The legendary Japanese concert promoter Seijiro Udo, widely known as ‘Mr. Udo’, has passed away at the age of 92. He was responsible for bringing Deep Purple to Japan for that historic tour in August 1972, and every subsequent visit of the band to that country.

His company UDO Artists issued the following statement:

It is with great sadness to announce that the Japanese Concert Promoter, Seijiro Udo a.k.a. Mr. Udo, passed away at 3:18 a.m. on Oct. 15 at the age of 92 due to senility.

He started his career in his early 20’s at Kyodo Kikaku and founded UDO Artists, Inc. in 1967. He was a pioneer in bringing Western music to Japan and had lived his life more than anything else to please music fans. He went on to bring hundreds of major international acts to Japan such as Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, KISS, Aerosmith, Santana, Jeff Beck, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, George Harrison, The Who, Van Halen, TOTO, and Bryan Adams to name a few, and held over 10,000 concerts in Japan.

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of you who have attended our many concerts and will continue to offer more concerts that will remain in hearts of music fans in the future, following the will of the deceased.

Thanks to BraveWords for the news, however sad they are.

In this latest instalment of QT with DC, David Coverdale talks about his choice of underwear, his favourite drink, and answers other important questions from the fans. Continue Reading »

German magazine ROCKS is running a feature on The Battle Rages On and subsequent tour as the cover story of their latest issue (2023/6). We are being told that the article is well written and illustrated, albeit does not contain anything we haven’t already learned from elsewhere.

The issue can be ordered through the publisher with worldwide delivery.

Thanks to Tobias Janaschke for the info.

David Coverdale appeared on The Totally 80s Podcast to talk about power ballads et cetera. Continue Reading »

A vintage interview with Roger Glover, originally published in an issue of New Musical Express from February 12, 1972. He talks about Gillan’s illness that cancelled the US tour towards the end of the previous year, recording a new album in Switzerland, how it compares to Fireball, financials of the band, and the creative process:

Why write most of your numbers actually in the Studio. Surely it must work out expensive.

“When we make an album we`ve got to be happy and relaxed, and if you`ve got hassles of getting equipment in from a rehearsal room, it doesn`t help. It`s worth the extra money we spend in studio time, just to be able to avoid the hassles.”

Is it always a joint group venture, writing a number?

“Officially it`s a five-way split when we write, but different people contribute different things to different songs. We know who wrote what, but I don`t think it`s apparent to the listener.
“For example, `Fireball` was written mainly by Richie, John and Ian. The basic ideas usually stem from Richie and myself.
“On the new album I got most of my ideas during the four weeks off, just because I was able to take time off and listen to some music and also drive around in my car and relax.
On the lyrics side, sometimes Ian Gillan will do them on his own, or we`ll get together. With one particular track on the new album, `Smoke on the water`, that particular phrase just came to me. My first thought was to write it myself as a folk song.
“I mentioned the idea to Ian, and no more was said until we came to write the lyrics of a song in the studio. So that`s how that number came about.”

Isn`t it annoying, for those of you who contribute more than others`, to still have this five-way-split on the songwriting side?

“Sometimes I feel I`d like more credit for some of the stuff I do, but the decision to split it five ways was made ages ago before “Deep Purple In Rock.”
That`s because our music is basically the result of a jam session. I think it avoids friction this way, though I can`t say it won`t in the future. As soon as money comes into it, people change. Some for the better – some for the worse.”

Read more in My Things – Music history for those who are able to read.

Thanks to Geir Myklebust for transcribing the interview, and to Uwe Hornung for bringing it to your attention.

Here’s a rendition of Highway Star like you’ve probably never heard before. Arranged for 4 acoustic guitars and played by the outfit known as 40 Fingers. Continue Reading »

Ian Gillan revisits his youth and picks for the Louder Sound eight songs that “set one of rock’s greatest frontmen on the path to glory”.

Chuck Berry – Rock And Roll Music (1957 single)

Chuck Berry was the first and the best. He’s the guy who wrote Roll Over Beethoven, who wrote No Particular Place To Go, Johnny B. Goode, Sweet Little Sixteen, Memphis, Tennessee… come on! And Rock And Roll Music, I mean, the lyrics here are so expressive of the time.

Chuck Berry was a maestro, the teacher for everyone in rock’n’roll. Over the years I’ve probably sung virtually every song that he ever recorded. One night in Germany he used Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover and Jon Lord as his backing group: he used to turn up without a band and just adopt the support act.

I’ve a recording of a live set he did with The Swinging Blue Jeans, in Hamburg, where every song starts fast and just gets faster: it was uncontrolled mayhem. Absolutely wonderful. They were three chord songs, but nobody could deliver them like Chuck. He’s one of the true greats.

Continue reading in Louder Sound.

Graham Bonnet and his bass player and life partner Beth-Ami Heavenstone recently appeared on the Disturbing The Priest podcast. Graham tells, amongst other things, a story of how his then lucrative career in commercial jingles was interrupted by a phone call from a French château.

It’s about an hour long, and you may have heard some of these stories before, but Graham always tells those stories with gusto that makes them enjoyable.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the heads-up.

David Coverdale has appeared on the October 11 episode of the Trunk Nation show on satellite radio. The show might eventually be posted as a podcast on Eddie Trunk’s website (we just don’t know when). In the meanwhile, here are some quotes of what he said regarding the state of Whitesnake after the forced tour cancellation last year:

There is still a Whitesnake and there are still offers coming. I can’t entertain anything (performing live) until I get my physical aspect together. I had a fall recently, which I don’t think helped my… I’ve got two torn rotator cuffs, which would certainly compromise my performance, but arthritis (and) all this kind of stuff’s kicking in. It’s so awful, getting older and having this burden of responsibility to try to be as good as you can so you don’t disappoint anybody. But I can’t commit to anything until I know how my health is. The last thing I wanna do is go on tour and have to do what happened last year, which was come home, tail between my legs. It was heartbreaking, and being sick for a year didn’t really help matters.

My heart goes out to Steven [Tyler] after the [recent AEROSMITH tour] cancellation. It’s so awful, getting older and having this burden of responsibility to try to be as good as you can, so you don’t disappoint anybody. And I know how he feels, and I sent my love to him through our friends, mutual friends.

Thanks to BraveWords and Blabbermouth for the transcriptions.

Rick Beato got his hands on a multitrack of Smoke on the Water and dissects it for his Youtube series What Makes This Song Great? Continue Reading »