Roger Glover got in touch and asked us to post this message on the passing of Dan McCafferty:

The news that Dan has died hits hard. A friend of over fifty years, we shared many a tour and much studio time. With his mischievous smile and, endowed with a unique voice of grit and whisky, he came across as a tough character, which belied his gentle heart. He will be missed by his family, friends, and fans. His indelible contribution as Nazareth’s lead singer will live on. But now dear friend, may you rest in peace.

Roger Glover
November 2022

Thanks to Martin for the facilitation.

Ian Paice’s Drumtribe resumes (hopefully) regular programming after a touring break with a studio drum cam of Après Vous off Now What?! Continue Reading »

Cherry Red records in the UK (which apparently is now the home of Purple Records imprint) is releasing a 6CD Trapeze box set on February 24, 2023. The set consists of the first three Trapeze albums circa 1970-72, recorded for the Threshold label, a previously unreleased 1973 live set recorded in Dallas, Texas, along with the London Borderline show from 1992.

There is no word if the original albums are remastered in any way.

Track Listing:

DISC ONE
TRAPEZE (1970)

1. It’s Only A Dream
2. The Giant’s Dead Hoorah!
3. Over
4. Nancy Gray
5. Medley: Fairytale/Verily Verily/Fairytale
6. It’s My Life
7. Am I
8. Suicide
9. Wings
10. Another Day
11. Send Me No More Letters
12. It’s Only A Dream

DISC TWO
MEDUSA (1970)

1. Black Cloud
2. Jury
3. Your Love Is Alright
4. Touch My Life
5. Seafull
6. Makes You Wanna Cry
7. Medusa

DISC THREE
YOU ARE THE MUSIC… WE’RE JUST THE BAND (1972)

1. Keepin’ Time
2. Coast To Coast
3. What Is A Woman’s Role
4. Way Back To The Bone
5. Feelin’ So Much Better Now
6. Will Our Love End
7. Loser
8. You Are The Music

DISC FOUR
LIVE IN DALLAS – PART 1 (1973)
Recorded live at the Majestic Theatre, Dallas, Texas, USA, 27th April 1973
Previously Unreleased

1. Way Back To The Bone
2. You Are The Music
3. Jury
4. Seafull
5. Your Love Is Alright

DISC FIVE
LIVE IN DALLAS – PART 2 (1973)

1. Medusa
2. Black Cloud
3. Keepin’ Time
4. Touch My Life

DISC SIX
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD – LIVE (1992)
Recorded live at The Borderline, London, 16th May 1992

1. You Are The Music
2. Way Back To The Bone
3. Welcome To The Real World
4. Coast To Coast
5. Midnight Flyer
6. Homeland
7. Touch My Life
8. Your Love Is Alright
9. Black Cloud

The set can be pre-ordered directly from the label for a rather reasonable sum of £30.99 + shipping.

Thanks to our editor emeritus Benny Holmström for the info.

We have announced the 50th anniversary of Made in Japan and associated commemorative events taking place in the country. Our Japanese correspondent went to one of those and reports.

Legend of Rock – Deep Purple Mark 2 50th anniversary of Made in Japan

Date: November 5, 2022
Venue: EX Theater Roppongi (Tokyo)
Performer: Deep Purple Mark 2 tribute band
Vocals: Ray (Blindman)
Lead guitar: Norifumi Shima (Concerto Moon)
Bass guitar: Leo Kiyoshi Utsunomiya (Oil/Jesus/Cloud Forest)
Keyboard: Jill Okagaki (Terra Rosa/Aphrodite)
Drums: Hirotsugu Honma (Naked Machine, Flatbacker, Ezo)

I thoroughly enjoyed the commemoration event of Deep Purple’s 50th anniversary of Made in Japan this past weekend in Tokyo. The band was specially put together from musicians who have performed in various bands for a long time in the hard rock scene in Japan. So this was not a band that performs regularly as a Deep Purple tribute band. The musicians performed with great respect, energy, and precision, all the way from the guitar, keyboard, drum solos to the MC and great vocals of Ian Gillan.

The songs were played as performed in the Budokan on August 17, 1972. Here is the setlist:

Highway Star
Smoke on the Water
Child in Time
The Mule
Strange Kind of Woman
Lazy
Space Truckin’
(encore)
Black Night
Speed King

Before the concert started, the theater manager, who is also a great Deep Purple fan, revealed some interesting facts about the 1972 Japan tour.

Apparently, the tour was originally scheduled for May 1972, but was delayed to August due to Ritchie’s health situation. The manager showed the original ticket from the show. I was too far to observe the detail, but he explained that the ticket had the original May date, which was struck out with a black pen and the August date was printed later.

The manager also explained that for the 2022 show, they tried as much as possible to get equipment from the original era. They also tried to recreate the original atmosphere with a replica of the 1972 Deep Purple logo on the backdrop, the sign in front of the stage, as well as the flag of Japan, which hung on the ceiling of the theater. (The Budokan was originally built as a martial arts stadium and always has the flag of Japan hung from the ceiling.) The vocalist also explained during the show that some of the equipment was provided by the fans. For example, the microphone he was using was the same model that was used by Ian Gillan. A fan acquired the microphone from some auction site. And two microphones were used, bound by a tape. The bass guitar was also the same model as the Rickenbacker that Roger used during the original show.

My husband’s friend was there for the 1972 show, and is always bragging that he is in the picture of the record jacket. My husband was invited to go together, but did not go, and regrets it to this very day. I also did not have the luck to be there in 1972, but I am very happy I went to the 2022 show.

review by Akemi Ono

A 25th anniversary edition of Blackmore’s Night’s Shadow of the Moon will come out on March 10, 2023, via Edel/earMusic. This edition has been remixed and remastered from the original multitrack tapes. It will come out in the usual multitude of formats, from CD+DVD digipak at €19, to a €105 super deluxe package that includes CD+DVD digipak, 2LP gatefold vinyl, 7″ single, documentary DVD, replica of the Japanese tour book, replica of the tour poster, and replica of the 1997 tour t-shirt. The 2LP colour choices include black, clear, and yellow/black marble. The album can be pre-ordered via this link.

A lyric video for the title track has been released to coincide with the announcement.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

The Aquarian has a report from the October 30 Blackmore’s Night gig at the Sony Hall in New York. And it was a disaster.

Many things went wrong at the concert, some very evident to the audience. A few songs into the performance, a fire alarm interrupted the performance several times. The musicians repeatedly asked for the blinding stage lights to be dimmed. No one from the venue’s production crew solved the problems.

Less than an hour into the performance, with the issues not corrected, Blackmore left the stage. Night followed. The remaining musicians continued playing, eventually walking off the stage one by one, until only the drummer remained, and then he left also. After a few minutes of silence, a representative from the venue announced that the concert ended.

Read more in The Aquarian, including a statement from the band.

Thanks to Orhun Yakin for the heads up.

Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night were interviewed for their local paper Long Island Weekly, seemingly promoting their last album Nature’s Light that actually came out in March 2021.

The mood throughout the album is one of lightness and brings to mind tankards of ale being tossed back, peasant blouses, madrigals, and the kind of fanfare you might hear in the court of a Medieval king. With the current range of fantasy-flavored series like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power being all the rage, does the duo ever think their material might be a good fit?
“It is interesting because there are so many period pieces, whether it’s on television or films, that come out and do so well,” Night said. “The irony is that the only time one of our songs was used was in a Jim Carrey movie called Yes Man, and they used ‘Old Mill Inn’ at a party he was at.”

Blackmore added, “It’s funny, because I don’t follow that kind of thing. I’m more of a purist and want to be in the wood myself, hearing a piece of music written in the 1500s or 1600s. I’m a little bit of a musical snob. There’s only one film we saw—Elizabeth, where they actually played three real Renaissance songs played in the correct manner with the correct instruments. Candy and I were jumping up and down in our seats, at least I know I was. I was thrilled by the fact that they’d taken the chance to play it as it was supposed to be played. But it’s very seldom that you’ll hear these songs or melodies played in the correct manner.”

Read more in Long Island Weekly.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Our contributor Matthew Burbridge writes:

There’s a new app called Moises which uses AI to extract the various instruments from a mix. It is great for musicians to create a backing tracking by removing for example the guitar or vocals. They used a similar thing to extract the different instruments on The Beatles’ Revolver which was recorded using a 4 track and remixed it.

I have actually used it to separate the bass from Stargazer as it is really low in the mix, so I can re-mix it with more bass. However, I think the bass needs beefing up a bit, as on its own it sounds weak.

However, this chap has separated out the vox from 72 Highway Star and removed the vox from the video and then applied the 72 vox to the video. I have not listened to it all as IMHO it’s pointless: A fun exercise but why bother other than “because you can”.

We agree with the last sentiment — a transplant is still a transplant. That being said, we, as always, welcome our new robotic overlords.

Deep Purple live at Max-Schmeling-Halle (Berlin, Germany 2022-10-31)

Berlin. Always worth a trip. Especially when Deep Purple play in the Max Schmeling Halle. Apparently many other people saw it that way, too, as the large hall seemed almost sold out. The band was full of joy, the fans celebrated. When a brass section reinforced the boys and Ian Gillan intoned “Let the good times roll” as entertainer, the joy grew even greater. Well done, absolutely fantastic! Deep Purple — always worth a trip.

review by Tobias Janaschke

Another pioneer of rock’n’roll bites the dust — Jerry Lee Lewis has passed away at the age of 87 “from natural causes”. A very young British guitarist by the name of Ritchie Blackmore got his feet wet in Jerry Lee’s British touring band in the early 1960s. Continue Reading »