Mike Portnoy tweeted yesterday that they have finished writing sessions for the second Flying Colors album:

Wrapped the writing on FC2! Another magical experience indeed…hopefully we can get it out by the end of 2014!

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Classic Rock is running a poll for best songs of 2013, and Vincent Price is in the running.

Vote for it.

Joe Lynn Turner revealed to The Rainbow Fanclan Legacy that he is starting a new project with Carmine Appice, Tony Franklin and Jeff Watson:

I can leak it now. I got the e-mail last night, we finally found it. We’re now Carmine Appice, Tony Franklin and Jeff Watson from Mother’s Army & Night Ranger. Originally was going to be Bruce Kulick – you might have heard something about it – but Bruce has other commitments with Grand Funk Railroad. We wish him well, we love him but is not working out. So that’s the line up. And the band is called Legacy X. Because we all said this is about legacies. All of us have a legacy, we’re leaving our marks. And X is the unknown… And that’s it.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Jon Lord’s estate has release a track As Tears Go Passing By performed by the Jon Lord Blues Project:

Jon Lord – Hammond organ
Miller Anderson – vocals, guitar
Maggie Bell – vocals
Zoot Money – keyboard, vocals
Colin Hodgkinson – bass, vocals
Pete York – drums
Albie Donnelly – sax

Thanks to JonLord.org for the info.

Universal/Polydor is set to release a Rainbow Singles Box Set 1975-1986 that will include 19 CD singles spanning these years.

CD 1

1. Man On The Silver Mountain (7″ Edit) 03:57
2. Snake Charmer 04:28

CD 2

1. Still I’m Sad 03:53
2. Temple Of The King 04:43

CD 3

1. Man On The Silver Mountain (7″ Edit) 03:57
2. Snake Charmer 04:28
3. If You Don’t Like Rock N Roll 02:35
4. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves 03:35

CD 4

1. Starstruck (New York Mix) 04:06
2. Run With The Wolf 03:48

CD 5

1. Kill The King (Live / Edit) 04:41
2. Man On The Silver Mountain (Live) 05:08
3. Mistreated (Live / 7″ Edit) 07:15

CD 6

1. Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll 04:25
2. Sensitive To Light 03:08

CD 7

1. L.A. Connection (7″ Edit) 03:41
2. Lady Of The Lake 03:38

CD 8

1. Since You Been Gone 03:16
2. Bad Girl 04:48

CD 9

1. Since You Been Gone 03:16
2. No Time To Lose 03:41

CD 10

1. All Night Long 03:49
2. Weiss Heim 05:10

CD 11

1. I Surrender 03:22
2. Vielleicht Das NachsterMal (Maybe Next Time) 03:20

CD 12

1. Difficult To Cure 05:55
2. Can’t Happen Here (7″ Edit) 04:05
3. Jealous Lover 03:09

CD 13

1. Magic 04:05
2. Freedom Fighter 04:20

CD 14

1. Can’t Happen Here (7″ Edit) 04:05
2. Jealous Lover 03:09

CD 15

1. Stone Cold (Album Version) 05:17
2. Rock Fever 03:46

CD 16

1. Death Alley Driver 04:36
2. Tite Squeeze 03:15

CD 17

1. Street Of Dreams 04:24
2. Anybody There 02:37
3. Power (Live At The Convention Center, San Antonio) 04:27

CD 18

1. Can’t Let You Go (7″ Edit) 03:27
2. All Night Long (Live at David’s Hall, Cardiff, 1983) 05:24
3. Stranded (Live at St. David’s Hall,Cardiff, 1983) 04:16

CD 19

1. Bad Girl 04:48
2. Spotlight Kid (Live) 06:07
3. Man On The Silver Mountain 08:18

Release date, which has originally been pencilled in on November 25, has now been postponed until late January / early February.

Thanks to Universal Music Italia for the info.

David Coverdale writes on his webstite:

It was 40 years ago this very day, December 9, 1973, when I had the indescribable honour of walking onstage with the extraordinary talents of Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice & Glenn Hughes at the KB Halle in Copenhagen, Denmark for the very first time.The ‘Burn’ album had yet to be released, but, it showed the balls of the guys in the band to go out & play brand new, unheard songs to a rapturous Danish audience. An unforgettable experience for me. Thank you ALL for an amazing journey that continues today…

David Coverdale
Lake Tahoe
Dec 9, 2013

Thanks to Classic Rock for the info.

Japanese promoter Udo Artists has announced three Deep Purple dates in the country: April 9 in Nagoya, 10th in Osaka and 12th at the historical Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Tickets for the latter two are already available with Nagoya going on sale on December 13.

The 2014 touring schedule for the band is shaping up as follows:

• February: Scandinavia, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, and Israel.
• March: open so far.
• April: Luxembourg, Belgium, Sunflower Jam in London, plus one date high up in Swiss Alps, then off to Japan.
• They also have been announced to play Hellfest in France on June 21

See our calendar for more details.

Please note that only February dates, Luxembourg and Belgium have been confirmed by the band’s management at the time of this writing.

Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the Japanese tip.

Back in September, the BassPlayer.com published an in-depth interview with Roger Glover, which for one reason or another, went under our radar until now. It covers most of Roger’s illustrious career, from his first band The Lightnings, to Now what?!

How do you come up with your bass parts during the jam-to-recording journey?

Do you know the theory of the zen archer? The zen archer draws his bow back and as soon as he eyes the target he lets his arrow go. The reason is, the longer he hesitates and tries to make sure he hits the target, the more off he’s going to be because his hands will start to shake. In other words, your first instinct is always your best bet. When I hear Paicey [Ian Paice] play a certain rhythm, I think, Now what can I play to that? Actually, I don’t think; I just play it. It’s not a thought process anymore. We’ve played together for so many years we automatically sync in together. From there, my part will be shaped by the keyboard and guitar. Don [Airey] has a way of making chords sound not so simple; the naughty chords, as they’re called—they’re jazz chords in the rock idiom. That actually gives me some room to maneuver, because the one thing I’m wary of is going [sings steady eighth-notes] on the root note just to keep the rhythm going. I always want to move a little within my part to add a bit of interest and a bit of jump. But at the basic level, the bass has to anchor and groove at all costs. I mean, you can get a little complicated on the bass, but it doesn’t really help the song most times.

The question of Hall of Fame also came up and this is what Roger had to say (bear in mind, the interview was done before this year’s nomination):

Deep Purple was finally nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, but not voted in. Thoughts?

I don’t care about it, honestly; it would have been quite disruptive to go through that at this time. Ritchie [Blackmore] would have had to be there, and deservedly so, but that has the hallmarks of a possible nightmare, so I’m kind of glad we didn’t get in. One of the voters against us apparently said, “They don’t deserve to get in—they’re one-hit wonders.” If that’s the kind of people we’re dealing with, who needs it?

Go over to BassPlayer.com and dig into the rest, it’s well worth it.

Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov for the info.

Didi Zill’s photobook Deep Purple Fotografien has been spotted in the wild. Just like the first edition, it is a massive and heavy 465 pages thick book, with lots of brilliant pictures. According to the publisher, the first 3,333 copies are a limited edition, numbered and signed by Didi Zill. From what we hear, this is to compensate for the long waiting time and the numerous delays this book has had. (This second edition was first talked about all the way back in 2006!)

We have not seen the new edition in flesh and blood yet, but from what we’ve been able to ascertain, the colour reproduction problems of the first edition have been corrected.

A few snapshots of the book:

Update: The book can be ordered directly from the publisher (with rather hefty overseas shipping fee of €75). Amazon UK is a good alternative to save on shipping.

Joe Lynn Turner has recorded an original tune called Tied Down with Norwegian outfit Come Taste the Band. It has been featured in Classic Rock AOR magazine. Geoff barton writes:

…Now, we don’t really include the Purps within the hallowed pages of AOR, but when ace Norwegian guitarist Jo Henning Kåsin contacted me with the news of his project called Come Taste The Band, my interest was piqued, naturally. All the more so since Joe Lynn Turner is supplying the vocals. When Kåsin offered a brand new JLT & CTTB song called Tied Down for inclusion on this issue’s CD, how could we refuse? It’s a truly terrific track that captures perfectly the spirit of the Mk III and IV Purple line-ups, embroidered and emboldened by Turner’s sensational singing. Give it a listen now!

The track has been released as a single and, apart from AOR magazine’s CD, is available on iTunes and from the band’s website.

Thanks to Jo Henning Kåsin for the info.