![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/paice1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse3.jpg)
Cover stories bonanza continues
Sweden Rock magazine has Messrs. Lord & Gillan on the cover of their #6/2024 issue. An 8-page feature based on an interview with Ian Gillan inside. IG: “Jon Lord was the godfather”… Bonus: a 3-page article on Black Country Communion, with Glenn Hughes’ interview.
Goldmine magazine summer 2024 issue (pardon the shouting, the quote is verbatim):
DEEP PURPLE FIGURE OUT A MUSICAL EQUATION JUST FOR GOLDMINE. VOCALIST IAN GILLAN AND BASSIST ROGER GLOVER TALK ABOUT THE BAND’S NEW PHILOSOPHY FOR HARD ROCK EXCELLENCE — THEIR NEW STUDIO ALBUM =!.
PLUS, NEW GUITARIST SIMON McBRIDE AND KEYBOARDIST DON AIREY PICK THEIR FAVORITE PURPLE SONGS OF THE ‘70S.
A WHOLE LOT OF PURPLE IN THE SUMMER 2024 ISSUE!
Powerplay magazine has the band on the cover of issue #275 (July 2024):
Ian Gillan tells us about writing and recording the band’s 23rd album which has the rather odd title ‘=1’ and is the first to feature new guitarist Simon McBride. Ian also recounts how he was assisted by a friend who he describes as a mad scientist!
German version of the Break Out magazine also puts the band on the cover of their July/August 2024 issue, and reviews the new album inside
Regardless they are veteran or young Deep Purple fans, they will all love the record and be grateful to the men around Gillan, Glover, Paice, Airey and McBride, because they have achieved more than just a fine old work.
And last, but not least (albeit not on the cover), Dutch magazine Lust for Life reviews =1 and gives it 5 stars.
Thanks to Benny Holmström, Emje, and Tobias Janaschke for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Purple’s promotion and PR has never been in better hands than currently. In the past, it wasn’t exactly their strong point. They must be working with a good team.
June 30th, 2024 at 23:07Ian Gillan looks like he is ready to play cricket, wearing that ‘pullover’. Being English and all, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was into the ‘gentleman’s game’. Jon Lord is probably more suited to being an umpire. How is that Sir! Not Out & that will be Tea chaps. Bless him. Cheers.
June 30th, 2024 at 23:25Yo,
Nice to get good-press, & a 5-star album review…Very interesting !…
About 2 & 1/2-weeks to go…
Peace !
July 1st, 2024 at 00:26Indeed, a veritable bonanza of coverage for the Purps recently. I don’t recall so much attention having been lavished on Purple during the Morse years. Suddenly Deep Purple seems to be in vogue. I wonder why that is? More attentive management / record label? A more cordial relationship with the rock music press? The novelty factor of a new guitarist? Or, the fact that Purple are possibly considered “elder statesmen” of the rock world and are finally receiving some overdue wider recognition?
July 1st, 2024 at 06:33MacGregor;
July 1st, 2024 at 11:53Don’t forget that Jon had a cricket pitch in his garden in Henley – if ‘garden’ is the right word for a space big enough for a cricket pitch.
@4…
Probably there’s a little of each of your statements that helps add-up why the good-times-are-rolling at the moment.
You forget to mention great music, which is the key I think…And the fact that these guys are going to Rock-’till-they-drop, & that honour alone is worth celebrating for sure, since it’s such a great example to set for people of all ages.
Peace !
July 1st, 2024 at 12:43There’s is only a dearth of mega-bands from the 70ies around that still have 3/5 of their classic line-up intact, including the frontman. And who still tour and record new music regularly. DP have become a rare breed.
The Who are down to two members and only rarely record something new, Status Quo is down, down to just Francis Rossi, so are Uriah Heep (only Mick Box left), Lynyrd Skynyrd have no one left unless you count Rickey Medlocke as an original member due to his short-lived initial drumming stint for them), 3/4 of the original Black Sabbath are ailing and need to stay home, The Allmans threw the towel a while ago and biology took care of the rest, YES have splintered, Pink Floyd are warring, KISS have called it a day too, Genesis will never again be able to tour with Phil Collins (and recorded their last new music almost 30 years ago).
The closest you get to Purple are The Rolling Stones with two men of the original line-up and one from the mid-seventies (I guess we can call Ron a true Stone by now!) still there, regular tours and releases of new music (though not with anything like the frequency of DP). Of course the Stones operate on a much grander scale than Purple and have a wider audience, but overall the field has drastically thinned out and shifted Purple more into focus. To grab a phrase from Glenn: (nearly) last men standing …
Who would have thought a couple of decades ago that David Coverdale would need to retire ahead of Ian Gillan? IG is six years older and – unlike DC – still had to live with/endure food rationing in the austerity of post-WWII-England for his first six to seven years.
July 1st, 2024 at 23:32@ 5 – thanks for the reminder Ted, I had forgotten that. Julian Bream also was into cricket & had a full cricket field set up on his property back in the day. Apparently hosting regular cricket matches with the locals etc. And why not I say, I would be doing the same if in that position to do so. Cheers.
July 2nd, 2024 at 00:47@2. There’s a picture of Gillan playing cricket from ages ago. (if I remember where I saw it i’ll add it here).
July 2nd, 2024 at 13:33@2. Found it! Double Trouble tour brochure. IG is batting (but not well IMO!)
July 2nd, 2024 at 13:38@ 9 & 10 – excellent & the more I think about this cricket possibility the more I seem to recall a image somewhere like that. I will have a dig around online & see. Cheers.
July 2nd, 2024 at 22:08@ 9 & 10 – I found this article about Gillan’s love of Test cricket. I do remember reading this many years ago. There are other articles online but I couldn’t find any images at all.. Cheers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/3202976.stm
July 2nd, 2024 at 22:37Isn’t that a noisy insect, a cricket? Happy for him if he doesn’t mind them in his garden.
July 2nd, 2024 at 23:11@ 13 – Yes that is correct Uwe, at least for the insect description. However the game is interesting to some, others prefer to watch the paint dry (a common description of a preferred time wasting venture). If you are a batsman (or woman) & you don’t mind ducking & weaving as you attempt to prevent getting your head knocked off by a fiery fast bowler hurling a small rather hard leather covered ball at you, that is one good way to keep you on your toes. You should try it some day, although I must warn you as we get older the reflexes slow somewhat, so be careful. Sounds fascinating doesn’t it? And that is only looking at it from the batting perspective. The fielding is on another level entirely, cue that saying ‘mad dogs & Englishmen out in the midday sun’. It is for the younger generation, a bit like rock ‘n roll in that aspect. But then again………Cheers. P.S Just for the record I like Test cricket a lot & have played a little local ‘grade’ cricket in my time, younger days etc. It is a game liked by some, loathed by many others.
July 3rd, 2024 at 06:05@13 ..and you’ve missed the sense of joy and satisfaction of perfectly legitimately hospitalizing one of the opposition batsmen. (I did buy him a pint the following year and admired his scar!)
July 3rd, 2024 at 10:01Well I actually did like playing softball in American high school – isn’t that like baseball an illegitimate child of cricket? You know how these Yanks water everything down when they are not busy dodging taxes and throwing tea bags into the harbor.
July 3rd, 2024 at 14:36@ 15 – ouch, it is a fine line indeed between serious injury & a scrap or two. Most batsmen don’t mind it, part of the game etc. I hope he enjoyed the beer or ale you bought for him. @ 16 – I have been doing a little research in regards to the Cricket history in the USA. Apparently the first international match anywhere was between the USA & Canada, sometime during the 17th century. I didn’t know that. We played ‘softball’ at school also, at least we didn’t get hurt at all. Not as intimidating facing a pitcher than a fast bowler, even with protective padding etc. Most batsmen do prefer to actually seeing the ball & getting some time to play or get out of the way. Those extreme fast bowlers are a worry for most players whilst batting. Cheers.
July 4th, 2024 at 02:21Baseball/Softball is cricket without physical jeopardy. The tax dodging tea chuckers sadly took the un-civilised route and it’s their loss!
July 4th, 2024 at 12:10You forgot “cosplaying as and thereby culturally appropriating indigenous people”, David! 😂
July 4th, 2024 at 17:29@19 sadly not confined to just Baseball. There’s a professional rugby team in England who went by the name Chiefs, has a head dressed indigenous native American as a logo and, despite being asked not to by a native American, the supporters still wave tomahawks and do the sort of chant used in 1930’s racist westerns.
July 5th, 2024 at 13:15How does the sun shine in UK today, I heard you voted! 😇
July 5th, 2024 at 13:33boys softball in high school?? we played baseball all the way until we found later that in softball you could carry a beer around the bases!! Game Over 🤣
July 5th, 2024 at 14:05I can’t help it, I had no influence on the PE curriculum, Stoffer! Maybe because it was in Kinshasa, but we played flag football and softball at TASOK (aka ‘The American School of Kinshasa’). Or soccer and basketball (which I liked the least uncoordinated as I was, dribbling a ball and walking or running at the same time is beyond me!).
July 5th, 2024 at 17:34@ 21- NO politics or Reeeligion Uwe. Discipline yourself, for once! Cheers.
July 5th, 2024 at 21:45Oh I get it Uwe, we were forced to play dodgeball (with upper classmen) which as a freshman I was a terribly easy target. OUCH!!!
July 7th, 2024 at 10:06