As we’ve reported previously, this past Friday, July 15, Jon Lord was awarded a honorary Doctor of Music degree by his home town’s University of Leicester. Local press covers the event; Leicester Mercury writes:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was in Leicester on Friday. You may have heard about it, seeing as news of his honorary degree from the University of Leicester seemed to be plastered everywhere.

Slipping under the media radar, happy to play a low-key second fiddle to the man from South Africa, was Jon Lord; Leicester-born keyboard maestro in Deep Purple and Whitesnake, bona-fide rock ‘n’ roll star and, pleasingly, an allround decent, stand-up chap. Tutu may have stolen the next day’s headlines, with his smiley charm and theological bonhomie – “he was nice, but he smelled of churches,” said one onlooker – but the real story here was Lord and the homecoming of a musical hero, now the proud holder of an honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of his home town. “It means,” says Lord, old eyes lighting up with infectious enthusiasm, “that even though I am clearly not, I can call myself a doctor. Imagine that.”

Read more in Leicester Mercury

This is Lecestershire:

A rock legend has spoken of his delight at being made an honourary doctor of music by the University of Leicester.

Former Deep Purple and Whitesnake keyboard player Jon Lord, 70, had the doctorate conferred upon him in a ceremony at De Montfort Hall yesterday.

Jon, who played Hammond organ on iconic tracks such as Smoke on the Water, said: “It’s indescribable. It was such a surprise when they offered the honour to me a couple of months back – I was genuinely and overwhelmingly thrilled.”

Read more in This is Lecestershire.

Update (July 26): University of Leicester has posted a video of the ceremony:

Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the info.

Houston Press has a rather favourable review of the recently released Phoenix Rising:

Phoenix Rising details the “untold story” of DP Mk IV, first with Deep Purple Rises Over Japan. The 30-minute concert film, originally shot for movie theaters but not released until 1985 – this was before MTV and YouTube, kiddies – has the band blasting through “Burn,” “Love Child,” “You Keep on Moving” as well as earlier lineup hits “Highway Star” and (of course), “Smoke on the Water.”

The performance is fully restored and remixed, and it’s fascinating to watch how commanding the pre-Whitesnake Coverdale, all of 24 at the time, is as a front man.

Read more in Houston Press.

Thanks to Bob Ruggiero for the info.

Euronews has a news report on the closing of the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival featuring our heroes:
Continue Reading »

Urban Outfitters (shock! horror!) has a Deep Purple t-shirt for sale in Europe. The Chaos At A Concert male tee sports the infamous picture of the concert hall ravaged by fans after a gig on the Mark 2’s last Japanese tour in 1973. And at €12.00/£10.00 it’s a steal. We have reports of this piece of apparel spotted on the streets of Scotland, although it appears to be not available in North Amerca at the moment.

Apparently Glenn Hughes has got himself his own show on Planet Rock. It airs on Sundays between 6 and 7pm.

I would like to thank Planet Rock for giving me the opportunity to share with listeners of my show the songs that have shaped my life. Every song is chosen by me, and there will Rock ‘n Roll stories along the away. I am a messenger…

Thanks to Tracy Heyder for the info.

The has been a bit of confusion as to the exact release dates of the new Roger Glover’s solo album If Life Was Easy in different countries. Here’s a complete breakdown:

• Germany and Austria: released on July 8th
• Russia: July 11
• France: July 18 (although Amazon.fr is already shipping it)
• Italy: July 26
• Spain and Switzerland: July 29
• Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and UK: August 1
• USA: September 6

Thanks to RG for the info.

New installments of Dear Friends and Q&A are up on Caramba! Newtonian consequences, dignity and respect, Caesarean black tent confusion solution, metric Missourian strategy, groupies liggers, and Rudyard Kipling — it’s all there. Read it.

Thanks to Steve Campbell for the info.

Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited has conducted an interview with Steve Morse. They spoke about his work in and out of Deep Purple:

Jeb: Deep Purple is your main band but I wonder if you are still allowed to create freely for your other projects as a member of the group?

Steve: We have a very open policy in the band about that. We think it makes the band stronger for people to be known in other types of music. Ian [Gillan] just did a recording with Tony Iommi and a bunch of other famous English guys… I think it is called Famous English Guys [laughter].

Jeb: I admire that despite your advanced abilities, you have remained a fan of music.

Steve: If you have your ears open, and you travel around, then you find out that every city has people who are top level, in terms of talent. They are separated by the people at the top only because the people at the top have an endurance level and can put up with the stuff you have to put up with. That is part of life in Purple. It’s easy to play with the guys. The touring is hard because it’s longer than I want to do but it has enabled me to have stability in this business.

I started with the band when I was going through a divorce. I thought I was going to be an airline pilot and be able to come home five nights a week; that was my plan. It didn’t work out because I didn’t have the burning desire to do that job after about six months. There is something about everybody’s job that sucks; it’s not just being a musician. I got to see a glimpse of reality, which was a good thing to do. I got together with Kansas shortly after that and we did another album. I got really disillusioned by the whole MTV thing going on. I was not going to be the type of guy that could write trendy music. I had decided to go back underground and play to 100 people a night and that was going to be my life again; as that is what I did with the Dregs.

My manager called me up and said that Deep Purple needed a guitar player. We decided to do four shows because they didn’t know if I was going to be some sort of maniac and I didn’t know if they were going to be guys who were living off their past. I definitely didn’t want that. I had never wanted to be in a rock band that was successful because I would lose control over my own music. The first album we did was Purpendicualr and they all came to me and said, “What have you got, Steve?” It went great. Our writing has always been a band venture and that really helped. The guys are absolute warhorses, they can’t be killed. I think there should be five graves, if you look at all we have done over the years, we should be doing the Big Sleep. They have some sort of alien, robotic substances inside of them.

Read more on Classic Rock Revisited.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Blackmore’s Night will appear on the German TV show Fersehengarten this Sunday, July 17. They will perform the Journeyman off their Autumn Sky album.

Thanks to BraveWords and Blackmore Productions for the info.

On July 8th, 2011, Deep Purple played host to the latest Sunflower Jam at the Royal Albert Hall.

This isn’t a standard DP show, rather a collection of musicians assembled basically to have a bit of a jam that they wouldn’t normally get to do during their ‘day job’.
The evening began with a champagne reception, and at about 7 we were ushered into the main auditorium, transformed for the evening into a huge dining palace. While food was being served, Mario Queen of the circus performed, followed by the dancers of the Pineapple Studios.

As the meal progressed Jeremy Irons appeared on stage to discuss the procedure of the evening and to introduce Michael Dixon from the College of Medicine. Here we are reminded that although this is a night of music, the real purpose of the evening is to raise money to provide complimentary care and to raise awareness of their availability to those who are suffering from ill health. More information on the whole project can be found at http://www.thesunflowerjam.com/, where you can also find a link to make a donation if you wish……

Mario returned for a show of unicycling with one of the Pineapple studio girls as the crowds began to enter into the upper auditorium, and then it was time for the auction to begin. Despite the finances of the world at the moment this went well, perhaps not as spectacular as in previous years, but I trust good money was earned for the cause. Of note a days practice session with Ian Paice went for some £4000, and there were guitars from Planet Rock radio and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers also for sale.

But then to the music. I’ve not really known about Newton Faulkner, but he got the show off to a great start with an inventive version of Bohemian Rhapsody, followed by one of his own numbers. I mark myself intrigued after his performance, and will go look for more based on the strength of his set.
Danny Bowes followed, with a storming version of ‘Born to Run’ dedicated to Clarence Clemons.
In the background the backing band comprised Micky Moody and Nicky Fyffe (who recently subbed for RG), Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens, Murray Gould and Jerry Brown.

Margo Buchanan made a welcome return before a personal highlight for myself, Gary Brooker of Procal Harem, and before I knew it I was dancing in the Albert Hall almost ‘inside’ Whiter Shade of Pale. Truly a memorable moment for me, perhaps disturbing for others….
By now the evening is flowing very quickly, and as Joe Bonamassa takes the stage the pace really picks up. Soon joined by Jon Lord you notice that their sounds merge together extremely well. Gary Moore’s son Jack joins in, and you can’t help but feel he has his fathers touch, perhaps one to watch out for….
Jon stays on to perform another two of the highlights of the evening, ‘Bouree’ from the Sarabande album, and ‘Pictured Within’, this time the vocal taken on by Steve Balsamo and Anna Phoebe on Violin.

Someone who’s always been on the radar wanders on next. Rick Wakeman starts off with a variation on Elanor Rigby, before being joined on stage by Jon Lord.
It seems incredible after so many years in the same business, having known each other since ‘God’s dog was a puppy’ that these two, well how would you describe them?, have never been on stage together to perform.. Tonight’s the night, and ‘It’s not as big as it used to be’ is how they choose to do it. A cracking little prog rock keyboard driven tune. By little, of course I mean it’s seven and a half minutes of moog and hammond at it’s finest.
Newton Faulkner then returns to help with Life On Mars, on which Wakeman had originally played, and a splendid rendition it is too.
And before you know it it’s well past 11pm and closing in on the advertised end time.
A short break ensues and then it’s time for Purple.

For me Highway Star is always a perfect opened for a Deep Purple show, and this time is no exception. It sets an early frenetic pace that barely lets up for the next 40 minutes.
Only a superb Contact Lost, the final Space Shuttle was due to lift off this weekend, merging into When a Blind Man Cries show the band slowing down any.
Joe Bonamassa, Jack Moore and Jon Lord all appear back on stage during the set and before you know it the riff begins and it’s Smoke on the Water time. But with a twist, there’s a table covered in cow bells, and uk comedian Bill Bailey is rocking them out to the riff. Gillan in the background can barely contain himself in time to begin singing!
A glance at the time tells us we’re way over the planned finish time, but it’s been an absolute blast of an evening. And musical memories that will last much longer than that money would have lasted in my pocket! You can also read Rasmus’ excellent recollections of the show here.
Of course if you weren’t able to attend there’s always youtube to keep you going..