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Paul Mann, Bruce Dickinson & Co. are taking their Concerto performances to Brazil. The show is wrapped up with a set of Purple classics done with the orchestras. Here is Burn as performed on the opening night of the tour, on April 15 in São Paulo Continue Reading »
Rolling Stone has a long form interview with Joe Lynn Turner, focusing on his days in Rainbow and Deep Purple. This was done for the magazine’s King for a Day series that “features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and singers who had the difficult job of fronting major rock bands after the departure of an iconic vocalist. Some of them stayed in their bands for years, while others lasted just a few months. In the end, however, they all found out that replacement singers can themselves be replaced.” And Andy Greene is, of course, the man responsible in the past few years for the excellent interviews with Don Airey, Neil Murray, Bob Daisley, and David Rosenthal, among others. Dig in!
Ronnie James Dio and Ian Gillan are two of the most beloved singers in the history of hard rock. After they laid down their vocals on Rainbow and Deep Purple classics like “Man on the Silver Mountain,” “Smoke on the Water,” “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and “Highway Star,” it was almost impossible to imagine anyone else delivering them.
But when each of them parted ways with their band, Rainbow/Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore turned to the same singer to fill the voids they left behind: Joe Lynn Turner. He fronted Rainbow from 1980 to 1984, helping them score the biggest American hits of their long career, including “Stone Cold” and “Street of Dreams.” He then joined Deep Purple in 1990 for the Slaves and Masters album and tour. This time around, fans were less willing to embrace him as the new guy. The album sold poorly, and it was ripped apart by critics. Gillan returned to the band shortly after the tour wrapped, and he’s still at the helm of Deep Purple today.
“My theory is that fans find it difficult to reconcile what they’re used to hearing with something new,” Turner tells Rolling Stone via Zoom from his home in Eastern Europe. “I don’t care who you replace or whatever happens. If they don’t hear that old familiar, they’re going to crucify you. I got crucified several times.”
Long before his hard-rock crucifications, Turner grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, as Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito. His grandmother was a country music fan who loved Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard since it reminded her of the Italian folk music of her youth, but Turner gravitated towards acts like Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis instead. “I had older cousins that would spin 45s at sock hops,” he says. “I was too young to go into the parties, but I still checked out all the girls dancing with the guys. It’s really what turned me onto this stuff.”
Continue reading in Rolling Stone.
Doogie White reminiscences about his days in Rainbow Continue Reading »
Simon McBride spoke to Colombia’s El Expreso Del Rock. Listen to the interview here Continue Reading »
Sleaze Roxx has a fresh interview with Don Airey, done on the occasion of the band’s upcoming shows in Brazil. And in this one, questions dig a bit deeper than the usual fare.
Sleaze Roxx: I would like to begin by thanking you for your time and willingness to answer the questions below. First, could you assess Deep Purple’s current momentum, please? The band comes from a very good sequence of albums produced by Bob Ezrin, but also suffered the loss of Steve Morse. In short, you win on one side and lose on the other. What would you say?
Don Airey: It’s a musical fact of life that bands’ line-ups are ever changing. The circumstances in which Steve had to retire from Deep Purple were sad indeed, but a bit of new blood seems to have revitalized the whole operation — band wise, crew wise, management wise — so musical life goes on and we are looking forward to getting back together with Senor Ezrino sometime this year.
Sleaze Roxx: About the albums produced by Bob Ezrin [2013’s ‘Now What?!’, 2017’s ‘Infinite‘, 2020’s ‘Whoosh!’ and 2021’s ‘Turning To Crime’], in what aspects do you believe they differ from those the band had been producing before his arrival? Do you believe he has sort of taken on an unofficial sixth member role? What could you say about working with him and the albums resulting from this partnership?
Don Airey: We connected with Bob after a concert in Toronto in 2012. He was obviously impressed and got down to work with us almost immediately. He is a tough taskmaster but very sympathetic too, and just told us to be ourselves, do what comes naturally, but squared! Yes, he plays quite a creative part in the construction of the songs, but I wouldn’t say — nor would Bob — that he is the sixth member. There is a sixth member incidentally, but nobody has really seen him – felt his presence, yes! The albums have been very successful sales wise and well received when playing them live – the best in my humble opinion being ‘Whoosh!’.
Continue reading on Sleaze Roxx.
Ultimate Classic Rock spoke to David Coverdale and from the looks of it, the future of Whitesnake is up in the air. The band had to cancel their ‘Farewell’ tour halfway through the European leg in July 2022. Subsequent North American dates were cancelled as well.
Last year, I was so incredibly compromised by, without any doubt, the worst sinus infection I’ve ever had in my life. And as a singer, I know them like fucking relatives of mine. This was one of the ugliest illnesses I think I’ve [ever] had. For seven months, I was taking ever-increasingly strong antibiotics and horrifying Prednisone steroids.
He continues that the doctors got his infection under control only by January, but by that point he had already advised his musicians to make other plans for 2023, telling them “I don’t know what kind of condition I’m going to be in for 2023”. Further touring plans have not been completely ruled out, though, but he’ll spend the year addressing other health issues, such as his torn rotator cuff.
I really don’t know [when we’ll be back onstage]. I’ll be 72 this year. But, you know, my passion is that of a much younger man, particularly with the new creative team that I have, working on these legacy projects and also new things at the same time.
Thanks to Ultimate Classic Rock for the info, and to BraveWords for the heads-up.
Metal Edge magazine has reprinted online a Ritchie Blackmore interview from February 1997. It goes from the heat of the moment to some timeless advice.
What do you love most about the guitar?
Blackmore: Its shape. The guitar for me, when I was about 11, I was very introverted and I wanted something to relate to. I found I could express myself through it.
Did it bring you out of your shell?
Blackmore: Yes and no, I just went more into my shell with my guitar. Then I’d go onstage and be an extrovert.
Was that scary, the first time onstage?
Blackmore: Yeah, that’s when I’d start drinking. I still get nervous, as to whether I can pull out the sounds I want to hear and I get aggravated sometimes if we’re playing places where the acoustics aren’t right or the band isn’t playing well. It’s very hard for me to say, “another dollar, another day,” unlike some people I know. You can only just cross your fingers and hope for the best. You never get a perfect show. You can come close, but there are too many variables. The electricity can go off or a string will break. But the audience is a lot more tolerant than I would think.
Read more in Metal Edge.
Mr. and Mrs. Blackmore unboxing marble vinyl of the Shadow of the Moon 25th anniversary edition Continue Reading »
This is from the recent brief tour of Steve Morse Band in February 2023. Good to see Steve in great spirits and in great form. This was recorded on February 27 at The Vogel in Red Bank, NJ. There’s more where this came from. Continue Reading »
Paul Gilbert has an RJD tribute album coming out on April 7 via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group. It is called simply The Dio Album and contains purely instrumental covers of tracks spanning Dio’s career in Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and solo.
An instrumental tribute album dedicated to a vocalist is definitely an interesting concept. Here’s a taste:
Track listing:
The Dio Album can be pre-ordered here.
Thanks to BraveWords for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing