Thanks Fla76, that is a really angle that video on all things guitar and also the four MKII members in shot a lot of the time too. Cheers.
Really good that should say.
Four Leg Ends together in some of that footage, wonderful. Remember when Roger said that in the CHOHW video from 1993, it isn’t legends, it is leg ends, ha ha ha. Something like that from my memory. Cheers.
56 posts were split to a new topic: Bob Ezrin and the shorter songs
I think it all happened at too short a notice, was over too quickly before they could settle in and then they were likely all overawed by the situation - except for Simon ironically, who handled it like a pro. Backing Andrew Strong of The Commitments for years apparently taught him some valuable lessons.
That said, more preparation and duration would have not precluded something else going awry.
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“Not truly Deep Purple”, I think I have heard that statement re every friggin’ DP line-up, all nine of them! Even the sanctified Mk II were “not truly Deep Purple” according to Mk I diehards.
In fact they ALL were/are.
Uwe, allow me to be clearer - it’s Deep Purple, but the essence of adventure and improvisation that is the soul of the band is gone.
They’ve lost their musical soul, I feel, and I hope they find it again. I think =1 was the start of that process, and I hope they unfetter themselves soon. They did a really great job of being creative within pop confines on Splat, but I really hope they ditch those confines and spread their wings again next album and really stretch out and let loose.
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Ok, Nick, ok, you’re spot on on it. I won’t be around at my 80, pretty realisticly. They are, yes, and they still play. But did that little of stepping off from the beaten path really hurt even an old man? Oh well, it’s just what I miss, that’s it.
I think Blackmore just wanted a high, on which he could close his book. As much as I’ve been a fan of his.. My feeling is that leaving that hat on Simon’s gear, and giving his guitar away to Gillan at the end, kind of shows - carry the torch guys, I’m done!
If that’s the case, it couldn’t have had a better ending. As I mentioned before, I think that was the last we saw of Ritchie. Greatest possible ending, if that’s the case..
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As ole Shakespeare said “to improvise or to not improvise, that is the question”. Seriously though, the age of the musicians these days is the first thing that comes to mind, especially the two Ian’s. The drummer Ian has to Paice himself, pun intended and ole Gillan also. Improvising at their age, probably not on the radar for good reason. It could give big Ian a little more rest time in concert, but not little Ian. Also, the length of each concert performance has to be paramount at this stage of their lives. Regarding longer songs on the albums, Bleeding Obvious was grand and they backed that song up performing it right through the =1 touring, well done there. I do enjoy a certain amount of longer composition, but those days are more than likely over for most of those musicians from that earlier era. Back to the improvising or not, the chemistry also has to be right for that, certain musicians get into it, others do not. It is a fine line. Cheers.
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Yes indeed, Ritchie has left the stage. Exit stage Left. I joked about him possibly placing his hat on Simon’s head, he he he. Passing the baton so to speak. All good fun. All things must pass, as ole (young then) George Harrison said. Cheers.
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Deep Purple didn‘t even have regular single hits when they still ruled the Earth. Hush, Black Night and SOTW are all basically freak hits or came about by accident. The core audience of DP is totally single charts-ignorant or even -averse, they’re album buyers and prefer five-kilo-editions of Made in Japan or somesuchlike.
If your job with earMUSIC is selling DP, your one and only concern is whether the product elicits familiarity with those people that associate DP with certain musical characteristics. There are enough of them, screw the singles charts.
The band probably makes a good living on touring but it’s not as if they are managed by Irving Azoff and playing the Sphere. Pushing the money, money, money narrative seems a little off.
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I don’t know… I go away to see family for a couple of days and 
First, Martin - as I said, I don’t think Don did cut off Blackmore, he was just accutely aware of the very strict curfew. I suspect, but may be wrong, that this may get mentioned in future interviews.
Second - Management. I believe the current manager is a music royalties/copyright specialist hired by the band. My understanding (again possibly wrong) is that they let the promoter know what they are willing to do and leave them to do it. No one at Ear Music, or Bob Ezrin, has any say.
I wasn’t even sure whether Don heard Ritchie properly on his monitor, he might have simply been unaware of him playing a solo. Don generally has good ears and though he is a busy player, he can also hold back. You don’t get hired by Gary Moore if you can’t
Doesn’t Don do that extended outro solo bit in Smoke at every show? Jones Beach no exception.
Didn’t he interfere already earlier than that?
I dunno, maybe a prior chat along the lines of “you do this and I’ll do that” would have been helpful? 
No matter, accidents can happen and I think everybody was understandably caught up in the moment.
Did they rehearse it together? I don’t think so. I believe Ritchie’s roadie did a soundcheck.
As far as I’m aware, there was no rehearsal. Roadie sound checked, and Ritchie literally came on a played. Even he has said he didn’t even get a chance to warm up. He also said something about it not being about what he played, but the fact he did play. There’s a lovely quote about wounds needing to be healed, but he realised there were no wounds.
Of course, I wasn’t there, but know several who were - people who would normally get passes. None of them did. It really was a personal space for the band and Ritchie, and rightly so. I’m sure we’ll get different perspectives during the next round of interviews.
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