Regarding the possibility of Glenn Hughes supporting Whitesnake in Norway in May, Glenn’s webmaster says:

No, that isn’t happening. The media have got it wrong again, Glenn will NOT be on the bill for this particular festival. There will be some appearances with Come Taste The Band in 2009, as there were earlier this year, but not at this festival.

Thanks to John H for the info.

Yesterday I saw Whitesnake in Stocholm! It was just great. I saw Whitesnake at Sweden Rock this summer, and the sound wasn’t the greatest and there were no Purple songs. David had just had a cold; he was good but not at his best. But this time he was doing much better and entertained the audience as always. He played lots of songs from the new album (namely 4) and then most of the old Whitesnake classics.

The sound was good, but a bit too screechy for me. Perhaps they should get a better sound guy. But anyway, the acoustic part of the set was just fantastic. Three acoustic songs were played The Deeper the Love, Ain’t Gonna Cry no More and Soldier of Fortune. I have filmed parts of them all, see the youtube links below.

Doug and Reb and the rest of the band were great as great as always, and the semi-new drummer got the croud going as well during his long solo! But of course Here I Go Again, Is This Love and Ain’t no Love in the Heart of the City and Still of the Night were the most popular ones as always.

David’s voice was very good; of course not as good, but as before, but it’s been 35 years since he joined Purple as he said! For those of you who still believe that he has lost his voice, I especially encourage you to watch some of the videos I took at Hovet! Especially the acoustic ones! They are in very good quality – watch in high quality!

Soldier of fortune

Burn/Stormbringer/Burn

Ain’t gonna cry no more

Fool for your loving (only 19 sec)

The deeper the love

Wednesday morning December 24th at 8:15 am (US Central Time), Greg Prato will be a special call in guest on KKMA KOOL 99.5 FM in Sioux City, Iowa with Big Daddy in The Morning. Greg will be joined in the studio by Johnnie Bolin. Greg will be discussing his new book Touched By Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story. Immediately following Greg, Big Daddy will have as special call in guest Stan Sheldon (Peter Frampton Band & Frampton Comes Alive). Stan will be reflecting on his days with Tommy & Bobby Berge in Energy.

You can listen to the KKMA broadcasts online at their website.

Thanks to Trace Keane for the info.

Roger Glover has posted an end-of-the-year message on his website, plus some photographic moments from 2008 and a new batch of fan pictures from meet&greets around the world.

Of particular note, he has been digging his tape archives in search of bonus material for a Perfect Strangers reissue planned for the next year. That’s right, folks, the reunion turns 25 in 2009.

EMI has pushed back to February release date for the Stormbringer remaster. The release was already announced for January 19 and is advertised so at online retailers. The new date that we have is February 23.

There will be 3 packages: a CD+DVD (CD with original album + Glenn Hughes remixes), DVD (audio only, quadraphonic mix), and a 2LP (with original mixes on LP1 and bonuse tracks on LP2). Simon Robinson was involved in the release, so DPAS has artwork details on their site.

You can preorder CD+DVD from Amazon:

And the 2LP vinyl package:

CD Track list:

1. Stormbringer
2. Love Don’t Mean a Thing
3. Holy Man
4. Hold On
5. Lady Double Dealer
6. You Can’t Do It Right
7. High Ball Shooter
8. The Gypsy
9. Soldier of Fortune

Bonus Tracks:
10. Holy Man (Glenn Hughes remix)
11. You Can’t Do It Right (Glenn Hughes remix)
12. Love Don’t Mean a Thing (Glenn Hughes remix)
13. Hold On (Glenn Hughes remix)
14. High Ball Shooter (instrumental) (from Listen Learn Read On Box Set)

DVD

The DVD contains two versions of the album: an original quadraphonic mix in 5.1 (or rather 4.1, we are not sure yet) DTS 96/24 and the same quadraphonic tracks mixed down to stereo 2.0 48/24 with on screen images.

2LP Track list:

Side 1 (remasters)
Stormbringer 4.03
Love Don’t Mean A Thing 4.24
Holy Man 4.37
Hold On 5.08

Side 2 (remasters)
Lady Double Dealer 3.17
You Can’t Do It Right 3.25
High Ball Shooter 4.24
The Gypsy 4.10
Soldier Of Fortune 3.12

Side 3 (remixes)
Holy Man 4.38
You Can’t Do It Right 3.53
Love Don’t Mean A Thing 5.21
Hold On 5.23

Side 4
High Ball Shooter (instrumental) 4.30
High Ball Shooter (quad) 4.24
You Can’t Do It Right (quad) 3.25
Soldier Of Fortune (quad) 3.12.

Thanks to Rob Slegtenhorst and Gert Gliniorz for the info.

A slightly squeezed Big Ian gives update on his solo album and wishes everybody Merry Christmas:

Thanks to Steve Campbell for the info.

Envision Radio Networks’ Chop Shop Guitar Show has announced The Chop Shop’s Top 100 Most Complete Guitar Players of All Time. Yes, yet another top list. You have every right to be sceptical, but this one at least makes an attempt of being quasi-objective.

Each guitarist was ranked by a five member panel of “industry insider” experts in the following categories: technical ability, soul and emotion, influence on the music and guitar industries, song writing, live experience, sales, signature sound and longevity. There are 3 video clips on Chop Shop’s website trying to explain the rating process.

Blackmore scored 72.61 points, which gave him a quite respectable place in top 20. Joe Satriani is at #24 with 69.71. Tommy Bolin and Steve Morse didn’t make to top 100. Other distant relatives of the family spotted on the list are Steve Vai (#7), Tony Iommi (#12), Yngwie Malmsteen (#55), Gary Moore (#62), Warren Haynes (#77-78), John Sykes (#89) and Vivian Campbell (#90).

Here’s the top 20 (you can see top 100 here)

1. Jimmy Page 87.94
2. Jimi Hendrix 84.92
3. Eddie Van Halen 84.81
4. David Gilmour 82.72
5. Keith Richards 82.48
6. Pete Townshend 80.66
7. Steve Vai 79.74
8. Les Paul 78.61
9. Angus Young 78.56
10. Jeff Beck 77.77
11. Stevie Ray Vaughan 75.86
12. Tony Iommi 74.67
13. Eric Clapton 74.62
14. James Hetfield 73.62
15. Ritchie Blackmore 72.61
16. Slash 71.60
17. Frank Zappa 71.57
18. George Harrison 71.49
19. Randy Rhoads 70.89
20. Ted Nugent 70.83

Thanks to Brave World for the info.

Local media in Norway reports that Whitesnake is announced to play the Rock Fæst in Halden on May 22. What’s more interesting, they will be supported by Glenn Hughes and the Come Taste The Band tribute band.

A couple of weeks ago Glenn offered this caustic comment in his Twitter blog on the possibility of supporting his former bandmates:

Dear me…a promoter in Sweden wanted me on the same bill as Purple, but they said no…like I have said B4 move over Rover, G’s takin over

Glenn performing Sail Away with Come Taste The Band at the Skaanevik Bluesfestival on July 3, 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqXj9Csef-4

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story is the new book written and published by Greg Prato.

To many, Tommy Bolin was the legitimate heir to Jimi Hendrix’s rock guitar throne. Stints with the James Gang and Deep Purple –- as well as solo albums and a groundbreaking release with jazz-rocker Billy Cobham –- certainly proved that the adulation was rightly deserved. And with a techno-color fashion sense, he certainly stood out from the pack. Only one problem, Tommy had a death-defying drug addiction, which ultimately would lead to a premature and tragic end – before he was able to truly take his standing among the elite musicians of the world. ‘Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story’ is the first book to focus entirely on the life story of Tommy Bolin – compiled from nearly 50 exclusive interviews (including family, friends, and band members that played alongside Tommy throughout the years).

“After reading ‘Touched by Magic,’ it seemed to me every interview ‘takes you there’ for the moment…I give 105 stars to Greg!” -Johnnie Bolin, Tommy’s brother

The book is available through lulu.com, where you can sample a chapter (conveniently for our readers, the chapter is about Tommy joining Purple and recording Come Taste The Band and Teaser). If the sample is any indication, the book does not have written narration, but is purely a compilation of quotes from the interviews arranged to form a more or less cohesive story line. It’s a rather unusual technique for a book, but it seems to work once you have sufficient background into what’s happening (which majority of Purple fans should already have). But I wouldn’t recommend it as an introductory Bolin’s biography.

Greg Prato will be a guest on the Stormin’ Norman show on Kansas City radio KKFI 90.1 FM on Monday, December 22. They will be discussing the book. Immediately following Greg, there will be special call in guest John Bartle, who shared friendship with Bolin. John will be discussing his memories of Tommy, the new book, and a whole lot more. The show starts at 7 am central time.

Thanks to Blabbermouth and Trace for the info.

Music Week reports that EMI is seriously considering closing down it’s Olympic Studios in London and to that effect entered into a “consultation process” with the staff of 11. It is understood that the studio is not profitable. This means that EMI could be left with only one operational studio — Abbey Road.

Olympic Studios have been at it’s present location in London suburb of Barnes since 1966 and have seen a lot of outstanding recording artists — Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Procol Harum, Ten Years After, Roger Waters, Queen, Roxy Music, Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Paul McCartney, INXS, Bjork, Oasis. The list goes on and on…

As far as the Purple family goes, the original album version of Jesus Christ Superstar was recorded there. Olympic also gets a credit on Fireball (along with De Lane Lea).

Thanks to Brave Worlds for the info.