Jerusalem Post has an interview with Roger Glover promoting the band’s gigs in Israel that take place in late May. Yes, gigs — in addition to the twice rescheduled because of the pandemic gig in Tel-Aviv, there was a second date added recently in Jerusalem. These two dates signal the resuming of touring in earnest that will take the band a better part of the remaining year.

Roger spoke about how he started listening to the music, how he joined the band, and all the way to the recent developments.

The first 10 years of my life, all that was on the radio was horrible music, to my ears anyway. Then skiffle happened, this very homemade raucous kind of music that you could make with acoustic guitars and hit just about anything for percussion. It was so animated and it set me alight. And soon after was this tsunami of great music from Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Eddie Cochrane. I loved it.

Maturity may have something to do with longevity, but it all depends on the personalities in the band. Some bands are volatile and others are calm. For us, Steve Morse brought an era of peace to the band. When he joined, we decided we weren’t going to be led by anyone. We were a band of five members, all of them equal leaders. So there’s no jealousy and no motives for any arguments.

Read more in Jerusalem Post.

Louder has published online the story of Baby Face that originally appeared back in 2012 in the Classic Rock magazine issue 176. It’s a well written piece with quotes from Colin Hart and Paicey. Here’s how the drummer summarises the project’s fate:

Phil’s voice was staggering, wonderful. But he couldn’t play, at least not to the standard that we needed if it was just Ritchie, myself and a bass. When there’s only three of you, everybody’s got to be really good on everything they do.

Really, the bass playing had to be on a par with someone like Jack Bruce. And, God bless him, Phil wasn’t there yet. He was pretty simple, and quite often out of tune and out of time. And although he became really, really good at everything he did, at that point he wasn’t.

Read more in Louder Sound.

Thanks to Jim Collins for the heads up.

On this slow news day the mailman brought us a couple of semi-interesting tidbits for the trainspotting department.

In a recent interview, Hollywood star Jim Carrey professes his love for Deep Purple and recommends Lazy off Machine Head in particular as “one of the great, great jams ever”. Continue Reading »

And to spare you trying to click the unclickable link, here it is…

Music: Yukihide YT Takiyama and YOYOKA
Arrangement: Yukihide YT Takiyama

YOYOKA – Drums
Yukihide YT Takiyama – Guitar
Rhonda Smith – Bass
Derek Sherinian – Keys

An interview with Jon Lord, published at a critical point in Purple history. It first appeared in New Musical Express on March 17, 1973 — weeks after the release of Made in Japan and Who Do We Thing We Are, yet mere weeks before Mark 2 imploded. One can not help but wonder, did he know at the time that IG had already submitted his resignation?

Who do Purple think they are?

In context, we`re as valid as anything by Beethoven.
Jon Lord talks to Keith Altham.

SO HERE I AM, ensconced in Jon Lord’s music room, attempting to find out just who Deep Purple think they are — if you’ll pardon the pun on their new album.

Following a few recent performances, there seems to exist an ill-considered critical opinion that the answer is that Deep Purple are five maniacal egotists trying to blow each other off the stage?

“I really don’t think that is fair criticism,” says Lord.

“We do a drum solo like most bands because we’ve got a fine drummer, and like to show him off. I do an organ solo at the beginning of ‘Lazy’, which was on the record anyway and was how the song grew.

“It would have been truer of the group some years ago when I did that 20-minute organ solo, although it never seemed to bore anyone when it was fresh and new.

“It only became boring and self-indulgent when I lost the need to go on for 20 minutes and the band realised we didn’t need to play two hours to please people. Now we play for about one hour-twenty and have a much more contained programme.

“If I slip a bit of Bach or something into my work, it’s not in order to impress people with the fact that I know a bit about classical music. It does not matter to me if they don’t recognise it either as long as it is enjoyable to me and the audience.

“That’s how I build a solo now — so that it is enjoyable to me on an emotional basis. There’s no reason why other influences should come into your playing. I don’t believe there is such a thing as a musical vacuum anyway.

“We’ve not had enough time to consider if there was another way to go — we’ve probably moved sideways. The songs have got better but the sound is much the same, and it seems silly to change a successful format until you have time to come up with a better one.

“I think Ian, Ritchie and myself would like to introduce a little more delicacy in certain areas – become a little less frantic.

“In June we are going to come to a full stop for three or four months because we are all shattered after two years without any real break in our activities. That will give us a chance to formulate some new ideas and reorganise our thinking on the band. It will also give us the chance of a good holiday.”

Read the whole thing in My Things – Music history for those who are able to read.

Many thanks to Geir Myklebust for his continuing efforts to digitize rock’n’roll history.

BraveWords reports that The Dead Daisies have been in a Los Angeles studio working on the follow-up to 2021’s Holy Ground with producer Ben Grosse. The new album is slated for release in August, with first single out some time in late May. Continue Reading »

Another installment in the Live From Daisyland series. It’s a track called Long Way to Go that was written before Glenn’s time with the band, and originally appeared on The Daisies’ 2016 album Make Some Noise. This version was recorded on November 7, 2021, at the Rock City in Nottingham, England. Continue Reading »

Louder Sound has a story of how a cover of Since You Been Gone became the first ever Top 10 hit for Rainbow.

Russ Ballard admits he got his recording of Since You’ve Been Gone all wrong, bur Rainbow gave the song a tough exterior and sent it up the charts

Having quit the band Argent two years earlier, Russ Ballard had hoped that a second solo album would ignite his solo career. Winning, released in 1976, did bring attention to several of Ballard’s songs, although little of it under his own name; Santana covered its title track on their album Zebop!, the Bay City Rollers re-recorded Are You Cuckoo? and Roger Daltrey borrowed Just A Dream Away for the score of the film McVicar in which he starred. But it was Since You Been Gone that cemented Ballard’s reputation as a go-to songwriter to take rock music into the charts.

“I knew immediately that Since You Been Gone was radio-friendly,” Ballard recalls now. “Because I wrote it on the piano, we recorded it that way. Which was bad because it was an obvious rock song. My version was kinda soft.”

Continue reading on Louder Sound.

Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the heads up.

The following message have been posted today on the band’s official site:

Today, Deep Purple announce that due to a family matter, Steve Morse will be taking a temporary hiatus from Deep Purple live shows but remains a full member of the band.

Steve’s replacement for the upcoming live shows in May, June and July 2022 will be guitarist Simon McBride, who has previously toured with both Ian Gillan and Don Airey amongst others.

Statement from Steve Morse:

Hello, everybody. I’ve just done a few gigs with the band, after years (!?) of not playing live. It’s a bittersweet, wonderful time to get together.

However, my dear wife Janine is currently battling cancer. At this point, there are so many possible complications and unknowns, that whatever time we have left in our lives, I simply must be there with her.

I am not leaving the band – I hope that after she gets a clean bill of health, I can re-join the tour. However, I am not seeing any likely situation which would allow me to do overseas touring in the immediate future. I continue to be privileged to be a part of the Purple family tree, and also to get to feel the amazing support of so many loyal fans and the rest of the band.

There’s a certified world class guitarist ready to take over for the live shows whom everybody will surely be happy to hear.

I appreciate all your sincere prayers for Janine and thank you all.

Steve Morse

Statement from the rest of the band:

All of our thoughts are with Janine during her fight against cancer and also with Steve while he supports his wife at a very difficult time.

We hope that Steve will be able to join us back on the road later this year.

Ian, Roger, Ian and Don

Statement from Simon McBride:

I’m deeply honoured to be asked to stand-in for Steve and play for such an iconic rock band like Deep Purple. They are amazing musicians and amazing people… I’m very excited to get out and play all those iconic songs and rock the stage with such legends. My thoughts are with Steve and Janine and their family.

There will be no further comment and we kindly ask to respect the family’s privacy and keep them in your prayers at this time.

Simon McBride with Ian Gillan and Don Airey:

Simon McBride with Don Airey & Friends:

News from the branch of the family tree rarely visited on these pages. In the early 1980s Gary Driscoll and Craig Gruber (of Elf and the first Rainbow album fame) were in a band called Bible Black. Their album The Complete Recordings 1981-1983 will be released on April 14 via the freshly inaugurated Louder Than Loud Records.

Bible Black was an East Coast American band formed by former Elf/Rainbow musicians Gary Driscoll and Craig Gruber, along with Andrew “Duck” McDonald. The bands longest tenured singer was Jeff Fenholt, well known for his very brief stint with Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath and his work with the band Joshua. The band also featured Lou Marullo who later became known as the one and only Eric Adams… and Joey Belladonna who of course went on to join Anthrax. All three vocalists recorded demos with Bible Black between the periods of 1981-1983.

This CD for the first time compiles all recorded works of the band in one place. Sadly Gary Driscoll, Craig Gruber and Jeff Fenholt have all since passed away, making this release a fitting epitaph to their time together as Bible Black. Restored and remastered by Patrick Engel and licensed directly from the last surviving member Andrew “Duck” McDonald” we can now hear one of the great “lost bands” and a piece of Heavy Metal history.

Tracklist:

1. Gone
2. Metal Man
3. Back To Back
4. Down On the World
5. Ain’t No Crime
6. Fighting The Wind
7. Back Door
8. Paint It Black
9. Fires Of Old
10. You Got Me Where You Want Me
11. Deceiver
12. Midnight Dancer
13. Gone (Jeff Fenholt vocals)
14. Metal Man (Jeff Fenholt vocals)

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.