Gary Moore Band with Ian Paice, Don Airey and Neil Murray performing Hurricane at the Westfalenhalle, Dortmund in 1982: Continue Reading »

German record company SPV has filed for bankruptcy protection on May 25 in the District Court of Hanover. On May 27 the court has appointed a provisional insolvency administrator. This does not mean that the company will cease operations immediately, but may affect musicians to whom it owes money.

SPV is the current record label for Whitesnake, Blackmore’s Night, and both Dio and Heaven & Hell, among many other artists. Several Glenn Hughes’ albums between 1995 and 2005 were also released by SPV.

Thanks to Blabbermouth and Billboard for the info.

Update [May 31]: Heaven & Hell are currently signed to Roadrunner. Only Live from Radio City Music Hall was released in Europe on SPV.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the correction.

Jerry Bloom of More Black Than Purple fame has written a new book — Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll Story — which covers history of the Rainbow album.

This book, the first in a planned series on ‘landmark’ rock albums focuses on Rainbow’s 1978 release Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll, a pivotal album within the band’s roster.

Upon its release in April 1978 Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll fans considered it a more commercial album than the previous two releases with indications that band leader Ritchie Blackmore was trying to steer the music towards obtaining greater commercial recognition within the world’s biggest record market; America.

Having recorded the previous two albums in a combined period of barely over a month, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow’s third studio album took almost a year to make. Recorded at the Strawberry Studios in the haunted Chateau d’Herouville near Paris, it was the last album to feature singer Ronnie James Dio, and saw the band struggle to cope with in-wranglings, sackings, sudden departures and intervention from the spiritual world!

Along with recollections from the band and crew, Ritchie Blackmore biographer Jerry Bloom details the full story behind the making of this ‘landmark’ album that included the classic songs Kill The King, Gates Of Babylon and Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll.

With Blackmore steering Rainbow towards a much more commercial approach with the albums that followed, to many fans Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll was the last Rainbow record to truly represent the style that the band originally set out to produce, with its blend of renaissance inspired chord progressions, and mystical, and medieval inspired lyrics. Includes a track by track analysis, selected discography & 8-page colour section, all combined in a ‘CD size’ book designed to sit on your shelf, alongside the album as its perfect companion.

An essential read for all fans of Rainbow and classic rock music in general.

Rainbow’s Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll Story by Jerry Bloom
Wymer Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9557542-2-7
Format: paperback (125x140mm), 64 pp
Price: £7.99
Publication date: 5th June 2009
Category: Non-fiction

The book can be ordered directly from the publisher.

Thanks to Dima Zykov and Wymer Publishing for the info.

Monday night’s ChildLine Rocks charity show in London (June 1) is to be released on a socalled Instant Live CD.

The 3CD set will feature Jon Lord, Glenn Hughes, Uriah Heep, Thunder and more on a limited edition release with 2 audio CDs and a photo disc with exclusive photos from the night’s performances.

The cost is £20, and all profits go directly to ChildLine – a free, 24-hour helpline for children in distress or danger in the UK.

Order your Instant Live ChildLine Rocks CD.

As the Whitesnake’s 2009 tour kicked off in Norway, the local public broadcaster NRK has published an interview they did with David Coverdale:

OSE: On our weekly radio show «Radio Rock», the one song by Deep Purple people want to hear over and over again, is «Soldier Of Fortune».

COVERDALE: Yeah, there’s an interesting story to that song. Ritchie and I really enjoyed the song. But the musicians in Deep Purple were very reluctant. They didn’t buy the song at all. So Ritchie and I made a demo to present the idea. With just the two of us standing there, performing the song, they didn’t get it. So we made a demo, and they went: «Oh, OK. Let’s do it.» But that was something that was very difficult for Ritchie. He said: «That’s the last time we’re ever gonna do anything like that». And I think that was the big seed of him wanting to leave. I love the song, and it’s another one that’s developed a life of its own.

Read the interview at NRK.no.

Thanks to Roy Hilmar Svendsen for the info.

Dream Theater are releasing their new studio album called Black Clouds & Silver Linings on June 23. The special edition of the album will include a bonus CD of covers, with Rainbow’s Stargazer and Dixie Dregs’ Odyssey among them.

Drummer Mike Portnoy talks about the decision to cover Rainbow:

The album is given an elaborate promotional campaign treatment by the Roadrunner Records, during which tracks are being released for online download via iTunes to build anticipation in advance of release date. Stargazer was released for download (US only) on May 19th.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson and DreamTheater.net for the info.

Ian Gillan will appear on the Classic Metal Show as a call-in guest tonight, May 23, at 9:40 pm EDT. He will talk about One Eye To Morocco as well as his history with Purple and Sabbath. Other call-in guests will include Mr. Big members Paul Gilbert (guitars) and Billy Sheehan (bass).

The Classic Metal Show airs live on Saturdays between 9:00 pm and 3:00 am EST via www.cmsradio.net.

We apologize for the short notice. Hope this time the phones will work.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Steve Morse is doing a series of guitar clinics at the Gutar Center stores in the US. The clinics are sponsored by Ernie Ball / Music Man and are dedicated to their 25th anniversary. The first clinic is on May 25 in Orlando, where Steve will be joined by Dave LaRue. The rest of the mini-tour will be Morse and Lukather. Full details in our Purple Calendar.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

EMI is releasing a 20th Anniversary Edition of Whitesnake’s Slip of the Tongue album with audio and video bonuses. There’s no word yet on whether anything is remastered. The release dates are set for:
June 5th — Germany
June 8th — UK
June 8th — France (CD only, no DVD)
We have no information on release dates in other territories.

• CD / DVD edition features deluxe packaging with 24 page booklet with rare and unpublished photos, and archive memorabilia
• includes six bonus tracks including rare b-sides and alternative mixes, plus two previously unreleased live tracks from Castle Donington 1990
• 2,500 word liner note written by frontman David Coverdale
• brand new artwork designed in conjunction with Coverdale
• seven of the eight video clips are available on DVD for the first time, including two previously unreleased tracks from the band’s headline appearance at Castle Donington

Disc One (CD Audio):

1. Slip Of The Tongue
2. Judgement Day
3. Fool For Your Loving
4. Now You’re Gone
5. Kitten’s Got Claws
6. Cheap & Nasty
7. The Deeper The Love
8. Slow Poke Music
9. Wings Of The Storm
10. Sailing Ships

Bonus Tracks:

11. Sweet Lady Luck (B side)
12. Now You’re Gone (US Single Remix)
13. Fool For Your Loving (Vai Voltage Mix)
14. Judgement Day (Live…In The Shadow of The Blues)
15. Slip Of The Tongue (Live at The Monsters Of Rock, Castle Donington 1990 — previously unreleased)
16. Kitten’s Got Claws (Live at The Monsters Of Rock, Castle Donington 1990 — previously unreleased)

Disc Two (DVD Video):

1. Fool For Your Loving ’89 (promo video)
2. Now You’re Gone (promo video)
3. The Deeper The Love (promo video)
4. The Deeper The Love (live acoustic in Japan, from Starkers In Tokyo)
5. Sailing Ships (live acoustic in Japan, from Starkers In Tokyo)
6. Judgement Day (Live…In The Still Of The Night)
7. Slip Of the Tongue (Live at The Monsters Of Rock, Castle Donington 1990 — previously unreleased)
8. Kitten’s Got Claws (Live at The Monsters Of Rock, Castle Donington 1990 — previously (unreleased)

These details above are from the official press release, so take them with a grain of salt.

This release has the potential of propelling Whitesnake once again into the charts. At the time of this writing (May 21), based on preorders only, it is listed at #53 in Music / Hard Rock & Metal category at the Amazon UK.

Buy it from Amazon:

This Wednesday morning Jon Lord will talk to TotalRock radio in London in an interview with Malcolm Dome. You can listen online from anywhere.

Jon Lord will appear on Malcolm Dome’s Phantasmagoria between 10am and 12am, chatting about his music and his appearance on ChildLine Rocks.

You can listen live online via Total Rock’s website (top banner).