Glenn Hughes is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Burn with a string of dates in Portugal and Spain this May. He will be performing the album (apparently, in its entirety), as well as other Mk3 and Mk4 numbers. His band will consist of Søren Andersen (guitar), Ash Sheehan (drums) and Bob Fridzema (keyboards).

It was 50 years ago, in the Summer of 1973, that the BURN album by Deep Purple was written at Clearwell castle in The Forrest of Dean, Gloucestershire

It was recorded in October 1973 in Montreux, Switzerland.

We all became one in this centuries old castle in the UK countryside, it felt like Deep Purple were a new band, with David (Coverdale) and I as new members, we couldn’t wait to start working on new songs. The atmosphere was electric, in such amazing surroundings.

All the songs on BURN were written in the crypt/dungeon, underneath the great hall. We worked on a new song every day, and we were in the flow. Musically we would play, and work out ideas, and David and I would come up with vocal melodies that would later have lyrics. I remember it like it was yesterday.

As you could imagine, Ritchie Blackmore was in full prankster mode, Jon had warned me, and he rigged my room one night with a speaker that was hidden, and had ghostly voices delivered to my bedside.

The title track was the last song to be written. We came back from the pub, and went down into the crypt, and magic happened.

It’s time to celebrate BURN, and I’m really looking forward to seeing you.

Further details in our calendar.

The latest issue (#2/2023) of the Swedish Rock’n’Roll magazine has a 5-page feature on Ritchie Blackmore pre-Deep Purple. The issue can be ordered directly from the publisher, with fairly reasonable shipping rates, even overseas. Caveat: naturally, it’s all in Swedish. Continue Reading »

For all the fans of lovely Elizabeth: watch her giggle her way through the masterpiece that, by our count, have spawned at least three heavy metal sub-genres, before lending the name to an obscure website. Continue Reading »

Metallica has a new single out, and at one point Kirk Hammett directly quotes several bars of Blackmore’s solo from Speed King Continue Reading »

And here are two ex-Purple guitar players jamming together earlier this year, joined by Eric Gales on guitar, Kenny Aronoff on drums, Bryan Beller on bass, and Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboards Continue Reading »

Perfect Strangers of Finland are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the club with a Purple Night event on February 3, 2023 at the On the Rocks bar in Helsinki. There will be food and drink, and of course, music — two tribute bands: a Whitesnake one and a Dio era Black Sabbath one. Both bands will also be playing selected Purple gems.

What: Purple Night
When: Friday, February 3, 2023; doors open 19:00, show starts at 20:00
Where: On the Rocks, Mikonkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Tickets: €15 in advance at Tiketti.fi, €18 at the door

The venue has capacity for 350 people, and we’re being told that 100 tickets have already been sold.

Thanks to Jari Kaikkonen for the info.

Ritchie Blackmore pays tribute to the late Jeff Beck:

First met Jeff Beck around 64-65 and it was a session where we were both playing guitars and Jimmy Page was producing. I couldn’t believe how incredible he was, not only with his technique but his sound too. I became a fan of his ever since. He could reach up into the stars and make magic with his playing. His choice of notes were always absolutely perfect.

This whole thing is a shock. We shall always remember Jeff as the best rock and roll player.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the quote.

A recent post on Something Else blog makes the case that the often overlooked Who Do We Think We Are? deserves at least another listen. The train of thought departs from:

It’s often accepted without reservation that Deep Purple’s Machine Head is one of the essential entries in the hard-rock canon of the early 1970s. From the tightly arranged opener “Highway Star” to the mutant blues of “Lazy” and the intergalactic jam-out finale of “Space Truckin’,” the album’s seven tracks were well recorded, well played, and fit the profile promoted on album-oriented rock music stations that seemed to be multiplying exponentially along the FM radio dial.

And arrives to the conclusion

In the end, this LP is of a piece with the other three by the Deep Purple Mark II configuration: not as perfect as In Rock and not as successful as Machine Head, but more focused than Fireball. If for no other reason, Who Do We Think We Are? has to be respected for its own particular version of grace under pressure.

Take a look at the path travelled in between on Something Else.

By the by, the album itself is celebrating 50 years these days. Happy birthday!

The news of Jeff Beck’s passing prompted us to chase down the rabbit hole for the possible family tree connections. Cozy Powell, of course, got his proverbial feet wet in the Jeff Beck Group. And Tommy Bolin played his last concert opening for Beck. The Bolin/Beck connection actually goes quite a bit deeper. It was Tommy’s guitar work on Billy Cobham’s Stratus that inspired Beck to pursue fusion on his 1975’s Blow By Blow and 1976’s Wired albums. And they actually did jam together on at least one occasion.

Says description to the Youtube video below:

28 minute jam at Glen Holly Studio 1976.

Tommy Bolin- Guitar / Jeff Beck- Bass / Bobby Berge- Drums.
[…]
Bobby Berge relates: “Jeff Beck was in town playing a gig at a venue called the Starlight Bowl in Burbank, CA. Since Tommy knew Jeff was in town doing this gig, he got in touch and invited him over to Philip Polimeni’s Glen Holly Studio. We first jammed for a half hour or so with Tommy on bass and Jeff on guitar, then took a little break and started again with Tommy on guitar and Jeff on bass. We lost the first jam with Jeff on guitar though because Philip recorded over first jam somehow, he recorded the second jam over the first one.” Jeff Beck played the Starlight Bowl on June 12, 1976, so the BBB jam was recorded close to that date. This audio is a fresh restoration and mastering done in June 2008 by John Herdt, the source audio was Bobby Berge’s well-worn cassette.

The second part, with unknown saxophone and keyboard players:

Thanks to Gary Halverson for the heads up regarding the sad news.

Ian Gillan’s wife Bron has passed away late last year. We have decided not to discuss it on our pages out of respect for the family privacy. Now Ian is ready to talk about it in public with a Dear Friends message on his website.

Dear Friends,

I wish you all a splendid and enjoyable year ahead; Two Thousand and Twenty Three could be an improvement, if you really go for it.

Things are looking up, as King Harold said at the Battle of Hastings.

I’m pulling the arrow from my eye whilst trying to follow the light and, getting back on my feet whilst struggling to walk with half of me missing.

My darling wife, Bron, died of heart failure on Saturday 19 November, 2022, in Exeter Hospital.

It’s taken some weeks until I could find the words to dignify her publicly.

Continue reading on Caramba!

Thanks to Gary Halverson for the heads-up.