[hand] [face]
The Original Deep Purple Web Pages
The Highway Star

It’s growling and purring

This behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of WhoCares single back in 2011 was published a couple of years ago, but somehow have completely slipped under our radar. Until now.

Thanks to Christina Rowatt for the video and to Gary Poronovich for bringing it to your attention.



10 Comments to “It’s growling and purring”:

  1. 1
    mike whiteley says:

    How wonderful to see Jon & Ian embracing and sharing a laugh.

  2. 2
    Blackwood Richmore says:

    Wow! I assumed this video was old news for THS readers, as it’s been popping up on my youtube homepage on a regular basis over the past couple of years. Oh well, as long as everyone can see it now, that’s the main thing.

    The wonderful thing here is that we can see the great mateship that exists between these men, & the humanity & generosity that they have for a people who’ve suffered so much from a disaster that was beyond their control. Bravo!.

    Out Of My Mind
    https://youtu.be/n2vxQApPg40

    Holy Water
    https://youtu.be/Au1fvuta_o8

  3. 3
    Adel Faragalla says:

    Sorry if I am going to be slightly biased and just talk about Ian Gillan input in the two songs of ‘Out of my mind’ and ‘Holy water’ .
    Ian Gillan is one hell of guy when it comes to composing lyrics for a song. The guy is a genius in picking words that hits certain cords and release emotions form the heart.
    The lyrics of ‘Holy Water’ will bring tears and sadness and his lyrics is like a bridge to the heart felt sorrow and pain for the grieving person regardless of time and place. This song is eternally alive and kicking and even in these darks days of the pandamic and how people will suffer eternally from any sort of heartship from lose of loved ones or losing jobs and homes and poverty and struggle for justice and freedom this song is a beacon reminder to not be selfish and love and help one another.
    I believe this song was banned by some church leaders as they didn’t like the link of holy water and desperation of alcoholism but they forget that people need comfort from total failure of society and need a helping hand and less preaching.
    BTW Our Beloved Jon Lord’s intro in ‘Holy Water’ is so powerful and scarry and will bring shivers down your spin unless you are made of stone.
    Well done to everyone who was involved in this wonderful cause you will always reap the rewards on Earth and up above.
    Peace and love to you all.

  4. 4
    Uwe Hornung says:

    And where was Jason Newsted in all this? He didn’t record with the others?

  5. 5
    Ole Jacobsen says:

    Seems to me that Tony Iommi drives these songs – the two best song Gillan and Lord did since Perfect Strangers. Iommi is a Great riff master. His albums with Gillan and Hughes are also great. He gets the guys into doing hard rock like never before. So, Purple with Iommi or someone like him would have been another ball game. 🙂 Sadly, there is only one Iommi. 🤣

  6. 6
    Bo Finn Poulsen says:

    Ole, so 100% true, but I will say after Blackmore left DP. With Iommi Purple will even today still play rock. Not Jazz/rock.

  7. 7
    Uwe Hornung says:

    I love Tony Iommi, Bo, and he is a slo-mo riffmeister, but with the digit handicap of his fretting hand he could neither play the Highway Star solo nor Lazy for simply physical reasons. He crafted an eternal niche for himself in Black Sabbath und that is where he belongs.

    BTW, he loves guitar jazz and his solo spot at BS gigs alway sounded like a Joe Pass tutorial.

    https://youtu.be/p_kUJa1PueM

    Just listen to what Tony plays in the bridge here around 00:42:

    https://youtu.be/yuVmjv22Nqc

    But no doubt one of the greats.

  8. 8
    George in Ohio says:

    Agree with Blackwood Richmore – I have watched this numerous times and just assumed it was quite familiar to the website. So glad others may be seeing it for the first time (and subsequent repeated viewings, no doubt).

    Such great playing by Jon, done about a year before his death. He had an amazing gift for balancing solo and supporting keyboard playing, and his work on both of these numbers is absolutely first rate. He could always deliver the goods in a way that complemented the music and made it uniquely better. Also a treat to see his humanity on full display in the video as well.

    Adel Faragalia is dead on in calling Ian Gillan’s lyric writing to attention. Ian also has a marvelous talent for picking words that not only tell a story, but accentuate the flow of the music so well. Terrific riffs from Iommi – sure wish there were more WhoCares numbers out there. This is work of mature, skilled crafters of hard rock – done as good as you can get it. Kudos to all who were a part of this project.

  9. 9
    Dr. Bob says:

    Purple is 1A and Sabbath is 1B on my list. So I love these collaborations between Iommi & Gillan or Hughes.

  10. 10
    DeeperPurps says:

    Dr. Bob @9. Agreed 100% re 1A & 1B…my list is the same. Both Gillan and Hughes have done some marvellous work with Tony Iommi. As did Dio. Both Purple and Sabbath (with their various offshoots) are so closely intertwined – those alliances have produced some great hard rock music.

Add a comment:

Preview no longer available -- once you press Post, that's it. All comments are subject to moderation policy.

||||Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
© 1993-2024 The Highway Star and contributors
Posts, Calendar and Comments RSS feeds for The Highway Star