Ultimate Guitar has a new interview with Roger Glover. He talks about If Life Was Easy, the state of music, his influences, his producer work, Purple history and present day, and many other things.

Episode Six came out of the English music scene in the late 1960s when everyone from Led Zeppelin to the Jeff Beck Group were around. That must have been a truly spectacular time.

It was although at the time it just seemed like a time. It’s only looking back that you realize how important or magical it was. It was the end of the ‘60s or probably even in the middle of the ‘60s, it was when the artists took over and it wasn’t the music business anymore—it was the music. And the music generated everything and all of a sudden you could sing about anything; you could play in any style; there was a great deal of freedom going on.

The music business today is completely different—bands don’t seem to have that same sort of unlimited expression.

It’s not quite the same now although it’s changing; it changes all the time. But for the great deal over the last 20 years or so, it’s been very, very business-driven. I don’t know how I feel about that—actually I do know how I feel about that and I’m just trying to be polite.

No need to be polite here.

Musicians shouldn’t be pawns in the money trade. Of course that’s gonna go on but a good musician is not gonna allow himself to do that. Not necessarily a good musician but a good artist is gonna follow his own bent and if it goes against the grain actually that’s probably a better thing. Because if you seem to be chasing money, success and fame, that’s got no credibility to it whatsoever. I think you have to be true to your roots and your instincts.

Read more on Ultimate Guitar.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

A 48 minute edit of this year Deep Purple’s appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival apparently has been shown on the Swiss channel TSR2. The complete show will be released on DVD and blue-ray on November 7 via Eagle Rock. Meanwhile, here’s a preview:
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Rick Freeman offered us for publication an interview with Doogie White that he did recently.

Rick: How did the solo album come about? Hard to believe that this is your first!

Doogie: Well I had a great many songs kicking around that I had written over the years and during the down time after parting from Yngwie I decided to record an album. You either step up or get off.

Rick: Did you go into the studio with songs to record or did you work them out during the sessions?

Doogie: The songs were all demoed with the other writers and sent out to the musicians. They then played and recorded their parts and Pontus Norgren put it all together.

Rick: When you write a song what comes first, the Title, the lyrics or the music?

Doogie: It can go either way. I tend to have lots of scraps of paper or notebooks with ideas lying around. I also tend to put ideas down on a small recorder for riffs or melodies. It’s a very organic spontaneous way of working. Sometimes someone will send me music and I have to work round that.

Rick: What was the atmosphere like in the studio making your first solo album, were you the “Boss” or did you work as a band?

Doogie: I did have final say on what was included but the musicians are all top class and know their craft so it was never a problem.

Rick: In retrospect, do you think you should have recorded a solo album earlier as opposed to working with so many others?

Doogie: Well the songs have been ready for a while, but I was so busy with various other musical endeavors that to have released it any earlier would have left me competing with myself. I am happy with everything.

Rick: Do you look at your volume of work as a time of learning, a great experience?

Doogie: It’s not anything I have reflected on. From Cornerstone to Tank and all in between have been great fun to do, even in the more challenging of times or when the well is dry. But it’s all a journey that I am pleased to be on.

Rick: The first thing I noticed is that this is a guitar album in the vein of AC/DC, and The Rolling Stones among others not in the style of a guitar virtuoso.

Doogie: Well I did the guitar virtuoso stuff with others and this was to be a strong song adventure. However, there are very strong guitar performances from the chaps. “Secret Jesus” was the first song written after I left Rainbow and had no solo in it at all but Phil Hilborne found a gap and put a blistering flurry of sonic loveliness in there.

Rick: Are you paying homage to groups that you like on this album? In the intro I hear a echo of “Kashmir”. “Come Taste The Band” just the title along seems to be a tip of the hat. “Catz Got Yer Tongue” is Rock and Roll from the title to the final beat. I can hear AC/DC easily recording this one. The first two words “Brown Sugar” had me smiling.

Doogie: The song CTTB, the first song on the album, was written for my Rainbow audition in the style of Mk4 Deep Purple. Ritchie liked the song and thought it was cheeky of me to do it. It’s the song that I guess people expected me to do, so its first and the only song like that on the album. Catz is from the same writing session.

Rick: Tell us about this fantastic group of musicians you have assembled.

Doogie: I did not want it to be a band but a group of friends making great music. So I asked people who I had traveled the rock n roll world with to join in and they all did. We worked round everyone’s schedule. Of everyone I asked only Ritchie declined.

Rick: Do you plan to tour or just play a few selected shows to support “As Yet Untitled”?

Doogie: I record albums hoping to take the music to the live arena. This one is no different. Talks are taking place.

Rick: You are in such demand. You along with Paul Rodgers are the only two singers that seem to be able to not only fit in but, sing anything. I can see you fronting Queen, and Aerosmith among others. I personally enjoyed your work with Jon Lord. I hope that you will work with him again in the future. With everything going on with Tank, recording with Kruk, Demon’s Eye to name a few I was surprised you found the time for a Solo CD. Was it hard to squeeze in the time?

Doogie: Wow!! That’s a statement!! I am just a singer who happens to sing rock music because I love it. I have done sessions for publishing companies for pop songs but I don’t really get the vibe. I love big guitars. There are 52 weeks in a year I try to work, if I can, in most of them. To work with Jon Lord was a serious highlight for me and if I have one wish it is that I get to sing with Jon again, hopefully in 4 or 5 years time.

Rick: At the moment you are recording with Tank, correct?

Doogie: We are writing the new album between doing shows. There is pressure for this one as the last one “War Machine” was so strong. It’s coming together quite well, we will write 15, record 12 and put 10 on the album.

Rick: Can you tell us about any other projects you have in the works?

Doogie: Not at the moment. I am concentrating on promoting the solo album and looking at tour dates. Also with Tank live shows and a new album in the works that will take me to Christmas.

Rick: One last question, is there anyone you would like to work with that you have not?

Doogie: I wrote and performed with Michael Schenker and hope we can do more together. I would quite like to challenge myself with Tony Iommi but I guess every singer in rock would love to do that. Also I would like to finish what Ritchie Blackmore and I started in 94. It seems unfinished to me. I think that’s wishful thinking though.

Rick: Thank you for your time. Best wishes for the album “As Yet Untitled”. Very enjoyable, both the album and the interview.

Doogie’s new solo album As Yet Untitled will be released via Metal Mind on October 24 in Europe and November 7 in the US.

Track list:

1. Come Taste The Band
2. Time Machine
3. Dreams Lie Down And Die
4. Lonely
5. Land Of The Deceiver
6. Secret Jesus
7. Sea Of Emotion
8. Catz Got Yer Tongue
9. Living On The Cheap
10. Times Like These

Personnel:

• Patrick Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen) – Drums
• Thomas Broman (Glenn Hughes) – Drums
• Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion) – Keyboards
• Tony Carey (Rainbow) – Keyboards
• Neil Murray (Whitesnake) – Bass
• Greg Smith (Ted Nugent) – Bass
• Paul Logue (Edens Curse) – Bass
• Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall) – Guitar
• Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt) – Guitar
• Phil Hilborne (Queen Musical) – Guitar
• Mick Tucker (Tank) – Guitar
• Patti Russo (Meatloaf, Cher) – Guest vocals

Preorder the album from a store near you:

Trevor Morris, a student at Ravensbourne College, is working on a research project and is hoping to gain some insight from the Deep Purple fan community. He looking for your views on the following:

1. When attending a concert, what are the main issues with finding your way to the event?
2. How do you tend to order tickets? Online, through an app, over the phone, mail order etc?
3. Have you ever experienced a VIP service provided by either Deep Purple (perhaps a competition), or one provided by the venue? If so, what was the experience, what stood out to you and could it have been improved? If no – if you were to attend an concert as a VIP, what would you expect?
4. What is your age?

Please email your answers to Trevor at createdbytrev@gmail.com

Next week starting Monday October 10 Planet Rock will be running an unusual promotion for the Deep Purple UK tour in late November.

All next week we are going to be giving you the chance to do something most people can only dream of – you could be part of the road crew for one of the biggest bands of ALL TIME.

We will be giving you the chance to become a roadie at one of Deep Purple’s shows on their forthcoming UK tour.

You’ll be able to see what happens behind the scenes at the show, take part in putting the gig together, watch the sound check and then see the main show. It’s an extraordinary once in a lifetime opportunity for one lucky listener and we’ll be telling you how to get involved next Monday.

Black Country’s Communion Live Over Europe will be shown on US cable channel Palladia HD on October 22 at 9 pm and repeated on October 23, 12:00 am and 4:00 pm, October 26, 4:00 pm, and October 27, 11:00 pm (time zone not specified).

In the UK, it will premiere for one night only on November 1 at 7:30 pm in selected Vue Cinemas.

In related news, Glenn Hughes was featured in the Shockwaves / Hardradio podcast episode #54. You can listen to the podcast here.

Thanks to glennhughes.com and Tracy Heyder for the info.

Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night recently spoke to Italy’s SpazioRock. Well, Ritchie mostly kept quiet leaving his missus and the interviewer to do the talking.

And this statement definitely proves wrong all those who – fifteen years later – still think that Ritchie Blackmore was somehow “pushed” by beautiful Candice into leaving Rainbow in order to found a band with her. In case anyone hasn’t realized yet, with “Sixteenth Century Greensleves” – released in 1975 when Rainbow made their debut – Ritchie was already stating his own ideals musically. Along these years your band has undergone many line-up changes, and I’ve wanted to ask you this for a long time: why did you choose not to make any official statement about the reasons of such changes?

Ritchie: Its not of importance or interest to people. I’ve done it too many times. Only the end result, the music, is what is of importance.

Now you are in Germany for the traditional tour through castles and medieval towns, and we will be there from Italy like we do every year. Playing in castles is fantastic, much better than theatres: why is it so hard to arrange a castle tour in Italy, even though our castles are among the most beautiful and fascinating in the world?

Ritchie: One word: promoters.

Candice: Unfortunately that’s true. Trying to organize a tour in Italy is incredibly difficult. Add to that the fact you want to play in beautiful castles instead of rock clubs and its almost impossible.

Read more on SpazioRock.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

On Wednesday, one of Scandinavia’s most classic venues burned down. KB Hallen in Copenhagen has seen many stars raise the heat in the hall and was of course the venue where the classic Deep Purple DVD from 1972 was recorded. Purple has played there many times after that. The latest DP related concert in the 3.000 capacity hall was Black Country Communion this summer.

There are now discussions between the owners of the hall and the city of Copenhagen if the hall can be rebuilt again. The hall has been rebuilt once before, when it was bombed by Danish nazis in 1944. Since it’s opening in 1938 lots of prominent names in music has played the venue, among them The Who, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Led Zeppelin.

Deep Purple backstage at MK. III’s first gig in KB Hallen, December 9, 1973. (Photo: (c) Jørgen Angel)

Highway Star live in KB Hallen 1972.

Pictures from tv2.dk and Scanpix.

While the fans are still hoping and waiting for a new DEEP PURPLE studio album, most of the current band members release solo stuff or team up with other musicians for album projects: Ian Gillan joined forces with Tony Iommi to record two songs under the “Who Cares”-banner, Steve Morse teamed up with singer/songwriter Sarah Spencer to form “Angelfire” and Roger Glover revivied the Guilty Party to release “If Life Was Easy”.

Don Airey, not only playing on several third party albums also finished “All Out”, his second solo release since the latest PURPLE output “Rapture of the Deep”.

While “A Light In The Sky” used travelling through space and time as theme, “All Out” does the travel music-wise. The songs capture the mood, sounds and feelings of different points in time – the instrumental “Estancia” reminds of a modernized Emerson, Lake and Palmer while the inclusion of Bernie Marsden on “Running From The Shadows” brings some WHITESNAKE memories. “People In Your Head” offers another special guest – this time it’s Joe Bonamassa (trying to break Dons “albums I played on” record) who adds a BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION feel to the song. Two songs however fail to convince: the first is the Jimmy Hendrix cover “Fire” where the organ just doesn’t fit the overall picture  while “Tobruk” gets lost somewhere within its ten minutes.

With most songs sounding different than their neightbours, “All Out” offers a lot to discover but also leaves a feeling of being “just a bunch of songs” instead of something more monolithic. A good rock album – nothing less and nothing more.

Glenn Hughes will do two solo tours of the UK in the upcoming months. In November he will appear on a 5-date stint tied up to the paperback release of his autobiography (due on November 1 in North America and November 11 in the UK). These shows are billed as acoustical and including “excerpts from his life story”.

He will return to the UK in May 2012 for 3 solo performances, supported by Fish. Tickets for those went on sale last Friday.

Full details in our calendar.