Louder Sound is reposting an interview with Glenn Hughes, first published in 2020.

Flying away from the site of the California Jam, Glenn Hughes only twigged that he wasn’t actually under arrest when the ‘policewoman’ sharing his helicopter took off her hat, shook her hair loose and knelt down to unzip his white satin trousers.

Perhaps if he hadn’t been up all night partying with Ozzy Osbourne, or wasn’t still buzzing after performing in front of 400,000 festival goers, Deep Purple’s 21-year-old vocalist/bassist might have realised that his German tour manager Ossy Hoppe was taking the piss when he solemnly informed him that the local police had been handed film footage of Hughes snorting coke behind the amps during the quintet’s co-headlining show on the evening of April 6, 1974 and wanted to have a word with the young Englishman. As it was, the prank “scared the crap” out of Hughes, so much so, in fact, that he politely declined the offer of fellatio from his mischievous airborne travelling companion.

“I was too freaked out to do anything,” he recalls, ruefully. “Looking back, I wish I could have helped her out.”

Dressed in black, and sporting tinted sunglasses, a pashmina scarf and two fistfuls of chunky rings, we join Hughes today in an upscale boutique hotel in Cambridge. The Voice Of Rock, arguably the greatest British rock singer of his generation, is in fine fettle today as he reflects upon five remarkable decades in the music business, a journey which has included stints in Trapeze, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Black Country Communion and some wild adventures with drug dealers, gangsters, movie stars and beauty queens en route. Hughes freely admits that he has “lived the lives of 10 men” and “done everything that you can imagine, good and bad, wonderful and silly.”

“I’m so fortunate not to have died,” he confesses. “I’ve overdosed, been pistol-whipped, shot at, stabbed, run over in a car… and I’m still here to tell the tale. Where shall we start?”

Continue reading in Louder Sound.

An in-depth and well written review of the Deep Purple gig in Bengaluru, India, on December 17, 2023.

Three days after British rockers Deep Purple enchanted the crowd at the Bandland rock festival in Bengaluru, the gooseflesh lingers like the whiff of cologne. For many, they have been college heroes, cocktail companions, the kings of melodic power, the epitome of hard rock. Older-generation fans or youngsters, they knew many of these songs by heart. Every word, every instrumental passage, every back-up vocal line. Na na na na na, Na na na, Hush, Hush.

It was the band’s fifth tour of India. Vocalist Ian Gillan was 49 when they first played in April 1995. The Mumbai concert can be seen on YouTube and heard on the streaming platforms. The frontman was 56 when they played in May 2002. On the current gig, he had gracefully turned 78, his hair a long silvery delight, his shirt glistening in the blue light. The question was: Could he still hit those trademark high notes? Could he do the ‘Child In Time’ banshee-screech effortlessly? Could he bounce around like a young puppy, as he had told this writer 21 years ago?

Obviously he couldn’t. ‘Child In Time’ wasn’t on the set list, and the puppy bounce had made way for a languid soft-shoe shuffle. Yet, maturity and experience can lead to wisdom and discretion. If he didn’t get the screams of the opening song ‘Highway Star’ the way we’re accustomed to, he more than made up with the golden rule of staying totally in tune and managing one’s range. The middle register was immaculate, impeccable. His hand shook while holding the mic on the brilliant ‘When A Blind Man Cries’, but his voice didn’t waver. His singing on ‘Anya’ was a museum model of magnificence. For those hearing him for the first time, it was a dream come true. A story to be shared years later with grandchildren. “I saw Ian Gillan in the flesh”. “You’re serious, grandpa?”

Continue reading in narenmusic reviews.

Thanks to Amit for the heads-up.

A quick roundup of the local press coverage of Deep Purple’s appearance at the Bandland festival in Bengaluru.

Rolling Stone India:

With two stages at Bandland, one band started when the other was done and it was more or less the case with Deep Purple kicking off with their instantly recognizable “Highway Star” from 1972’s Machine Head. It set fans running across the food court to hurriedly catch a glimpse of the British legends who shaped rock, prog and even a bit of metal with their songs.

Vocalist Ian Gillan, at the age of 78, took a few expected breaks in their hour-plus set, and he remained ever the dependable frontman. While Don Airy was unable to come down, Adam Wakeman filled in on keys, alongside drummer Ian Paice (also a powerhouse behind the kit at the age of 75), bassist Roger Glover (ploughing away, also at age 78) and guitarist Simon McBride.

Having visited India with different lineups and eras across decades, some were savoring the fact that they could watch Deep Purple even today, belting out “When a Blind Man Cries,” “Anya,” and of course, “Smoke on the Water.” The encore included “Hush” and “Black Night,” with thousands shouting along for the last three songs. Deep Purple didn’t let the energy flag, making Bandland fulfilling from start to finish. Here’s hoping that sponsor or no sponsor, the spirit of rock has found another home in Bandland.

Even more superficial reviews appeared on cnbctv18.com and Everything Experimental. We link them here just for the sake of completeness.

Meanwhile, “recipe aggregator” Slurrp profiles Chef Manu Chandra, who catered the event and got Reverend’s stamp of culinary approval:

The mouth-watering feast, which consisted of a delicious burrata-tomato salad, an assortment of sushi, cold cuts, canapes, pao bhaji, nalli nihari and bite-sized desserts was conceptualised by Chandra’s team. Sharing what looked like a fanboy moment between the star chef and the band’s bassist, the former shared a black and white picture of the two of them engrossed in deep conversation, while Glover held on to a cup of coffee.

In the endearing behind-the-scenes glimpse that Chandra shared on social media, he captioned the photograph of himself and Roger saying, “After a nourishing dinner of a fresh hot dog, some Nihari and rice by @singlethreadcaterers. I ask Roger Glover of @deeppurple_official if this was his first Indian tour. “I came here before you were born” he says. So you’ve seen a lot change I ask. Son, I’ve seen the whole world change, I’m actually a 102, but they don’t tell you that. Also I don’t usually eat before going up on stage, but this stuff…. Overwhelmed by how grounded these guys, who shaped rock and roll, and generations across the globe actually are.”

BraveWords publishes a chapter from the 2008 Tommy Bolin biography by Greg Prato, called Touched by Magic. Quite possibly it is the same chapter that was released as a teaser at the time of publication, but it’s been 15 years, and it’s a chapter telling about Tommy joining Purple, so here we go.

David Coverdale [Deep Purple/Whitesnake/Coverdale-Page singer]: “When Ritchie Blackmore decided to go [from Deep Purple], Ritchie had invited me to go with him to do the Rainbow project. But I felt uncomfortable about it – I didn’t think it was appropriate. And that’s what led to some abrasive aspects of Ritchie’s and my relationship for a while, unfortunately. When we had a meeting without Ritchie, my recommendations were number one, Jeff Beck, number two, Rory Gallagher, and number three, this guy called Tommy Bolin, which no one had really heard about. I’d heard Tommy Bolin on the Spectrum album by Billy Cobham, and I’d heard him on Alphonse Mouzon’s album, Mind Transplant. I was really impressed with this work, and I had no idea if he was a 70-year-old African American – I had no idea. So everyone went, ‘Oh wow, he’s pretty good!’ So we sent the word out. Now at that time, Purple was this huge global entity – one of ‘the rock ‘n’ roll aristocratic bands,’ before the market was so oversaturated, as it is now. Even we couldn’t find out where he was. And we found him a few miles down the road from where I used to live in Malibu – he was living there. We arranged for him to come down and jam with us. This guy walks in with multi-colored hair, lime-green Arabian knight…they weren’t trousers, they were like pre-Steven Tyler floating pants. And on four or five inch sole platform…they weren’t platform shoes, they were kind of platform sandals!”

Continue reading in BraveWords

Our contributor from Brazil Marcelo Soares writes:

Legendary bossa nova composer Carlos Lyra has died today, December 16, 2023, at the age of 90.

You may not be a bossa nova fan, but you definitely have heard of at least one of his songs, Maria Moita — the riff, originally written by Tom Jobim for Lyra, has a very definite resemblance to Smoke on the Water. [We’ve speculated before on these pages how the Purple people could have encountered the tune.]

Maria Moita was written for Pobre Menina Rica (Poor Rich Girl) — originally a musical, which never turned into a stage production. It became a tour, and an album, recorded in 1964. All lyrics were written by Vinicius de Moraes, one of the best known poets in Brazil and also the author of the lyrics for Girl from Ipanema and other bossa nova standards.

Blabbermouth reports that Don Airey will sit out the upcoming Deep Purple gig in India on December 17 “due to unforeseen illness”. Adam Wakeman will fill in on the keyboards in his stead. The article quotes band’s statement on unspecified “social media”:

Due to unforeseen illness, Don Airey is unable to perform at Bandland in Bengaluru later this month. Don is hugely disappointed not to be performing with the band in India, but wishes all fans a fantastic night in Bengaluru on 17th December. Adam Wakeman (BLACK SABBATH, OZZY OSBOURNE) will be performing with DEEP PURPLE at Bandland in Bengaluru on 17th December.

At the time of this publication, there is no confirmation of this on either of the band’s two official websites.

Adam Wakeman has a whimsical side project Jazz Sabbath that interprets Black Sabbath classics in jazz style. The project has two albums out, and Simon McBride played on one of them.

Check out Jazz Sabbath performing at Leverkusener Jazztage in 2022:

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the heads up.

India’s Deccan Herald has a short interview with Simon McBride:

The Irish singer-guitarist joined Deep Purple officially last year as a replacement for Steve Morse. He is set to perform in Bengaluru on Saturday and Sunday with members Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Don Airey and Roger Glover for BookMyShow Live’s newest IP, Bandland.

McBride, who has never been to India and hopes to soak in the culture briefly during his short trip to the country, said Deep Purple’s music has always been a huge influence, not just on him, but on music lovers all over the world.

“They’ve influenced me over the years. I learned their songs when I was a kid so it’s incredible for me to be a part of that. I never ever thought or believed that my name would be attached to Deep Purple but now it is. I treat them like we’re playing in a normal pub band or something,” McBride told PTI in an interview.

Read more in Deccan Herald.

Photo © 2022 Stefan Brending, cc-by-sa-3.0 de

Steve Morse, together with his son Kevin, has paid tribute to his friend and aerobatics instructor Nikolay Timofeev, who recently passed away. Continue Reading »

What makes a good cover of a song? There are covers that strive to be as close to the original as possible. Personally, I don’t find them that interesting. It’s basically an exercise in futility: why listen to a copy, even a good one, when the original is just a couple of clicks away, right? And then there are covers that take the original, transform it inside out, and make it their own. The band responsible for us congregating here started its career from one of those (and there are a couple more brilliant covers on that first album).

Here is a cover that in our humble opinion ticks all the right boxes, and as a bonus it’s a very deep cut into the band’s catalogue — I’m Alone. Enjoy!

Jacopo Beltrandi – vocals
Luca Federici – guitars
Thomas Barbalonga – violin
Mirco Melone – double bass
Josè Manuel Salgado – percussion

Thanks to Luca Federici for bringing it to your attention.

Roger Glover was profiled by the Outlook India magazine.

He was only 10 when he first heard rock music and it changed his life, says Deep Purple guitarist Roger Glover who went on to explore Indian music and even bought a sitar and tabla before he realised just how difficult they were to play.

The 78-year-old, amongst those behind all-time classics such as ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Highway Stars’, counts Indian music as one of the predominant influences in his life and said he was born at the right time to see the birth of rock and roll.

“It was brilliant. I never thought about it as any particular thing other than great fun. But as you get older, of course, you get immersed in world music and, of course, Indian music plays a big part,” the guitarist said, recounting the time he heard rock music for the first time.

Read more in the Outlook India.