RockPages.gr has an interview that they recently conducted with Bernie Torme. No wonder that a large chunk of it is about his Gillan years:
Your career includes many and very significant collaborations. You are well – known from the period with Gillan. What does Bernie Torme feel for this period among all the other collaborations of his career?
Well…pride! When I joined the Gillan band I was unknown and by the time I left Ian I was a name in the industry. It was definitely a great band to be in. Ian was a fantastic guy to be in a band and I vividly remember our smooth collaboration. Ian never told anyone how to play and what to play. He let complete freedom to the musician and that’s evident to all the Gillan releases. It was an extremely democratic band…possibly quite anarchistic band (laughs)! In the end, there were a lot of arguments about…everything really but all these things belong in the past and I’d be more than happy to have a drink with all the guys from that band…great guys, indeed! I don’t think, though, that we will work professionally again as anyone has moved to different paths.
Enjoying a brief lull from the touring schedule, Roger Glover writes about his experience at the London Bass Guitar Show, as well as a few other random things:
In case youʼre interested Iʼve just made a fresh coffee and am ensconced before my computer, wanting to post something on the website, and wondering what it might be. As you may have noticed, Iʼm not one who cares to bleet or twog like some, several times a day even. Where do they find the time? My time is spent, as it happens, just like yours – second by second, hour by hour, etc… and itʼs a precious commodity.
But here we are with a dribble of minutes and Iʼm off the road, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather in Europe, at least the part of Europe I think Iʼm in.
American photographer Tom Franklin has published online several snaps he took at a Mark 1 show at Exhibit Hall at the Teen Fair in Phoenix in November 1968. Check them out.
The record company has published promo video for Sweet Tea – a track from the upcoming BCC4 inaugural California Breed album:
A promo feature with several quotes from Hughes accompanies the video release in USA Today:
We were there for 17 days, and we completely recorded it — here’s the kicker, all live onto two-inch tape. It’s the first time in my career where I sang the entire album, from tip to toe, live.
We recorded each track twice, drums and guitar, then I over-dubbed the bass on the comps of those songs. I sang the songs twice, and Dave comped my vocal tracks from each song, and we had a full, complete album.
On meeting Andrew Watt:
I saw this kid walking toward me, and he looked very much like I did in 1970 — long hair, had a really cool hat on. He spoke my language musically.
It’s not so much shredding guitar, it’s coming from Mick Ronson, it’s coming from John Frusciante, it’s coming from Jimmy Page. I thought, this would be really good if we could make a trio of this, and there was only one guy in mind to play drums. That was Jason.
Classic Rock has an interview with Coverdale entirely devoted to his short lived collaboration with Jimmy Page:
Whose idea was it was to make a record together?
David Coverdale: The synchronicity was rather special. I’d spoken to a mutual acquaintance, my friend and agent, Rod MacSween, and said that I was taking some time off to recover from four years of non-stop hard work. Around the same time, Jimmy told Rod he wanted to get back to work and could he recommend any singers. That was all the energy that was needed.
What are your memories of making the album?
DC: Working with Jimmy was an utter treat. He was, and still, is a hero of mine. The album took longer than we’d hoped, but I treasure every aspect. The hardest part for me was losing my mam during the recording, but Jimmy was very gracious and supportive and we put the work on hold so I could be with her. Nothing else came near to being as hard as that time for me.
Glenn Hughes will be the guest on an upcoming episode of US cable That Metal Show. He will be joining them via their “Metal Modem” segment. The episode will premiere on VH1 Classic on Saturday, March 15 at 10pm EDT and will be repeated throughout the following week.
Thames Talent has announced the North American tour schedule for August this year. The grand tour of county fairs and casinos will start on August 5 in Ventura, California, and finish on August 31 in Hollywood, Florida.
Full details in our calendar. Apart from the Casino Rama show there is no ticket information at this point in time.
Smoke on the Water is in the quarterfinals of the Ultimate Classic Rock’s March Riff Madness playoffs. It’s pitted against the Ace of Spades and so far is losing 2:1. Final whistle will blow on Sunday, March 16 at 11:59PM EDT. One can vote multiple times once an hour. You know what to do.
Tickets for a Deep Purple show at Casino Rama (just north of Toronto) on August 22 go on sale this week. There appears to be no information at this point about any further North American dates, although I’m pretty sure they should start surfacing soon. Please report by email or in the comments.
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