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The latest… whatever it is
Ritchie Blackmore becomes a grumpy old man and complains about modern times from his basement. Continue Reading »
Congratulations to Dr. Don
Don Airey has received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Sunderland. The ceremony was held at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on Wednesday, 27 November 2024, where he was joined by friends and family. Don thus joins the ranks of the academic community within the band. Continue Reading »
Forever stalker
Joe Lynn Turner has a couple of collaboration tracks out.
Continue Reading »
All the bogus you can eat
Everything you wanted to know about the infamous bogus Deep Purple 1980 tour and then some can be found on a website dedicated to the debacle. Lots of quotes, pictures, reports from the press and duped fans who were actually there, etc, etc. Nice of them to acknowledge our own coverage of the events from the early days of our site. Continue Reading »
A nightmare of epic proportions
Music Radar has a feature on how Whitesnake turned into a hair metal band, in the process nearly running itself into the ground. It is based on a 2021 DC’s interview with the Outlaw magazine.
It was one of the biggest rock albums of the ’80s. Whitesnake’s 1987 – titled simply Whitesnake in America – was a multi-million selling blockbuster that yielded a US number one hit with the anthem Here I Go Again. But as the band’s leader and frontman David Coverdale revealed, the making of this album was a nightmare of epic proportions.
At one point, Coverdale was struggling with an acute sinus infection and fearing that his career as a singer might end. As recording was delayed, he was warned that he was $3m in debt to his label Geffen Records. And before the album was completed, guitarist John Sykes was dismissed after allegedly suggesting that if Coverdale lost his voice, Whitesnake should continue with a different singer – a proposition as ridiculous as it was mutinous.
“It was,” Coverdale said, “a very troubling time in my life.”
Continue reading in Music Radar.
Jon turned it down, so…
Louder Sound reprints a Prog magazine short feature on the Butterfly Ball project, stemming from a 2018 interview with Roger Glover.
In 1973, Alan Aldridge and William Plomer published a picture book titled The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper’s Feast, based on a 19th-century poem of the same name by William Roscoe.
On the surface, it seemed unlikely to stir any conceptual inspiration from a former Deep Purple member – but, as Roger Glover recalls, it did just that.
“I’d seen a four- or five-page feature in the colour supplement of a Sunday newspaper, and I thought then it looked a bit lively,” he says. “Then in 1973, after I had left Purple, I went into our management’s office one day and saw the book on a table there. And at that point I was asked if I fancied doing an album based on it.”
Continue reading in Louder Sound.
For the sake of completeness
Over the years, we’ve announced a multitude of side projects and guest appearances for the various members of the Purple family. Quite inevitably, we’ve missed a few. Here they are, at least some of them. The last number in parentheses refers to the number of tracks the corresponding musician appears on, whenever known.
Don Airey:
- Robin George: Asia 2: The Marquee London live ’86 (digital download) (2021)
- Kristy Frank: Freedom (2006)
Glenn Hughes:
- Eric Church: 61 days in church (recorded live on 5/April/2017) (21/4/18) (1 track)
- Eric Church: 61 days in church (idem) (2019 digital download) (1)
- Hawkestrel: SpaceXmas (2020) (1)
Joe Lynn Turner:
- The Way: Frequency of spirit (2005)
- VA: It’s so easy: A millennium tribute to Guns n` Roses (2005) (1)
- VA: Lick it up: A millennium tribute to Kiss (2008) (1)
- The Prog Collective: Worlds on hold (2021) (1)
Steve Morse:
- The Fusion Syndicate: Beautiful horizon (2023)
There are also some Satriani entries on the list, but since we’ve never opened that particular kettle of fish, it’s probably not the time to start now.
Thanks to Jose ‘no stone left unturned’ Galvan for the info.
Living the Blues
Saxophone player Terry Marshall (of the Marshall amplifiers fame) has released his first album Living the Blues on October 11, 2024, via Marshall Records. Besides working alongside his father Jim, Terry became an accomplished session player, but up until now never got around to recording under his own name.
Nick Simper plays bass on the record, that’s how we heard about the project.
Other musicians include:
Krissy Matthews – Guitar, Vocals
Alice Armstrong – Vocals
Robert Hokum – Guitar
Paul Gordon White – Drums
Emma Wilson – Vocals
Peter Parks – Guitar
Paul Long – Organ
Kev Hickman – Drums
Zoe Schwarz – Vocals
Hugh Budden – Harmonica, Vocals
Robin Bibi – Vocals, Guitar
Laurence Jones – Guitar
Oliver Brightman – Guitar
Track listing:
- Hoochie Coochie Man
- Phone Booth
- Voodoo Woman
- Worried Dreams
- I Got All You Need
- Help Me
- Dr Feelgood
- Long Grey Mare
- Me and my Gin
- I’m Ready
- Smokestack Lightning
Review: Rock and Blues Muse.
The album can be ordered and streamed via this link.
Thanks to Arch and Uwe Gerecke for the info.
The well dressed necklace
A jewellery artist Katya Arts presents the Steve Morse collection of unique handmade pieces crafted from sterling silver and guitar strings.
I started making silver jewelry because I got inspired by a Deep Purple song, composed and played by guitarist Steve Morse. The first piece I made was a silver dreamcatcher with the inscription ”The Aviator”, the name of that song. It was followed by other pieces inspired by Native American style and it felt natural to add strings played in concert by a favorite rock star.
Should you wonder, the strings I get from Steve these days, he sends me personally (before I got them handed over to me backstage with Deep Purple).
Check out the collection at KatyaArts.com.
Thanks to SteveMorse.com for the info.
Become a DJ down under
Mark O’Neill from Australia writes to us:
I do a national rock show on community radio and also 3 nights of programming on 94.7 The Pulse. I’m looking for someone to do a weekly Purple pre-recorded show.
The only prerequisite (besides the Purple knowledge) is fluent English. Interested parties are advised to contact Mark directly at raisedonrock@gmail.com.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing