DEEP PURPLE DIGEST #77
Lots of subscribers and counting...
In this issue:
A word from the Editor...
Tony Ashton
Wakeman & Emerson
SRV on JCSS
Bowie & DP, Twins
Doogie White
Anniversary Song
DP Letter to Guitar World
Rank the lineups!
Best version of SOTW?
___________________________________________
From the Editor, Dean Webb: dplist(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
Are most of you folks on vacation? It's been really light in volume here. That's OK, because it gave me some time to write and do some HTML learning. What fun, eh? Anyway, if any of you are interested in horror fiction and/or experimental writing, I have a new list where I do quite a lot of that sort of thing at www.onelist.com. It's the deanwebb list... you can get there through my unabashedly narcissistic website at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/9350. If you don't like the wierd, don't sign on. If you do and like to hang out and do wierd things yourself, have fun there.
Anyway, I had a dream last night that I was at some convention or something and, from out of nowhere, Glenn Hughes sets a band up and starts singing away. It was AWESOME!!! He opened with "In For the Kill" (From 7th Star) and did a bunch of great old blues numbers, too. It was awesome: he was in great form, there were couches and lounge chairs all over the place to stretch out on, the crowd was pumped, and it was FREE! I have got to get me some GH solo stuff, now... any suggestions? BTW, if I can hook up with the guy on the 4th row that had a tape recorder, I might be able to score a bootleg of the concert. I'll let you know after my dream tonight... (I'm serious! The concert was GREAT! Too bad it was only a dream... I didn't even realize it was a dream until about an hour after I woke up when I noticed I didn't smell like smoke and there wasn't any ringing in my ears...)
On with the digest! (And contribute, please! Moderated doesn't mean closed to the public, just that I check to make sure the post won't rankle anyone more than "You like Blackmore? Well I LIKE MORSE!" does.)
___________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Poustie, Richard (BMRB Ealing) [mailto:RichardP(at-a-domain-named)bmrb.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 1999 2:38 AM
To: 'Deep Purple'
Subject: Tony Ashton
I met with Tony last week and the interesting news for Ashton / Lord fans is
that a new compilation CD " The Best Of Ashton Gardner Dyke" ( as distinct
from the fine "The Worst Of" ) is just about to be released.
For those who are not familiar with the work of AGD this should provide an
excellent introduction to their work and it comes highly recommended.
To the more hardcore fans, the good news is that it includes three tracks
from "The Last Rebel" the 1971 movie soundtrack composed by Tony and Lordy,
which have been previously unavailable on CD and which I've never found on
vinyl.
The CD is on "repertoire records".
Enjoy!
Richard
___________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Heikki Heino [mailto:heikki.heino(at-a-domain-named)mailis.rkol.fi]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 1999 4:08 AM
To: Deep Purple Digest
Subject: Re: Wakeman & Emerson
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ardian Nurcahyo [mailto:nurcahyo(at-a-domain-named)tf.itb.ac.id]
>Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 1999 10:02 PM
>Subject: Don Airey / Colin Towns
>
>About Don, well, what can I say, he's one of those keyboard gods. Take a
>listen on Colosseum II records. His playing is very progressive. It's very
>different with Jon Lord. Jon's playing is more rock 'n' roll than
>progressive. Maybe this is why Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson were above
>him on Melody Maker poll. But Jon still rules anyway. The songs he played
>are stronger than those songs Rick & Emerson played.
I thought Rick & Emerson were above Jon because they had more keyboards
onstage... which brings me to one of those R'n'R stories I always want to
hear and tell:
I've heard ELP refused to have Marillion as their opening act years ago
because the Marillion keyboardist (whose name escapes me right now) had on
some video an arsenal almost as big as Emerson...
Heikki
___________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Svante Pettersson [mailto:svante(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 1999 7:17 PM
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
Subject: SRV on JCS?
At 22:31 1999-08-17 -0500, Dean Webb wrote:
>{Dean "Uh, Svante, I hate to say this, but..." Webb: Uh, Svante, I hate to
>say this, but... SRV was about 16 when JCSS was running, I think. He was
>in various bands around Dallas and Austin up till he came into his own in
>the late 70's. I *don't* think he was in the original musical cast of
>JCSS... (SRV's a Texan, like me, and I just have to make sure my version
>of the truth under this one roof is at least heard... He's an AWESOME
>guitarist, don't get me wrong, but just not on JCSS... OK, enough
>fact-checking. Back to the post...}
Hey, no problem! You are probably right. I don't know much about SRV but
there is a guitarist called "Steve Vaughan" credited on the album and I
always thought that was SRV making a buck before he got famous on his own.
Thinking about it though, the JCS was probably done in England and what
would you SRV be doing there? Well, I don't know. I do know that Chris
Spedding was on the album though. Tony Ashton is on there too. Oh, and that
bloke... Whatsisname? Yeah, Ian Gilliam or something. :^)
/Svante
{Dean "Editor" Webb: Chris Spedding is on a BUNCH of stuff... I have him on a Roy Harper LP, and he's quite good... Didn't Ian Gilliam work for Monty Python and direct "Brazil"? (hehehe)}
___________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Bengtsson [mailto:danielbengtsson(at-a-domain-named)telia.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 21, 1999 4:32 AM
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
Subject: Favorite Coverdale quote as of now
"There's someone fondling a woman down there. Will you throw her up here when you're finished?"
(Wonder if it's an act or if he's really got such a strong accent?)
- DC between all the Are Yeow Ready's and Thaaaaank You Very Much's on stage in Ludwigshafen, 1983.
Coverdale's Coverdale, and Paicey is on quote as saying "David's not a funny guy", but you just gotta love the bloke... :^) If you've got any other quotes in stock, feel free to submit them to the list.
{Gillan's banter is *so* much more entertaining than Coverdale's... still, like Paicey says, you just gotta love the bloke. Think he and Blackmore will ever hook up again?}
___________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Heikki Heino [mailto:heikki.heino(at-a-domain-named)mailis.rkol.fi]
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 1999 2:43 AM
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
Subject: Re: DPD #76: Bowie & DP, twin sisters
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Svante Pettersson [mailto:svante(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com]
>Subject: SOTW and CiT, Bowie and DP, Glenn and Hughes, Guitarists and
>guitar players
>
>Heikki Heino wrote:
>>two groups/players who connect Purple to Bowie.
>>Can you name them?
>
>*Adrian Belew
>*Stevie Ray Vaughan
>*Bowie and Queen did the song "Under Pressure", Cozy Powell played with
>Brain May.
>
Sorry, Svante, not quite what I was expecting. Easier link persons are:
*Aynsley Dunbar, drummer on Bowie's Pin-Ups & Diamond Dogs, and Whitesnake's
1987.
*Jimmy Page, who played guitar on one of Bowie's 1960s singles ("I Pity the
Fool", IIRC). Page, of course, is best known for his guitar playing on the
Coverdale/Page album :-)
>>Sorry, now I have to go. Otto needs to get some sleep and he won't fall
>>asleep indoors since it's almost hot in here. Take care!
>
>That's not Otto the DP fan from Denmark, right? :^)
Nope, this one's my son, hopefully the future DP fan from Finland.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ardian Nurcahyo [mailto:nurcahyo(at-a-domain-named)tf.itb.ac.id]
>- Hughes & Paice were dating twin sisters at that moment! Glenn was dating
>one of the twins and Paice was dating the other one. He he he.
>
IIRC Paice and Lord are married to twin sisters. This gives a whole new
meaning to "Purple Family".
In Darker Than Blue #51 it was said that Aynsley Dunbar played over Cozy
Powell's drum tracks on Whitesnake's 1987 album. Is the Cozy version
bootlegged?
Heikki
___________________________________________
---Original Message-----
From: Tom Swoboda [mailto:Tom_Swoboda(at-a-domain-named)compuserve.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 1999 8:55 PM
To: DPD
Subject: Doogie White
For fans of Blackmore's =Stranger in Us All= album, I thought I should
mention a CD I found a week and a half ago in Evansville, Indiana (on
vacation, I'm near Chicago). It's an Iron Maiden tribute album, not in the
Call to Irons series, and when I first looked at it all I noticed was that
all the Di'Anno songs are sung by...Paul Di'Anno (new versions with
different musicians). Hmm, I wasn't going to pick this up until I saw:
Hallowed Be Thy Name, sung by...DOOGIE WHITE?! That'd be something to
hear. The Evil That Men Do, sung by...DOOGIE WHITE?! I'm getting this! I
love that song, and was happy to hear it on this year's Maiden tour (I
would have traded it for The Clairvoyant, my first Maiden song, but I
digress), and to hear Doogie White sing it...
Needless to say, both of Doogie's tracks kick major butt. Has he
been up to anything else since the SIUA lineup fell apart?
--T.J.
{and, in a follow-up...}
Oh, you want to know the NAME of the Maiden tribute? Why of all the
unmitigated gall... :) The album is called 666: The Number One Beast.
--T.J. "Details, who needs 'em?" Swoboda
___________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Heikki Heino [mailto:heikki.heino(at-a-domain-named)mailis.rkol.fi]
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 1999 5:52 AM
To: Deep Purple Digest
Subject: First traditional annual anniversary song
Hi all!
Just happened to see Gillan yesterday while drinking beer. I told him about
DPD and asked if he would like to make the first traditional annual
anniversary somehow special. He showed his little red notebook and this
particular song, and told me he'd like to show it to us all:
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
1. Hey baby what you gonna do
with that look in your eye
We all came down to Montreaux
but you only stayed for one night.
Ch Well my trying ain't done no good
Now that I'm on the road again.
Maybe I could be like Robin Hood
Now that I'm on the road again.
2. Alone with all my sorrow
I'm lying on the floor
Used to sing and say my prayers
I wanna be like I was before.
It was supposed to be on Abandon, but in the end didn't quite make it. I
just wish I hear the melody someday.
Heikki
{Well, I know what he means because I am a freak...}
___________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Douglas White [mailto:whitemd(at-a-domain-named)earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 1999 1:28 PM
To: dplist(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
Subject: Letter from DP in Guitar World
In the new issue of Guitar World (October 1999), a letter appears in the
middle of page 24 from four guys we all know...
-----
Thanking Heaven
Regarding your Deep Purple article in the May issue - specifically the
paragraph ending with "The band is still carrying on today, with Steve
Morse in Blackmore's former lead guitar position, but even the current band
members admit that the magic they had in the early Seventies is long gone."
This we read with some surprise; if it wasn't so completely opposite to
the truth, we would maybe not have noticed it. It is, however, false in
word and spirit.
Some years ago, this band was in a nosedive, appraoching terminal
velocity, when we pulled out with the aid of an exceptional pilot. After
some load-lightening and a meaningful contribution from Joe Satriani, we
were lucky enough to have been flying high; magic carpets don't come into
it. The assertion/statement is, quite simply, wrong, and should not have
been attributed to us.
The lyric "...and then I fell upon my knees and gently kissed the ground
you walk on" ["Seventh Heaven," Abandon] is an open-hearted reference to
our beloved guitar player, who is also a damned good pilot, by the way.
Sincerely,
Deep Purple: Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
-----
Later,
Mark
NP: Iced Earth, "Alive in Athens"
___________________________________________
From Dean Webb dplist(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
Rank the lineups!
OK, purpsters, how do the DP lineups stack up for YOU? Sure, they all got high and low points, etc, but overall, how do they measure up? Here's how they stack up for me:
1. DP Mark 2. This is the one, folks. It will never be exactly like these guys had it again. I really like the current lineup, but you can tell that their knees are starting to hurt. Back in 1971, they were kids, still, flying through the night and blasting away SOTW for the very first electrifying time. This is where it all started, In Rock; Fireball; Machine Head; Made in Japan; Who Do We Think We Are! This was before any of them had to worry about restraining themselves for long-term preservation: Ian Gillan screamed his head off until his head was screamed off. They can never go back here, but thank goodness it was captured and recorded!
2. DP Mark 7: The current lineup. OK, so they are older and more contemplative, but so am I. They are still damn good rockers, and I think it shows best in their live sets. Each player is free, as opposed to the tightness of Mk 2, and you know they are all having fun. They don't have to be at the top of the world, they don't have to impress anyone: they can play and do whatever they want to do, and it means a wonderful, creative, free-flowing unit. There's not really any pressure to live up to the former legacy, and so they do. Morse is the right man in the right place at the right time. Mk. 2 may have exploded onto the scene, but I really do hope that Mk. 7 is the lineup that rides on out into the sunset, many years from now.
3. DP Mark 3: I give the Coverdale/Hughes lineup 3rd place for the live performances. They were MONSTER performers live, and Blackmore does some searingly excellent work on stage during this time. "You Fool No One" always sends me into an awe-filled trance, and "Mistreated" never fails to win my respect. Their studio work wasn't as good as 2 or 7, but this is a live unit, and that's where they shone.
4. DP Mark 4: Thank you for letting Bolin funk it up. (Sly Stone fans will know how to sing that last sentence.) It's too bad that this lineup didn't work out as planned, for a number of reasons. Drugs aside, there were still vast musical differences by the end of the Mk 4 lineup. But when they were good, they were very good. I confess that I do like 70's funk and I don't mind Bolin and Hughes' influences along those lines. True, it wasn't pure heavy rock, but neither is Mk 7. Foxbat and CTTB are great releases, and I've got a much better appreciation of them now that I'm older and wiser... Their version of "Stormbringer" live is the definitive one, I feel. Ian Paice is at his maniacal best on these albums, BTW.
5. DP Mark 1: Quirky and experimental. It would be interesting to have seen how they would have turned out if they weren't so pressured and rushed by Tetragrammaton management. Perhaps the pressure kept them together as long as it did, or maybe it's what ultimately drove them apart. Their non-cover material was intriguing, especially off their 3rd album, but when performing live, Evans didn't really seem to be all that confident in the DP-written tracks. I like their stuff, but I don't get as many chills from their stuff as I do from the other lineups. "River Deep, Mountain High" is excellent stuff, as is "Chasing Shadows", but they also did some stuff that I just can't listen to other than as a historical observer.
6. DP Mark 5 (the reunion of Mk. 2): I wanted to like these guys so much, but Blackmore's pop-influenced hooks made it quite difficult and I had to give up on putting these guys on the same pedestal as the original Mk. 2. Paice's drumming seems straightjacketed, Gillan is forced to go through Blackmore's quality control, Lord seems content to play his instruments like a rhythm guitar, and Glover just wants everyone to be happy. They can play some great stuff, but the same fire as before isn't there and Blackmore has an obvious heavy hand on the whole affair. CHoHW has nowhere near the magic of MiJ and it is clear from that recording that something had to change to avoid DP from becoming another attraction on the Dinosaur Circuit.
7. DP Mark 6: JLT did not belong in DP. If they had only called it Rainbow... Actually, that would have worked much better, as I don't think they would have forced JLT to conform to DP according to Blackmore. Their work is not very good, very little heart or unity in it, and it's sad that everyone had to go through it. I like JLT, I think he's got a great voice, but he's a pop singer, not a hard rock singer. I might pick up a tape of these guys live one day, but I feel like I'll really have to brace myself for it.
I left out the Satriani period. I have a tape of Joe and DP at Yokohama, and it's quite good, but it's obvious that the band are getting over Blackmore. They recovered quite nicely, and do some great stuff, but I'd have to give the Satriani stuff a tie with Bolin, as I find the other three lineups much more together and exciting. Satriani was great for Deep Purple, but his greatness is evident more in his being the transition between Blackmore and Morse than in his actual musical contributions to the group.
So, what do you think?
___________________________________________
From: Dean Webb dplist(at-a-domain-named)deep-purple.com
Which version of SOTW is the best?
Since 1972, DP and the Mark 2 alumni have had to play SOTW at just about every concert given. I have it on Machine Head, Made in Japan, Live in London, The Last Concerts in Europe (the Archive Alive one), Foxbat, Nobody's Perfect, Come Hell or High Water, Live at the Olympia, and Total Abandon. While not their most intricate work, it seems to be one of the most enduring and well-loved songs of their repertoire. This would explain why I have it on 9 official DP releases.
So which one is best?
For me, I actually like the one off TA the most. I really like it because there's about 5 minutes of Steve Morse playing other killer riffs before launching into SOTW. So maybe that doesn't count, if I like it for the non-SOTW elements in it...
Well, there's the one off of "Nobody's Perfect." No matter how overdubbed it may be, it comes across in a very entertaining way. The band is together well on it and the crowd sounds awesome on it. The CHoHW version has Ian Gillan pumping the crowd as well, but Blackmore is not involved in the song at all on that release. I think I would have to say, for pure SOTW, the NP version is actually the one I like best.
I don't think Ian G. planned on putting "Georgia on My Mind" into the middle of SOTW, but Glenn Hughes fixed it for him. Although Mk 3 and 4 didn't sing the third verse, I do like their version, especially the Foxbat one. I LOVE it when Coverdale goes, "I SAID SMOKE... SMOKE... SMOKE!!!" There is such power in his voice on that one!
The MH and MiJ versions are unique in that DP has no idea at all about how huge the song is going to eventually become as they play it. The Mk 3 and 4 versions are quite aware of it, but don't treat it like a sacred cow. The reunion versions get dangerously close to such a treatment, playing it almost because they *have* to. The one off LATO comes across in a similar vein, although I think they want to want to play it again. TA has the cure: goof off for 5 minutes and THEN pump out the riff that conquered the world: DAH DAH DAAAAH DAH DAH DAAAA-DAAAAAH!
So, what do you think?
___________________________________________
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