanks to the Deep Purple Tour Page for the heads up.

Blabbermouth reports that David Coverdale spoke to Argentinian Vorterix radio and when asked whether is there any truth to him retiring, said:

Well, no. I made the mistake of saying to a friend of mine, a journalist, when I was mixing The Purple Album, my tribute to Ritchie (Blackmore) and Jon (Lord) and Ian (Paice) and Glenn (Hughes). I thought, ‘Wow! This could be an interesting last project for me to finish as I started, ’cause the first time anybody ever heard of me was the Burn album. So it was kind of a foolish thing of me to say. Then we went on an incredibly successful fucking tour, which we’re finishing up editing, a DVD and a CD for spring next year of The Purple Tour experience. But, yeah, so I turned around to a friend of mine and said, ‘You know, this would be a great way for me to stop.’ I was very pleased with the album. And my co-producer, Michael, looked at me like I was fucking crazy. And then, of course, we had an amazingly successful tour last year. And then we started getting invited to come out this year. I think it was Reb Beach who said, ‘Why don’t we do a ‘greatest-hits’ tour? We’ve never done that.’ Which is why we’re doing songs like ‘Judgement Day’, ‘Slow An’ Easy’, ‘Crying In The Rain’ — stuff we haven’t done for many years.

Well, David, that offhand remark was not the only one which may have given fuel to the speculations.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Tommy Bolin will be inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association Hall of Fame in April 2017. He will enter in the Spirit of the Music category, sharing it with Buddy Miles. Induction events will be held April 21-22, 2017 at the Ramkota Exhibit Hall in Sioux Falls, SD.

The South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association was established in 2008 to promote and recognize musicians, venues, studios, disc jockeys, promoters, and other music supporters from across the state and surrounding areas for their contributions to the local music scene. Since 2014 the SDRRMA has also been raising funds and awarding grants to local school music programs for the purchase of instruments and training programs.

Thanks to Nigel Young and KXLG for the info.

Two new books of interest are being prepared for publication.

The first one — For One Night Only by Jerry Bloom — tells the story of Knebworth 1985 gig, which became legendary in Britain for the simple reason of being the only live appearance of the band in their home country on the reunion tour:

Purple played four sold out shows in Sweden, two large festivals in Germany, three gigs in France and many more around the continent. Yet in their homeland fans had to settle for just one open-air concert at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire on 22nd June. It was the wettest June day since records began but for the 75,000 who attended it was an experience to savour, with many too young to have seen Purple in the seventies, witnessing them for the first time.

For One Night Only is a celebration of that day, based around the huge number of previously unpublished photos of the event.

It will be published via Wymer UK some time in December, in time to be delivered by Christmas. It is, however, quite pricey at £80 for a 128-page hardcover. It also comes with a sturdy carrying case and four A4 photo prints suitable for framing, if that is any consolation. The book is said to be strictly limited to 300 copies (yep, another one of those artificial scarcity affairs). It can be preordered from the publisher.

The second book — Fire in the Sky by Simon Robinson and Stephen Clare — follows their first title Wait for the Ricochet and this time tells the story of the recording of Machine Head:

FIRE IN THE SKY is a new book which looks in detail at this important period in Deep Purple’s history and the making of their break-through album MACHINE HEAD.

While the fact that a fire destroyed their original recording venue is well known to most music fans, the book detours to look at the cause of the blaze, talking to people who were at the show, and gets to the bottom of just what were Frank Zappa’s last words when he dashed off the Casino stage as the roof burst into flames? And in these times of economic hardship, isn’t it inspiring to know that punitive tax rates back home were responsible for Deep Purple being in Montreux in the first place?

This book looks back at the events which led to Deep Purple’s bizarre and Heath Robinson-esque Machine Head hotel recording sessions in the winter of 1971. And as for that “hit to be”, Smoke On The Water was not even tried out on stage, and might never have been played live at all were it not for a request from the BBC for a radio session. It went on to sell 12 million copies and is probably the only gold disc ever made to actually be presented to a city. And yes, there really is a music shop in London which threatens to fine budding guitarists should they dare to try out the riff in-store.

The story takes in the subsequent debilitating American tours where Machine Head quickly became a massive selling album, even as the relentless gigging pulled the band apart. Memorabilia and many rare and unseen photographs illustrate the story, including remarkable images of the Casino fire and aftermath and Ian Gillan with his notepad writing the lyrics in the studio. The music, gigs and lyrics are covered while appendices include tour dates and a discography, as well as a map showing the important sites for any future visitors.

Several myths are also laid to rest, many fans trekking to Montreux visit the wrong Grand Hotel altogether, while down the road the wealthy owners of luxury apartments sit blithely unaware of the music history made in their living rooms.

The book is due to be published some time next year by Easy On The Eye Books.

Thanks to Wymer UK and Easy On The Eye Books (via Darker Than Blue) for the info.

Track listings for the different formats of the new Rainbow live release Memories in Rock — Live in Germany started surfacing. Here’s what we know so far.
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Yesterday it was only a rumor, today we got confirmation from Edel that Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – “Memories In Rock – Live In Germany” will be released on November 18, 2016 as:

More details as soon as we get them.

Music Radar has posted an interview with Steve Morse. We are not sure how recent it is, because it appears to promote the almost one year old live Flying Colors release. Anyhow, you just can’t help but admire the humility that this man exhibits:

I’m a very non-presumptuous person, and I’m realistic about things. So if I’m in front of a big crowd, it’s because of the event or because of the name and history of a group that I’m working with. I’m a replaceable cog in the wheel.

Literally anybody else could be in the same position as I am. By the dozen, there are guitarists that would be a great asset to any band I’ve ever been in, who would be available in a matter of hours. So I don’t ever think of this as my spotlight. I think, ‘How can I nail this? How can I make this music cook?’ I want the audience to have a great time. That’s all I think about.

Read more in Music Radar: Steve Morse’s 12 tips for guitarists.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.