Don Airey appeared in early April on the Hawaii Public Radio podcast Road Stories with Dave Lawrence to promote his latest solo album Pushed to the Edge, in the process delving into other corners of his illustrious career. The questions he was asked were rather interesting, so the conversation is not the same old, same old. Enjoy! Continue Reading »

Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night were inducted into the Long Island Music And Entertainment Hall Of Fame, with the ceremony that took place on May 13, 2025. It was a low-key affair with minimal glitz and glamour. Nevertheless, Ritchie decided not to show up, for one reason or another. Here is a video. A couple of congratulatory speeches, Candice performs a few tracks from her new solo album and a Blackmore’s Night staple Dandelion Wine, their daughter Autumn Esmeralda makes an appearance. Caveat: the whole thing is rather sugary sweet, so if that’s not exactly your cup of tea, you might want to abstain from watching it and complaining.

“Missing Blackmore” consolation prize — Blackmore’s Night performing Temple of the King (dedicated to Ronnie James Dio) in Phoenixville, PA, on April 24, 2025:

Thanks to Rob Teller Photography and wayne wellens for the videos, and to Blabbermouth for the heads-up.

Today, May 16, 2025 marks 15 years since Ronnie James Dio has passed away. Let us all raise a virtual glass in his memory. Continue Reading »

Guitar World has a short piece based around an interview with Clem Clempson about his experience of auditioning with Deep Purple as Ritchie Blackmore’s replacement for a nascent Mark 4.

Although I think everyone enjoyed the playing we did together, it was clear that they didn’t just need a guitar player to replace Ritchie; they needed someone who could also fill Ritchie’s role as the main songwriter in the group. I definitely didn’t see myself as being the right man for the job in that respect.

I believe Tommy [Bolin] had lots of songs which were exactly what the band needed. And his style was more akin to Ritchie’s than mine. I was never into heavy rock as such. For me, there’s a subtle difference between Humble Pie and bands like Zeppelin, Purple, and Black Sabbath.

One of the highlights was spending a very late night with Glenn Hughes and David Bowie. We wrote a song based on a riff I had, and made plans for a new band, the idea was to be Mahavishnu Orchestra with vocals.

Read more in Guitar World.

This is our review of the new book The Aviator: The Life and Music of Steve Morse by Adrian Jarvis, due out on May 16, 2025 via Wymer Publishing.

A few words about the author: Adrian Jarvis is a fan of the band and not a stranger to the topic at hand. His credentials include several Purple books — Chasing Shadows: The Search For Rod Evans (the early version was featured on our pages), Sculpting In Rock: Deep Purple 1968-70, and Infinite and Beyond: Deep Purple 1993-2022.

This Steve Morse biography is (to the best of our knowledge) the first undertaking of this kind. It covers Steve’s life from birth to about the Summer of 2024. Numerous side projects of Steve’s career get various levels of coverage, but mostly adequate. Curiously, the book about a quintessential American virtuoso, is written from a uniquely British point of view. It declares so right on the opening pages by comparing Steve in Deep Purple to pancakes and maple syrup with black pudding and fried egg.

The book is well researched and sourced (including a couple of references to the truly yours website), with numerous quotes, and direct input from protagonist’s collaborators Andy West, Rod Morgenstein, Colin Hart, Paul Mann, and Stephen Bentley-Klein.

It is not without factual inaccuracies that surely will rile up the nitpickers. It must be said that most of said inaccuracies are fairly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. For example, the “Machine Head tour” was certainly not “abandoned after a couple of so-so gigs”, but proceeded from coast to coast and was well sold and reviewed. Ah, and Ahmet Ertegün most certainly was not the chairman of Capitol Records.

Now onto the good things. The book is well written, at times bordering on waxing poetic, and is an engaging read. To quote the last paragraph of Chapter 7 that takes full advantage of the poetic license:

And perhaps that equilibrium could have been maintained, with Morse’s career carrying on in the same old way for the foreseeable — and maybe the unforeseeable — future. But a glass of water thrown thousands of miles away by someone he had never met, at someone else he had never met, was about to change everything forever.

The inevitable opinions are full of rather astute observations. This is how the author describes the status of the band circa the Now What?! release:

Deep Purple, as a band and as an institution, were noticeably entering that old rocker territory marked ‘uncriticisable.’ In other words, it was now generally recognised that their fans were going to buy what they were selling regardless of its quality and the likelihood of the fan base growing or contracting was so low that it was frankly pointless to be too negative about it all. They were what they were.

All in all, we can recommend the book. We are pretty positive you’ll learn something, or, at the very least, enjoy reading it. It is being published in paperback, and a Kindle edition is also available through your nearest Amazon.

The band Primus did a series on YouTube where they auditioned new drummers for the band. There were a couple of DP family references and I have edited them together for your pleasure.

Back in 2023 David Coverdale has appeared on the Rock Of Nations podcast, and the resulting conversation was published in two parts. We have reported the first part, but the second one fell through the cracks. Here it is. Continue Reading »

Couple of letters from the trainspotting desk of our Department of Silly Little Things.

Deep Purple got a mention on BBC Radio 4 show The Unbelievable Truth. The premise of the show is guest comedians trying to smuggle truths past their opponents. The opponents have to spot the truth among the lies. In series 31 episode 4 the ruse presented was that Deep Purple were sued for the riff of Smoke (which, as we all know, has a grain of plausibility in it). The episode in question was aired on May 5, 2025, and is available for replay for 28 days after that.

Meanwhile, earlier this month in Nashville, Tennessee, Metallica was having fun (it lasts only for a few bars):

Thanks to Mad Hatter and Gary Poronovich for the heads-up.

BraveWords reviews the Graham Bonnet Band show at the Landis Theater in Vineland, NJ, on May 10, 2025.

Tonight was the last night of a short US run. In addition to the music, Bonnet proved to be a good storyteller, often with a dose of self-deprecating humor, relating tales about certain songs and/or his time with other bands. Despite complaints about his hearing and eyesight, at 77, he looks to be in good health (his voice is!). The silver hair is combed back, no longer in the customary flattop. Nor is he wearing a suitcoat, but the tie is still there, along with orange canvas sneakers. While he fakes robotic motions, he mainly stays center stage, between two wedge monitors, but plays off paramour/bassist Heavenstone and engages in horseplay with the guitarist.

Read more in BraveWords.

[Update May 15]: here’s another GBB review with pictures, this time from a gig in New Bedford, MA on May 9, 2025.

Joe Lynn Turner has recorded a track for the upcoming tribute album from Cleopatra Records called Yacht Metal — Yacht Rock Goes Heavier & Louder. It is a cover of Ride Captain Ride, originally by Blues Image. The track is now available as a single.

It was 1970 and ‘Ride Captain Ride’ was the big song…it went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart but was forever engraved in our lives. I played it in my cover band a thousand times.

It was a real joy to do a new version for Cleopatra…a fun tune with a positive message…hope you enjoy it as much as I still do!

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.