Posted by Nick on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013,
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Once again, not very surprising. This is of course really a popularity poll, though with the addition of the “fan ballot” there is a bit we could be doing better to help them perhaps next time. Both Rush and KISS used social media to excellent effect the past two years. As a social media professional, I would not be opposed to helping the commentariat of The Highway Star to organize a campaign to push the HoF harder next time. Thoughts?
Really, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nor should it be considered a snub, considering the source. I think we all know that Deep Purple, in all it’s incarnations, is a terrific and legendary rock n’ roll band. The silliness of the Hall of Fame, diluted by a proliferation of non-rock bands or personalities, is in my way of thinking easily dismissed. The lads don’t need affirmation from the likes of Rolling Stone. Everywhere they go, the audiences turn up, young and old alike, and if that’s not affirmation that the band is freaking legendary, I don’t know what is. THEY know this. WE know this. It’s a daft thing, the Hall, and it means absolutely nothing. I’m proud Deep Purple aren’t in it.
Exactly! We like the band and the music-couldnt give a stuff what some hollywood institution thinks or doesnt think about purple. Any line up of purple was great.
I am glad DP are not inducted. This way they won’t have to go onstage in front of a majority of non fans and say how much they are honored to be inducted. Blackmore got it right…he said he doesn’t care and wouldn’t go anyway. The HOF is bs….pure and simple.
If one takes a look at who’s in the RRHOF and has nothing to do with R’n’R, and who is going to be inducted in 2014, DEEP PURPLE don’t need to be a member of this institution.
According to some people in the jury, they are a “one hit wonder” anyhow!
Not surprised at all, disappointed purely for 2 bands, Deep Purple & Yes to be ‘overlooked’ ahead of some of the other artists in there is comical. I respect Cat Stevens as an influential singer songwriter of the highest level & Peter Gabriel is very much out there also.
But Nirvana & Kiss to be included ahead of the 2 British bands I mentioned, says it all really! There definitely does appear to be something there about Purple. They are not liked by the nobs it seems! Sod them anyway (the nobs that is)!
How many artists from across the pond are actually in the Hall Of Fame compared to the US artists? I have always thought they favour their own, same in the Oscars & Grammy’s. But they are American institutions I suppose, just my little cynical look at it!
Or is it the more technical bands that get overlooked, at first I thought the ‘prog’ bands don’t get in, but didn’t Genesis get in a few years back? Hence the Gabriel inclusion now perhaps, next thing it will be Phil Collins or is he already in there? What I am getting at is the ‘commercial’ artists who are popular seem to get the ‘nod’, more so than the ones that are not that popular for some reason.
My whinge over for the morning. (at least for now)! Cheers.
I don’t get it. The magic 599 voters must be made up of total idiots. I think the talking point is who freaking cares and no band over last two years have received more votes from fans than deep purple.
The hall is a fraud. I think it’s obvious and bands like Metallica should resign in protest and bands like purple, yes, Tull, moody blues, Bon jovi, journey, styx, Boston, on and on should announce their boycott of this fake hall,
The TRAVESTY that is Jan Wenner’s JOKE….. the Hall Of SHAME continues.
At least this years inductees do not include the RIDICULOUS ones of years past like Madonna/Summer & Public Enemy. All but Nirvana deserve to be there now, but Cobain/Novoselic & Ghrol are in a little too early.KISS certainly must be in and it’s about time.
The real ATROCITY is the continued snub of Deep Purple. Their first #1 hit “HUSH” was from 1968!!!!!!!!,followed by “Kentucky Woman” which also charted. Do we HAVE TO mention the riff that launched a MILLION guitarists? Smoke On The Water may be the single most influential song that inspired so many to pick up the 6-string. Also a #1 hit. The highest selling artist of 1972 – 1973. Made In Japan widely considered the GREATEST Live album ever! Woman From Tokyo also a Worldwide hit single. And in 73/74, Changing Vocalists/Bass players they continued to be Massive Concert Draws, witness “CALIFORNIA JAM!..
When the Original Mach 2 regrouped in 1984 they again became the #1 Worldwide Concert act with the Perfect Strangers tour.Russia/China/India The Middle East have all welcomed them with sell out audiences’ The reunion was now 30 YEARS past. members have come & gone and some have passed away but they still to THIS day continue to tour the world to sell out crowds and release relevant progressive new music as evidenced by this years “NOW WHAT?!”
Over 130 MILLION records sold during these 45 years.The individual members considered to be among the greatest of MUSICIANS of this era. Jon Lord,Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice,Tommy Bolin, Roger Glover & Glenn Hughes, Ian Gillan & David Coverdale having influenced tens of thousands of others in the Pop,Rock,Concerto/Symphonic,Metal,Jazz & Renaissance genre’s.
Unless and UNTIL this WRONG is righted this “institution” will be solely lacking in the credibility it needs when representing the whole of Rock And Roll.
I just don’t get it… Why does anyone give a flying F about the poxy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum …. It’s just a crappy building in a town you’ll most probably never visit in your lifetime …Get over it… . I’ve got my very own Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame in my own living room… I’ve got Iron Maiden,Deep Purple,Black Sabbath,Led Zep,Uriah Heep,Wishbone Ash, Blue Oyster Cult,AC/DC,UFO,Journey, Judas Priest,Aerosmith,Cheap Trick plus hundreds …. Bring a bottle of red wine , you’re welcome to see and hear it at anytime.
I don’t really care, outside of the publicity and sales the guys would get out of the induction…and the cool show that would almost certainly follow during the induction ceremony.
Or they could just give the HOF the middle finger…
And that would be satisfying and would likely help their sales as well….
I’ll be waiting. As I said before next time will come and they will be in. Sooner or later. So what? That means their profile for now in the Hall is not big enough. Rick Damigella, as an ad man I agree with you. Making their profile bigger by means of new opportunities that’s what we need to do. Getting people to know the band better is a missionary job and that’s how I personally see the whole situation. You can shoot me or use bad language or call me Barry Manilow fan as it used to be but people should be enlightened on how brilliant DP are. And I will do it with all my heart no matter the rest may say.
Thank you.
So very predictable….once again it speaks to the bias of the American music industry against Deep Purple. There was never a chance that Purple would actually be given fair consideration in this little sham. Their inclusion on the ballot was simply a teaser.
I am not disappointed as I never had any real expectation that they would actually make the cut this year. In fact their credibility as a real band, real musicians has just increased….Purple is not about hype or Show Biz. Never were.
Who needs awards anyway? The reward Purple gets is to see the smiling faces of hundreds of thousands of fans around the world who have the privilege of seeing them play live.
The music industry is completely out of touch and do a disservice to the general public by not exposing bands such a Purple and Yes to a wider audience. Certain individuals’ petty agendas at Rolling Stone mag and RRHOF, and others who fall under their influence choose deliberately to dismiss Purple. I could provide numerous instances wherein this has occurred however I will not bore you here with the details.
So Gents, I think we can all resign ourselves to the fact that Purple will never get into the RRHOF, and really, does it really matter?? We like Purple for their music. We don’t need them to be validated in some little meaningless popularity contest.
Let’s see, I have no Linda Ronstadt records, I have no Kiss records (I tried liking these guys but without the show they have nothing to offer – Slade kicks their ass!). I have no Cat Stevens records, I have one Nirvana record and I have no Peter Gabriel or Genesis records. But, I do own all of Yes’s records & of course, I own all of Deep Purple’s records, plus Gillian, Rainbow, Dixie Dregs, etc. Makes total sense!! Thanks Rolling Stone Rock Hall of Fame!
Who needs the bullshit Hall of Shame? Deep Purple is Above and Beyond that crappy joke of the Hall of Shit… Deep Purple don’t need inductions…they’re legends!!!
That Deep Purple continue to be snubbed is absurd, and is an affirmation of how cheap and petty the RRHOF has become – though not to take anything away from bands, past and present, that are inductees.
I think that even though DP members couldn’t care less about when or if they’ll make it in, we DO owe it to the world – to those people, especially in the U.S. who may NEVER know who Deep Purple are, because of the other bastion of absurdity: they get no air play in the U.S. anymore, except for “Smoke on the Water” on classic rock stations. Never mind that Now What?! has soared on the charts in many countries worldwide.
Count me in: the goal – get DP into the RRHOF in 2015!
To the (very, very little) extent I care about the RRHOF, I believe that entity has the wrong moniker. Whilst the term Rock and Roll means different things to different people, and is indeed a broad church, it is surely rendered completely meaningless when attached to the Cleveland institution.
Might I propose alternatives such as the
Commercial Music HOF;
Radio Music HOF;
Recorded Music HOF; or
Contemporary Music HOF
– all of which better capture the spread of artists and styles represented in the membership.
Discuss… if you can be bothered! Needless to say, I can’t be and would prefer if Deep Purple was not associated with the schmozzle that is the RRHOF.
Who cares, I think Purple is up against a balot that is about younger more commercially viable trendy bands. Strange one of the three big heavy rock bands can’t even get in. Maybe it could have had a better chance, 10-15 years ago. It was third among fan driven votes, time in this sense is not on Purple’s side. Best to move on from here. It’s probably a good thing, keep it’s flame within the fans. Particularly in Europe and the Far East, America is driven by an almighty rap and hip hop and whatever satanically driven pop junk. Maybe a hall of fame in Japan would be good. What say the fans create an idea of a hall of fame in Europe, for instance in Germany or Tokyo, or Copenhagen.
Strange really the sting in the tail,or omen for Purple may go all the way back to the mid seventies. A band with too much talent, for its own good arguably more talented than Led Zeppelin. When Purple had Coverdale and Hughes it should never have lost Blackmore.
But that was a good thing, fate has always been on Purple’s (in artistic terms) side because of course we would not have heard the beautiful voice of Ronnie James Dio. Think of it like this Blackmore and the Purps created the careers of four outstanding vocalists if you count Dio in Rainbow.
No band can boast such a stunning claim, Blackmore the antithesis of Jimmy Page the master guitar player, who found it too hard to appreciate his own genius and what he had in Purple. Fucking unreal just listen to Burn and Stormbringer! Then you have Tommy Bolin and Come taste the Band, what a fuck up but a beautiful one at that. And of course other musicians have passed the ranks, like Satriani and of course Steve Morse, I always felt a bit sorry for Morse he came in after all those problems. But kept the band alive, and in honesty they were getting just a bit older. Would have been interesting had he came into the band at another vantage point, who cares I will always celebrate the Purple legacy as much as I love other bands. No other band could played like the blazing Deep Purple, why? because they just weren’t good enough.
For the members of Deep Purple , a little reminder from all your fans-we have been blessed .Thank you Paice,Gillian,Glover,Morse,and Airey.To know that the chaps are still rocking around the world makes life better for us.The greatest respect to the band.You guys are the King of rock music from 1967 to 2013 and beyond!
Come On !!
If we al know that the HoF is ruled by bussines, not by musicianship, why bother if they overlook real musicians like Deep Purple and Yes.
Maybe would sound nice to say that they are in the hall of fame, but that changes nothing, bands will not improve with this, so if the “judges” consider that they don’t have done enough in all this years, leave them to play with their toys, and leave us with their music, which is the REAL THING !!
If Now What!? it’s no enough for this “judges”, then there’s no point to take care to what they would say.
In America, football is not much popular as in the rest of the world, so why would the Deep Purple was in Rn R Hall of Fame!? tastes are different.
in “my house R R Hall of fame” DP were long,long…”pole position”
from
“And The Address”…. to” First Sign of Madness”
My second rant for today, I can live with my favourite bands not being in the ‘hall’ no problem. It is for me a respect thing for these quality bands to be recognised, as being very influential rock bands. But at the end of the day as some here are already saying, who gives a toss, the music is all that matters! I still believe Deep Purple are not liked by someone or more than one, for a reason. I wonder whether Blackmore slamming his Strat through that American Broadcasting Corporation camera at the California Jam has something to do with it? That is a pretty fair reflection of an ‘attitude’ to a corporation of ‘here, shove this you pricks” or something similar! Love it, & kudos to Blackmore for doing it, & get out of my way with that corporate crap! Smash! Excellent stuff indeed! Also setting fire to the stage during a total fire ban & doing a runner, would not have impressed the authorities one little bit! I am going to go & watch that again now & love it as always!
Ian Gillan has been very outspoken at times also over the years, I think Purple are not wanted, so to speak, by the nobs at the shrine!
Sod them! “Can we have everything louder than everything else’? Cheers.
It´s a joke, ridiculous this snub! All bands with prog elements in your music suffer snubs in this “Hall of Fame”. Rush and Genesis only some years ago were inducted. And Genesis because of your pop era. Deep Purple is loved more for prog fans than metal fans. It too happens with Yes, Jethro Tull, King Crimson. Great legends that mainstream ignore and forget usually.
@15: You should post that at the RRHOF Facebook page!
I posted about DP at Rolling Stone magazine during the voting period. They were barely mentioned in their RRHOF nominee discussion forum last year so I decided they wouldn’t get lost in the Kiss/Nirvana shuffle this year. I also asked Deep Purple (1968-1976) to post a voting reminder a couple of days before the poll ended, but it never happened. A reminder would be far more effective if it came from them. I have access to eight terminals that change IP addresses on a regular basis and over 100 of those DP votes were from me. It proved to be a losing battle with the “Boy’s Club in New York” (what Kiss manager called the RRHOF) but I wanted to show my support for the band.
The link below is a commentary from Chuck Yarborough of the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. He wanted a Deep Purple induction this year, too. He criticizes the fan ballot system and thinks the RRHOF committee should pay more attention to who gets the most votes.
Deep Purple in 2013 took second place in the ratings, behind only Rush, and entered the Hall of Fame the first and third. In 2014 remained in third place in the ratings and entered the Hall of Fame the first and second. can someone explain me???
Simple, Rolling Stone has always hated Deep Purple, and of course use their magazine and Hall of Fame to mock them. Poor stupid, Deep Purple is one thousand times larger than the magazine and the Hall of Fame together.
The ‘Hall of Shame’ is a beauty contest and obviously does not celebrate tastefully done music in the R&R genre. Many fans would like to see them (and I have expressed my frustration at the overlooking of one of hard rocks progenitors) but the band members do not care!
RRHOF will never let them in…they have continue to manufacture themselves as total idiots. I agree with most here who say real great bands that have been inducted should dismiss themselves from this bogus club. DP inspired too many to be treated like the freckle-faced step child.
Deep Purple, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Yes should have been in the Hall since the early 90ies. It would be interesting how many musicians were inducted who have nothing to do with rock music and how many great rock bands are still not inducted instead. I still wonder what Cat Stevens did for rock ‘n roll. They should have called it the Hall Of American Pop.
and next year The HALL OF SHAME would put some pop commercial band or musician,probably American and snub Deep Purple over and over again with their ridiculous popular ballot ! Kiss and Nirvana ahead of Purps?! Oh well it could be worse and it has been ! Lars you can put a good word,but ain’t nobody listening,cause they don’t dig Deep Purple and they will die in oblivion ! so to Hell with them bastards and ignorants !
i believe they (RRHOF) think led zeppelin, black sabbath, and deep purple are in the same bag (hard rock heavy metal pionners) then with the first two ( LZ and BS) into the RRHOF is enough for them…yes a poor mentality!…adding the fact DP don`t have media in USA etc..etc..
Is like Metallica induction RRHOF, is easy, for them Metallica is the icon of thrash metal (the only one there)…but there is more thrash metal bands deserving be there in RRHOF.
Kiss – okay, they are a rock and roll band and have an army.
Nirvana – okay, there are a lot of people that were influenced by them and some of the remaining(living) members have gone on to do some cool stuff
Cat Stevens – folk singer, not even rock and roll (sorry no go)
Past years:
Donna Summer – disco, R&B, again not rock and roll (sorry, no go), if you could make a strong argument that she influenced a lot of rock and roll bands, which I don’t think she did, there may be something. She’s not Buddy Guy, Junior Wells or even Aretha Franklin, etc who help influence many in the rock and roll genre
Madonna – video queen and dance music (no go) that panders to a pop audience and has had 0 influence on rock and roll bands, as long as you don’t count Lady Gaga as rock and roll
The RRHOF is a silly tourist attraction in Cleveland and really means nothing, other than some exposure for a moment in time. They need this to help their city bring in some tourist $s. The sad thing is that Cleveland is a great midwest Rock and Roll town, consistently supporting rock and hard rock with solid attendance at concerts.
The Purps – look at the history and the Purple family tree. There could be a RRHOF for DP alone! How about the DPHOF?
I for one am glad that the music we all love is not for everyone. These are the people who think rap is actually an artform/music! I am proud to be one of the few who appreciate the finer aspects of so called ‘Popular music’. Unfortunately, there are many Credible Artists that currently reside in this ‘Hall’. I wish we could remove the Credible Artists that belong currently, and leave the Garbage Artists in the ‘Hall of Shame’ where they belong! Just a thought….
Just came across of this article on The Washington Post about the HOF ballot and that ‘s about sums it up of what kind morons are running this ballot ,maybe some of you read it already.I just got angry and disgusted ! the link :
A vote for Chic, but not for Nirvana: A Rock and Roll Hall of Famer voter explains her ballot.
They just aired the 2013 RRHOF on HBO tonight featuring Rush and Heart and many others. What a full bore celebration of music. Watching this truly pisses me off that Purple isn’t in. I don’t care what the nay-sayers say; this is awesome spotlight and grandeur Rock Extravaganza. Yeah there some weak spots if you are impatient for the main acts, but overall a friggin’ jam fest. I am still hoping Purple get in 2015.
I’ m always against the RnRHoF in the same way like Ritchie Blackmore had explained it in the past …
BUT … ( and now someone will wonder about me … )
I wish they will get in and at the press or nomination conference, none of our friends in Purple incl. the management will come to this event. 😉
What a scandal …
They will not be amused … 🙂
But in fact I assume, that the Purple management has an agreement with the RnRHoH-association.
Nominate us so often you will, but we will never come to YOU !!!
At this point it’s has to be a personal issue the hall has with Deep Purple. They’ve certainly exceeded all the criteria to be elected in. I believe the hall is only doing an injustice to the hall itself and it’s.visitors by snubbing DP. I was a member, but will never renew my membership with RNRHOF . It truly is a shame that the powers that be , are so ignorant . Ive lost any respect i had for the place and will never visit there again
Shame…
But for true prog hard rock fans DP maybe one of few highest level bands – like LZ, Pink Floyd and etc.
Waiting for a concert in Tel Aviv in 2.2014.
Oleg
I think it will be the same thing over and over in 2015 as well! They will attach some big names to that ballot like :Bon Jovi or else and they will not get in.It feels like Kraatzy @ 53 is saying: DP members don’t want to get in and be part of this masquerade.This is not anymore just for them but for US the fans,and Purple members are intelligent enough to know that!
We don’t know the actual number of votes each nominee received from the RRHOF voting committee. The final results should be made public. It’s all a bit too secretive for my liking. Remember the voting scandal in 2007 when the Dave Clark 5 had more votes than Grandmaster Flash, but GF was inducted instead? Jann Wenner wanted GF over the DC5 because he felt it was time to induct a rap act.
@51: I read the Washington Post article, too. Ms. Johnston reminds me of another RRHOF voter, Rob Tannenbaum. Last year he posted his ballot on Twitter. He voted for Chic, The Meters, Randy Newman, Public Enemy and Donna Summer. You can see why bands like Deep Purple, Yes, Jethro Tull and The Moody Blues have such a hard time getting in!
Sorry if I repeat myself here regarding this ‘clearly quite absurd’ situation within this joke of an institution but here I go again….
I still wish to see Purple eventually inducted (especially before another member past or present leaves us). The drama and hype involved along with the performances from the band, other musicians whom will take the stage in tribute and so on makes for an awesome event in honor of our heroes. Whether or not the organization is worthy of Purple’s presence is another story. As somebody above stated, ‘Purple is bigger than the RRHOF’. Great point. That is true mainly due to the fact that Purple is legit and authentic whereas RRHOF is a mere sham and obvious consistently inconsistent organization with no real validity. That being said, it does exist. It gets a huge audience worldwide and the if it were to happen, would be a great chance for Purple to be recognized and exposed again here in the US. Sadly to state here but had their management and promotion team done their job proper, I believe Purple would have already been inducted but they allowed a huge gap of time to go by without properly promoting here in the US and that is why they are virtually unknown here anymore, Nobody is aware they have been making music since the ’70s. Sad but true….. Plus they didn’t help matters themselves by publicly expressing their lack of interest.
Can you imagine what it would be like if the RNRHOF was managed properly? God, I would love to see a new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame be started somewhere outside of the USA, preferably (to me) where rock was perfected: in England. Perhaps someone who has done well in the music industry could get behind this, Mr. Branson perhaps, or maybe the folks behind the Hard Rock restaurants and hotels? It would take some money to get this started but it could be good, really good. I envision a true RNRHOF that celebrates the history and development of rock music without the narrow-minded American focus on pop celebrity and the seemingly unexplainable rationale used to determine who is accepted and who is not. Surely, any band that has sold more 100 million albums around the world should be a welcomed and respected member of a proper RNRHOF? The existing RNRHOF sucks. Surely there is room for another one, one that is better managed and superior in every respect. Ah, but I dream…
Who cares? I care. I am a Deep Purple fan and I want to see them inducted. I want Purple to have their due even if band members claims that they don’t really care about awards. I want to see them celebrated. I want to see Lars give the induction speech that he no doubt wrote years ago. Sure the so-called RRHOF is a hall of shame. It’s name is a joke because it is full of non-Rock acts and apparently has a lot of voters who don’t even like rock music. It’s clear that the hall is biased against English Rockers who are more popular worldwide than in the USA. But I still want Deep Purple in that horrendous HOF because they are a rock legend that deserves every accolade.
The longer Deep Purple stays out of this totally irrelevant thing the better. What defines a good rock band or solo artist is the quality of the body of work it produces, not an obelisk with a few words engraved on it!
What Purple has produced since 1968 in all its incarnations outshines any other band I can think of. People invariably cite Led Zeppelin as some beacon, but they only made 8 studio albums in 12 years. Purple had already produced 8 by 1974. And whilst some of the albums made since the ’84 reunion might not stand up against the great albums of the 70s, I wonder what Zeppelin would have produced through the 80s and 90s and beyond if they had carried on? I doubt the legacy would be quite the same.
Purple’s collective studio output of 19 studio albums, not to mention the fantastic array of live recordings released should be enough to satisfy any fan.
Or would you sacrifice some of those albums for an obelisk? Answers on a postcard to R H Blackmore, somewhere over the rainbow…
Maybe it would be really cool if Purple fans started a petition to ensure they never get inducted in to the RnR HoF?
Maybe something along the lines of; “we the Deep Purple fans across the world believe that it would be totally inappropriate for a band as talented as our favourite group to be inducted in to your hall of fame as we do not feel that music of such great quality should be associated with the likes of The Jackson 5, The Clash, Sex Pistols and U2”
The local radio station in a small town a few miles from where I live in Ill, just finished their usual “Weekend Underground” segment featuring songs from 20+ groups that are NOT in the hall of shame, examples Tull, Doobie Bros, Chicago, Yes, Poco, The Guess Who, Steve Miller and many more, (you get the picture). Guess how they finished the show, that’s right the entire Machine Head album as the DJ said in protest of the biggest disappointment of all, the snub of Deep Purple, its time for ‘the people there wake up!?. I would like to go there sometime but not until DP is inducted, I don’t like the odds of them even being on the ballot next year. Whoever they pissed off must be high up on the list of voters, until then I keep my money in my pocket. The bottom line is we are not alone in our disbelief of the snub of Purple, we ALL know better?!
@58 what the management and promoters could have done in this case? I’m just asking how does this thing work ?
Yes,this sham unfortunately exists and,we want the band to get in and enjoy the honors,before another band members passes away.Alas, we have to wait for another year,and go through this transition one more time!On the Other hand,I hear that Gillan mentioned another studio album at the end of the year with Bob Ezrin,but of course we cannot put too much stock in that,considering their heavy schedule of touring,but after a great album and experience,it is not farfetched,meantime Now What?!
My point as stated over and over…. Lack of promotion and poor management helped Purple drop off the radar over last 30 years. Had there been more awareness and reference to this great band over the years and more accessibility, there is a chance they might have been thought about long before now. Between Purple themselves ‘snubbing’ the public eye and the way the RRHOF snubs many a worthy artist and the middle finger the band has thrown up regarding it all, is there any wonder? There are many consequences to poor promotion and management. This is one of them. I’m still hopeful.
This latest snub is simply a reflection of the music industry “establishment” ‘s indifference to and/or hostility towards Deep Purple. I have visited the RRHOF, I have been to the Grammy Museum in L.A., I have been to several Hard Rock Cafes around the world, and from time to time I read an issue of Rolling Stone magazine. All of those companies/ institutions / corporations or whatever you wish to call them are all totally intertwined, and are all so tiresome in their fawning praise and adoration for all the acts who have already been inducted into the Hall, the same predictable batch of musicians who get all the coverage ad nauseum. Those aforementioned corporations are all equally consistent in their neglect to mention the contributions of Deep Purple to the realm of rock music.
There is no hope for Purple to ever be given a fair shake under the current establishment’s tenure. For whatever reason, they are the red-headed step-child no one loves (except by us afficionados!) How appropriate that Purple wrote “No One Came” back in 1971, very prophetic, as Ian Gillan has stated during recent concert versions of that song.
I for one am happy to be a free-thinker and to choose the music I listen to, ie: good music with nuance, intelligence, intricacy, interplay, etc. (ie: most of the Purple catalogue). I much prefer that than having musical taste and fashion spoon-fed to me by the aforementioned soulless corporations whose sole reason for existence is to generate the mighty dollar!
Lest anyone think I am being critical only of the U.S. music establishment, I also take issue with the U.K.’s music press as well. Publications such as MOJO, UNCUT, and the only marginally fairer CLASSIC ROCK, lavish all sorts of coverage on the usual suspects (Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, KISS, Rolling Stones, U2, Nirvana, etc, etc, etc) but rarely if ever (except occasionally by Classic Rock) do they give any decent and proportional coverage to Deep Purple.
Now what is it that has precipitated such wanton neglect, or outright hostility towards Deep Purple? Is it poor marketing, poor record company promotion? Is it lack of cooperation with music press / media requests for interviews? Did some interviews go very badly? I simply don’t understand how a band as big a Purple was in the mid 70’s can just disappear into obscurity and be written out of the history books like what is presently happening.
Why bother, we dont need it, the band dont need it. Let them stew in their own self gratification and leave the rest of us to get on wit appreciating true musicianship and a brilliant band, in all it incarnations (except one IMHO), JLT did not do it for me.
@66 great points man ! I don’t mind the snubbing as much as I am shocked with the omission of Deep Purple from Magazines/corporate/institutions or whatever they are,part of it is like we have mentioned here several times,the ignoring from the band members and not recognizing them at all,bashing all the “bludsuckers” and corporates evil in their songs ! At least we know how great they are and be grateful that they re still producing good music after all these years ! they can never take the great music,and let em die in their obscurity and ignorance.
Tracy @ 65 & 68, and Al @ 69, yes I think you have both hit the nail on the head. Neglect by Purple’s management team is a good part of the reason for the present state of affairs. But I do think that the corporate culture of music industry insiders (record companies, critics, magazine/ media, and corporate bars/ cafes, etc) who have taken on the self-appointed role of arbiters of musical taste and fashion are mostly to blame. Purple has never been considered fashionable in the same way as other bands and for that reason have never been given the attention they should have had in the U.S.A. Though Purple are given their proper due in Japan, most of Europe and other parts of the world, the American market has for the most part eluded them.
I think this whole debacle has its origins sometime in the mid-70’s. I remember back in 1975-76 being already exceedingly frustrated by the then disproportionate attention magazines such as Hit Parader, Cream, Circus, Crawdaddy and Rolling Stone were paying to most other acts. However Deep Purple (and Rainbow) were only simply being paid lip service at best. I remember writing to the editorial columns of Circus and/or Cream back around 1977 to express my point of view / displeasure about that situation, however they chose not to publish my missives.
So all in all, this situation of Purple neglect is not new, it has persisted for almost 40 years. As Purple gets older and public members’ memories of the band’s glory days continue to fade, Deep Purple will continue to grow fainter in people’s thoughts. For this reason it is very unlikely that they will ever be inducted into the RRHOF. And if ever they are, it will be many years from now when the band will have probably dissolved. Unfortunate but that is just the way it is. So I guess we have to console ourselves with the music!
On a more positive and cheerful note, Merry Christmas to all of you in Highway Star land! It is always a pleasure corresponding with you all!
Deeperpurps@70- All the best to you also in regards to the festive season. As a rocking & rolling teenager in the mid 70’s, I used to buy the magazines Circus, Circus Rave?, Hit Parader & occasionally Cream. Even way out here in the Australian outback, sure they were always a few months old by the time they were available, but I had a nice little collection of them after a while. I recall seeing Purple fairly often in the US mags, as that is one reason I purchased the magazines at times. I am not sure about Rolling Stone though, my memory isn’t good on any Purple related coverage in that, as I didn’t buy or even see that magazine (newspaper) that often.
You mention the mid 70’s & you may have read my views on this period regarding the California Jam. I still believe ABC were incredibly pissed off with Purple & as Jon Lord said, they (Purple) had to pay $10,000 compensation for the camera damage. I think it stems from those sort of ‘episodes’ throughout their career, especially during the 70’s! I may be wrong though, it may not have anything to do with it! Cheers.
During the late 70’s and early 80’s, while Purple were non-existent and the ex-members were ‘doing their own thing’, there was a huge buzz around All things Purple in the music magazine world, the record shops and mail order companies. Purple and all the ‘splinter groups’ were the main sought after muse on these lists. One of the mail order folks at the time that I recollect was ‘Metal Mayhem’. They had a Purple section and they cross referenced over to Purple related music and specialized in all past members and their connections beyond Purple. This put tons of spotlight on the ‘missing Deep Purple’. They were highly sought after and there was a huge push for them to Re-Group, which they did in 1984 with Perfect Strangers and were the highest grossing Tour act of that period. They promoted well and even did MTV videos. Then shortly after did the proverbial Purple shuffle into obscurity again. They chose to ignore the wave they surfed in on and beached themselves on some deserted island avoiding the public to the point that they fizzle out of the mainstream as quickly as they jumped into it. Instead of forging ahead and maintaining some sort of hold onto their reawakening, they allowed the likes of the late 80’s and early 90’s to come in and steal their well earned place in line. Dropping out of the limelight and allowing the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and other grunge bands to paint over the Purple canvas and cast it aside into obscurity is nobody’s fault but theirs and their management. Alice Cooper is a perfect example of doing it right. He is from the Purple era, yet he maintained a steady amount of public availability and album productivity. He works the late-night talk-show circuit. Every time he puts out an album, he winds up on Leno, Letterman or somewhere in promotion of the album. That’s the way you do it. Make yourself known to be in existence. Make yourself available to the public eye. Otherwise, face the wrath of the ‘classic rock’ pigeonhole in a vacuum where your present works never get to be heard due to being unknown to exist…. When a band is on their High Horse as Purple was in the early 70’s and they were young and full of spit and vinegar with no end in sight, it was appropriate for their cocky ‘who needs anybody’ attitude. That was Rock & Roll then. when they got that 2nd chance in ’84 with the reunion, they were older and should have been wiser and more responsible. Their management should have ‘managed’ instead of ‘enabled’. A little bit of proper consistent exposure would have gone a long way toward keeping Purple where they belonged. At the TOP of the class they are connected to. LZ, Sabbath, Cream, Hendrix, etc. instead of being that ‘shadow’ band that was a part of that group but isn’t near as well known.
Has anyone read the 1973 review of ‘Who Do We Think We Are’ in Rolling Stone magazine? The reviewer detested the album and said the band sounded as if they ODed on Sominex! In her opinion the group went downhill after ‘In Rock’ was released. No mention of ‘Machine Head’ here! She thought ‘Place in Line’ was like sound sleep imitating a coma, and even the lyrics for ‘Smooth Dancer’ made her blood curdle. After reading this I have to ask: Who Does She Think She Is?
MacGregor @71. Yes admittedly coverage of all things Purple was far better back then, but it was still significantly less than what many other bands were getting. I saw the decline start around the time of Stormbringer and into the Come Taste the Band period. There appeared at around that time to be some brief excitement about Rainbow, but again coverage was average at best as compared to many other bands.
Back in those years I was a teen of limited income so I held back on purchases of magazine issues unless they actually carried a substantial story (ie: at least a couple of pages) about Purple (-related). I would go frequently to the local magazine store and browse all the music mags of the day in search of anything on Purple and/or Rainbow and/or Gillan, et al. I was disappointed most of the time – I didn’t buy very many issues as good stories were scant. CIRCUS was the most reliable magazine back then for Purple-related news, but as I have mentioned, its coverage of our favorite band was minimal nevertheless. As for ROLLINGSTONE, well it was a completely lost cause by that time….whatever axe it had to grind with Purple was accomplished by a total freezing out of any coverage whatsoever.
Perhaps the CAL JAM 74 incident may have been the most visible event that precipitated the decline of Purple in the music media. Up until then Purple’s disdain for or lack of cooperation with media may have contributed to some press hostility towards the group. Then came CAL JAM on camera for all to see, so if anyone in media already had an anti-Purple bent, they could point to that particular incident as typical of how hard it was to get along with the band, perhaps??
Certainly Purple did themselves no favours by being aloof, but I am sure that they were not the only bands doing so back then. I would have hoped that the music media/ industry would have gotten over it by now and would do a proper reassessment of Purple’s contributions to rock music, however it seems that memories are long and petty grudges persist.
I Hate to say this be she kind of hits the nail in the head dear! The album is the weakest one of the Mark 2 period.Needless to say that the band is spent and needed a break from all that touring and on top of all,the well documented, tensions and relationship Btw Gillan/Blackmore are to the point of no return,Gillan already resigned from the band .It is only an album for hard core fans like us.There is a couple of good songs,the album is not bad,but not by Deep Purple standards something is missing overall, that chemistry and the spirit of the band is not there,the album look tired,cause the band is tired and ready to move on.Rat Bat Blue has an insane and quirky explosion of Hammond from the Mighty Lord and not much inspired guitar playing and very formulaic and strained solos from Ritchie,whi probably was saving it for a different band or line-up lol.Ironically,one of my favorites songs in this album after Rat Bat Blue is the B-side Painted Horse from the Remaster/Remix edition of 2000 and to be honest always skipped OUR LADY and never cared too much about Woman From Tokyo.I don’t think the review is that bad,but hey like they say :Sad But True!This is the beginning of the infamous,quarrel Gillan/Blackmore,which is going to continue decades later and it is part of the declining image and falling off the map in The States like Tracy have stated rightly so several times and especially after Ritchie quit the band in the 90’s.But you all know this and no reason to repeat the same stories over and over again
This is only my humble opinion as far as the album goes,not the best way this Mark 2 wanted to end the decade.Compare it with Burn right after and you will see how inspiration from the Man In Black !
Tracy @72. You are correct re 1984/85. Purple had huge profile for about a year or so, and it seemed that all was well in the world. But then they seemed to let it just slip through their fingers after that.
I never saw the magazine Metal Mayhem. Would love to find back issues of it given the broad coverage you speak of. It seems perhaps that it was a specialty magazine and not so connected to the mainstream (ie: ROLLINGSTONE et al). Therein lies the crux of the issue – Purple is somewhat of an underground band, confined to a certain niche market and not widely exposed to or by the mainstream media.
I think you are on to something re solutions for wider exposure, (ie): appearances on late night talk shows. Other major bands do it and don’t lose any credibility for doing so….why doesn’t Purple give it a shot? Is it the band themselves or is it their management who refuse to try this?
Deb @73….yes that review is typical of some of the hostility that RollingStone magazine held for Purple back in the 70’s glory years before it chose to completely ignore and neglect Purple and treat them as a non-entity. Admittedly, WDWTWA is not the strongest of the 70’s Mark II line-up but it is a good album nonetheless….if any other group had put it out under its own name, the music media would be calling it a masterpiece.
The problem with RollingStone magazine is that it has absolutely no journalistic credibility any longer. It did have in its early years until about the mid-70’s. But then it sold its soul to a more corporate approach. It is simply a fashion magazine now.
But the biggest sin RollingStone has committed in regards to Purple is to write the band out of the history books completely: Go look for the 4th edition of the RollingStone Album Guide produced about 5 or 6 years ago….it completely deletes Deep Purple from the ranks of rock music…look for the name Deep Purple and you will not find it…it has been erased from the section between DEE-LITE and DEF LEPPARD.
So now is it any wonder that Deep Purple are not getting into the RRHOF? Given RollingStone Management’s iron grip on the Hall, and its complete disdain for Deep Purple, the band is not likely to ever be inducted into it under the current establishment. Sad but that’s just the way things are.
Deb @73- wow, what a review! Comical indeed, but some “musical” journalists over the years do spew froth & bile at times!
I remember Ian Anderson pulled the pin on Tull around that same time in England, because of continual ‘low life’ press criticism of their music. King Crimson were vilified too if I remember correctly & I don’t think Robert Fripp had too much time for the press either from what I have read over the years!
But seriously, WDWTWA was a ‘downer’ in respect to their previous 3 albums as we all know. Tired, washed out, egos’s clashing big time, Blackmore getting bored & Lord having to solo on certain songs etc! Although according to this ‘journo’ the previous 2 albums are not any better, now that is very comical, hilarious! But I have always really liked the album & it still sounds ‘fresh’ today when I listen to it!
It & Fireball are the 2 I play often, as they both were not ‘overplayed’ by every man & his dog for years on end! Now Jann Wenner from Rolling Stone is also the head ‘guru’ at the R&RHOF isn’t he? Coincidence anyone??????Cheers.
Great find regarding this interview. Yeah, I’d say the vigor here regarding her extreme negativity about WDYTWA is quite alarming. As Al, Deeperpurps and MacGregor pointed out, it definitely was the weakest of the MK2 albums and the evidence of their disbandment was all over this record. Ritchie was almost non-existent. There is much more Keyboard than guitar and as the article states, NO BATTLES back and forth. That being said, it still is a fine album. As with ALL Purple albums, no 2 are alike. Even within the same MKs. Look how much different Fireball is from In Rock. Then comes Machinehead. Totally different. So the change towards WDYTWA isn’t that outlandish. The main complaint that should be noted is the lack of guitar. I’d love to see that album re-mastered with guitar thrown in the proper places. I believe it would turn out to be quite impressive. Maybe since Ritchie seemed to not care at all and pretty much left it to the rest of the band, Steve Morse should come in and record some guitar parts for the album and reissue it. I agree that WFT and Mary Long are the weakest tunes on the album. I actually like Our Lady quite a bit. Place in Line I thought was great. Loved Gillans low end at the beginning, but then it drags on towards the end and gets old with the repeated verses and melody over and over. Up till then a great song. Rat Bat Blue? Great track with an awesome structure. Love the beginning and that middle section when it builds back up….. YES! Weak album? Actually a great album. Week Purple album? Yes, unfortunately due to the turmoil and Ritchie not participating as he should have. Jon Lord and the Rhythm section carried the album along with Gillan’s masterful vocals. Deep Purple are known for all 5 members standing out, not being left out. The lack of Guitar makes for a lackluster Purple album. That’s what makes NOW WHAT so great. Even though Don Airey stood out front quite a lot, Steve Morse comes in and there is quite a lot of that battling interplay throughout the album which did capture that ‘classic signature Purple’ sound of old, yet brought it current with some new directions un-charted by Purple before. I really would love to hear Steve throw in some guitar tracks on WDYTWA. Why not? TMIB surely didn’t seem to give a Rat’s Ass…..
I have mixed feelings about ‘Who Do We Think We Are’. I’ve always liked the album but Ian and Roger left the band a month after my high school graduation….and WDWTWA still reminds me of long-ago endings every time I hear it. The majority of Deep Purple listeners during my high school years were pot smokers, especially from 1971-72. The juicers and the straights (as they were called then) were usually Top 40 fans. I started listening to MKII in 1971, and hung out with all three of the above mentioned social groups. I didn’t read music magazines at that point, but after seeing what some of you have said I probably didn’t miss too much in the way of DP coverage.
Yes, Jann Wenner is one of the RRHOF founders. Rolling Stone magazine and the RRHOF Foundation are located in the same building and they even share office space. How cozy!
@78 WDWTWA may have weaker songs, but the production is the best of all the DP albums up to that point! Punchy Drums, everything balanced perfectly! ‘In Rock’ suffered in the production department in my Opinion, although the next one ‘Fireball’ sounds SO much better!
WDWTWA and the Last Concert in Japan/ This Time Around – Live in Tokyo 1975 clearly demonstrate what a tower of strength Jon Lord was to Deep Purple. That he could almost single-handedly carry the band through an album or a concert in the absence of a committed Blackmore, or a sober Bolin, was a testament to his talent and genius. Jon Lord was truly one of a kind, the likes of whom we will never see again.
Back in the early-mid 70’s WDWTWA was the second Purple LP I acquired after buying Machine Head. So up to that point. I hadn’t yet heard much of the guitar-oriented sounds of Made in Japan or In Rock. My opinion therefore of WDWTWA was that it was a great album. I played it so much I pretty well wore it out, nothing but snaps, cracks, pops and skips after a few months on my turntable. I didn’t really it realize back then how important Blackmore’s guitar was to the overall sound of the band. For me that came later with further discoveries of their Mark II and III catalogue. On its own however (without comparison to other Purple albums) WDWTWA stands up well.
Interesting bunch those ”critics” are. Remember how unfashionable guitar solos became in the age of Punk / New Wave and again in the age of Grunge. I wonder what those scribes would think of WDWTWA if somebody put that on their turntable without telling them who the band is. Do something like those old cola blind-folded taste tests….how objective a ”taste test” might we get from them then? The problem with critics is that once they hear the name Deep Purple, they sharpen their axes and apply their poisons in most gleeful fashion.
In fact the trouble with most rock critics is they have this compelling urge to show us just how clever they are with words. Objectiveness does not figure into the equation. This is clear in the example that Deb has surfaced for us and posted @73. For whatever reason, Deep Purple was and is a lighting rod for critics. Don’t ever expect a fair shake from these questionable scribes who are so consumed by their own self-importance that they can’t ”lower” themselves to the task of actually listening for the subtleties, nuances, intricacies, interplay, instinct, complexities and colours found in most Deep Purple music. Rather, they probably skip from track to track in the most cursory fashion with their personal sound meter calibrated to the first bar of the Smoke on the Water riff, and their anti-Purple bias turned up to 11. Unfortunately, RS mag and RRHOF are the refuges for these individuals, and their opinions appear to have great sway,
Tracy @ 79. Yes that would be an interesting project, insertion of some Steve Morse solos (with the restrained style he plays on Now What?!) on the WDWTWA album. The only Blackmore solo on that one that stands out is Smooth Dancer. The rest is pretty well Jon Lord’s show. A revisiting of WDWTWA, similar to what the band did with Concerto 1999 would be a very worthwhile project in my estimation.
“Woman from Tokyo” and “Rat bat blue” are two of my favourite Purple compositions. They are extremely well structured and played. I don’t get that WDWTWA is a weak album, I think its brilliant! The other four members played out of their skins because of Ritchie’s lack of interest (especially Lord and Gillan) proving that despite his brilliance, DP were not a one man show!!The M8 section in WFT is just superb.
It’s a shame that Rolling Stone always hated the band, they always did and unfortunately had a very loud voice in the 70’s. The journo staff had their favourites and DP certainly were not one of them. despite this, they still managed to become the biggest selling band in the world in 1973/4…
Svante @87, that is an interesting point. Perhaps that accounts for the thrashing that Deep Purple has received and continues to receive at the hands of critics for all these years. I was always under the impression that journalism, no matter what its form, is supposed to subscribe to a certain ethical code, (ie): neutrality, impartiality, objectivity, non-bias, etc. It would seem that rock journalism chooses to ignore such enlightened guiding principles. Or, that rock criticism is not really truly constructive music criticism, but rather is the equivalent of an Op-Ed (opinion / editorial), (ie): the reflection of that particular writer’s taste, likes, dislikes, and general subjectivity.
Either way, whether journalism or opinion, it is very interesting to see how pervasive the critical tide against Deep Purple is in the U.S. music media / industry in particular. How can it be that so many people in that industry have such a negative opinion, or no opinion / no knowledge of Deep Purple? Do all us fans have it completely wrong?
Scott@82- Yes I agree that WDWTWA is a wonderful sounding album. I have always liked it & it sounds great. The fact that Blackmore doesn’t ‘play’ as much as on other records, is also an indication that you don’t actually ‘have’ to have lead guitar on every song in any form of music, especially rock music! The songs are still very melodic, damn strong melodies actually & excellent playing & what a mix! Just listen to Paice’s hi hat on WFT, so crisp & clear, & his drum sound is wonderful indeed, what wonderful production!
Mary Long is a classic Gillan ‘tongue in cheek’ stab at Mary Whitehouse, the super straight Tory MP wasn’t she? Our Lady is a superb song also, the songs are just ‘different in some ways’ to what Purple sort of usually sound like, or what some people expect from them.
All the other songs on the album are very good in my opinion! ‘In Rock’ just happens to have that ‘dated old’ sound to it, imagine if it had a later fresher mix to it? But alas, there it stands & it doesn’t really matter in the end, it is a groundbreaking album & a defining rock album!
Machine Head is the only MK album from that era that I have to update on disc, in the hope of a ‘fresher’ sound, although the original LP quad mix from my memory was always a good mix! Fireball also sounds good, an under rated album in my book! Cheers.
Further to my earlier messages about rock journalism and its apparent lack of objectivity, for your reading pleasure please see the following article on the history of rock journalism and the absence of ethical underpinnings therein.
The article “Bye Bye Rock” – On the possibility of an ethics of rock criticism; by one Devon Powers; in Journalism Studies, 2009, iFirst Article, 1-15; @2009 Routledge, Taylor & Francis. Try on Google if the link below doesn’t take you directly to it:
After reviewing it I am sure you will see how it is that certain bands have become the darlings of rock music critics / industry / establishment; and how others such as Deep Purple get the proverbial shaft. The points made in the article go a long way to explaining the current state of affairs at RRHOF.
I am interested in hearing your comments on this article. Happy reading!
@90 I could not possibly read the whole article,unless it was mandatory and forced upon me in school ! That is not a pleasure reading no offense lol wow
According to this article, some of the rock critics in the 60s and 70s were accepting free trips, tickets, meals, etc. from the various record companies they were indirectly covering through their album reviews. A full stomach and a free show makes for a good review! This reminds me of the RRHOF and how they were accused of showing favoritism towards artists that were on certain record labels.
Ann Cheauvy must have been a Lester Bangs disciple. Her WDWTWA review could have been written by Bangs himself. Bangs actually gave Machine Head a pretty good review in Rolling Stone, but Black Sabbath’s first album received a huge ‘thumbs down’:
Lester Bangs: “Over across the tracks in the industrial side of Cream country lie unskilled laborers like Black Sabbath, which was hyped as a rockin’ ritual celebration of the Satanic mass or some such claptrap, something like England’s answer to Coven. Well, they’re not that bad, but that’s about all the credit you can give them. The whole album is a shuck — despite the murky songtitles and some inane lyrics that sound like Vanilla Fudge paying doggerel tribute to Aleister Crowley, the album has nothing to do with spiritualism, the occult, or anything much except stiff recitations of Cream clichés that sound like the musicians learned them out of a book, grinding on and on with dogged persistence. Vocals are sparse, most of the album being filled with plodding bass lines over which the lead guitar dribbles wooden Claptonisms from the master’s tiredest Cream days. They even have discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitized speedfreaks all over each other’s musical perimeters yet never quite finding synch — just like Cream! But worse.”
Al @91! Agreed it is not easy reading! But it is a very interesting article nevertheless and touches on many areas which might explain why Purple is not yet in, nor is it ever likely to be given due and fair consideration for induction into the RRHOF.
Deb @92! Yes that is a very good point you make in the article in question (ie): critics who were alleged to have been accepting freebies and were therefore essentially in conflict of interest positions – beholden to the record companies. Objectivity kind of jumps out of the window then doesn’t it?
As for Lester Bangs, he is/ was one of the icons of rock journalism. He and his ilk are largely responsible for the style of rock criticism that exists today – that which lavishes hype and praise on a chosen few, and throws daggers at, or completely dismisses other bands.
Also a very good point Deb re Machine Head. And again, it speaks to critics’ narrow view with respect to Deep Purple and why the band is branded as one-hit wonders. In their eyes it would seem that all things Purple are measured against that one album or “the song”: Smoke on the Water.
When it all comes right down to it, RRHOF it seems to me is simply a product of the combined efforts of the rock journalism establishment and the corporate entities who have a stake in the multi-million / billion dollar rock business and all its spin-offs. It’s all about hype and money. Objectivity has no place in the process.
Not to belabor the issue any further, if you wish to read more on this particular topic and related points, another very good article is “Bruce Springsteen, Rock Criticism, and the Music Business: Towards a Theory and History of Hype”, also by Dr. Devon Powers; @2011. It can be found at the same site (Academia.edu).
Deb@92 – oh dear, what a review this one is! A classic & if you have anymore similar, keep them coming! Hilarious, comical & stupendously side splitting indeed! I love having a good laugh & this provided it big time, thanks for that.
Sabbath’s first album is a raw one indeed, but there are some pivotal moments on it, much better than most of Cream’s music in my opinion, although I do enjoy some of Cream’s classic songs! To me, Cream were & still are over rated IMHO, especially Clapton!
They were better musicians than Sabbath no doubt, especially at that moment in time! Cheers.
According to Nick Simper, Eric Clapton was probably aware of Ritchie’s reputation as an ace guitarist. He said Cream was quite unfriendly towards DP when MKI was their opening act, and DP was kicked off the tour for upstaging the headliners. But Jon Lord said they got on well with Cream, and Cream was too stoned to be aware that DP was taken off the tour. At any rate, I still haven’t seen the Cream yardstick applied to DP in any of their album reviews. Rolling Stone called Clapton the ‘Master’ and he has been inducted into the RRHOF three times with Cream, the Yardbirds, and as a solo act. Hmmmm…..
Deb @96. Clapton is one of the darlings of the rock music establishment, he apparently can do no wrong. He’s not a bad guitarist but he is certainly not a virtuoso like Blackmore. Nevertheless hype always wins the day in rock critic circles – Clapton is God, so they say.
Deb@96- The reviewer of the Zeppelin debut album has some justification I suppose, it is a very scratchy debut album & has many ‘borrowed’ riffs/songs on it & is my least favourite Zep album by a mile, but they had to start somewhere like everyone else.
Most artists take an album or two or three to get it together, King Crimson are an exception to that, as their debut album was a stunner!
I can imagine Purple blowing Cream away in many ways & The Cream’s triple whammy ego’s would not have liked that one little bit!
The ‘Eric Clapton is God’ title drives Clapton around the bend, so many media people over the decades have called Clapton the guitar God, much to his annoyance. He is a fine player, but always over rated by certain people & there are so many greater players in my book.
The same can be applied to the Rolling Stones being labelled ‘the greatest rock ‘n roll band in the world’! If they are or were the greatest, God help us all! Mind you, I have never read anywhere over the decades that the Stones didn’t enjoy that title, maybe they didn’t, but I think they may have lapped it up big time & probably still do! I may be wrong there though, they may loathe it also, especially ‘Keef’!
Yes the ‘favourites’ are always looked up to & revered more than others. Alas, it is like that with most things ‘celebrity’ wise in this pretentious world. Cheers.
Oh dear, here is another ‘great’ Rolling Stone album review from 1970. Jethro Tull’s Benefit album & whilst I am a Tullophile from Aqualung on, Benefit isn’t that bad an album for an early starting off period before they nailed it a little further on down the road! Cheers.
Another great Tull album, one of their greatest albums, damn heavy at times also, but alas drawn & quartered! The following comment is from the guy who posted this review that follows his one line comment, obviously a Tullophile, hooray! Speaking of Tull, why don’t we hijack this Purple fansite, turn it into a Tull site, sod Purple! Blackmore always said Tull were miles better than Purple anyway!
Calling all Tullophiles out there! Cheers.
Here we go:
“Too funny how absolutely clueless this reviewer is. How did this guy ever get a job”?
ROLLING STONE
6 November 1975
Minstrel in the Gallery
Jethro Tull
Chrysalis CHR 1082
Chances are, most of you have long since forgotten the notion of Elizabethan boogie as an art form. Well, it’s revived here on Minstrel In The Gallery, Jethro Tull’s latest concept-as-afterthought entry in the fall record sweepstakes. The fact that Ian Anderson and the lads have once again plundered the British secular music tradition signifies little and delivers less.
Anderson, still holding to a self-consciously bizarre musical stance, has difficulty maintaining the center of attention with his mannered vocals, irrepressible flute and acoustic guitar. And although, accompanied only by his guitar, he introduces each hauntingly familiar refrain as a ballad — aided by intimate spoken intros and incidental studio background noises — the tunes are soon deluged by a wash of lugubrious string passages and the anachronisms of Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond’s mechanical bass lines and Martin Barre’s hysterical electric guitar montages. In addition, contrary to the LP’s basic concept, the lyrics are instantly forgettable.
In keeping with the times, Tull does get points for technical competence. Still, despite the diligence with which these gents execute the often clichéd arrangements, the most soulful moment on the album is a line from ‘Baker St. Muse’, sung in passing by Anderson as he leaves the studio. Finding the door locked, he screams: “I can’t get out!” That’s roughly the same feeling that this listener got about midway through side one.
JEAN-CHARLES COSTA
Regarding Cream, Clapton may not be Blackmore but he is AMAZING. Jack Bruce deserved every vote he got as best bass player year after year. As for Ginger Baker he may not be Ric Lee but who is?
MacGregor going to have to agree to disagree with you regarding the Stones look between the buttons at the high tides and green grass and the flowers and you will find the aftermath is that some girls at beggars banquets with sticky fingers under my thumb will agree the Stones are hands down the greatest rock and roll band of all time, As much as you love Zeppelin and I love Purple and Sabbath there is only room for one number one and as much as many want it to be the Who after the fifth of November Mick, Keith, Charlie, Bill, and Mick became the greatest. Just like when Ali did what he did in Zaire the earth shook when Foreman hit the canvas, the same thing happened on that fateful day in November. Lets not under estimate how quickly Sabbath became a powerhouse either. Their second album is so HUGE with metal anthems it is mind boggling. If I could I surely would swim the seven seas to have the royalties from the Paranoid album.
purrfect stranger@ 101- yes as I said Clapton is a fine guitarist, but he is over rated by certain people, but that in no way takes anything away from his playing abilities. Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker as Clapton said, came from a much more technically sophisticated side of music, that being jazz. Where as he came from the more basic world of blues, they are his words & are correct no doubt. Jack Bruce is the one I have more music of, he is the one associated with guitarists that I like, Clapton & Trower in particular! I really like the Cream reunion dvd from The Royal Albert Hall in 2005. Ginger Baker is a sensational drummer & his solo on that gig is one to behold! His playing on Hawkwind’s Levitation album is superb also!
I love Zeppelin, Purple & Sabbath, each as equal to me as the other, but depending on my mood at the time as to which one I listen to. I was cranking WDWTWA the other day, a wonderful album from Purple. Also have been watching Rainbow’s 1977 Munich dvd, a brilliant band & superb songs & playing all around! Each to their own as to the ‘world greatest rock band’ or it should really be ‘my most favourite rock band in the world ‘ perhaps?
There isn’t any greatest rock band in the world, it is what people really like more than others that entertains that saying!
For me it is the quality of songs that makes me listen to quality music & the Stones don’t have great songs, they have had a few good songs over time, but nothing that makes me go ‘wow’! But I have always respected them & they have their position in the world of rock ‘n roll!
Yes, Sabbath certainly nailed it big time & being at the recent gig on their ’13’ tour was special for me, as no doubt it was for other fans, great songs, monster riffs & superb lyrics also on many of those classics!
As far as Ali goes, he was a champion, but I always went for the other guys, hoping they would hit him & shut him up! He was young & his ego was out of control, it happens when people become very successful. It is a shame what has happened to him with Parkinson’s disease, I don’t like seeing him like that at all. Cheers.
@100: Speaking of Jethro Tull, have you ever seen their performance (with Tony Iommi) on the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus DVD? Great performances on there from Clapton & Lennon (with the Dirty Mac Band) and The Who, too!
@101: I’m a fan of the Stones music from the Brian Jones & Mick Taylor eras. The last time I was in London I spent an evening at the pubs with one of Brian Jones’ kids, who I met through a mutual friend. Brian’s funeral was July 10, 1969, the same day DP MKII played at the Speakeasy. Some of the Stones fans wonder why Keith Moon didn’t attend Brian’s funeral. Moon was at the Speakeasy, watching DP!
Deb@103- yes I have watched that clip, it is a shame the band is mining, only Anderson is ‘live’ apparently from what I have read over the years. It looks strange seeing Iommi playing a Stratocaster. I often think in hindsight of course, as to what would have happened, or should I say would not have happened, if Iommi had stayed in Tull? It is a bit hard to fathom though, there would be no Tull as we know it, with Martin Barre eventually being the perfect guitar player for Tull & definitely no Sabbath ever existing at all.
Sheesh, that is a weird thought in many ways! Cheers.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse9.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse3.jpg)
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Once again, not very surprising. This is of course really a popularity poll, though with the addition of the “fan ballot” there is a bit we could be doing better to help them perhaps next time. Both Rush and KISS used social media to excellent effect the past two years. As a social media professional, I would not be opposed to helping the commentariat of The Highway Star to organize a campaign to push the HoF harder next time. Thoughts?
December 17th, 2013 at 18:42Who f**kin’ cares…
December 17th, 2013 at 18:56they should ask not to be voted anymore in that garbage Hall Of Shame institute!
December 17th, 2013 at 19:02Really, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nor should it be considered a snub, considering the source. I think we all know that Deep Purple, in all it’s incarnations, is a terrific and legendary rock n’ roll band. The silliness of the Hall of Fame, diluted by a proliferation of non-rock bands or personalities, is in my way of thinking easily dismissed. The lads don’t need affirmation from the likes of Rolling Stone. Everywhere they go, the audiences turn up, young and old alike, and if that’s not affirmation that the band is freaking legendary, I don’t know what is. THEY know this. WE know this. It’s a daft thing, the Hall, and it means absolutely nothing. I’m proud Deep Purple aren’t in it.
December 17th, 2013 at 19:12Exactly! We like the band and the music-couldnt give a stuff what some hollywood institution thinks or doesnt think about purple. Any line up of purple was great.
December 17th, 2013 at 19:13Sod the friggin RRHAOF!!!, or even better close it down for good!!!
December 17th, 2013 at 19:29I am glad DP are not inducted. This way they won’t have to go onstage in front of a majority of non fans and say how much they are honored to be inducted. Blackmore got it right…he said he doesn’t care and wouldn’t go anyway. The HOF is bs….pure and simple.
December 17th, 2013 at 19:35It has come to that point where you hope the band will say; thanks, but no thanks to an induction. This is ridiculous!!!
December 17th, 2013 at 19:48hey they re just one hit band anyway !
December 17th, 2013 at 20:06That’s good news!
If one takes a look at who’s in the RRHOF and has nothing to do with R’n’R, and who is going to be inducted in 2014, DEEP PURPLE don’t need to be a member of this institution.
According to some people in the jury, they are a “one hit wonder” anyhow!
DP forever, Lutz
December 17th, 2013 at 20:09As a lifelong fan, I couldn’t care less. The band, if ever invited, should refuse.
December 17th, 2013 at 20:11Poop. At least KISS and Nirvana and Linda Ronstadt made it. It’s a start.
December 17th, 2013 at 20:20Not surprised at all, disappointed purely for 2 bands, Deep Purple & Yes to be ‘overlooked’ ahead of some of the other artists in there is comical. I respect Cat Stevens as an influential singer songwriter of the highest level & Peter Gabriel is very much out there also.
December 17th, 2013 at 20:23But Nirvana & Kiss to be included ahead of the 2 British bands I mentioned, says it all really! There definitely does appear to be something there about Purple. They are not liked by the nobs it seems! Sod them anyway (the nobs that is)!
How many artists from across the pond are actually in the Hall Of Fame compared to the US artists? I have always thought they favour their own, same in the Oscars & Grammy’s. But they are American institutions I suppose, just my little cynical look at it!
Or is it the more technical bands that get overlooked, at first I thought the ‘prog’ bands don’t get in, but didn’t Genesis get in a few years back? Hence the Gabriel inclusion now perhaps, next thing it will be Phil Collins or is he already in there? What I am getting at is the ‘commercial’ artists who are popular seem to get the ‘nod’, more so than the ones that are not that popular for some reason.
My whinge over for the morning. (at least for now)! Cheers.
I don’t get it. The magic 599 voters must be made up of total idiots. I think the talking point is who freaking cares and no band over last two years have received more votes from fans than deep purple.
The hall is a fraud. I think it’s obvious and bands like Metallica should resign in protest and bands like purple, yes, Tull, moody blues, Bon jovi, journey, styx, Boston, on and on should announce their boycott of this fake hall,
December 17th, 2013 at 21:11MY POST this AM to the Yahoo News announcement.
The TRAVESTY that is Jan Wenner’s JOKE….. the Hall Of SHAME continues.
At least this years inductees do not include the RIDICULOUS ones of years past like Madonna/Summer & Public Enemy. All but Nirvana deserve to be there now, but Cobain/Novoselic & Ghrol are in a little too early.KISS certainly must be in and it’s about time.
The real ATROCITY is the continued snub of Deep Purple. Their first #1 hit “HUSH” was from 1968!!!!!!!!,followed by “Kentucky Woman” which also charted. Do we HAVE TO mention the riff that launched a MILLION guitarists? Smoke On The Water may be the single most influential song that inspired so many to pick up the 6-string. Also a #1 hit. The highest selling artist of 1972 – 1973. Made In Japan widely considered the GREATEST Live album ever! Woman From Tokyo also a Worldwide hit single. And in 73/74, Changing Vocalists/Bass players they continued to be Massive Concert Draws, witness “CALIFORNIA JAM!..
When the Original Mach 2 regrouped in 1984 they again became the #1 Worldwide Concert act with the Perfect Strangers tour.Russia/China/India The Middle East have all welcomed them with sell out audiences’ The reunion was now 30 YEARS past. members have come & gone and some have passed away but they still to THIS day continue to tour the world to sell out crowds and release relevant progressive new music as evidenced by this years “NOW WHAT?!”
Over 130 MILLION records sold during these 45 years.The individual members considered to be among the greatest of MUSICIANS of this era. Jon Lord,Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice,Tommy Bolin, Roger Glover & Glenn Hughes, Ian Gillan & David Coverdale having influenced tens of thousands of others in the Pop,Rock,Concerto/Symphonic,Metal,Jazz & Renaissance genre’s.
Unless and UNTIL this WRONG is righted this “institution” will be solely lacking in the credibility it needs when representing the whole of Rock And Roll.
December 17th, 2013 at 21:48Thank God they didn’t get inducted into the same hall of shame as Shitvanna and Madonna
December 17th, 2013 at 21:56I just don’t get it… Why does anyone give a flying F about the poxy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum …. It’s just a crappy building in a town you’ll most probably never visit in your lifetime …Get over it… . I’ve got my very own Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame in my own living room… I’ve got Iron Maiden,Deep Purple,Black Sabbath,Led Zep,Uriah Heep,Wishbone Ash, Blue Oyster Cult,AC/DC,UFO,Journey, Judas Priest,Aerosmith,Cheap Trick plus hundreds …. Bring a bottle of red wine , you’re welcome to see and hear it at anytime.
December 17th, 2013 at 22:01As Ian Gillan puts it. “It is runned by the same people who said that The Monkees were the american answer to The Beatles”! Who gives a crying fuck?
December 17th, 2013 at 22:21I don’t really care, outside of the publicity and sales the guys would get out of the induction…and the cool show that would almost certainly follow during the induction ceremony.
Or they could just give the HOF the middle finger…
And that would be satisfying and would likely help their sales as well….
It’s a win either way!
December 17th, 2013 at 22:42I’ll be waiting. As I said before next time will come and they will be in. Sooner or later. So what? That means their profile for now in the Hall is not big enough. Rick Damigella, as an ad man I agree with you. Making their profile bigger by means of new opportunities that’s what we need to do. Getting people to know the band better is a missionary job and that’s how I personally see the whole situation. You can shoot me or use bad language or call me Barry Manilow fan as it used to be but people should be enlightened on how brilliant DP are. And I will do it with all my heart no matter the rest may say.
December 17th, 2013 at 22:55Thank you.
So very predictable….once again it speaks to the bias of the American music industry against Deep Purple. There was never a chance that Purple would actually be given fair consideration in this little sham. Their inclusion on the ballot was simply a teaser.
I am not disappointed as I never had any real expectation that they would actually make the cut this year. In fact their credibility as a real band, real musicians has just increased….Purple is not about hype or Show Biz. Never were.
Who needs awards anyway? The reward Purple gets is to see the smiling faces of hundreds of thousands of fans around the world who have the privilege of seeing them play live.
The music industry is completely out of touch and do a disservice to the general public by not exposing bands such a Purple and Yes to a wider audience. Certain individuals’ petty agendas at Rolling Stone mag and RRHOF, and others who fall under their influence choose deliberately to dismiss Purple. I could provide numerous instances wherein this has occurred however I will not bore you here with the details.
So Gents, I think we can all resign ourselves to the fact that Purple will never get into the RRHOF, and really, does it really matter?? We like Purple for their music. We don’t need them to be validated in some little meaningless popularity contest.
Purple men, wear this snub as a badge of honour!
December 17th, 2013 at 23:15Let’s see, I have no Linda Ronstadt records, I have no Kiss records (I tried liking these guys but without the show they have nothing to offer – Slade kicks their ass!). I have no Cat Stevens records, I have one Nirvana record and I have no Peter Gabriel or Genesis records. But, I do own all of Yes’s records & of course, I own all of Deep Purple’s records, plus Gillian, Rainbow, Dixie Dregs, etc. Makes total sense!! Thanks Rolling Stone Rock Hall of Fame!
December 17th, 2013 at 23:27Hey … at least Hall & Oates got in
December 17th, 2013 at 23:50DAMN IT ALL, I was hoping they would get in and tell them to F^^K OFF, thus cementing their legacy as truly ‘underground’?!
December 17th, 2013 at 23:59Who needs the bullshit Hall of Shame? Deep Purple is Above and Beyond that crappy joke of the Hall of Shit… Deep Purple don’t need inductions…they’re legends!!!
December 18th, 2013 at 00:15To Drdp:
Well said,
December 18th, 2013 at 00:15by the way it’s over 150 million but whose counting.
Listen to their Now What! álbum…a masterpiece!!! It’s hard, it’s prog…it’s perfect!!!
December 18th, 2013 at 00:16That Deep Purple continue to be snubbed is absurd, and is an affirmation of how cheap and petty the RRHOF has become – though not to take anything away from bands, past and present, that are inductees.
I think that even though DP members couldn’t care less about when or if they’ll make it in, we DO owe it to the world – to those people, especially in the U.S. who may NEVER know who Deep Purple are, because of the other bastion of absurdity: they get no air play in the U.S. anymore, except for “Smoke on the Water” on classic rock stations. Never mind that Now What?! has soared on the charts in many countries worldwide.
Count me in: the goal – get DP into the RRHOF in 2015!
December 18th, 2013 at 03:52To the (very, very little) extent I care about the RRHOF, I believe that entity has the wrong moniker. Whilst the term Rock and Roll means different things to different people, and is indeed a broad church, it is surely rendered completely meaningless when attached to the Cleveland institution.
Might I propose alternatives such as the
Commercial Music HOF;
Radio Music HOF;
Recorded Music HOF; or
Contemporary Music HOF
– all of which better capture the spread of artists and styles represented in the membership.
Discuss… if you can be bothered! Needless to say, I can’t be and would prefer if Deep Purple was not associated with the schmozzle that is the RRHOF.
December 18th, 2013 at 04:34Deep Purple is bigger than the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
December 18th, 2013 at 05:12Who cares, I think Purple is up against a balot that is about younger more commercially viable trendy bands. Strange one of the three big heavy rock bands can’t even get in. Maybe it could have had a better chance, 10-15 years ago. It was third among fan driven votes, time in this sense is not on Purple’s side. Best to move on from here. It’s probably a good thing, keep it’s flame within the fans. Particularly in Europe and the Far East, America is driven by an almighty rap and hip hop and whatever satanically driven pop junk. Maybe a hall of fame in Japan would be good. What say the fans create an idea of a hall of fame in Europe, for instance in Germany or Tokyo, or Copenhagen.
December 18th, 2013 at 06:48Strange really the sting in the tail,or omen for Purple may go all the way back to the mid seventies. A band with too much talent, for its own good arguably more talented than Led Zeppelin. When Purple had Coverdale and Hughes it should never have lost Blackmore.
But that was a good thing, fate has always been on Purple’s (in artistic terms) side because of course we would not have heard the beautiful voice of Ronnie James Dio. Think of it like this Blackmore and the Purps created the careers of four outstanding vocalists if you count Dio in Rainbow.
No band can boast such a stunning claim, Blackmore the antithesis of Jimmy Page the master guitar player, who found it too hard to appreciate his own genius and what he had in Purple. Fucking unreal just listen to Burn and Stormbringer! Then you have Tommy Bolin and Come taste the Band, what a fuck up but a beautiful one at that. And of course other musicians have passed the ranks, like Satriani and of course Steve Morse, I always felt a bit sorry for Morse he came in after all those problems. But kept the band alive, and in honesty they were getting just a bit older. Would have been interesting had he came into the band at another vantage point, who cares I will always celebrate the Purple legacy as much as I love other bands. No other band could played like the blazing Deep Purple, why? because they just weren’t good enough.
For the members of Deep Purple , a little reminder from all your fans-we have been blessed .Thank you Paice,Gillian,Glover,Morse,and Airey.To know that the chaps are still rocking around the world makes life better for us.The greatest respect to the band.You guys are the King of rock music from 1967 to 2013 and beyond!
December 18th, 2013 at 07:05Come On !!
December 18th, 2013 at 08:42If we al know that the HoF is ruled by bussines, not by musicianship, why bother if they overlook real musicians like Deep Purple and Yes.
Maybe would sound nice to say that they are in the hall of fame, but that changes nothing, bands will not improve with this, so if the “judges” consider that they don’t have done enough in all this years, leave them to play with their toys, and leave us with their music, which is the REAL THING !!
If Now What!? it’s no enough for this “judges”, then there’s no point to take care to what they would say.
In America, football is not much popular as in the rest of the world, so why would the Deep Purple was in Rn R Hall of Fame!? tastes are different.
December 18th, 2013 at 09:43in “my house R R Hall of fame” DP were long,long…”pole position”
from
“And The Address”…. to” First Sign of Madness”
My second rant for today, I can live with my favourite bands not being in the ‘hall’ no problem. It is for me a respect thing for these quality bands to be recognised, as being very influential rock bands. But at the end of the day as some here are already saying, who gives a toss, the music is all that matters! I still believe Deep Purple are not liked by someone or more than one, for a reason. I wonder whether Blackmore slamming his Strat through that American Broadcasting Corporation camera at the California Jam has something to do with it? That is a pretty fair reflection of an ‘attitude’ to a corporation of ‘here, shove this you pricks” or something similar! Love it, & kudos to Blackmore for doing it, & get out of my way with that corporate crap! Smash! Excellent stuff indeed! Also setting fire to the stage during a total fire ban & doing a runner, would not have impressed the authorities one little bit! I am going to go & watch that again now & love it as always!
December 18th, 2013 at 10:48Ian Gillan has been very outspoken at times also over the years, I think Purple are not wanted, so to speak, by the nobs at the shrine!
Sod them! “Can we have everything louder than everything else’? Cheers.
It´s a joke, ridiculous this snub! All bands with prog elements in your music suffer snubs in this “Hall of Fame”. Rush and Genesis only some years ago were inducted. And Genesis because of your pop era. Deep Purple is loved more for prog fans than metal fans. It too happens with Yes, Jethro Tull, King Crimson. Great legends that mainstream ignore and forget usually.
December 18th, 2013 at 11:47Sod the RRHOF. Purple shouldn’t try it anymore. Or reject it if they finally want Purple there.
December 18th, 2013 at 12:13Good news indeed!
December 18th, 2013 at 12:22When you look at all the non-talented people in the HOF (all hype, no do), Purple are really a step above them!!
December 18th, 2013 at 13:27@15: You should post that at the RRHOF Facebook page!
I posted about DP at Rolling Stone magazine during the voting period. They were barely mentioned in their RRHOF nominee discussion forum last year so I decided they wouldn’t get lost in the Kiss/Nirvana shuffle this year. I also asked Deep Purple (1968-1976) to post a voting reminder a couple of days before the poll ended, but it never happened. A reminder would be far more effective if it came from them. I have access to eight terminals that change IP addresses on a regular basis and over 100 of those DP votes were from me. It proved to be a losing battle with the “Boy’s Club in New York” (what Kiss manager called the RRHOF) but I wanted to show my support for the band.
The link below is a commentary from Chuck Yarborough of the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. He wanted a Deep Purple induction this year, too. He criticizes the fan ballot system and thinks the RRHOF committee should pay more attention to who gets the most votes.
http://www.cleveland.com/popmusic/index.ssf/2013/12/rock_and_roll_hall_of_fame_cla_2.html
December 18th, 2013 at 15:01Deep Purple in 2013 took second place in the ratings, behind only Rush, and entered the Hall of Fame the first and third. In 2014 remained in third place in the ratings and entered the Hall of Fame the first and second. can someone explain me???
December 18th, 2013 at 15:43Simple, Rolling Stone has always hated Deep Purple, and of course use their magazine and Hall of Fame to mock them. Poor stupid, Deep Purple is one thousand times larger than the magazine and the Hall of Fame together.
The ‘Hall of Shame’ is a beauty contest and obviously does not celebrate tastefully done music in the R&R genre. Many fans would like to see them (and I have expressed my frustration at the overlooking of one of hard rocks progenitors) but the band members do not care!
December 18th, 2013 at 16:19RRHOF will never let them in…they have continue to manufacture themselves as total idiots. I agree with most here who say real great bands that have been inducted should dismiss themselves from this bogus club. DP inspired too many to be treated like the freckle-faced step child.
December 18th, 2013 at 19:07Deep Purple, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Yes should have been in the Hall since the early 90ies. It would be interesting how many musicians were inducted who have nothing to do with rock music and how many great rock bands are still not inducted instead. I still wonder what Cat Stevens did for rock ‘n roll. They should have called it the Hall Of American Pop.
December 18th, 2013 at 19:07and next year The HALL OF SHAME would put some pop commercial band or musician,probably American and snub Deep Purple over and over again with their ridiculous popular ballot ! Kiss and Nirvana ahead of Purps?! Oh well it could be worse and it has been ! Lars you can put a good word,but ain’t nobody listening,cause they don’t dig Deep Purple and they will die in oblivion ! so to Hell with them bastards and ignorants !
December 18th, 2013 at 19:17Hall of what? Dont worry be happy. This Hall its a Joke
December 18th, 2013 at 20:52I guess FREE.BAD COMPANY,THIN LIZZY,JUDAS PRIEST,MOTORHEAD,IRON MAIDEN,YES,are not Rock bands either!
December 18th, 2013 at 22:44i believe they (RRHOF) think led zeppelin, black sabbath, and deep purple are in the same bag (hard rock heavy metal pionners) then with the first two ( LZ and BS) into the RRHOF is enough for them…yes a poor mentality!…adding the fact DP don`t have media in USA etc..etc..
December 19th, 2013 at 03:42Is like Metallica induction RRHOF, is easy, for them Metallica is the icon of thrash metal (the only one there)…but there is more thrash metal bands deserving be there in RRHOF.
Kiss – okay, they are a rock and roll band and have an army.
Nirvana – okay, there are a lot of people that were influenced by them and some of the remaining(living) members have gone on to do some cool stuff
Cat Stevens – folk singer, not even rock and roll (sorry no go)
Past years:
Donna Summer – disco, R&B, again not rock and roll (sorry, no go), if you could make a strong argument that she influenced a lot of rock and roll bands, which I don’t think she did, there may be something. She’s not Buddy Guy, Junior Wells or even Aretha Franklin, etc who help influence many in the rock and roll genre
Madonna – video queen and dance music (no go) that panders to a pop audience and has had 0 influence on rock and roll bands, as long as you don’t count Lady Gaga as rock and roll
The RRHOF is a silly tourist attraction in Cleveland and really means nothing, other than some exposure for a moment in time. They need this to help their city bring in some tourist $s. The sad thing is that Cleveland is a great midwest Rock and Roll town, consistently supporting rock and hard rock with solid attendance at concerts.
The Purps – look at the history and the Purple family tree. There could be a RRHOF for DP alone! How about the DPHOF?
December 19th, 2013 at 15:04I for one am glad that the music we all love is not for everyone. These are the people who think rap is actually an artform/music! I am proud to be one of the few who appreciate the finer aspects of so called ‘Popular music’. Unfortunately, there are many Credible Artists that currently reside in this ‘Hall’. I wish we could remove the Credible Artists that belong currently, and leave the Garbage Artists in the ‘Hall of Shame’ where they belong! Just a thought….
December 19th, 2013 at 21:17Just came across of this article on The Washington Post about the HOF ballot and that ‘s about sums it up of what kind morons are running this ballot ,maybe some of you read it already.I just got angry and disgusted ! the link :
A vote for Chic, but not for Nirvana: A Rock and Roll Hall of Famer voter explains her ballot.
December 20th, 2013 at 03:52They just aired the 2013 RRHOF on HBO tonight featuring Rush and Heart and many others. What a full bore celebration of music. Watching this truly pisses me off that Purple isn’t in. I don’t care what the nay-sayers say; this is awesome spotlight and grandeur Rock Extravaganza. Yeah there some weak spots if you are impatient for the main acts, but overall a friggin’ jam fest. I am still hoping Purple get in 2015.
!Ch-BeerZ?
December 20th, 2013 at 04:15I’ m always against the RnRHoF in the same way like Ritchie Blackmore had explained it in the past …
BUT … ( and now someone will wonder about me … )
I wish they will get in and at the press or nomination conference, none of our friends in Purple incl. the management will come to this event. 😉
What a scandal …
They will not be amused … 🙂
But in fact I assume, that the Purple management has an agreement with the RnRHoH-association.
Nominate us so often you will, but we will never come to YOU !!!
cheers
LLRnR
kraatzy
December 20th, 2013 at 05:40At this point it’s has to be a personal issue the hall has with Deep Purple. They’ve certainly exceeded all the criteria to be elected in. I believe the hall is only doing an injustice to the hall itself and it’s.visitors by snubbing DP. I was a member, but will never renew my membership with RNRHOF . It truly is a shame that the powers that be , are so ignorant . Ive lost any respect i had for the place and will never visit there again
December 20th, 2013 at 08:07Shame…
December 20th, 2013 at 16:29But for true prog hard rock fans DP maybe one of few highest level bands – like LZ, Pink Floyd and etc.
Waiting for a concert in Tel Aviv in 2.2014.
Oleg
@52 Tracy
I think it will be the same thing over and over in 2015 as well! They will attach some big names to that ballot like :Bon Jovi or else and they will not get in.It feels like Kraatzy @ 53 is saying: DP members don’t want to get in and be part of this masquerade.This is not anymore just for them but for US the fans,and Purple members are intelligent enough to know that!
December 20th, 2013 at 19:39We don’t know the actual number of votes each nominee received from the RRHOF voting committee. The final results should be made public. It’s all a bit too secretive for my liking. Remember the voting scandal in 2007 when the Dave Clark 5 had more votes than Grandmaster Flash, but GF was inducted instead? Jann Wenner wanted GF over the DC5 because he felt it was time to induct a rap act.
@51: I read the Washington Post article, too. Ms. Johnston reminds me of another RRHOF voter, Rob Tannenbaum. Last year he posted his ballot on Twitter. He voted for Chic, The Meters, Randy Newman, Public Enemy and Donna Summer. You can see why bands like Deep Purple, Yes, Jethro Tull and The Moody Blues have such a hard time getting in!
December 20th, 2013 at 20:04Sorry if I repeat myself here regarding this ‘clearly quite absurd’ situation within this joke of an institution but here I go again….
I still wish to see Purple eventually inducted (especially before another member past or present leaves us). The drama and hype involved along with the performances from the band, other musicians whom will take the stage in tribute and so on makes for an awesome event in honor of our heroes. Whether or not the organization is worthy of Purple’s presence is another story. As somebody above stated, ‘Purple is bigger than the RRHOF’. Great point. That is true mainly due to the fact that Purple is legit and authentic whereas RRHOF is a mere sham and obvious consistently inconsistent organization with no real validity. That being said, it does exist. It gets a huge audience worldwide and the if it were to happen, would be a great chance for Purple to be recognized and exposed again here in the US. Sadly to state here but had their management and promotion team done their job proper, I believe Purple would have already been inducted but they allowed a huge gap of time to go by without properly promoting here in the US and that is why they are virtually unknown here anymore, Nobody is aware they have been making music since the ’70s. Sad but true….. Plus they didn’t help matters themselves by publicly expressing their lack of interest.
!Ch-BeerZ?
December 20th, 2013 at 22:08Can you imagine what it would be like if the RNRHOF was managed properly? God, I would love to see a new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame be started somewhere outside of the USA, preferably (to me) where rock was perfected: in England. Perhaps someone who has done well in the music industry could get behind this, Mr. Branson perhaps, or maybe the folks behind the Hard Rock restaurants and hotels? It would take some money to get this started but it could be good, really good. I envision a true RNRHOF that celebrates the history and development of rock music without the narrow-minded American focus on pop celebrity and the seemingly unexplainable rationale used to determine who is accepted and who is not. Surely, any band that has sold more 100 million albums around the world should be a welcomed and respected member of a proper RNRHOF? The existing RNRHOF sucks. Surely there is room for another one, one that is better managed and superior in every respect. Ah, but I dream…
December 21st, 2013 at 00:25Who cares? I care. I am a Deep Purple fan and I want to see them inducted. I want Purple to have their due even if band members claims that they don’t really care about awards. I want to see them celebrated. I want to see Lars give the induction speech that he no doubt wrote years ago. Sure the so-called RRHOF is a hall of shame. It’s name is a joke because it is full of non-Rock acts and apparently has a lot of voters who don’t even like rock music. It’s clear that the hall is biased against English Rockers who are more popular worldwide than in the USA. But I still want Deep Purple in that horrendous HOF because they are a rock legend that deserves every accolade.
December 21st, 2013 at 04:40The longer Deep Purple stays out of this totally irrelevant thing the better. What defines a good rock band or solo artist is the quality of the body of work it produces, not an obelisk with a few words engraved on it!
What Purple has produced since 1968 in all its incarnations outshines any other band I can think of. People invariably cite Led Zeppelin as some beacon, but they only made 8 studio albums in 12 years. Purple had already produced 8 by 1974. And whilst some of the albums made since the ’84 reunion might not stand up against the great albums of the 70s, I wonder what Zeppelin would have produced through the 80s and 90s and beyond if they had carried on? I doubt the legacy would be quite the same.
Purple’s collective studio output of 19 studio albums, not to mention the fantastic array of live recordings released should be enough to satisfy any fan.
Or would you sacrifice some of those albums for an obelisk? Answers on a postcard to R H Blackmore, somewhere over the rainbow…
As Jon Lord said, “it’s all music”. Enjoy it.
December 21st, 2013 at 15:06Maybe it would be really cool if Purple fans started a petition to ensure they never get inducted in to the RnR HoF?
Maybe something along the lines of; “we the Deep Purple fans across the world believe that it would be totally inappropriate for a band as talented as our favourite group to be inducted in to your hall of fame as we do not feel that music of such great quality should be associated with the likes of The Jackson 5, The Clash, Sex Pistols and U2”
LOL 🙂
December 21st, 2013 at 15:21The local radio station in a small town a few miles from where I live in Ill, just finished their usual “Weekend Underground” segment featuring songs from 20+ groups that are NOT in the hall of shame, examples Tull, Doobie Bros, Chicago, Yes, Poco, The Guess Who, Steve Miller and many more, (you get the picture). Guess how they finished the show, that’s right the entire Machine Head album as the DJ said in protest of the biggest disappointment of all, the snub of Deep Purple, its time for ‘the people there wake up!?. I would like to go there sometime but not until DP is inducted, I don’t like the odds of them even being on the ballot next year. Whoever they pissed off must be high up on the list of voters, until then I keep my money in my pocket. The bottom line is we are not alone in our disbelief of the snub of Purple, we ALL know better?!
December 21st, 2013 at 17:38@58 what the management and promoters could have done in this case? I’m just asking how does this thing work ?
Yes,this sham unfortunately exists and,we want the band to get in and enjoy the honors,before another band members passes away.Alas, we have to wait for another year,and go through this transition one more time!On the Other hand,I hear that Gillan mentioned another studio album at the end of the year with Bob Ezrin,but of course we cannot put too much stock in that,considering their heavy schedule of touring,but after a great album and experience,it is not farfetched,meantime Now What?!
December 21st, 2013 at 19:45@64 al;
My point as stated over and over…. Lack of promotion and poor management helped Purple drop off the radar over last 30 years. Had there been more awareness and reference to this great band over the years and more accessibility, there is a chance they might have been thought about long before now. Between Purple themselves ‘snubbing’ the public eye and the way the RRHOF snubs many a worthy artist and the middle finger the band has thrown up regarding it all, is there any wonder? There are many consequences to poor promotion and management. This is one of them. I’m still hopeful.
!Ch-BeerZ?
December 22nd, 2013 at 01:49This latest snub is simply a reflection of the music industry “establishment” ‘s indifference to and/or hostility towards Deep Purple. I have visited the RRHOF, I have been to the Grammy Museum in L.A., I have been to several Hard Rock Cafes around the world, and from time to time I read an issue of Rolling Stone magazine. All of those companies/ institutions / corporations or whatever you wish to call them are all totally intertwined, and are all so tiresome in their fawning praise and adoration for all the acts who have already been inducted into the Hall, the same predictable batch of musicians who get all the coverage ad nauseum. Those aforementioned corporations are all equally consistent in their neglect to mention the contributions of Deep Purple to the realm of rock music.
There is no hope for Purple to ever be given a fair shake under the current establishment’s tenure. For whatever reason, they are the red-headed step-child no one loves (except by us afficionados!) How appropriate that Purple wrote “No One Came” back in 1971, very prophetic, as Ian Gillan has stated during recent concert versions of that song.
I for one am happy to be a free-thinker and to choose the music I listen to, ie: good music with nuance, intelligence, intricacy, interplay, etc. (ie: most of the Purple catalogue). I much prefer that than having musical taste and fashion spoon-fed to me by the aforementioned soulless corporations whose sole reason for existence is to generate the mighty dollar!
Lest anyone think I am being critical only of the U.S. music establishment, I also take issue with the U.K.’s music press as well. Publications such as MOJO, UNCUT, and the only marginally fairer CLASSIC ROCK, lavish all sorts of coverage on the usual suspects (Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, KISS, Rolling Stones, U2, Nirvana, etc, etc, etc) but rarely if ever (except occasionally by Classic Rock) do they give any decent and proportional coverage to Deep Purple.
Now what is it that has precipitated such wanton neglect, or outright hostility towards Deep Purple? Is it poor marketing, poor record company promotion? Is it lack of cooperation with music press / media requests for interviews? Did some interviews go very badly? I simply don’t understand how a band as big a Purple was in the mid 70’s can just disappear into obscurity and be written out of the history books like what is presently happening.
Any theories???
December 22nd, 2013 at 13:01Why bother, we dont need it, the band dont need it. Let them stew in their own self gratification and leave the rest of us to get on wit appreciating true musicianship and a brilliant band, in all it incarnations (except one IMHO), JLT did not do it for me.
December 22nd, 2013 at 21:56Yes @66. Read @ 65.
!Ch-BeerZ?
December 24th, 2013 at 01:32@66 great points man ! I don’t mind the snubbing as much as I am shocked with the omission of Deep Purple from Magazines/corporate/institutions or whatever they are,part of it is like we have mentioned here several times,the ignoring from the band members and not recognizing them at all,bashing all the “bludsuckers” and corporates evil in their songs ! At least we know how great they are and be grateful that they re still producing good music after all these years ! they can never take the great music,and let em die in their obscurity and ignorance.
December 24th, 2013 at 04:16Tracy @ 65 & 68, and Al @ 69, yes I think you have both hit the nail on the head. Neglect by Purple’s management team is a good part of the reason for the present state of affairs. But I do think that the corporate culture of music industry insiders (record companies, critics, magazine/ media, and corporate bars/ cafes, etc) who have taken on the self-appointed role of arbiters of musical taste and fashion are mostly to blame. Purple has never been considered fashionable in the same way as other bands and for that reason have never been given the attention they should have had in the U.S.A. Though Purple are given their proper due in Japan, most of Europe and other parts of the world, the American market has for the most part eluded them.
I think this whole debacle has its origins sometime in the mid-70’s. I remember back in 1975-76 being already exceedingly frustrated by the then disproportionate attention magazines such as Hit Parader, Cream, Circus, Crawdaddy and Rolling Stone were paying to most other acts. However Deep Purple (and Rainbow) were only simply being paid lip service at best. I remember writing to the editorial columns of Circus and/or Cream back around 1977 to express my point of view / displeasure about that situation, however they chose not to publish my missives.
So all in all, this situation of Purple neglect is not new, it has persisted for almost 40 years. As Purple gets older and public members’ memories of the band’s glory days continue to fade, Deep Purple will continue to grow fainter in people’s thoughts. For this reason it is very unlikely that they will ever be inducted into the RRHOF. And if ever they are, it will be many years from now when the band will have probably dissolved. Unfortunate but that is just the way it is. So I guess we have to console ourselves with the music!
On a more positive and cheerful note, Merry Christmas to all of you in Highway Star land! It is always a pleasure corresponding with you all!
G
December 25th, 2013 at 07:49Deeperpurps@70- All the best to you also in regards to the festive season. As a rocking & rolling teenager in the mid 70’s, I used to buy the magazines Circus, Circus Rave?, Hit Parader & occasionally Cream. Even way out here in the Australian outback, sure they were always a few months old by the time they were available, but I had a nice little collection of them after a while. I recall seeing Purple fairly often in the US mags, as that is one reason I purchased the magazines at times. I am not sure about Rolling Stone though, my memory isn’t good on any Purple related coverage in that, as I didn’t buy or even see that magazine (newspaper) that often.
December 26th, 2013 at 23:00You mention the mid 70’s & you may have read my views on this period regarding the California Jam. I still believe ABC were incredibly pissed off with Purple & as Jon Lord said, they (Purple) had to pay $10,000 compensation for the camera damage. I think it stems from those sort of ‘episodes’ throughout their career, especially during the 70’s! I may be wrong though, it may not have anything to do with it! Cheers.
During the late 70’s and early 80’s, while Purple were non-existent and the ex-members were ‘doing their own thing’, there was a huge buzz around All things Purple in the music magazine world, the record shops and mail order companies. Purple and all the ‘splinter groups’ were the main sought after muse on these lists. One of the mail order folks at the time that I recollect was ‘Metal Mayhem’. They had a Purple section and they cross referenced over to Purple related music and specialized in all past members and their connections beyond Purple. This put tons of spotlight on the ‘missing Deep Purple’. They were highly sought after and there was a huge push for them to Re-Group, which they did in 1984 with Perfect Strangers and were the highest grossing Tour act of that period. They promoted well and even did MTV videos. Then shortly after did the proverbial Purple shuffle into obscurity again. They chose to ignore the wave they surfed in on and beached themselves on some deserted island avoiding the public to the point that they fizzle out of the mainstream as quickly as they jumped into it. Instead of forging ahead and maintaining some sort of hold onto their reawakening, they allowed the likes of the late 80’s and early 90’s to come in and steal their well earned place in line. Dropping out of the limelight and allowing the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and other grunge bands to paint over the Purple canvas and cast it aside into obscurity is nobody’s fault but theirs and their management. Alice Cooper is a perfect example of doing it right. He is from the Purple era, yet he maintained a steady amount of public availability and album productivity. He works the late-night talk-show circuit. Every time he puts out an album, he winds up on Leno, Letterman or somewhere in promotion of the album. That’s the way you do it. Make yourself known to be in existence. Make yourself available to the public eye. Otherwise, face the wrath of the ‘classic rock’ pigeonhole in a vacuum where your present works never get to be heard due to being unknown to exist…. When a band is on their High Horse as Purple was in the early 70’s and they were young and full of spit and vinegar with no end in sight, it was appropriate for their cocky ‘who needs anybody’ attitude. That was Rock & Roll then. when they got that 2nd chance in ’84 with the reunion, they were older and should have been wiser and more responsible. Their management should have ‘managed’ instead of ‘enabled’. A little bit of proper consistent exposure would have gone a long way toward keeping Purple where they belonged. At the TOP of the class they are connected to. LZ, Sabbath, Cream, Hendrix, etc. instead of being that ‘shadow’ band that was a part of that group but isn’t near as well known.
!Ch-BeerZ?
December 27th, 2013 at 01:49Has anyone read the 1973 review of ‘Who Do We Think We Are’ in Rolling Stone magazine? The reviewer detested the album and said the band sounded as if they ODed on Sominex! In her opinion the group went downhill after ‘In Rock’ was released. No mention of ‘Machine Head’ here! She thought ‘Place in Line’ was like sound sleep imitating a coma, and even the lyrics for ‘Smooth Dancer’ made her blood curdle. After reading this I have to ask: Who Does She Think She Is?
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/who-do-we-think-we-are-19730412
December 27th, 2013 at 01:58MacGregor @71. Yes admittedly coverage of all things Purple was far better back then, but it was still significantly less than what many other bands were getting. I saw the decline start around the time of Stormbringer and into the Come Taste the Band period. There appeared at around that time to be some brief excitement about Rainbow, but again coverage was average at best as compared to many other bands.
Back in those years I was a teen of limited income so I held back on purchases of magazine issues unless they actually carried a substantial story (ie: at least a couple of pages) about Purple (-related). I would go frequently to the local magazine store and browse all the music mags of the day in search of anything on Purple and/or Rainbow and/or Gillan, et al. I was disappointed most of the time – I didn’t buy very many issues as good stories were scant. CIRCUS was the most reliable magazine back then for Purple-related news, but as I have mentioned, its coverage of our favorite band was minimal nevertheless. As for ROLLINGSTONE, well it was a completely lost cause by that time….whatever axe it had to grind with Purple was accomplished by a total freezing out of any coverage whatsoever.
Perhaps the CAL JAM 74 incident may have been the most visible event that precipitated the decline of Purple in the music media. Up until then Purple’s disdain for or lack of cooperation with media may have contributed to some press hostility towards the group. Then came CAL JAM on camera for all to see, so if anyone in media already had an anti-Purple bent, they could point to that particular incident as typical of how hard it was to get along with the band, perhaps??
Certainly Purple did themselves no favours by being aloof, but I am sure that they were not the only bands doing so back then. I would have hoped that the music media/ industry would have gotten over it by now and would do a proper reassessment of Purple’s contributions to rock music, however it seems that memories are long and petty grudges persist.
December 29th, 2013 at 01:24@73 Deb
I Hate to say this be she kind of hits the nail in the head dear! The album is the weakest one of the Mark 2 period.Needless to say that the band is spent and needed a break from all that touring and on top of all,the well documented, tensions and relationship Btw Gillan/Blackmore are to the point of no return,Gillan already resigned from the band .It is only an album for hard core fans like us.There is a couple of good songs,the album is not bad,but not by Deep Purple standards something is missing overall, that chemistry and the spirit of the band is not there,the album look tired,cause the band is tired and ready to move on.Rat Bat Blue has an insane and quirky explosion of Hammond from the Mighty Lord and not much inspired guitar playing and very formulaic and strained solos from Ritchie,whi probably was saving it for a different band or line-up lol.Ironically,one of my favorites songs in this album after Rat Bat Blue is the B-side Painted Horse from the Remaster/Remix edition of 2000 and to be honest always skipped OUR LADY and never cared too much about Woman From Tokyo.I don’t think the review is that bad,but hey like they say :Sad But True!This is the beginning of the infamous,quarrel Gillan/Blackmore,which is going to continue decades later and it is part of the declining image and falling off the map in The States like Tracy have stated rightly so several times and especially after Ritchie quit the band in the 90’s.But you all know this and no reason to repeat the same stories over and over again
This is only my humble opinion as far as the album goes,not the best way this Mark 2 wanted to end the decade.Compare it with Burn right after and you will see how inspiration from the Man In Black !
cheers
December 29th, 2013 at 01:41Tracy @72. You are correct re 1984/85. Purple had huge profile for about a year or so, and it seemed that all was well in the world. But then they seemed to let it just slip through their fingers after that.
I never saw the magazine Metal Mayhem. Would love to find back issues of it given the broad coverage you speak of. It seems perhaps that it was a specialty magazine and not so connected to the mainstream (ie: ROLLINGSTONE et al). Therein lies the crux of the issue – Purple is somewhat of an underground band, confined to a certain niche market and not widely exposed to or by the mainstream media.
I think you are on to something re solutions for wider exposure, (ie): appearances on late night talk shows. Other major bands do it and don’t lose any credibility for doing so….why doesn’t Purple give it a shot? Is it the band themselves or is it their management who refuse to try this?
December 29th, 2013 at 01:51Deb @73….yes that review is typical of some of the hostility that RollingStone magazine held for Purple back in the 70’s glory years before it chose to completely ignore and neglect Purple and treat them as a non-entity. Admittedly, WDWTWA is not the strongest of the 70’s Mark II line-up but it is a good album nonetheless….if any other group had put it out under its own name, the music media would be calling it a masterpiece.
The problem with RollingStone magazine is that it has absolutely no journalistic credibility any longer. It did have in its early years until about the mid-70’s. But then it sold its soul to a more corporate approach. It is simply a fashion magazine now.
But the biggest sin RollingStone has committed in regards to Purple is to write the band out of the history books completely: Go look for the 4th edition of the RollingStone Album Guide produced about 5 or 6 years ago….it completely deletes Deep Purple from the ranks of rock music…look for the name Deep Purple and you will not find it…it has been erased from the section between DEE-LITE and DEF LEPPARD.
So now is it any wonder that Deep Purple are not getting into the RRHOF? Given RollingStone Management’s iron grip on the Hall, and its complete disdain for Deep Purple, the band is not likely to ever be inducted into it under the current establishment. Sad but that’s just the way things are.
December 29th, 2013 at 02:12Deb @73- wow, what a review! Comical indeed, but some “musical” journalists over the years do spew froth & bile at times!
December 29th, 2013 at 08:19I remember Ian Anderson pulled the pin on Tull around that same time in England, because of continual ‘low life’ press criticism of their music. King Crimson were vilified too if I remember correctly & I don’t think Robert Fripp had too much time for the press either from what I have read over the years!
But seriously, WDWTWA was a ‘downer’ in respect to their previous 3 albums as we all know. Tired, washed out, egos’s clashing big time, Blackmore getting bored & Lord having to solo on certain songs etc! Although according to this ‘journo’ the previous 2 albums are not any better, now that is very comical, hilarious! But I have always really liked the album & it still sounds ‘fresh’ today when I listen to it!
It & Fireball are the 2 I play often, as they both were not ‘overplayed’ by every man & his dog for years on end! Now Jann Wenner from Rolling Stone is also the head ‘guru’ at the R&RHOF isn’t he? Coincidence anyone??????Cheers.
Deb @73;
Great find regarding this interview. Yeah, I’d say the vigor here regarding her extreme negativity about WDYTWA is quite alarming. As Al, Deeperpurps and MacGregor pointed out, it definitely was the weakest of the MK2 albums and the evidence of their disbandment was all over this record. Ritchie was almost non-existent. There is much more Keyboard than guitar and as the article states, NO BATTLES back and forth. That being said, it still is a fine album. As with ALL Purple albums, no 2 are alike. Even within the same MKs. Look how much different Fireball is from In Rock. Then comes Machinehead. Totally different. So the change towards WDYTWA isn’t that outlandish. The main complaint that should be noted is the lack of guitar. I’d love to see that album re-mastered with guitar thrown in the proper places. I believe it would turn out to be quite impressive. Maybe since Ritchie seemed to not care at all and pretty much left it to the rest of the band, Steve Morse should come in and record some guitar parts for the album and reissue it. I agree that WFT and Mary Long are the weakest tunes on the album. I actually like Our Lady quite a bit. Place in Line I thought was great. Loved Gillans low end at the beginning, but then it drags on towards the end and gets old with the repeated verses and melody over and over. Up till then a great song. Rat Bat Blue? Great track with an awesome structure. Love the beginning and that middle section when it builds back up….. YES! Weak album? Actually a great album. Week Purple album? Yes, unfortunately due to the turmoil and Ritchie not participating as he should have. Jon Lord and the Rhythm section carried the album along with Gillan’s masterful vocals. Deep Purple are known for all 5 members standing out, not being left out. The lack of Guitar makes for a lackluster Purple album. That’s what makes NOW WHAT so great. Even though Don Airey stood out front quite a lot, Steve Morse comes in and there is quite a lot of that battling interplay throughout the album which did capture that ‘classic signature Purple’ sound of old, yet brought it current with some new directions un-charted by Purple before. I really would love to hear Steve throw in some guitar tracks on WDYTWA. Why not? TMIB surely didn’t seem to give a Rat’s Ass…..
!Ch-BeerZ?
December 29th, 2013 at 22:56MacGregor @ 78….Yes!!! Exactly! Wenner the King of RS Mag and of RRHOF….more than a coincidence me thinks!
December 30th, 2013 at 03:20I have mixed feelings about ‘Who Do We Think We Are’. I’ve always liked the album but Ian and Roger left the band a month after my high school graduation….and WDWTWA still reminds me of long-ago endings every time I hear it. The majority of Deep Purple listeners during my high school years were pot smokers, especially from 1971-72. The juicers and the straights (as they were called then) were usually Top 40 fans. I started listening to MKII in 1971, and hung out with all three of the above mentioned social groups. I didn’t read music magazines at that point, but after seeing what some of you have said I probably didn’t miss too much in the way of DP coverage.
Yes, Jann Wenner is one of the RRHOF founders. Rolling Stone magazine and the RRHOF Foundation are located in the same building and they even share office space. How cozy!
December 30th, 2013 at 06:21@78 WDWTWA may have weaker songs, but the production is the best of all the DP albums up to that point! Punchy Drums, everything balanced perfectly! ‘In Rock’ suffered in the production department in my Opinion, although the next one ‘Fireball’ sounds SO much better!
January 1st, 2014 at 19:03@83
Maybe that’s what makes that album great “In Rock ” the mix is not perfect and it is really “raw”, but I could be wrong and you are right.lol
January 1st, 2014 at 22:25WDWTWA and the Last Concert in Japan/ This Time Around – Live in Tokyo 1975 clearly demonstrate what a tower of strength Jon Lord was to Deep Purple. That he could almost single-handedly carry the band through an album or a concert in the absence of a committed Blackmore, or a sober Bolin, was a testament to his talent and genius. Jon Lord was truly one of a kind, the likes of whom we will never see again.
Back in the early-mid 70’s WDWTWA was the second Purple LP I acquired after buying Machine Head. So up to that point. I hadn’t yet heard much of the guitar-oriented sounds of Made in Japan or In Rock. My opinion therefore of WDWTWA was that it was a great album. I played it so much I pretty well wore it out, nothing but snaps, cracks, pops and skips after a few months on my turntable. I didn’t really it realize back then how important Blackmore’s guitar was to the overall sound of the band. For me that came later with further discoveries of their Mark II and III catalogue. On its own however (without comparison to other Purple albums) WDWTWA stands up well.
Interesting bunch those ”critics” are. Remember how unfashionable guitar solos became in the age of Punk / New Wave and again in the age of Grunge. I wonder what those scribes would think of WDWTWA if somebody put that on their turntable without telling them who the band is. Do something like those old cola blind-folded taste tests….how objective a ”taste test” might we get from them then? The problem with critics is that once they hear the name Deep Purple, they sharpen their axes and apply their poisons in most gleeful fashion.
In fact the trouble with most rock critics is they have this compelling urge to show us just how clever they are with words. Objectiveness does not figure into the equation. This is clear in the example that Deb has surfaced for us and posted @73. For whatever reason, Deep Purple was and is a lighting rod for critics. Don’t ever expect a fair shake from these questionable scribes who are so consumed by their own self-importance that they can’t ”lower” themselves to the task of actually listening for the subtleties, nuances, intricacies, interplay, instinct, complexities and colours found in most Deep Purple music. Rather, they probably skip from track to track in the most cursory fashion with their personal sound meter calibrated to the first bar of the Smoke on the Water riff, and their anti-Purple bias turned up to 11. Unfortunately, RS mag and RRHOF are the refuges for these individuals, and their opinions appear to have great sway,
January 2nd, 2014 at 01:25Tracy @ 79. Yes that would be an interesting project, insertion of some Steve Morse solos (with the restrained style he plays on Now What?!) on the WDWTWA album. The only Blackmore solo on that one that stands out is Smooth Dancer. The rest is pretty well Jon Lord’s show. A revisiting of WDWTWA, similar to what the band did with Concerto 1999 would be a very worthwhile project in my estimation.
January 2nd, 2014 at 02:24“Woman from Tokyo” and “Rat bat blue” are two of my favourite Purple compositions. They are extremely well structured and played. I don’t get that WDWTWA is a weak album, I think its brilliant! The other four members played out of their skins because of Ritchie’s lack of interest (especially Lord and Gillan) proving that despite his brilliance, DP were not a one man show!!The M8 section in WFT is just superb.
It’s a shame that Rolling Stone always hated the band, they always did and unfortunately had a very loud voice in the 70’s. The journo staff had their favourites and DP certainly were not one of them. despite this, they still managed to become the biggest selling band in the world in 1973/4…
January 2nd, 2014 at 08:08A review isn’t supposed to be objective, in contrast to to most other types of journalism.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:14Svante @87, that is an interesting point. Perhaps that accounts for the thrashing that Deep Purple has received and continues to receive at the hands of critics for all these years. I was always under the impression that journalism, no matter what its form, is supposed to subscribe to a certain ethical code, (ie): neutrality, impartiality, objectivity, non-bias, etc. It would seem that rock journalism chooses to ignore such enlightened guiding principles. Or, that rock criticism is not really truly constructive music criticism, but rather is the equivalent of an Op-Ed (opinion / editorial), (ie): the reflection of that particular writer’s taste, likes, dislikes, and general subjectivity.
Either way, whether journalism or opinion, it is very interesting to see how pervasive the critical tide against Deep Purple is in the U.S. music media / industry in particular. How can it be that so many people in that industry have such a negative opinion, or no opinion / no knowledge of Deep Purple? Do all us fans have it completely wrong?
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:38Scott@82- Yes I agree that WDWTWA is a wonderful sounding album. I have always liked it & it sounds great. The fact that Blackmore doesn’t ‘play’ as much as on other records, is also an indication that you don’t actually ‘have’ to have lead guitar on every song in any form of music, especially rock music! The songs are still very melodic, damn strong melodies actually & excellent playing & what a mix! Just listen to Paice’s hi hat on WFT, so crisp & clear, & his drum sound is wonderful indeed, what wonderful production!
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:55Mary Long is a classic Gillan ‘tongue in cheek’ stab at Mary Whitehouse, the super straight Tory MP wasn’t she? Our Lady is a superb song also, the songs are just ‘different in some ways’ to what Purple sort of usually sound like, or what some people expect from them.
All the other songs on the album are very good in my opinion! ‘In Rock’ just happens to have that ‘dated old’ sound to it, imagine if it had a later fresher mix to it? But alas, there it stands & it doesn’t really matter in the end, it is a groundbreaking album & a defining rock album!
Machine Head is the only MK album from that era that I have to update on disc, in the hope of a ‘fresher’ sound, although the original LP quad mix from my memory was always a good mix! Fireball also sounds good, an under rated album in my book! Cheers.
Svante & friends,
Further to my earlier messages about rock journalism and its apparent lack of objectivity, for your reading pleasure please see the following article on the history of rock journalism and the absence of ethical underpinnings therein.
The article “Bye Bye Rock” – On the possibility of an ethics of rock criticism; by one Devon Powers; in Journalism Studies, 2009, iFirst Article, 1-15; @2009 Routledge, Taylor & Francis. Try on Google if the link below doesn’t take you directly to it:
http://www.academia.edu/4527860/BYE_BYE_ROCK_Toward_an_Ethics_of_Rock_Criticism#1
After reviewing it I am sure you will see how it is that certain bands have become the darlings of rock music critics / industry / establishment; and how others such as Deep Purple get the proverbial shaft. The points made in the article go a long way to explaining the current state of affairs at RRHOF.
I am interested in hearing your comments on this article. Happy reading!
G
January 2nd, 2014 at 13:58@90 I could not possibly read the whole article,unless it was mandatory and forced upon me in school ! That is not a pleasure reading no offense lol wow
January 2nd, 2014 at 21:27According to this article, some of the rock critics in the 60s and 70s were accepting free trips, tickets, meals, etc. from the various record companies they were indirectly covering through their album reviews. A full stomach and a free show makes for a good review! This reminds me of the RRHOF and how they were accused of showing favoritism towards artists that were on certain record labels.
Ann Cheauvy must have been a Lester Bangs disciple. Her WDWTWA review could have been written by Bangs himself. Bangs actually gave Machine Head a pretty good review in Rolling Stone, but Black Sabbath’s first album received a huge ‘thumbs down’:
Lester Bangs: “Over across the tracks in the industrial side of Cream country lie unskilled laborers like Black Sabbath, which was hyped as a rockin’ ritual celebration of the Satanic mass or some such claptrap, something like England’s answer to Coven. Well, they’re not that bad, but that’s about all the credit you can give them. The whole album is a shuck — despite the murky songtitles and some inane lyrics that sound like Vanilla Fudge paying doggerel tribute to Aleister Crowley, the album has nothing to do with spiritualism, the occult, or anything much except stiff recitations of Cream clichés that sound like the musicians learned them out of a book, grinding on and on with dogged persistence. Vocals are sparse, most of the album being filled with plodding bass lines over which the lead guitar dribbles wooden Claptonisms from the master’s tiredest Cream days. They even have discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitized speedfreaks all over each other’s musical perimeters yet never quite finding synch — just like Cream! But worse.”
January 3rd, 2014 at 14:40It’s all ‘Smoke & Mirrors’
January 5th, 2014 at 04:40Al @91! Agreed it is not easy reading! But it is a very interesting article nevertheless and touches on many areas which might explain why Purple is not yet in, nor is it ever likely to be given due and fair consideration for induction into the RRHOF.
Deb @92! Yes that is a very good point you make in the article in question (ie): critics who were alleged to have been accepting freebies and were therefore essentially in conflict of interest positions – beholden to the record companies. Objectivity kind of jumps out of the window then doesn’t it?
As for Lester Bangs, he is/ was one of the icons of rock journalism. He and his ilk are largely responsible for the style of rock criticism that exists today – that which lavishes hype and praise on a chosen few, and throws daggers at, or completely dismisses other bands.
Also a very good point Deb re Machine Head. And again, it speaks to critics’ narrow view with respect to Deep Purple and why the band is branded as one-hit wonders. In their eyes it would seem that all things Purple are measured against that one album or “the song”: Smoke on the Water.
When it all comes right down to it, RRHOF it seems to me is simply a product of the combined efforts of the rock journalism establishment and the corporate entities who have a stake in the multi-million / billion dollar rock business and all its spin-offs. It’s all about hype and money. Objectivity has no place in the process.
Not to belabor the issue any further, if you wish to read more on this particular topic and related points, another very good article is “Bruce Springsteen, Rock Criticism, and the Music Business: Towards a Theory and History of Hype”, also by Dr. Devon Powers; @2011. It can be found at the same site (Academia.edu).
All the best,
January 5th, 2014 at 17:23Deb@92 – oh dear, what a review this one is! A classic & if you have anymore similar, keep them coming! Hilarious, comical & stupendously side splitting indeed! I love having a good laugh & this provided it big time, thanks for that.
January 6th, 2014 at 08:06Sabbath’s first album is a raw one indeed, but there are some pivotal moments on it, much better than most of Cream’s music in my opinion, although I do enjoy some of Cream’s classic songs! To me, Cream were & still are over rated IMHO, especially Clapton!
They were better musicians than Sabbath no doubt, especially at that moment in time! Cheers.
Black Sabbath wasn’t the only band who received negative criticism in comparison to Cream:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/led-zeppelin-i-19690315
According to Nick Simper, Eric Clapton was probably aware of Ritchie’s reputation as an ace guitarist. He said Cream was quite unfriendly towards DP when MKI was their opening act, and DP was kicked off the tour for upstaging the headliners. But Jon Lord said they got on well with Cream, and Cream was too stoned to be aware that DP was taken off the tour. At any rate, I still haven’t seen the Cream yardstick applied to DP in any of their album reviews. Rolling Stone called Clapton the ‘Master’ and he has been inducted into the RRHOF three times with Cream, the Yardbirds, and as a solo act. Hmmmm…..
January 7th, 2014 at 18:03Deb @96. Clapton is one of the darlings of the rock music establishment, he apparently can do no wrong. He’s not a bad guitarist but he is certainly not a virtuoso like Blackmore. Nevertheless hype always wins the day in rock critic circles – Clapton is God, so they say.
January 8th, 2014 at 01:00Deb@96- The reviewer of the Zeppelin debut album has some justification I suppose, it is a very scratchy debut album & has many ‘borrowed’ riffs/songs on it & is my least favourite Zep album by a mile, but they had to start somewhere like everyone else.
January 8th, 2014 at 04:39Most artists take an album or two or three to get it together, King Crimson are an exception to that, as their debut album was a stunner!
I can imagine Purple blowing Cream away in many ways & The Cream’s triple whammy ego’s would not have liked that one little bit!
The ‘Eric Clapton is God’ title drives Clapton around the bend, so many media people over the decades have called Clapton the guitar God, much to his annoyance. He is a fine player, but always over rated by certain people & there are so many greater players in my book.
The same can be applied to the Rolling Stones being labelled ‘the greatest rock ‘n roll band in the world’! If they are or were the greatest, God help us all! Mind you, I have never read anywhere over the decades that the Stones didn’t enjoy that title, maybe they didn’t, but I think they may have lapped it up big time & probably still do! I may be wrong there though, they may loathe it also, especially ‘Keef’!
Yes the ‘favourites’ are always looked up to & revered more than others. Alas, it is like that with most things ‘celebrity’ wise in this pretentious world. Cheers.
Oh dear, here is another ‘great’ Rolling Stone album review from 1970. Jethro Tull’s Benefit album & whilst I am a Tullophile from Aqualung on, Benefit isn’t that bad an album for an early starting off period before they nailed it a little further on down the road! Cheers.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/benefit-19700806
January 8th, 2014 at 11:13Another great Tull album, one of their greatest albums, damn heavy at times also, but alas drawn & quartered! The following comment is from the guy who posted this review that follows his one line comment, obviously a Tullophile, hooray! Speaking of Tull, why don’t we hijack this Purple fansite, turn it into a Tull site, sod Purple! Blackmore always said Tull were miles better than Purple anyway!
Calling all Tullophiles out there! Cheers.
Here we go:
“Too funny how absolutely clueless this reviewer is. How did this guy ever get a job”?
ROLLING STONE
6 November 1975
Minstrel in the Gallery
Jethro Tull
Chrysalis CHR 1082
Chances are, most of you have long since forgotten the notion of Elizabethan boogie as an art form. Well, it’s revived here on Minstrel In The Gallery, Jethro Tull’s latest concept-as-afterthought entry in the fall record sweepstakes. The fact that Ian Anderson and the lads have once again plundered the British secular music tradition signifies little and delivers less.
Anderson, still holding to a self-consciously bizarre musical stance, has difficulty maintaining the center of attention with his mannered vocals, irrepressible flute and acoustic guitar. And although, accompanied only by his guitar, he introduces each hauntingly familiar refrain as a ballad — aided by intimate spoken intros and incidental studio background noises — the tunes are soon deluged by a wash of lugubrious string passages and the anachronisms of Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond’s mechanical bass lines and Martin Barre’s hysterical electric guitar montages. In addition, contrary to the LP’s basic concept, the lyrics are instantly forgettable.
In keeping with the times, Tull does get points for technical competence. Still, despite the diligence with which these gents execute the often clichéd arrangements, the most soulful moment on the album is a line from ‘Baker St. Muse’, sung in passing by Anderson as he leaves the studio. Finding the door locked, he screams: “I can’t get out!” That’s roughly the same feeling that this listener got about midway through side one.
January 8th, 2014 at 11:24JEAN-CHARLES COSTA
Regarding Cream, Clapton may not be Blackmore but he is AMAZING. Jack Bruce deserved every vote he got as best bass player year after year. As for Ginger Baker he may not be Ric Lee but who is?
January 17th, 2014 at 08:48MacGregor going to have to agree to disagree with you regarding the Stones look between the buttons at the high tides and green grass and the flowers and you will find the aftermath is that some girls at beggars banquets with sticky fingers under my thumb will agree the Stones are hands down the greatest rock and roll band of all time, As much as you love Zeppelin and I love Purple and Sabbath there is only room for one number one and as much as many want it to be the Who after the fifth of November Mick, Keith, Charlie, Bill, and Mick became the greatest. Just like when Ali did what he did in Zaire the earth shook when Foreman hit the canvas, the same thing happened on that fateful day in November. Lets not under estimate how quickly Sabbath became a powerhouse either. Their second album is so HUGE with metal anthems it is mind boggling. If I could I surely would swim the seven seas to have the royalties from the Paranoid album.
purrfect stranger@ 101- yes as I said Clapton is a fine guitarist, but he is over rated by certain people, but that in no way takes anything away from his playing abilities. Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker as Clapton said, came from a much more technically sophisticated side of music, that being jazz. Where as he came from the more basic world of blues, they are his words & are correct no doubt. Jack Bruce is the one I have more music of, he is the one associated with guitarists that I like, Clapton & Trower in particular! I really like the Cream reunion dvd from The Royal Albert Hall in 2005. Ginger Baker is a sensational drummer & his solo on that gig is one to behold! His playing on Hawkwind’s Levitation album is superb also!
January 18th, 2014 at 09:14I love Zeppelin, Purple & Sabbath, each as equal to me as the other, but depending on my mood at the time as to which one I listen to. I was cranking WDWTWA the other day, a wonderful album from Purple. Also have been watching Rainbow’s 1977 Munich dvd, a brilliant band & superb songs & playing all around! Each to their own as to the ‘world greatest rock band’ or it should really be ‘my most favourite rock band in the world ‘ perhaps?
There isn’t any greatest rock band in the world, it is what people really like more than others that entertains that saying!
For me it is the quality of songs that makes me listen to quality music & the Stones don’t have great songs, they have had a few good songs over time, but nothing that makes me go ‘wow’! But I have always respected them & they have their position in the world of rock ‘n roll!
Yes, Sabbath certainly nailed it big time & being at the recent gig on their ’13’ tour was special for me, as no doubt it was for other fans, great songs, monster riffs & superb lyrics also on many of those classics!
As far as Ali goes, he was a champion, but I always went for the other guys, hoping they would hit him & shut him up! He was young & his ego was out of control, it happens when people become very successful. It is a shame what has happened to him with Parkinson’s disease, I don’t like seeing him like that at all. Cheers.
@100: Speaking of Jethro Tull, have you ever seen their performance (with Tony Iommi) on the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus DVD? Great performances on there from Clapton & Lennon (with the Dirty Mac Band) and The Who, too!
@101: I’m a fan of the Stones music from the Brian Jones & Mick Taylor eras. The last time I was in London I spent an evening at the pubs with one of Brian Jones’ kids, who I met through a mutual friend. Brian’s funeral was July 10, 1969, the same day DP MKII played at the Speakeasy. Some of the Stones fans wonder why Keith Moon didn’t attend Brian’s funeral. Moon was at the Speakeasy, watching DP!
January 18th, 2014 at 16:29Deb@103- yes I have watched that clip, it is a shame the band is mining, only Anderson is ‘live’ apparently from what I have read over the years. It looks strange seeing Iommi playing a Stratocaster. I often think in hindsight of course, as to what would have happened, or should I say would not have happened, if Iommi had stayed in Tull? It is a bit hard to fathom though, there would be no Tull as we know it, with Martin Barre eventually being the perfect guitar player for Tull & definitely no Sabbath ever existing at all.
January 20th, 2014 at 08:46Sheesh, that is a weird thought in many ways! Cheers.