DEEP PURPLE DIGEST #19

In this issue:

The greatest band of all time
Satriani interview (long!) (but interesting!)
Rhino box set
Satriani (short)
Why /-\ is not so easy on the Swedish typewriters
Rod Evans Purple?
Yes, Rod Evans Purple
Schenker in DP
Craig Gruber update
Jesus Christ Superstar 25th anniversary
Concert review
Gillan & Dio
Essen DP review
Blackmore's Night Pics available

___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Tiplady 
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)geocities.com 
Date: Tuesday, October 06, 1998 2:52 PM
Subject: The Greatest Band of all time !


Hi there all you DP freaks ! I just want to introduce myself ! My name is
Paul and I live in Lancashire in the UK . I would like to thank this guy for
setting up this DP list and I hope many other Purple fans will come on
board. The band are due to hit the UK next week but alas I cannot afford to
go . ( Still Im sad ! ) Anyone got a free ticket for Manchester ?!! I am
lucky though as I did go to see them in Liverpool on the historic last tour
of 76 . I am at present trying to recapture all my DP back catalogue on tape
as I incredibly lost most of it a few years back. I have managed to salvage
some bits of albums though . Ok enough of this ranting ! Look forward to
hearing from anybody out there !!! See YA !!! She paints roses even
makes them smell good .... and then she draws &**$$("" on the ..........
wall !!! Great Lyrics !!

___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Julie Wilson 
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)geocities.com 
Date: Tuesday, October 06, 1998 5:55 PM
Subject: Joe Satriani


Howdy folks,
As it happens I interviewed Joe Satriani and asked him a bit
about his experiences with Deep Purple. Really, really great guy and one
hell of an incredible player. I am enclosing the interview for your
inspection. Enjoy.

David Wilson



In all the time I have spent contriving hyperbole and/or vitriol
for a particular artist I have never been so convinced as to the validity
of a statement as that which I make next. JOE SATRIANI; There hasn't
been another guitar player that has been as wildly influential in rock
music since Jimi Hendrix! The man has created the standard by which all
others are measured. From the very first record, which was financed by
credit card, on up through his latest, "Crystal Planet", Satriani has
always managed to deliver something beyond what anyone thought was
possible.
"Crystal Planet" is so much more than a mere guitar album; it is
a sonic burst of light in an otherwise dreary music scene. Joe and I
spoke about his latest opus as well as about some of his career
highlights, most notably his short stint with DEEP PURPLE and his
relationship with rock and roll icon Bill Graham. (RIP). Ahead, warp
factor 9!


MUSIC AMERICA The interplanetary Joe Satriani!
JOE SATRIANI Oh well! At least Kansas City!
MA Well, I guess that is almost like another planet.
JS It's great here. We always have a good time when we are here.
MA When you come to Detroit you will be playing at St. Andrews Hall.
That is a different kind of place for you to play.
JS Yeah. This whole tour is like that. I've joked around, when I tried
to pitch it to the other guys. I told 'em it was a live radio show tour
that was subsidized by a club tour and that I would be very busy doing
interviews every day. Traditionally, you would wait three or four months
before you mount a new tour behind a new record. People need time to get
into the new stuff or to even know that you have a new record out but
being a solo artist I am often pressed to go out on a tour where I just
do radio stations or record release parties or interview junkets. We had
done two weeks of that in Europe last January and I said "Man, I can't do
it unless, I get to play every night. It's just driving me crazy!"
There was one other thing in the equation which was, when we do go out
and start the Major tour in Europe May 14th, "What songs are we going to
play?" That's always the question and the first few weeks of the tour
you go out and you are always fishing around for the Magic three new
songs to work into the catalogue. This tour is so different because when
we hit the stage we play about 98% of the new record from top to bottom
in sequence before we even play any of the old stuff. That's great for
us and for the hardcore fans which is who you are playing for when you
play the smaller places. They are right up next to you. They can touch
your feet when you are playing so it's a really great experience to be
able to come out and play and believe it or not, it does subsidize the
radio station gigs that we do. We have this, we call it a "band in a
box". We put together a small rack. It's got a Mackey mixer in it.
It's got some pre amps that Stu (Hamm) and I plug dirrectly into. Jeff
built the smallest drum kit from DW components, it's pre-miked. We
travel with our sound engineer and within fifteen minutes of showing up
at a radio station we are a fully functioning trio and all we do is hand
the engineer two stereo outputs and we are live on the air!
MA And they go right into the board with it?
JS That's right and we can play any song that they want. It's been a
lot of fun. Some days we end up doing two radio gigs and an in-store but
that's what this tour is really all about.
MA This will be the second release that you have done for Epic Records
but the first as just Joe Satriani.
JS Yeah. I have been on Epic records all over the world for quite a few
years but this is the first time I have ever had a project that was Epic
specific and I am working with the Epic label right here in the U.S. so
it's great. Worldwide I am on one label right now. No more inter-label
politics or anything. And then when I say that I am ready to work and to
do interviews, it is unbelievable the amount of stuff that they can line
up for you.
MA In the bio they call you a "Post modern guitar hero." What is that?
JS (Laughing) Yeah, What does that mean? I don't know. Who knows what
that means. I tell ya, you guys have a difficult job. You guys have to
put words to things that, sometimes, are better left un-described or
unlabeled but hey here we are and you have to come up with some kind of a
label. I don't know how to help you out on that one!
MA It's kinda like when I ask my four year old what kind of music he
likes to listen to and he says "I like good music."
JS That's cool. I like that.
MA You travel with your family?
JS Yeah. Starting a little over a year ago we started doing all the
tours together. When we have short ones like this where we are taking
airplanes everyday, it is better to leave my son at home but when we go
to Europe and we are going to be on a tour bus they will be out with me.
MA I think the fact that you will take your family with you is a real
testament to Joe Satriani as a Man and a father as opposed to most people
who just up and go and rarely see their families.
JS It's terrible being away from home.
MA The new album, Crystal Planet, is something that I have to assume you
are very excited about. Where would you place it next to your previous
work?
JS Oh God! I am no good at describing it. That's why I play guitar
instead of writing lyrics!(laughs) I can tell you that I set out to Make
sure that the Crystal Planet album would be a record that would readily
accept and embrace any musical concept from my entire musical catalogue.
In other words, I would like it to be a celebration of all of the things
that I like playing rather than a celebration of one little part of
guitar playing like the Joe Satriani album was very specific. The
Extremist album was very specific and to a certain extent Surfing With
the Alien was very specific. Crystal Planet really celebrates all those
records and it also mixes it in with some of my stuff that I consider
sorta, future guitar music. Stuff that I am kinda testing some new
fusion's of styles on the new record as well.
MA You have had a respectably long career and have transcended all the
popular musical styles that have come and gone. What would you attribute
that to?
JS Ah, pure luck!(laughs) I don't like self analysis when it comes to
creating stuff because I always think If I start thinking about it too
much I'm going to spoil it somehow. I might actually believe some stupid
idea dream up. Which would also be creative death so I just concentrate
on the doing part and enjoy it. When things happen well you can
celebrate and if they don't you can say "Oh Well, I like what I'm doing."
I think it would be dangerous territory for me to come up with or to
postulate why it is that I have been successful.
MA It just seems to me that you are in the group of artists that are
artists for life and I don't see Joe Satriani becoming a band Manager or
an accountant.
JS Yeah, but I will tell you one thing, thank God that mother nature
weeds us out because when you are on tour it takes all kinds of
individuals to Make a show happen and you begin to really count your
blessings that you have a lighting person who just loves lighting and
couldn't really care less about your guitar tone or the networking of the
best hotels around but you have a tour manager that just loves handling a
bunch of nut cases and making things orderly and Making things happen on
time. It really does take an odd group of specialists to make a rock and
roll tour work.
MA One of my personal heroes was Bill Graham. I have always seen his
success as having come from his ability to pick the best people to do a
job. I know that you had a much closer relationship with him and I am
wondering if that is still the way things are run in the Satriani
organization.
JS Yes. I remember Bill in so many different ways. Of course he was my
manager until his untimely death. I remember him, we didn't know each
other, but when I was growing up in New York and I would go to the
Fillmore East and I would see this guy outside screaming and yelling! I
would think "God, that is Bill Graham isn't it!" It was really funny. I
remember when we first signed on with each other and I had this feeling
of guilt in me for so many years and finally I said "Bill, I have got to
say something to you that has been bugging me for so many years but when
I was fourteen years old and I was at one of the last Fillmore East shows
and at the end of the performance everybody started taking souvenirs, I
still have a piece of the cloth from the chair that I was sitting
in!"(laughs) So, he looks at me and says "You didn't sneak in did you?"
and I said "No!" And he said that it was all right. He really didn't
like people sneaking in, that was bad but he didn't mind the chair
tearing thing.(laughs) One of the things that I still follow in the Bill
Graham way is he was really interested in performers that could perform.
I know that sounds ridiculous but today there are a lot of acts that have
one big record and they can't actually pull it off. They can't sing
their hit. They can't play their hit. They're not good entertainers or
whatever. The Bill Graham tradition has always been that if you are a
performer, number one, you have got to be able to do it in front of us
and you have to be into performing around the world. That is part of
their equation and part of the art of Bill Graham management. I have
always liked that. I have always liked playing in front of an audience.
I don't always do it as well as I would like but I still enjoy
it.(laughs) He was part of showbiz history and that is something that we
all adhere to. You've got to be able to pull it off around the world and
put up with all of the rest of the rock and roll stuff during the day but
the show is sacred!
MA Where is the line between performer and musician for you?
JS That is an easy one for me because I am not really a performer like
some of my other friends that are in this business. I made up my mind
quite a long time ago when I was a kid and I listened to Jimi Hendrix and
I thought to myself "Is there a lesson to learn about this hero of mine?"
I thought that he got trapped by a showbiz thing that really wasn't him.
I thought, in my mind, "Well, if you are going to do this Joe, make sure
that you can just be yourself." That way there won't be transition from
your hotel room to the stage from the interview to the studio and from
home life to tour life. I also realized that the creative process can
easily flow. You don't have to write about things that are make believe.
You don't have to write for this artificial rock and roll persona or
anything. It's always you. And that is just something that I carried
with me, it's just keep it totally real.
MA It kinda insures against you being a novelty item?
JS Yeah, I think so. Nobody knows what is going to happen in life.
It's really a crazy ride and no one will ever figure it out.
MA From my limited perspective it seems that your career has pretty much
been a straight ahead one. I did notice one left turn when you joined
DEEP PURPLE for a couple of tours. How did that all come about?
JS It was just a phone call out of the blue. It may have even started
with the Japanese promoter making the call for DEEP PURPLE , calling the
Bill Graham office and saying "The band DEEP PURPLE is in a really
delicate spot and they want to know if Joe Satriani would be interested
in filling in for Ritchie Blackmore for a Japanese tour that is starting
next week." I remember saying "No!" immediately only on the grounds that
many years ago I decided I would not make a career out of replacing
famous guitar players. But then I thought about it and I was talking to
myself saying "Joe, do you like DEEP PURPLE? Well, of course I like DEEP
PURPLE." Then I said "Joe wouldn't it be fun to play with DEEP PURPLE?
Yeah! It would be great to play with them!" So I picked up the phone
and called my manager and said "Did you tell those guys I said no?" And
he said "No, I knew you would change your mind, so I waited." I got a
tape in the mail, a cassette, of about half the show and a list of the
other songs. I met them in Tokyo the next week, we had one afternoon of
rehearsal and then we went out and did the shows. They were so great to
play with. So easy to play with and so much fun to be around that I
really wanted to do it some more but I really couldn't be in the band.
At the time I was in the middle of promoting the "Time Machine" album so
eventually what happened was that I went on my own tour again for a
couple of months and met with them in Europe and we toured in Europe for
two months in the early summer of, I guess that was, '94. Then I
immediately left and started working on the "Joe Satriani" album.
MA That had to be difficult because when you think DEEP PURPLE you
definitely think Ritchie Blackmore.
JS To tell you the truth, that was always in the back of my mind every
night on stage. To that end I mentioned to the journalists, who asked me
endlessly on that tour, I said "I guess I am celebrating the legacy of
DEEP PURPLE with the audience while I am up there. Just make believe I
am one of you and I just got the lucky chance to get up onstage and play
with the band!" I mean I was not stealing Ritchie Blackmore's gig and I
had no intention of staying but these guys needed a guitar player now and
they are in the process of weaning themselves off of Ritchie Blackmore
and finding a new permanent member, which turned out to be Steve Morse.
But at the time they really didn't know what to do so we mutually
benefited from the association and I really enjoyed playing. I mean,
half of the songs I really stuck to Ritchie's blueprint because I just
couldn't get it out of my mind! If you are going to do "Smoke On The
Water", the thought of changing a note is sacrilege! But there were
other songs where he clearly, from the tapes that I had, he clearly
turned his back on the recorded performances and was trying to do
different things every night. I took the cue from that and from the band
liked maybe; two thirds of the material reinvented and sorta agreed with
me that certain songs should stay like the recorded versions.
MA I recently heard a copy of a bootleg from the Genoa Italy show.
JS Oh, I remember that one!
MA How do you feel about bootlegs?
JS Oh, I love them. I think they are fine. I mean I think that there
should be a clear distinction between a bootleg and somebody pirating or
selling 20,000 units and saying that it is Epic Records or something but
the actual live bootlegs that we are talking about, those are generally
purchased by fans who have all of your other material anyway so I don't
see it as a conflict of commerce at all.
MA I agree. Though the current members of DEEP PURPLE are currently
against the practice and will refuse to autograph bootleg stuff.
JS I guess that they have so many bootlegs made.
MA I think that they are also trying to sell live albums too. It seems
as though they have more live product than studio releases.
JS Yeah, they have so many live albums. I am not sure. They have had
an unusual past, in other words, there have been several different DEEP
PURPLE's and there has been feuding and all that stuff so I can see that
as being a bit different. I mean a band like THE GREATFUL DEAD or
METALLICA, they really encourage the taping of their shows because they
don't really have any inner conflict and they have sort of an easy going
past.
MA I was going to say of the Genoa show, that compared to the commercial
release which was Ritchie's last show I believe, this one was quite a bit
more lively. It seemed like you guys were having a great deal of fun.
JS We certainly were! I had a great time with that band. They are
great guys.
MA O.K. Let's move on to the "Crystal Planet" record. Was this a
particularly challenging album for you to make?
JS Well, they all present their challenges technically. There were
several different things that we did that contributed to the record going
down easy. First of all, I wrote it without doing demo's. I wrote it
all down on paper and then the next step was I went into a rehearsal room
with Jeff and Stu and we rehearsed it as if we were going to be playing a
live show. Then we brought in producer Mike Fraser who listened to the
arrangements and made some changes and gave us suggestions in areas where
we had some questions and then we went into the studio. We have a setup
where we can just play live and record direct to two track, to
twenty-four track or forty-eight analog or directly to hard disc on a
computer and we were able to entertain just about any recording
arrangement whenever we felt creative and comfortable. We had a really
good type of perimeter, we only had about six weeks 'cause we were doing
this in-between the G3 tours. It kept things really creative. We didn't
try to play one arrangement like 80 times until we played it right. We
encouraged each other to keep experimenting with each take so that we
could come up with something that reflected not only the important
elements of the song itself but different performance quirks and
personalities that everyone comes out with when we are in that state of
performing live. I think that contributed a lot to the live feel though
the record has a very produced sound to it. At the core of it is three
guys playing.
MA As always, this is a Joe Satriani record but it is as much a Stu and
Jeff album as well.
JS Yeah, yeah.
MA When you are out on the road do you add any additional players from
time to time?
JS No, we are a trio so there isn't any time for that. I mean, between
interviews and the gigs and the traveling there is really no time for
playing with anybody else.
MA When I was digging through my Joe Satriani file I found the names of
Joan and Carol Satriani. Who are they?
JS Yeah, my two older sisters are artists and they contributed to two of
the lines of the Joe Satriani Ibanez guitars. Yeah, I try to get my
family involved. I used my wives first name for my original record
company that I started which originally licensed the solo records to
Relativity. Just recently my son, his nickname is ZZ, contributed two
song titles to the "Crystal Planet" album. So, I try to keep the family
working!(laughs)
MA When you were a kid did you ever think that you would someday be
endorsing Ibenez guitars or DiMarzio strings or anything?
JS Naw. That kind of stuff didn't exist back then like it does now.
Yeah, about ten years ago it was a really big thing. I had no idea about
endorsements and things like that, my head was somewhere else. But it
really helps when you are starting out because the costs are enormous yet
the expectations are even more enormous. That is when the artist is at
his or her most broke-est point!(laughs) You are incredibly indisposed
and somebody says "Here is your big chance to look as good as you can
possibly look." And you are like "Man, here are these strings that I
have been struggling with that I haven't changed in three weeks and the
guitar is something that I put together from stuff that I bought at a
pawn shop." It is really rough. Actually, we had our second record,
"Surfing With The Alien", in the can and it was a few months before
releasing it and the guys from Relativity took me to the NAMM convention
and they just introduced me to DiMarzio. They introduced me to D'addario
and to Ibenez and just brought me around. These people listened to the
record and said "We love what you do and we would love to give you some
strings." And that is how that all started for me. That really saved me
because it was many months before any of the success from the records
paid off in any cash. So I was still indisposed in terms of being able
to present myself properly to an audience and I needed financial
assistance. Even companies like Marshall would lend me amps for free
and, you know, eventually you return the favor by association with the
product or something like that.
MA O.K. Time for the heady question that I've been wanting to ask. You
are easily the most influential guitar player on the scene today for kids
that are coming up. How does that make you feel?
JS I don't know! It's a pretty freaky thing if you think about it but I
was a guitar teacher for many years so I know what it is like when you
have a young fresh mind in front of you that is eager to learn and has a
modicum of talent. You are almost duty bound to tell the truth and to
bare all the knowledge that you have gained. You know to pass it on to
the younger generation. That's just the way I think about it. I am
kinda used to that feeling but it is kinda freaky when you think about it
because in my mind I am still the young kid that was totally into Jimi
Hendrix and I am always looking to get turned on by the next cool
guitarist. So, I don't know. I guess I don't think about it too much.
You are asking me all these questions where I am supposed to think in
ways that I have trained myself not to think!(laughs)
___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Svante Pettersson 
To: Deep Purple Digest 
Date: Tuesday, October 06, 1998 8:10 PM
Subject: Deep Purple Rhino Boxset



Hey!

Here's some info I received about the upcoming box set from Rhino.

>Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 16:03:42 EDT
>To: svante(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
>Subject: Deep Purple Rhino Boxset
>X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 sub 64
>
>Hi!
>
>I was reading Joanna's rumours column about the American Deep Purple
boxset.
>I got the latest Rhino catalog (#37) and the boxset is listed on page 27.
I
>thought the boxset was out when I called the toll free number to Rhino,
they
>said it would not be available until February of 1999.
>
>Anway the blurb in the catalog is a picture of the Coverdale, Bolin,
Hughes,
>Lord and Paice lineup. The description reads:
>
>"The first heaviest of Purple collections, covering their entire career,
from
>their late '60's origins on through their early-to-mid- '70's "classic"
>period, right up to the present. all of the heavy metal band's various
line-
>ups over time are represented, including legendary members Ritchie
Blackmore,
>Ian Gillian, Tommy Bolin, and David Coverdale. Compiled with the group's
>direct cooperation, this 4 CD box set includes the hits, key album tracks,
>loads of rarities, and previously unreleased sides from the vaults. Of
>course, there's also a lavish booklet with extensive liner notes, great
>photos, and track by track info.......not to mention Rhino's trademakr
digital
>remastering from the original tapes, making the band's music sound beter
than
>ever. Crank It!!!!! (56 tracks) Hightlights - Hush, Kentucky Woman,
River
>Deep-Mountain High, Black Night, Speed King, Strange Kind of Woman,
Fireball,
>Smoke on the Water, Woman From Tokyo, Might Just Take Your Life, Burn,
>Strombringer, Perfect Strangers, The Battle Rages On.
>
>R2 75566/4CDs/$59.98
>
>George



___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Svante Pettersson 
To: Deep Purple Digest 
Date: Tuesday, October 06, 1998 8:19 PM
Subject: Satriani


Rob Richardson wrote:
>Any information out there (correct and factual would be nice, but rumors
>would be OK) about why Joe Satriani did not continue with Deep Purple
>after the tour was over?
>
>I have heard it was involving his contract as a solo artist with his
>record company, but have also heard that there were never any plans for
>him to record with the band.

Both these are correct according to the things I have heard. He was just a
temporary replacement, but if they would have decided to work together
there would have been problems with Joe's solo record deal.

>And how come the Purpleans always recruit Americans to play guitar
>whenever Ritchie leaves? Tommy, Joe and Steve. Aren't there great
>English banjo players out there?

No. Really, can you think of one? ;^)

/Svante

___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Svante Pettersson 
To: Deep Purple Digest 
Date: Tuesday, October 06, 1998 8:26 PM
Subject: Typing


It was written:
> First, on _|_ vs. /-\, I'd like to mention that /-\ is easier to type,
>as it does not require the "shift" key.

...if you have an English keyboard. :^)
On my Swedish keyboard /-\ is typed:
"Shift-7", "-", "Alt Gr-+"
_|_ is typed:
"Shift--", "Alt Gr-<", "Shift--".

/Svante
___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: John A. Robinson 
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)geocities.com 
Date: Tuesday, October 06, 1998 9:11 PM
Subject: 1980 Rod Evans Purple?


Hello Dean, say a reference in the newsletter from you about the above
subject. As this was my heyday in music I was surprised as I hadn't
heard about it. If you could give me a few details I'd appreciate it.
Regards John

___________________________________________

>From Dean Webb: dplist(at-a-domain-named)geocities.com

Yep, Rod Evans DP in 1980. Allow me to quote from Charlesworth's bio of the
band...

"... For a while, Evans sang with an LA based band called Captain Beyone but
when this folded he studied to become a hospital orderly, specialising in
chest complaints. His enviable pension from Deep Purple's catalogue sales
ran dry in 1980 after a curiously dimwitted attempt to launch a group which
he called Deep Purple. He was, of course, the only member with the remotest
claim to the name though he contacted Nick Simper who refused to be drawn
into the fraud."
It goes on to describe how Evans got some DP look-a-likes to perform
with him and playedsome dates in LA during July and August, 1980. Lots of
fans got really angry when they realized the rip-off. The set list included
"Smoke on the Water", "Woman From Tokyo", "Highway Star", "Might Just Take
Your Life" (which he claimed was from "*our* Burn album"!), "Hard Road",
"Space Truckin", and, of course, "Hush."
They were set to perform at the Long Beach Arena, and Coletta/Edwards
tried to stop the concert legally, but could not. So, they took out an ad in
the LA Times just under Evans' ad that said "The following STARS WILL NOT
PERFORM at the Deep Purple Concert..." and proceeded to list off all living
DP former members except for Simper and Evans.
Evans got slapped with an injunction not to do that again, and was left
pretty much destitute.

Not really a good idea in retrospect... Although, Evans did display a
rare inclination to actually sing material done by singers that replaced
him.
___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Douglas White 
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)geocities.com 
Date: Wednesday, October 07, 1998 8:04 AM
Subject: Schenker in DP


Rob Richardson  asked:

>I have recently read that Michael Schenker, of UFO and Scorpions fame was
>"the first choice to replace Ritchie Blackmore" but he turned down Deep
>Purple's offer.
>
>Does anyone know something about this? Is it true he was offered? And
>if so, was it before they brought in Joe Satriani or before they brought
>in Steve Morse?

I read the same thing in the liner notes to "The Michael Schenker Story
Live", and emailed Roger about it at the time. He said that Schenker's
name was brought up, and they may have looked into his availability, but it
never went any further than that. I'm not sure exactly when this was
either, before or after Satriani.

Later,
Mark

[Dean "Ed" Webb: Schenker was also managed by Edwards/Coletta. Small world,
huh?]

___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Heikki Heino 
To: Deep Purple Digest 
Date: Thursday, October 08, 1998 4:42 AM
Subject: Re: Deep Purple Digest #18


>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Eduardo Avello 
>Subject: My final Rainbow line up comments.
>
>1.- The "Back to the original Rainbow" line up.
>Cons: Someone would have to find Craig Gruber and Gary Driscoll. maybe
>they even gave up music after all...

The last I've heard of Craig Gruber was in 1984, when he was in the Gary
Moore band with Ian Paice. That line-up made a live album "We Want Moore".
So Gruber didn't give up music (at least) right after Rainbow.

More about Gary Moore... and another Purple bassist Glenn "little ego"
Hughes. Back in the mid-1980's Gary Moore recorded an album called "Run For
Cover". Glenn sings and plays bass on several tracks. Moore asked Hughes to
do the same on the following tour, but Hughes wanted the Gary Moore band to
be renamed the Gary Moore & Glenn Hughes band. Moore didn't change the
band's name, so Glenn left. So there is a possibility that Ritchie might not
be the only difficult ex-Purple member.

Heikki


******************************************************************
Älä epäröi heittää tätä viestiä roskiin!

Heikki Heino
Jarrumiehenkatu 9-13 F 79
11100 RIIHIMÄKI, FINLAND


___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Jouni Maho 
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)geocities.com 
Date: Thursday, October 08, 1998 5:13 AM
Subject: jesus christ superstar


yesterday i bought jesus christ superstar on cd - both my vinyl copies are
unplayable by now. it's released by MCA Records (MCD 10950) and the
front cover says "ultimate master disc". the accompanying little booklett
says further that "remastered from original sources by glenn meadows,
masterfonics, tennessee, using today's edge technolopgy". i can't really
say im know what that means, but the sounds is incredible. with earphones,
it sounds as if it was recorded yesterday. if you see it, go for it!

just thought i'd let you know.

---
jouni


___________________________________________

Deep Purple, Abandon Tour 98, Live at the Essen Grugahalle, October 7th,
1998

„A strange night with Purple...“
One of the strangest concerts I have ever been at! I like it a lot and I was
somehow very disappointed at the same time...let me explain....
The support band: a four piece band from Switzerland. I can’t remember their
weird name and that’s exactly how their music sounded like. It can be
described as a mix between Grunge music with German lyrics (Swiss dialect)
and some cross over stuff (like yodeling...). I didn’t like their
performance at all and the audience started to whistle as well...
After a 30 minute break, Deep Purple entered the stage and kicked off the
show with „Ted the Mechanic“, one of my favourite tunes from the great
„Purpendicular“ record. At this moment, I think about 6000 people were in
the place...The sound was excellent from the first minute on and it this one
really rocked but the audience couldn’t get into it! I had a seat at the
platform, therefore I had the chance to have a look over complete crowd and
they were simply standing there hanging around and only the first two rows
in front of the stage started to clap their hands...and that was exaclty
what made me feel so strange about this concert. Deep Purple played so well,
they had a great sound and lots of fun on stage obviously and the audience
was so lame...
Next came another great tune called „Strange kind of woman“ which was
followed by „Bloodsuckers“. I like that version of this song a lot. Really
heavy stuff. The 4th song in the set was „Pictures of home“ before DP
started to play the 3 or 4 new songs from Abandon which marked the only part
of the show that I think was really boring and so thought the audience who
started to „sleep“ even more...Steve Morse took them out of sleep again
after „Watching the sky“ and „Any fule kno that“ were finished. Jon Lord
lead Steve straight into a absolutey fantastic solo with a some kind of
spacy intro. For the next couple of minutes Steve, was alone on stage and
suddendly the crowd started to scream, shout and clap their hands to support
Steve! Definitely a highlight of the show. Speaking of Jon Lord,...I missed
some of his great solos. He did a great jam with Steve and a very short solo
(about 3 minutes or so) too but the other musicians were very dominant
somehow and I had the impression that Jon couldn‘t show all his fantastic
talent that night.
Anyway, the set continued and highlights naturally included „Smoke on the
water“ which got the most applause. SOTW was in fact the only song, the
audience started to sing along with....that’s very poor and sad indeed.
„Perfect Strangers“ also turned out to be great as well as „Woman from Tokyo
“. Purple finished their set after about 100 minutes and came back on stage
for two encore songs. The first one was a song from „Abandon“ and the second
one was „Highway Star“ which finished off the show after 115 minutes in a
great way!
So, here you have it. I’m still not sure what to say about the concert. I
was worried all the way when I drove back home last night. I liked the
performance a lot and I wished the audience would have given the band more
applause and input for it. A concert to me is only perfect when both the
audience and the band are in great form and that was not the case yesterday.
Ian Gillan, who’s voice sounded great last night, sometimes said to the
audience: „You are superb.“, but I think that’s only what he usually does.
He seems to be a very kind person with some kind of charisma on stage that
makes him look very natural. Another question that came to my mind shortly
when thought about the concert was, weather the band was able to get the
audience in the show a bit more or not. I came to the conclusion that it
wasn’t their fault. They have given their best and that was very good.
What I personally missed a bit were a few more songs from „Purpendicular
like „Somtimes I feel...“ or „The Aviator“ but you sure can’t have them
all. The set list was okay and I liked it even though I think „Abandon“ is a
weak album. So, it could have become a perfect night..but sadly there was
something wrong. A talked about this with a friend of mine and he was of the
opinion that some people might be a little tired about Purple and only want
to hear the classics. I’m not sure if he’s 100% right with this, but it
might have something true in it...and that is very sad to me because I like
a lot of the „uncommon“ Purple songs, too.
That’s it finally. A very strange night indeed which worried me a lot. But
finally I think a saw a great performance by a great band and I’m sure that
I will be back at the next tour. And I hope, the people will all come back
as well and give Purple the input they deserve. A good example for this were
the two concerts I saw in 1996 ..they were over the top.

Birgitt Schwanke (Metal and Hard Rock Area)




___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Swoboda 
To: Deep Purple Digest 
Date: Thursday, October 08, 1998 9:53 PM
Subject: Gillan & Dio


Sean P Powers  wrote:

>> Just as Gillan didn't do Dio Sabbath during the Born Again tour (except
a few occasions where they performed "Heaven And Hell")... <<

I'm getting a bit off topic, but FYI Heaven and Hell was played during
the entire North American leg of the tour, and Ian sang Neon Knights after
the Christmas break, from Jan. to March 4, 1984, when the tour wrapped up
in Springfield, Massechusis.
Your're right though--Ian can't sing Dio's songs, and I doubt Ronnie
could sing Ian's songs.

--T.J.

[Dean "Ed" Webb: I saw IG with BS back in '84 and Gillan opened with "Neon
Knights" and did an excellent job, and even matched notes with Tony Iommi on
it. Too cool. He pulled a WFT on H&H, though, leaving off the last
verse... ]
___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: Christian Rutz 
To: Deep Purple Digest 
Date: Friday, October 09, 1998 3:07 AM
Subject: Deep Purple Digest, Review Essen, 07/10/1998


Hello,

I just returned from the concert in Essen and wanted to share my impressions
with you.

The gates were opened around 18:30, thanks god it wasn't raining, I was
freezing enough (o.k., maybe a T-Shirt and a Jacket isn't the right
clothing in october ;-)

I managed to get a place in the first row (2 meters from stage), on the
right
side of the stage.

Support act was a band from Switzerland which called themselves "Florian und
der Floriantinerstadel" (or something like that), they played for half an
hour.

Purple started around 21:00, the concert lasted about 110 minutes.

>From my positon the mix was imho o.k., a little bit heavy on the guitar,
but
every instrument was clearly distinguishbly. But imho it was a little louder
than Hanau, so next time I'll definitely will not forget my ear-protection.

The lightshow was the same, with the /-\ background put to good use.


The clothes:
Sorry, didn't pay attention to that, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The stage-setup (view from the audience)

Ian Paice:left background
Jon Lord:right background
the congas middle background
Steve Morse right foreground
Roger Glover left foreground
Ian Gillan theoretical in the middle foreground, in fact the whole stage

A little graphic:

Ian Paice Jon Lord
congas
Roger Glover Ian Gillan Steve Morse


The setlist:

Ted the Mechanic
Strange kind of woman
Bludsucker
Pictures of home
Almost human
Woman from Tokyo
Watching the sky
Finger to the bone
Any fule kno that
Guitar solo
Smoke on the water
Keyboard Solo
Lazy
Perfect Strangers
Speed king (drum solo included and a verse of something I know but can't put
the finger on, maybe someone can help me out??)

Encores:
Seventh Heaven
Highway Star


So much for what happened, now to the more subjective part:

Let's start with my impressions on the individual performances:
Paice: Outstanding. He was at his best this evening.
Glover: Perfect as ever. Does this man never has a bad day??
Lord: Absolutely at his best. I never saw and have not often heard him in
better form.
Gillan: Not his best day. He was clearly struggling.
Morse: Excellent as ever, but I missed some of the fire I thought I saw in
Hanau.

Some special highlights which keep popping up in my head:
- Paicey's intro to Pictures of Home and his solo-spot in Speed King, longer
than usual and I really like this part when he sounds like he has two bass
drums.........
- Lord's playing in general: You have to go all the way back to the early
seventies to hear him do better........It was breathtaking.
- Roger on bass: This time he was clearly audible in the mix and so I could
really appreciate his contribution to the overall sound and feel of the
band.
If he wouldn't be there, at least some parts of the show were simply
noise........
- Steve's Intro to Highway Star: Great stuff, absolutely great. And I don't
even begin to understand how he does it?? Would any of the guitarplayers in
this ng be so nice and explain to me in simple words, what he is doing to
his
guitar??
- Ian's congas: At one point they were audible(!), Big Ian hammered with
both
fists at them. What a sight :-)


But enough of praise, of course there are some things I missed (a DP-Fan is
never satisfied :-)

Still I miss a slow song in the set. Steve's solo makes up for a lot and
they
reintroduced Fingers to the bone but still..........



After the show I waited for some time outside the hall and sure enough,
Roger
and Steve came, they signed everything they could lay their fingers on and
had
their pictures taken many times.

A nice closing for a really good evening.

Well, that should be enough for now.



--
Bye, Chris
"Usenet isn't a right. It's a r
ight, a left, and a swift uppercut to the
jaw."

- Button from the Computer Museum, Boston, MA
Bye,
Christian

---
"It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value."
- Arthur C. Clarke
___________________________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: BSchwanke(at-a-domain-named)aol.com 
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)geocities.com