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

Rock And Roll Garage has a collection of quotes from various interviews Blackmore gave over the years talking about the other guitar players in Deep Purple.

I think they’ve done very well. Of course, Joe (Satriani) is a brilliant player. But I think he did the right thing by leaving only after two weeks [laughs]. And Steve Morse is an incredible player. A lot of people try to get some wisecrack out of me, but when you’re talking about guitar players along Satriani and Morse’s caliber, they’re brilliant. And I could carry on by saying I’m not too sure why Steve is hanging on in that band, but that’s his prerogative, obviously. He must see something there.

Read more in Rock And Roll Garage.

Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the info.

The record company has posted a spotify playlist ostensibly curated by the members of the band themselves. And while some tracks are pretty obvious as to who contributed them (cough, Elvis, cough, Allman Brothers, cough, Buddy Rich, cough, Dave Brubeck, cough) otherс can raise an eyebrow.

Discuss! 😉

1. Ice Cold Daydream – Freedom Flight – Shuggie Otis
2. Electric Man – Great Western Valkyrie – Rival Sons
3. Don’t Start Me to Talkin’ – His Best – Sonny Boy Williamson II
4. Can’t Let Go – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road – Lucinda Williams
5. Because – Abbey Road – The Beatles
6. Itchycoo Park – Small Faces – Small Faces
7. Three Little Birds – Exodus – Bob Marley & The Walers
8. Trying to Get to You – Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley
9. Sweet and Lovely – Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers – Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers
10. Armonías del Romañé – Barrio Negro – Tomatito
11. Somebody that I Used to Know – Making Mirrors – Gotye, Kimbra
12. Na Laetha Geal M’óige – Watermark – Enya
13. Jessica – Dreams – Allman Brothers Band
14. I Can’t Explain – My Generation – The Who
15. Celebration Day – Led Zeppelin III – Led Zeppelin
16. Stabad Nater – Music from The Eton Choirbook – John Browne, Tonus Peregrinus, Antony Pitts
17. No Time to Die – No Time to Die – Billie Eilish
18. Sylvia – Focus 3 – Focus
19. High Heel Sneakers – The Chess Blues-Rock Songbook – Tommy Tucker
20. Jenny Take a Ride – Take a Ride – Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels
21. Rooster – Dirt – Alice in Chains
22. West Side Story Suite – No Funny Hats – Buddy Rich
23. Tomorrow Never Knows – Revolver – The Beatles
24. There Was a Time – Best of Live at The Apollo – James Brown
25. Stone Free – Are You Experienced – Jimi Hendrix
26. Take Five – Time Out – Dave Brubeck Quartet

Thanks to Vladimir Drybushchak for the heads up.

Whitesnake Ireland/UK tour dates have been announced. The tour will commence in May 2022 with Foreigner and Europe on the same bill. Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, July 30, 2021, from 9am. Presales, including VIP packages are already open, the password is farewell (the tour is touted as a farewell to Whitesnake). Further details in our calendar.

In other related news, David has also announced another member for his band. His name is Dino Jelusick, and he is a singer and multi-instrumentalist most recently seen touring with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It is not immediately clear what will his role be in the band, but seeing that they already have a full complement of players, our money is on singing parts that Mr. Coverdale can not (properly) do himself any more.

Thanks to Lutz Reinert for the heads up.

Roger Glover will take part in the performance of Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra to take pace in Győr, Hungary on November 5th, 2021. Paul Mann will be on board conducting the Győr Symphony Orchestra, and Bruce Dickinson will do the vocal duties. Other musicians include Kaitner Z Doka on guitar and Bernhard Welz on drums. Both have collaborated with various members of the Purple family over the years, including Jon himself. There is no word yet who will play the organ.

Tickets go on sale next week, check our calendar for more info (when available).

[Update Aug 29]: The venue for this show has been changed from Egyetemi Csarnok to Audi Aréna.

Thanks to Blabbermouth, Gary Poronovich, duttka and Lutz for the info.

Elizabeth the opera singer dives into the Purple pool (heeding our suggestion, perhaps?). She goes straight for the deep end with her analysis of Child in Time from the 1970 Granada TV performance and comes up suitably impressed by everyone involved. Continue Reading »

David Coverdale spoke to Planet Rock on the occasion of him being the recipient of their Rocks Honours Award. This another one of those relaxed video chats that became popular during the pandemic (and, hopefully, never going away). Enjoy! Continue Reading »

Ultimate Classic Rock has a decent writeup on the demise of Deep Purple Mk.4 that happened 45 years ago. It is not very likely that any of our regulars will learn anything new from there, but it’s well sourced and well written.

Pieces started falling off long before Deep Purple finally came crashing down in the ’70s.

First Ian Gillan and Roger Glover split, replaced by the more R&B-leaning David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes in 1973. Then the ill-fated guitarist Tommy Bolin took over for Ritchie Blackmore, and Deep Purple descended into malaise and addiction. Coverdale finally grew weary of it all and quit in 1976, only to be told that the group had already broken up. “A lot of drugs and alcohol were rearing their ugly heads,” Coverdale said in 2015’s Sail Away: Whitesnake’s Fantastic Voyage, “and there was a great deal of disrespect for the legacy of Deep Purple, which I still maintain.”

Coverdale had been plucked from obscurity by Blackmore, who immediately paired him with a more experienced second voice in the bass-playing Hughes. In fact, Coverdale’s first time in a studio was with Deep Purple, in sessions for 1974’s Burn.

“I got this opportunity and was literally, no pun intended, being thrown in the deep end,” Coverdale told Jeb Wright in 2015. “Thank God I swam, but it was with the help of those guys. The five ego maniacs fighting for a spotlight came later.”

Continue reading in Ultimate Classic Rock.

Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the heads up.

Roger Glover’s 2002 solo album Snapshot will be re-released later this year in updated format. It will feature the original 14 tracks remastered, five demo bonus tracks, and new artwork. The new release will be available on CD on October 8, 2021, and 2LP on November 19. That’d be the first time the album is available on vinyl as the original was released only digitally. Continue Reading »