I had a chance to preview Gettin’ Tighter: The Story of Mk.IV Deep Purple (a.k.a. Phoenix Rising documentary). Here are my first impressions.

First of all, it is a misnomer to call it a Mark 4 documentary. It starts with the demise of Mark 2 and we don’t get into Mark 4 territory until half way through the film. Which will be good for casual fans as it provides enough background to Jon Lord’s opinion expressed in the documentary that the 1976 collapse of Deep Purple was a logical conclusion to a series of events that started with the departure of Gillan and Glover in 1973.

The documentary is created around two extensive interviews with Jon Lord and Glenn Hughes, who both narrate the story. For the die hard fans there are few revelations, although I have found interesting tidbits here and there that I didn’t know before and they were enough to keep my attention. For example, one such tidbit was Jon Lord admitting that he refused to play in Indonesia as recently as late 1990s due to the memories of the infamous 1975 visit still being too painful.

Historic footage was restored and remastered to the best of abilities allowed by current technology. For this the the video team deserves utmost kudos. I imagine that the material they had to work with was rarely of pristine quality.

Phoenix Rising is due to be released on May 20.

Order it from a store near you
despite what the vendor might say, there is no DVD-Audio package, see formats details:

DVD+CD

CD+DVD

Blue-ray

2LP+DVD

The Hartford Advocate took a rather unorthodox approach of promoting the upcoming Deep Purple gig by publishing an interesting speculative article about the merits of teaming a rock band with a classical orchestra:

Deep Purple weren’t the first to do the rockers-with-orchestra thing (the Moody Blues used the London Festival Orchestra for 1967’s Days of Future Passed), but Concerto was a significant and early example of an experiment several bands tested. In a similar vein, there’s Metallica’s S&M (1999), Scorpions’ Moment of Glory (2000), KISS’ Symphony: Alive IV (2003), Dream Theater’s Score (2006), and Mono’s Holy Ground: NYC Live With The Wordless Music Orchestra (2010). Deep Purple even went back to the well with a 1999 live album, as did the Moody Blues with a 1993 live album.

While this extravagant practice hasn’t been milked to death, the angle’s been utilized by a broad enough roster of bands to carve its own niche. This interest in the approach raises some intriguing questions about the power of rock songs as-is versus their souped-up re-takes. Just how useful are these band/orchestra collaborations on an artistic level? What makes some work and others not? Novelty aside, is “Rock and Roll All Nite” really worth experiencing with strings, brass and other orchestral trimmings?

Read more in Hartford Advocate.

A new interview with Glenn Hughes has been published on Backstage Axxess. Here Glenn talks mostly about Black Country Communion:

Thom: The first thing I would like to talk about is the upcoming Black Country Communion album. In a day an age where it is unusual for bands to come out with an album a year, why did you decide to get back in the studio so quickly and with all of your busy schedules how did you find the time to write and to record “Black Country Communion 2.”

Glenn: Kevin asked us to begin writing the follow up last summer and Joe and I had very busy schedules but I decided to free up three months and begin writing. The main reason we got back in the studio was so that when we tour this year we will have twenty-four songs to choose from instead of twelve. I come from an era in the sixties and seventies when bands were recording an album every ten months. For me, I don’t just do it for a living, it is a passion, I love to write songs so this wasn’t difficult for me at all.

Thom: What can we expect from your second album, how will it be different from its predecessor?

Glenn: It’s a lot darker than the first album. It’s hard for me to talk about it if you haven’t heard it, so I can just say that after you listen to it you will see what I mean.

Read more on BackstageAxxess.com

A couple of new interviews with Blackmore’s Night.

Greg Prato (of the Tommy Bolin biography fame) has conducted a short but rather interesting interview with Ritchie and Candice:

UGO: Ritchie, what is your favorite Deep Purple album and Rainbow album, and why?

RITCHIE BLACKMORE: I don’t know, it was too long ago and I don’t listen to records that I have recorded.

UGO: Ritchie, would you consider playing with Purple one last time if the band was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

RITCHIE BLACKMORE: I wouldn’t consider playing with them although I haven’t really thought about it. As far as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame goes there are too many people that have been voted in there that have absolutely nothing to do with Rock and Roll for it to mean anything to me. Besides it’s too pretentious.

Read more on UGO.com (if the interview doesn’t show right away, you’ll have to click on the orange ‘continue to UGO’ button).

Another short interview appears in the online edition of the Boston Herald:

I didn’t embark on this project intending it to be successful. I just have an incredible passion for this kind of music and wanted to do it. During my final days in Deep Purple and Rainbow, I felt I was getting stale at writing hard-rock riffs, that I was repeating myself, and I just couldn’t stand it. So switching to this was rejuvenating, very refreshing.

Bob Dylan has always been one of my heroes because he’s never wanted to deal with the nonsense side of the music business. Having to follow this trend, talk to this person on the radio, be on this show. I find it’s very hard for me to do. I don’t like having to sell myself constantly.

Thanks to Greg Prato and BraveWords for the info.

Blackmore’s Night are about to embark on a brief tour of selected inn and taverns in the United States. Ritchie and Candice will appear on May 13 around noon on the 91.5 WMFO in Massachusetts. The interview will be streaming online at wmfo.org.

Thanks to Blackmore Productions for the info.

Glenn Hughes recently spoke to Face Culture about his upcoming autobiography Deep Purple & Beyond: Scenes from the Life of a Rock Star.
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Roger Glover had to miss the last couple of shows to attend urgent family matters. Sunflower Jam regular Nick Fyffe stood in on the bass. Rest assured, Roger is alive and well and will return as soon as the circumstances permit him. There is no need to worry.

While Glenn is in the UK for his book launch and just prior to his UK solo tour, he will be a featured guest on BBC Radio 2 broadcast with Steve Wright In The Afternoon, between 2pm – 5pm (GMT) on Thursday, May 12th. BBC makes its programs available online for 7 days after the broadcast.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Here is a chance to preview Phoenix Rising for the rest of us. In exchange for an email address you will be sent a link to download and preview one audio track (Gettin’ Tighter to be precise) in high quality 320 kbps MP3.

Phoenix Rising is due to be released on Blue-ray, DVD, CD and vinyl on May 20.

Note: this promotion is being run by a company called TopSpin Media (here’s their privacy policy). Any personal information you submit using this widget above goes directly to them. The Highway Star is not affiliated with that company in any way, shape or form.

Ian Paice recently was on the phone with a radio station down under and “singlehandedly busted about 7,000 stereotypes of a drummer”. Writing process both then and now, pros and cons of new technology, walking down the street, how long will Deep Purple continue, and why all his favorite drummers are dead — it’s all in the interview.

Listen to it or download it (mp3, 17MB).

Thanks to abc.net.ua for the info.