Pre-eclipse I sent to the HS a list of Gillan-isms which they were kind enough to publish. Needless to say the historical research is never over and escaping to my man cave during the current heat wave has uncovered some additional gems. Rather than clog up the site with useless ephemera I present them here for your delectation. Now in order of the album they were on to put in their correct context.
The incomplete Cunning Linguist
Mandrake Root
“If you don’t feel too cold? We want you to get all your gear off. Take all your clothes off and let it all hang down to your knees and everything like that. I mean there’s no one around and the fuzz are all out the back. So, get it all off and be very rude. Here’s a filthy rude song. It’s diabolically rude, so if you feel like getting your diabolicallies out let’s do it. It’s a thing called Mandrake Root.” Aachen 11th June 1970
Mumblin’ Thing Blues/Wring That Neck
“That was a thing called the anti-climax song. Now we’re going to do a thing called Wring That Neck.”
Outro- Ritchie speaks “If you can understand English I’d like to apologise for that number. Thank you.” Cologne 4th April 1970
Wring That Neck
“Stop that noise [JL organ interruption 1 on his organ]. Here’s er.. [JL interruption 2] an insr..[ JL interruption 3]..can I have a little bit of silence please? My last big moment ..[JL interruption 4]..this is err ..[JL interruption 5]..an instrumental called Wring That Neck” Aachen 11th July 1970
Covers
Hush
“Can I introduce you to our producer, Michael Bradford. Otherwise known as Ritchie Moreblack. Here’s an old song discovered under a rock.” Montreux 15th July 2006
Paint It Black
“This next thing has got two titles. The first title is Ian Paice is wonderful. The second title is an old rolling Stones thing called Paint It Black. The third title is Ian Paice is a big head.” Montreux 16th April 1971
Lucille
“We’ve got time for one more here. It’s going to be an old, old rock and roll number. And somebody’s taking a little bit of cloths off so why don’t you take them all off ‘cos it’s getting a little bit warm in here. This is an old song from Little Richard.” Berlin 21st May 1971
7 is 7
“I have no idea what it’s about but it’s good fun.” Sofia 29th May 2022
In Rock
Speed King
“This is the saddest, most miserable, depressing, agonising song we ever wrote. In fact, we only ever played this song once because we were so depressed after we played it, we all went out and decided not to do it again. This song is about a seed. It fell into a stony path. And, in fact, it grew in the rocks and the filth and everything else. It’s certainly the most depressing song I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s very slow, it’s a ballad designed to bring you to your knees.” Knebworth 1985
“Thanks. I know a lot of you have come a long way. Thanks for coming in all this weather. I felt pretty bad in my limousine as we drove in past you guys standing in the snow. I nearly got out and joined the queue. This is the slowest most meaningful ballad we ever did. A gentle, delicate song It’s all about plums. Squashed plums.” Birmingham 7th March 1987
“This is officially a lullaby. We don’t do lullaby’s very often, but this is something I grew to like as my daughter was growing up. I used to sing this to her every night to put her to sleep.” House Of Blues 28th Jan 1998
Bloodsucker
“Here’s something that was on Deep Purple In Rock. A song dedicated to the management. It’s called Bloodsucker.” Melbourne 20th April 1999
Child In Time
“This next one’s a song about a loser. A guy who comes third in a duel.” Albert Hall 24th Sept 1969
“It’s an old one, a great favourite of ours” “Oh no it’s not” Possibly Ian Paice
“Oh yes it is. Did you understand that? Have you ever been to a pantomime? It’s called Child In Time.” Budokan 25th June 1973
“This song was written in 1969 in a small room about half the size of this stage. Well maybe four seventeenths or five seventeenths and a half. It’s stayed with us for a long time and it’s called Child In Time.” Osaka 1st night 8th May 1985
Into the Fire
“This next thing is like rock and roll as well but rock and roll with its trousers down. Rock and roll back to front, inside out, whatever you like. Changed it around a little bit, it’s a little slower. If you can count eight you can just about keep up. It’s called Into The Fire.” Stockholm 12th November 1970
Living Wreck
“Here’s an old one about a girlfriend I had for a lengthy weekend which turned out to be one night but she couldn’t stand.” Lyon 19th January 2006
Black Night
“Roger and I were talking the other day in the bath - I mean in the bar. And we remembered this old song and he said to me “do you know what it means?” and I said, “no it’s a bit soap” We don’t know what it means at all and we still don’t know what it means. It’s called Black Night.” Melbourne 9th March 2001
Fireball
“If you have the inclination and you want to avoid the approbation then you have to mastermind the situation. When we recorded this album, and this is the title track Fireball, there were very few things in the way of special effects in the studio in 1970, so we had to wait for three hours until the air conditioning came on and we recorded it, and it went something like this - whoooosh” Melbourne April 20th 1999
No No No
“We’ve got one from the new album now. We were in the studio thinking about all the silly things we could say no to.” Bristol 30th September 1971
Demon’s Eye
“This next song is…well how can I describe it…It’s the result of a vindaloo curry and the complete lack of sphincter tincture after a sixteen-hour ride on a bus. It’s called Demon’s eye,” Rockford 2nd July 2005
Anyone’s Daughter
“Special guest on tambourine, Elton John.” Milan 26th September 1993
“We now have the imminent arrivement, arrivement? arrivement, arrivement. The imminent arrival of a stool. Upon this tool will be sitting a person, here is a microphone and here is a pedal. This pedal will become a blur as the evening wears on. And I’d like to introduce our guest percussionist, Elton John.” Birmingham 9th November 1993
“This song was written one of the dark evenings when my trousers weren’t heavy enough and my belt loops were jangling” Stockholm 13th November 1993
The Mule
“It’s all about Lucifer and his friends most of whom are sitting around tonight somewhere” Copenhagen 1st March 1972
“Here’s one which is based around something which little Ian does on the drums and it’s about lucifer and his friends and it’s called the Mule. Yeah, everything up here, please. A bit more monitor if you’ve got it. (RB – I think, Can we have everything louder than everything else) Yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else.” Tokyo 17th August 1972
“And now this is not what you think at all, it’s not about little furry creatures with sharp little nails, blind, underground connections. It’s none of those it’s actually..” [Little Ian crashes in to stop Big Ian talking about Moles] Tokyo 12th April 2014
Fools
“It’s all about little Imps. The other side of..you know you’re going their way and there’s always somebody right behind you [makes the action of being hit on the head with a hammer] and it’s about that and it’s called Fools” Florida 5th June 2001
No One Came
“This one is from The Fireball record. And this is a prophetic story. It has been prophetic from time to time. It’s actually irrelevant at the moment – a bit like myself. It’s called No One Came” House Of Blues 28th Jan 1998
Strange Kind of Woman
“About six months ago we started recording a new album and the second track we finished on it was something we’re going to do now. It was released as a single in Europe and it’s on the album over here. It’s a story about a prostitute and a friend of ours – it’s a relationship which was so extraordinary and turned out to be such a drag that we wrote a song about it. It’s called Strange Kind Of Women.” Long Beach 1971
“This was actually a true story and we thought very profound. It was about a friend of ours who got mixed up with an evil women and it’s a sad story. They got married in the end and a few days after they got married the lady died.” BBC 1972
“We’re going to do some of the older songs here tonight as well of some of the new ones. We’ve all been doing different things over the last 10 years. Personally, I’ve been studying languages and have become something of a cunning linguist, in fact I’m known as a master of many tongues. So tonight, I’d like to introduce each song in a different language- this one in French. This is the story of somebody we met outside the Turkish embassy some years ago and she had terrible problems with her arthritis. In French this is called e-hoh-e-hohn strange kind of woman” Knebwoth 1985
“This one involves a beautiful lady who used to stand outside the Irish pub we used to drink in in Hanwell. We used to rehearse there and go and have a drink at lunchtime. This lump, she was the weirdest creation you’ve ever seen in your life. However, she did write notes and these notes meant something very special and leant themselves to the meaning of this song.” Zurich 14th July 1985
“This is a story about an even earlier relationship. It was almost embryonic it was so early. She was a very unusual woman, delicious mind you. Kept her in the fridge” Montreux 4th July 2004
Highway Star
“What we got is a new song off the next album coming out. The album’s called Machine Head and this is likely to remain our opening number for the next year or so. Thing called Highway Star.” Copenhagen 1st March 1972. 52 years later….!
Outro- That was the new song. A thing called Highway Star which is all about a freak and his car who goes bombing up and down the country all the time and having a good time. Copenhagen 1st March 1972
“Good morning.” Osaka 15th August 1972. Japanese shows started at 6 pm.
“Here’s a little waltz. I’m in the mood for a waltz now. It’s a 4-4 waltz.” Montreux 22nd July 2000
Maybe I’m A Leo
“This is a song which is, might not appear so on the surface, but is in actual fact it is, in the true sense of the word, a blues as far as we’re concerned. Can’t be bad. In my opinion I should say.” BBC In Concert 9th March 1972
“Here’s one about an uncertain astrological cat whose name is Leo.” St.Gallen, 30th June 1994
Pictures Of Home
“This was recorded in Switzerland. It tells the story of the situation we were in and describes the emptiness, the eagles and the small furry creatures to be found in Roger’s pockets.” Melbourne 20th April 1999
“We’ve got the opportunity to do a couple of things slightly differently from the way we normally do it. We’re going to do a song from Machine Head, an album we did in Montreux in Switzerland in 1971 just before three o’clock. Picture of Home.” Rotterdam 30th August 2000
Never Before
“We had high hopes for (this) until the Dan Dan song came along and blew everything out of the water.” New York Beacon Theatre 1st March 2004
Smoke on the Water
“Here’s a song, that’s also from the last album. It tells the story of how we recorded it and what went wrong when we did it. Happened in Switzerland and it’s a song called Smoke on the Water, this one.” Made in Japan, Osaka 15th August 1972
“Just over a year ago now we were in Montreux in Switzerland recording the Machine Head album and this tells the story, this song of the burning down of the casino in Montreux while we were there and all the other silly things, insignificant things that happened while we were there. Actually-basically, it’s about the burning down of Claude Nobs. We tied his elbows together behind his back, so I think it’s chest Nobs – if you don’t believe that then I’ve nothing else to say. It’s called Smoke On The Water this one.” Genoa 11th March 1973
“On the guitar Ritchie Blackmore. From Bicester, on the drums Ian Paice. From Uxbridge and Greenham Common on the bass guitar Roger Glover. Happy birthday to you Roger. From Harrods and the Ascot Royal enclosure on the keyboards, I’m sorry, on the organ and piano Jon Lord.” Adelaide 30th November 1984. Scribes note; Greenham Common was an anti-cruise missiles camp in the early ‘80’s. The Ascot Royal enclosure is for posh people only.
“This may seem like a devilish ploy but it’s one way to bring the proceedings to an end” Nobody’s Perfect, Oslo 22nd August 1987
“Any requests? Pardon? I can’t hear you (audience cries for smoke). I beg your pardon. Do we know that one? No? Well, we’ll leave it at that then I suppose. Mmmm. (singing) She came down like a big cloud upon my face, (guitar chords) La La’s hanging out of the sky (guitar chords) couldn’t see a thing but a huge fucking set of pendulous la la’s hanging down on my face. Unfortunately, she hadn’t shaved her armpits. Unfortunately. Nevertheless, she had monster knockers.” The band starts La Bamba. Pforzheim 30th August 1987
Lazy
“Bit of silence please for a bit of authentic rhythm and blues” BBC 9th March 1972
“There once was a very much bent pair,
a tea leaf and one who just went there,
He’d take out his badge,
Say I’m licensed to snadge,
All the bikes outside Tesco’s in Edgeware” Stockholm 18th June 1985
Scribes note; a “tea leaf” is cockney rhyming slang for a thief.
“This is a thing about the terminal orgasm. The repeating, never ending, lava flow.” Paris 9th July 1985
“This was originally called camping or the early morning reveille, baby’s arm but eventually we decided to call it Lazy.” Melbourne 9th March 2001
“If I look a bit squirrel like tonight or the hunch face of Notre Dame it’s because I’ve had a couple of wisdom teeth put in earlier. It’s a song about the change of seasons. It’s just turned into winter now and all the winter duvets are on, and all the winter tent poles are holding them up in the morning and that’s what the songs about. It’s called Lazy” Basel 14th Nov 2003
“This is from a long while ago. It was on a windy day actually and she was walking down in front of us. She leant forward into the wind, and I could see her nib-nubs rising above her wellies closely guarded by four perfect tendons. The like of which you won’t see better this side of Wembley. And then she licked her lips lasciviously and I thought I’ll do the same.” BBC In Concert 16th November 2017
“I can’t tell you the true story of this because you’re too young for such salacious details. Needless to say there were three guys. There was a Zen Buddhist, my old history teacher and a guy with a stick. I forget his name. And they all had fur lined pockets. But even so, collectively they couldn’t put up a tent on a wet Saturday morning. So, it goes to show the value of ideology. It’s a waste of time.” An unidentified gig on YouTube 2024
Space Truckin’
“If Rock ‘n’ Roll and space travel had coincided then this number might well have been written one day. It’s called Space Truckin’.” Osaka 15th August 1972
“Here’s a song you can fiddle about in your trousers to.” Osaka 29th June 1973
“A little, a little er, a little – what was it? – a little Rock and Roll, that’s right. A little Rock & Roll. Nice Bristol’s, see the tits on that Rog. Corrgh.” Birmingham 9th November 1993
Scribes note; Bristol’s are cockney rhyming slang for breasts. Bristol City’s=Tities.
When A Blind Man Cries
Special mention “That was a song I wrote with Roger a couple of years ago before I was bloody fired. Here’s one I wrote a long time ago -one of my favourite Deep Purple songs – When A Blind Man Cries.” Gillan, Nottingham. 24th August 1990
“Here’s a blues thing. It has it’s brighter moments. It’s called When A Bling Man Cries.” Rotterdam 30th August 2000
Women From Tokyo
“I have to explain that Women From Tokyo is a love song. It’s not about one women, it’s a love song about Japan” Budokan 16th May 1985
“Here’s one, and there’s another one up there. It’s a Venezuelan song, and you may ask yourself what is a Venezuelan? As many Venezuelans’ do.” Paris 17th June 1996
“Once I tried swimming. No, it wasn’t swimming it was wimmin’. Once I tried Wimmin’ From Tokyo to Cairo and I ended up with sand all over the place and it’s painful for the women and it’s painful for the man.” Santiago, 31st March 1999
Mary Long
“Here’s one now, it’s a new thing of our platter out at the moment. It’s all about an evil situation in England which we’re trying to put to rights. And it’s basically about doing away with people like Colin Hart and that sort of person. It’s a thing called Mary Long.” Genoa 11th March 1973
“Long time ago we were bedevilled by injustices and intolerance. There were two people in England particularly who used to get right up our collective noses, Mary Whitehouse and Lord Longford, who didn’t like above anything else nudity and coarse humour. Well, fuck ‘em. So, we got pissed off and wrote this song – it’s a little collage of their intentions and ours called Mary Long” Hong Kong 20th March 2001
Rat Bat Blue
“Here’s one based around a snare drum pattern.” Reading 16th February 1996
Blues
“What we need know is a huge mass of pink just to sort of flop down over our heads. But in the absence of that-here’s a great wodge of Blues for you.” Budokan 16th May 1985
“In the absence of all the pink tonight here’s a little green for you.” Paris 9th July 1985
“I think probably to a man we need a little bit of pink right now. However, in the absence of any immediate pink here’s some blues for you.” Alpine Valley 17th August 1985
Difficult To Cure
“Here’s a song which I’m going to introduce in Belgium. it’s called (coughs)” Adelaide 30th November 1984
“Here is a piece of music” Knebworth 22nd June 1985
“Ah. I can see I’m not needed. I’ll leave you to it.” Milan 26th September 1993
Knockin’ At Your Backdoor
“This one-I’d like to tell you about this song, I really would, but unfortunately the whole content of the song is illegal-as well as every single word in it, every comma, whatever. There’s not, there is not a single, single word or note in the song which is obeying any law at all. It goes like this” Knebworth 22nd June1985
“One thing I ought to tell you before we go any further. In case you got the wrong impression earlier on. When we were doing Knockin’ At Your Backdoor and I was talking about nice slippery bums and all that, anal sex and everything else. Heaven forbid that you got the wrong idea. What I was talking about was good old upright Christian heterosexual buggery as opposed to the other kind.“ Clarification Paris 9th July 1985
“Back to the Blarney Stone – this is a similar kind of thing. It’s still a kind of chatty thing but you just have to slide a little further forward and it’s probably more painful and probably less legal but some people like it.” Basel 14th Nov 2003
“The root of the idea of this song was when Roger and I used to live together in an area of London called Hounslow, which is a suburb of Heathrow airport. We lived in semi-detached caves and one day there was a knock at the back door. We looked at each other because in our innocent little world knockin’ at your back door didn’t exist. However it’s legal in some states.” Montreux 4th July 2004
Under The Gun
“This is something that’s about the things that generally piss us off. Annoying things like godbrothers, perpetrators of the worst crimes possible - like people who think they can leave stupid spotlights on during a laser show and everything else you can think of. This one in German is called - Under Ze Gun. Thank you.” Osaka 1st night 8th May 1985
“This one is about the back end of a pantomime horse that had piles and so therefore could only do things two at a time. Especially in that particular glade which was made of porcelain. This one is all about the shits and god botherers that ever interrupted your life and made things a nuisance. It gets up my nose this song. It’s called Under The Gun.”
Outro “Nice one Blackers“ Paris 9th July 1985
Nobody’s Home
Perfect Strangers
“This is a story of an affair I had once with our manager’s dog. And has since had to have a hysterectomy because we weren’t truly matched. We still communicate with each other from time to time and I send her flowers, and I still point my finger in the right direction. This is very important when you’re thinking about the whole story because you have to bear in mind due to the underlying emotion. It’s called Perfect Strangers” Osaka 1st night 8th May 1985
“I’d like to give you the alternative introduction to Perfect Strangers. I knew you’d been gasping for it. The side street from Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse is called Perfect Strasse and there’s a place down there which is perfectly horrid, and it makes everyone furious. In fact, in angers people. So, it’s called Perfect Strasse Angers.” Budokan 16th May 1985
“The way this song was inspired, there’s a weird story behind this. A story about a football team who got thrown out of their league for playing and drinking and all that sort of thing. So they sat down in a little stadium in a small town and they used to play games away and they were known as the Rangers, and in fact the street where they had this little stadium was called Perfect Street. So that’s the story behind this song. It’s about a football team called the Perfect Street Rangers.” Knebworth 22nd June 1985
“This is about the cat’s entrails. It started very small and grew larger and moved from one stadium to another. This is in the porcelain of my seed. This thing grew into a fondant and moved from one stadium to another and ended up in Southall and that’s what it’s called – Southall.” Paris 9th July 1985
“I’m going to announce this one in Swahili. Which is a very difficult language. I’m something of a cunning linguist. A master of many tongues. This is a song about an English soccer team who had to move from one stadium to another after too much drinking and too much fighting. And they settled down in a little west London stadium in a street called Perfect Street and as they had to travel to many away games they were known as the rangers. And in Swahili this song is called Perfect Street Rangers.” Alpine Valley 17th August 1985
“If you go down to the woods today, then you’re sure of a big surprise. If you go down to the woods today you better go in disguise. For all the bears that ever there were, are gathered there today because the days the day the teddy bears have their picnic. Have you got a national teddy bear day? Here’s one. We’d been apart for some years and few people wondered why we didn’t let it stay that way but as we got back together we wrote this song called Perfect Bloody Strangers.” Irvine Meadows 23rd May 1987
“Untold crimes. They used to asphyxiate people with a bunch of cohorts. It’s named after him in fact, and it’s called Perfect Stranglers” Nobody’s Perfect – Irving Meadows 23rd May 1987 as listed in the album credits. See above.
“Perfect Street Wranglers. That’s an old rodeo outfit I used to work for” Milan 26th September 1993
Gypsy’s Kiss
“That of course wasn’t a blues song at all. But I forget what it’s called right now.” Adelaide 30th November 1984
“The owner of these* can pick them up from the dressing room afterwards. How are you going to keep your Volvo warm? This song was originally inspired the Beatles album reVolvo.” Stockholm 15th June 1985 *scribe’s note: a pair of jeans
Outro after Jon’s organ packed up mid song “Are you ok my little partner? Jon’s organ has been taking a load of abuse over the last few weeks. I wish to Christ mine had.” Mannheim 29th June 1985
Scribes notes(i) Preceded by Blues (ii) Gypsy’s Kiss is cockney rhyming slang for urinating
Bad Attitude
“It’s a new song from the new album and it’s deadly serious so shut up. It’s called Bad Attitude” Budapest January 1987
“As it happens, I’m getting to quite like that one. I was never fond of it. I’m getting to like it. I like the bit where it goes quiet.” Milan 2nd September 1987
The Unwritten Law
“While recently examining the entrails of a Staffordshire bull terrier we discovered the secret of diseases and it’s not only coughs and sneezes but it’s also an unwritten law. That’s the title of this song. It’s called don’t give people what you got in the first place. Staffordshire bull terriers, entrails, diseases. That’s what this song is about. The Unwritten Law.” Kalamazoo 7th May 1987
“The inspiration for this song we found in a bowl of entrails of a barely dead Staffordshire bull terrier. We did. Jon wasn’t there. It’s a thing called the Unwritten law” Irving Meadows 23rd May 1987
Call Of The Wild
“I was standing there. Don’t know what she looks like. She’s kind of elusive. She’s one of those enigmatic, strange, changing girls. She doesn’t have any particular face or particular shape to her body. Nothing I can pin down. But she has a certain something.” Stockholm 27th February 1987
Hard Lovin’ Women
“This is a little folk song. Actually, genuinely, this song is about nothing to do with anything apart from tits. Nothing to do with the person attached to them or anything. An entity, I mean give them a fair shake. Let’s be fair. It’s called ‘Hard’ (band kick in Gillan pause’s) ‘Lovin’ Women’” Pforzheim 30th August 1987
Starts with the outro to PS - “Thanks a lot, supreme. I know her. Mr & Mrs Preem. Actually, that’s what this song is about. I’d like to give a bit of background. Mr & Mrs Preem used to live down Harbour Down Road where we used to hang out and they had this daughter called Sue. What Sue didn’t do was nobody’s business. Of course we weren’t involved in any of that, we just heard the rumours. And this song’s all about her, Susan Preem. Not that this has got anything to with it but she did have sensational tits. That’s just a by the by. It’s brains I’m interested in personally but still. It’s all about Susan Preem and it’s called Hard Lovin’ Woman” San Diego 29th May 1987
“We were advised before we came here, just a little warning, that the acoustics were not good here. Well, they lied – they’re terrible” outro San Diego 29th May 1987
Dead Or Alive
“This one is an anti-drugs and it’s a very slow-moving sensual piece. And it’s also an insecticide. It’s called Dead or Alive” Cologne 8th February 1987
“This one’s all about what you shouldn’t be doing with hard drugs. It’s an anti-cocaine, anti-smack, anti-whatever. It’s a serious story. It’s a gentle ballad called Dead Or Alive” Stockholm 27th February 1987
“We’ve got this dog called fluff that actually, nearly died the other day but before he died. He wouldn’t smile for days and it inspired us to write this song.” Irvine Meadows 23rd May 1987
The Battle Rages On
“Here’s a song about love and hate. And how, over the years, over the times hate always seems to win.” Stockholm 13th November 1993
Anya
“And then was then and now is now and all things return.” Stuttgart 16th October 1993
“And so the seasons change and all things return.” Birmingham 9th November 1993
Talk About Love
“My friend squiffy’s just got a patent on this new thing for getting nuts off wheels. Very nice” Milan 26th September 1993
“This song is from the new record [in a French accent] ze Battle Rages On and the song is all about the itch with no name. You can find it in your trousers.” Stockholm 13th November 1993
“Thank you very much. Just sitting here thinking about Jamie Lee Curtis. Practicing my overture and what I wanted her to do with my neck. here’s one that make you go ooh! It’s called Talk About Love. Ooh!” Nancy 18th October 1993
Twist In The Tale
“I forgot the introduction to that tonight. Normally I go oof argh woof argh mmmm oohh. Here’s a song with a happy ending actually, the beginnings not bad either. It’s a country and western thing. Back to squiffy – he only got the patent about three weeks ago and he’s absolutely delighted.” Milan 26th September 1993
“This one’s is about the one little pig. Just the one” Stockholm 13th November 1993
“here’s another one about Jamie Lee Curtis and it’s all about her tail” Nancy 18th October 1993