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Alabama 3 covers SOTW

British band Alabama 3 has a cover of Smoke On The Water posted on their web site (Flash plugin required). Strictly speaking, it’s not really a cover, it’s a new song with new lyrics and melody, with the familiar riff featuring throughout. The track is for their new album, which according to their manifesto

will be created and disseminated without interference from labels, shops, manufacturers or distributors — a virus transmitted directly to the people

Three tracks are posted on their web site each month with the fans being invited to vote for the one that makes it on the album.

To the wider audience, Alabama 3 might be better known for their track Woke Up This Morning, which opened every episode of The Sopranos for many years. Don’t expect any hard rawk in there either.

Thanks to Kevin Dixon for the info.

Posted in Blog by Nick on 2009-04-14
2 Comments

“Hello, I used to be Jon Lord”

Back in February 2008 Jon Lord did two shows in Hagen, Germany. This interview was apparently recorded at around the same time. “The Older Statesman of Rock” talks about music:
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Posted in News by Nick on 2009-04-14
3 Comments

Rocking in the high school

Those of you who follow our weird covers semi-permanent section, have seen many a weird thing 😉 . But a high school brass band doing Purple medley must be a first. Lots of Japanese girls (that rule) playing music we all love and this time they don’t hide their faces:
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Posted in Blog by Nick on 2009-04-12
19 Comments

Gillan off the record

Ian Gillan, One Eye To Morocco promo photo; image courtesy of Jess! PR.

Ian Gillan will appear on Off The Record with Joe Benson radio show tonight, April 12, at 11 p.m. Eastern Time. The show is syndicated and is carried by many radio stations across USA and Canada, some of which also broadcast online.

We apologise for such short notice.

Thanks to Sean Willoughby for the info.

Posted in News by Nick on 2009-04-12
4 Comments

Member of the family and other stories

There’s been a number of updates on Caramba!

  • A new Caramba TV special, in which Gillan introduces a member of his family:
  • A new wordography: Better Days from One Eye to Morocco. Big Ian promises to make this into a steady stream of the Moroccan lyrics’ wordographies.
  • A new photosession (looks like Morocco too).
  • A new batch of Q&A: Questions I would like to ask myself.

Thanks to Steve Campbell for the info.

Posted in News by Nick on 2009-04-12
4 Comments

No lotion for that

Gillan’s March 18 appearance on the Belgian TV show also included a live performance of No lotion for that with the house band:
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Posted in Blog by Nick on 2009-04-12
7 Comments

Italian tickets go on sale

Sao Paulo 2009 by Pedro Abib Cristales 1

TicketOne.it has announced five December dates in Italy:

Dec 10: Palaonda, Bolzano
Dec 12: PalaLottomatica, Rome
Dec 14: PalaEvangelisti, Perugia
Dec 15: Paladozza, Bologna
Dec 16: Mediolanum Forum, Milan

As far as we can understand the original announcement, tickets go on sale tomorrow, April 8. Please note that these dates have not yet been confirmed by the Deep Purple management.

Posted in News by Nick on 2009-04-07
1 Comment

Metallica praises Deep Purple

In case you have not seen this in your morning newspaper, Metallica has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. James Hetfield started his acceptance speech with a list of bands which where important influences implying (to a wildly cheering crowd) they should have been inducted:

We have a small list that we’d like to put some nods out and maybe plant a little seed. To band called Deep Purple… Thin Lizzy, Rush, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Iron Maiden, Motorhead… who we would love to invite through the door now.

Hetfield’s speech starts at around 4:30 into the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jz96Ry4pUg

RnR Hall of Fame selection process has been a source of controversy for many years as it is run by a closed committee which pays no attention to the input from the fans. The Sex Pistols, inducted in 2006, refused to attend the ceremony, saying “You’re anonymous as judges, but you’re still music industry people. We’re not coming. You’re not paying attention.”

Thanks to 411mania.com for the info.

UPDATE (Apr 12): Hetfield’s selection of musicians that deserve induction was actually a summary of band members’ opinions. At the press conference announcing their induction earlier this year, the members of Metallica each named a band they’d like to see inducted and why, It comes as no surprise that Deep Purple were Lars Ulrich’s choice.

James Hetfield:

Motorhead. Lemmy is rock and roll.

Lars Ulrich:

I’d say Deep Purple. If you say Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, you also have to say Deep Purple. They come as a threesome.

Kirk Hammett:

I would have to say Rush. I think they’re a great band who took rock to a different level altogether in terms of like songwriting and technical proficiency, and I believe that they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Rob Trujillo:

I mean, I love UFO, I know Kirk’s a huge fan of UFO too, and a band like that, you know, should be recognized, and hopefully someday will be.

Thanks to The Rock Radio for the info.

Posted in News by Nick on 2009-04-06
16 Comments

Gypsy heart in Bregenz

Deep Purple normally don’t do soundchecks. The class of all the musicians allows them not to. They do not need to rehearse every day, and they trust their roadies to set up the equipment right. They only rehearse occasionally — after a long break in the touring, when there are significant changes in the setlist, or in other unusual circumstances. Most of the time such rehearsals are held behind closed doors, although occasionally we are able to have a peek. One such occasion was at the Paris Olympia in 1996, where the band rehearsed for about an hour during the day with the brass section and the rehearsal was bootlegged. Another occasion happened in 1993 when the band were rehearsing before the start of The Battle Rages On tour in Bregenz, Austria. A TV crew were allowed to film behind the closed doors there. Bits and pieces of that footage have appeared since then, but here are 3 complete tracks:

Anya:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NlER2aTTUg

The Battle Rages On:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH4KUq9dYG4

A Twist In The Tail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6nmFCf-X0c

Thanks to the YouTube uploaders and to Daniel Bengtsson and dynamomoskva for bringing it to your attention.

Posted in Blog by Nick on 2009-04-06
4 Comments

Doing his thing

Ian Gillan, One Eye To Morocco promo photo

Ian Gillan appeared on Dutch Radio 2 to promote One Eye To Morocco. You can listen to the podcast at schiffers.fm (scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the audio player). The interview is about 16 minutes long and is actually quite interesting once it gets past the familiar bits about his new album.

Here you can also see the clip of him talking with the DJ about Child in Time and commenting on the Doing Their Thing video:

Thanks to Robert Daems and Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

Posted in News by Nick on 2009-04-06
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