After a period of rumours and speculations, today Classic Rock has revealed details about Glenn Hughes’ new band California Breed. Said to be born “out of the ashes of BCC”, the trio includes Jason Bonham and a young guitarist Andrew Watt, whom Glenn describes as “is influenced by Mick Ronson as he is Jimmy Page”. Julian Lennon introduced him to Hughes some time last year. 12 tracks have been recorded for a yet untitled album, which is due in May on Frontiers Records.

Thanks to Classic Rock, Yvonne Osthausen, and Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

Rainbow’s live album Black Masquerade, recorded in 1995 and released on CD and DVD last year will get the vinyl treatment. Independent label Back on Black has announced that it will release the 3LP album on April 19, 2014 on red vinyl (catalogue number RCV142LP).

SIDE A
1. Introduction
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Too Late For Tears
SIDE B
4. Long Live Rock’n’Roll/Black Night
5. Hunting Humans
SIDE C
6. Wolf To The Moon/Difficult To Cure
7. Keyboard solo
8. Still I’m Sad
SIDE D
9. Man On The Silver Mountain
10. Temple Of The King
11. Black Masquerade
SIDE E
12. Ariel 8:23
13. Since You’ve Been Gone
14. Perfect Strangers
15. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
SIDE F
16. Hall Of The Mountain King
17. Burn
18. Smoke On The Water

The label’s releases can be ordered through Plastic Head online store.

Thanks to Alex Chornyy for the info.

Wendy Dio is putting together a tribute album to Ronnie James Dio. It will tentatively include contributions from Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Scorpions (Temple Of The King), Rob Halford (Long Live Rock’n’Roll), Metallica, Anthrax (Neon Knights), Lemmy Kilminster, Alice Cooper, Halestorm, Sebastian Bach, Chris Jericho and Dave Grohl.

Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov and Blabbermouth for the info.

A lengthy and rather entertaining interview with Don Airey appears in Metal Shrine:

I just realized that you´ve spent a great deal of time in Deep Purple by now. How would you describe these years?

Don Airey: Yes, I´m amazed myself. Well, very fruitful and I couldn´t have wished for anything nicer to happen to me actually. It´s a great band, great music and it´s well run. We have a great crew. It´s not an easy gig, I have to tell you, following Jon Lord, but it´s been a great experience.

You have a new album out, “Keyed up” and I have to say that the opening song, “3 in the morning” is stunning.

Don Airey: Great! It was one of those songs that came about pretty quickly. It got knocked into shape in a day or two and it was just a couple of takes. It´s one take with a bit of a jam at the end. It´s called a “bread and butter track” really. It´s really stock.

Read what Don has to say about old friends, “organic” recording, posthumous Gary Moore’s contribution, playing for the BBC at the age of 13, who of the great guitar players (Blackmore, Schenker and Moore) is the most difficult, Bob the genius, and many more things in Metal Shrine.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

If there’s another thing about which Steve Morse is as passionate as about his guitar playing, it’s flying planes.

Last summer, while on tour in Italy, he managed to find time to slip across the border to Slovenia to visit Pipistrel, a light aircraft manufacturing company of which he’s a happy customer. Of course, it helps somewhat when CEO of the company happens to be a Deep Purple fan 😉

Read (and look at itsy bitsy pictures) about the visit on the company website.

Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the info.

The Oxford Mail reports that The Springs Hotel in North Stoke, Oxfordshire, (the one with the guitar shaped swimming pool) once owned by Ian Gillan is closing down. Current owners cite increasing costs of upkeep the 1874 “mock Tudor” building and increasing comissions from the internet booking agencies that cut into the bottom line.

The 32-room hotel will close in October, although a golf club located on site will continue to operate. Present owners have not decided yet what to do with the building.

Gillan bought the property in 1973 for £100,000 and then invested further £443,000 into renovating it and converting into a hotel. The fate of the enterprise is covered in his autobiography.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

A new book by Simon Robinson and Stephen Clare, Wait For The Ricochet, detailing the history of In Rock has been published by Simon’s Easy on the Eye Books. This has been several years in the making, but the copies are finally printed, in stock and being shipped. You can preview pages and order the book from the publisher.

Title: Deep Purple – Wait For The Ricochet. The Story Of Deep Purple In Rock.
Authors: Simon Robinson and Stephen Clare
ISBN: 978-0-9561439-6-9
Format: 168 pages / colour / softback / 210mm by 210mm
Publisher: Easy on the Eye Books
Date: January 2014

Update (Feb 5): An independent book store in UK called Wordery lists it in stock for £11.89 with free delivery to most countries. In North America. Amazon promises to have the book in stock on February 13.

A Fender Stratocaster guitar autographed by Blackmore’s Night in Dunfermline, Scotland, is being auctioned for British charity Rockin for Tots help to raise funds for Simpsons Special Care Babies, which is a registered charity (SC002013). These funds will help with the purchase of a travel incubator for the Neo Natal Unit in the New Royal Infirmary Of Edinburgh.

Blackmore’s management has confirmed that the item is genuine, so this is one of those rare chances to obtain a Blackmore signed guitar. And help the world in the process.

The auction closes on February 5. Place your bids on Ebay.

Update (Feb 5): the auction concluded with the winning bid of £2,617 (approximately $4,260 or €3,150). Our congratulations to the generous winner.

Classic Rock has a feature story on Mary Long, based on interviews (which may or may not be from the archives) with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover:

If there’s anything likely to upset Ian Gillan more than a self-styled moral crusader with a viewpoint diametrically opposed to his own, it’s two of them. Back in 1972, with Deep Purple Mark II at the height of their fame and touring to promote Machine Head, that holier-than-thou duet were Mary Whitehouse and Lord Longford.

Committed Christian Whitehouse, in her assumed role as guardian of Britain’s moral standards led the ‘Clean Up TV’ campaign, railing against anyone who dared swear the word ‘bloody’ on television. She was driven apoplectic, therefore, by the Alf Garnett character in Johnny Speight’s seminal anti-racism sitcom Till Death Do Us Part (much loved by Gillan), as well as comedians Dave Allen and Benny Hill, and just about everything else that made the rest of us laugh.

Then, as Purple were about to commence sessions for what would become Who Do We Think We Are, news broke that former Labour minister and Knight of the Garter Lord Longford was campaigning for the release of Moors murderer Myra Hindley.

Read more in Classic Rock.

Glenn Hughes has announced that he will appear at the Sunflower Jam in London on April 4:

My manager and I have been working with Jon’s manager , Tarquin and Jacky Paice and Vicky , Jon’s wife , so that I could clear my schedule to appear – to thank Jon and our MK3 &4 fans for their love ..so glad to announce this to you ..

He later added that reunion with Coverdale is not in the books:

David cannot attend : I will gladly be there for him to share his love for Jon

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.