Take a heavy rock song and turn into a lullaby? We could totally see how this could be done to Temple of the King, but Stargazer, Heaven and Hell, or The Last in Line? Surely not. Until someone did… Continue Reading »

The online successor to the Classic Rock magazine has a track-by-track guide feature on Burn with contributions from Coverdale, Hughes, and Paice.

Burn

David Coverdale: I wrote about half a dozen sets of lyrics for this song – I was that keen! The final words to Burn – and also the words to the Stormbringer song for the next album, for idle curiosity – came about because I was just trying to please Ritchie [Blackmore], I guess. These lyrics aren’t the stuff I would normally write; I looked upon them as science-fiction poems.

Glenn Hughes: Blackmore came up with that classic rock riff, but there’s a lot of talk about it being ripped from something that was written in the forties. [George Gershwin’s] Fascinating Rhythm, wasn’t it? I think it could be from that. Every artist borrows from other artists – but this is a classic example of where Ritchie may have taken something from the forties or fifties.

Ian Paice: It’s a pretty well-played track. It’s got a rapid pace about it. I’ve always said that playing fast is a lot easier than playing slow, because if you play something fast and you screw up, nobody really hears it. But if you play slow and you screw something up, then everybody hears it. I think that as an opening statement from the Mark III line-up, it’s pretty cool.

Continue reading in Louder Sound.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

A 50th anniversary edition of Jesus Christ Superstar is due to be released on September 17, 2021. Yep, that’s the original London cast with Big Ian. (Hmm, that’d be 51st anniversary then, right?) It will come as a 3CD box set with 100-page hardcover book, the fairly standard 2LP and 2CD editions, and a 2LP deluxe edition with replica of the original 1970 vinyl.

All 4 variants will feature remasters done by Miles Showell and Nick Davis at Abbey Road. The book contains new interviews with parties involved — including IG, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Murray Head, and Yvonne Elliman — and has been edited together by music writer Lois Wilson.

Track list of CD3 (CD1 and CD2 as in the original):

1. Blood Money (guide vocal)*
2. Herod’s Song (guide vocal)*
3. I Don’t Know How To Love Him (Tim Rice commentary)*
4. This Jesus Must Die (scat vocal 1)*
5. This Jesus Must Die (scat vocal 2)* — unreleased instrumental*
6. I Don’t Know How To Love Him (single edit)
7. 1970 open-end Interview with the creators Of Jesus Christ Superstar Part One (includes Superstar, Heaven On Their Minds, I Don’t Know How To Love Him)
8. 1970 open-end Interview with the creators Of Jesus Christ Superstar Part Two (includes Gethsemane, Herod’s Song and Superstar)

Another source gives diferent contents of CD3 (quite possibly an alltogether different version of the reissiue):

1. Ascending Chords
2. Damned For All Time / Blood Money – Guide Vocal
3. King Herod’s Song (Try It And See) – Guide Vocal
4. I Don’t Know How To Love Him – Tim Rice And Murray Head Vocals
5. I Don’t Know How To Love Him – Murray Head Vocals
6. This Jesus Must Die – Scat Vocals 1
7. What A Party
8. This Jesus Must Die – Scat Vocals 2
9. Heaven On Their Minds – Instrumental
10. I Don’t Know How To Love Him
11. (Too Much) Heaven On Their Minds – German Single
12. Strange Thing (Mystifying)
13. John Nineteen Forty-One – Remastered 2021

Thanks to ALW’s newsletter for the heads up (see there for preorder links), and to Super Deluxe Edition for additional info.

US cable/satellite channel REELZ will premiere a Whitesnake documentary as a part of their Breaking the Band series, on August 22 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.

Whitesnake was the brainchild of former Deep Purple frontman David Coverdale. They appeared on the English music scene in 1978 with raunchy lyrics and a big blues rock sound. Over the next 12 years Coverdale’s grit and determination went on to drive the band to become one of the biggest successes of the “Hair Metal Age”. But there were plenty of casualties on the way with a host of lineup changes as Coverdale ruthlessly searched for the winning formula.

The documentary was produced by ITV in the UK and judging by the casting call, features reenactments along with archival footage.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

Back in April Glenn and Gabi Hughes were guests on the Honest AF podcast hosted by Daniella Clarke & Barbaranne Wylde (a.k.a. Mrs. Gilby and Mrs. Zakk respectfully). It’s an hour plus long conversation, so a lot of dirt was uncovered. Cue the Tinseltown namedropping. Continue Reading »

Another Rainbow related interview in the Rolling Stone’s Unknown Legends series — this time it’s an in-depth conversation with Bob Daisley, covering his career from a 3 year old listening to his parents’ Frank Sinatra records to the present day and pretty much everything in between. And that’s a lot of everything. Bob has stories to tell.

It doesn’t seem like [Widowmaker] was a band destined to last, but it led to you joining Rainbow.
First off, I loved Widowmaker. I wanted to see it make it. It was my band as much as anyone’s. We weren’t working for someone else. It was our band. It was a democratic situation. But at the end of the last Widowaker tour, we were in Los Angeles to play at the Whisky a Go Go. I got a call about auditioning for Rainbow.

I thought to myself, “I’ll try this. I’ll go to the audition and I’ll see what happens.” I get there and there’s [drummer] Cozy [Powell], there was Ronnie James Dio, and there was Ritchie [Blackmore]. We played for about an hour or so, they went into one of the offices of the rehearsal place, and they came out and said, “You’ve got the gig if you want it.”

They’d already auditioned about 40 bass players. They couldn’t find somebody. That’s because there’s three main credentials you need for a band, usually, when you do an audition. You’ve gotta look the part, you’ve got to be able to get on with them, and you’ve got to be able to play.

I said, “I don’t know. I’ll think about it.” [Laughs] They must have thought, “You little fuck. Who the fuck do you think you are? This is Rainbow. We’re offering you the gig and you’re going to think about it?” But I did have to think about it. I wanted to know, for sure, that I wanted to make the move from Widowmaker into that.

Also, Ritchie had a bit of a reputation of chewing people up and spitting them out quite quickly. People that knew me were saying things like, “You could be gone in three months. You might end up with nothing.”

And so I played the Whisky that night with Widowmaker. At the end of the night, we went up to the dressing room and another squabble broke out. I was like, “Oh, fuck. Oh, God. Here we go again.” I said, “Fuck this.”

Ritchie saw me that night. He came to the show and told me he’d be at the Rainbow afterwards, which was just a few steps away. After the squabble, I said, “I’m going up to the Rainbow.” I packed my bag and walked out. What I meant was, “I’m going up to the Rainbow Bar and Grill.” But I also meant, “I’ve decided to join Rainbow.”

I walked in and Ritchie was at a booth by himself. When he saw me, he stood up and clapped. I thought, “Wow.” That meant a lot to me. Ritchie didn’t give compliments easily. That was a really good sign for me. He never suffered fools gladly. He was an aware person. He had the reputation of being cantankerous, but I got along fine with him. As long as you did your job, kept your head down, and went along with it. I had a drink with Ritchie that night. I think the very next day, I started rehearsals for Rainbow.

Read more in Rolling Stone.

Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the heads up.

In the aftermath of the summer leg of the Dead Daisies US tour Glenn Hughes spoke to the Brazilian Wikimetal Happy Hour: Continue Reading »

On October 29, 2021, Rhino Records in the US will release the 25th anniversary super deluxe edition of David Coverdale’s Restless Heart. The album was originally conceived and recorded as a DC solo album, but the record company insisted on releasing it under the ‘David Coverdale & Whitesnake’ moniker. The super deluxe box set (pictured above) will include 4CDs+DVD plus related swag:

• CD1: 2021 remix of the album;
• CD2: 2021 remaster;
• CD3: early demos;
• CD4: alternative takes;
• DVD: fan videos, promo clips, lyric video for the title track, 3 relevant tracks from Starkers in Tokyo acoustic set, plus The Making of documentary.

Consult the label website for further details, including full track listings.

This release will also be available in fairly lean 2CD and 2LP editions. The vinyl will contain just the remixes, while the 2CD will get you both the remixes and remasters.

Thanks to our editor emeritus Benny Holmström for the heads up.

Three Black Country Communion albums will be reissued on a glow in the dark vinyl. The first and second albums are due on September 24, and BCCIV on October 22. They will be available separately or as a bundle. Each album will be a 2LP. There is no word on bonus tracks, so it’s probably safe to presume that the only new thing is the said glow in the dark gimmick.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Steve Morse and Glenn Hughes are on a Beatles tribute album being released on Cleopatra Records. It is called Legends Play The Beatles and is due out on August 6.

Track listing

1. Here Comes the Sun – Richard Page & Steve Morse
2. Across The Universe – Ann Wilson
3. Penny Lane – John Wetton
4. Back in the USSR – Molly Hatchet
5. Norwegian Wood – Andrew Gold
6. The Long and Winding Road – Air Supply
7. Tomorrow Never Knows – Electric Moon
8. Rain – Sugar Candy Mountain
9. Eleanor Rigby – Jack Bruce
10. And I Love Her – Howard Jones
11. Yesterday – Judy Collins
12. Let It Be – Glenn Hughes

Who: Steve Morse, Glenn Hughes, plus others
What: Legends Play The Beatles
When: August 6, 2021
Where: Cleopatra Records
Formats: 1CD digipak; 1LP in yellow or blue vinyl

Thanks to BraveWords for the info