![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse7.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey2.jpg)
Up and down, in and out, back and front
Ian Gillan was interviewed by The Portugal News (which is kinda sorta his hometown newspaper now). He gave his views on the number of tracks from =1, and on the arrival of Simon McBride as the newest member of the band. Which was a good thing because…
[…] it put the band back into simpler arrangements. Now, I learned something a long time ago that simplicity is the platform of virtuosity. Now we put back the body rhythms into Deep Purple, which is what we had in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It was basically joyous Rock and Roll again and it was more the kind of rock and roll that I grew up with than the stuff where Steve was coming from. I don’t want any misunderstandings, I absolutely and totally respect Steve Morse and he is a fantastic guitar player but I found the route he took with song construction was much easier, probably, instrumentally than it was for laying a song on top of it.
Read more in The Portugal News.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
This album is definitely more bluesy rock and roll and fun. Steve was an incredible player, he often wowed me with his playing.
October 28th, 2024 at 19:38I hope Simon and Steve have the opportunity to play onstage together one day.
There we have it folks. The difference in the songwriting collaboration from the earlier Steve Morse era. I would leave out Purpendicular though as it has that exuberance of freshness, naivety in some ways & also Jon Lord being more ‘on’ that album. From then on until the 2012 Ezrin era the albums are poor songwriting wise, flat & boring. I have been saying that for many years as certain other aficionados have, there was something not quite right. Bob Ezrin was approached to put the ‘Deep’ back into Purple & most of us were aware that the songwriting would improve some what. Well at least on Now What it did, Infinite struggles for higher quality songs, Whoosh is a return to better songs. Is this the first time we have heard Gillan say something about the indifference in the songwriting team? I am not surprised to read that at all. Cheers.
October 29th, 2024 at 03:54Obrigado, good interview.
October 29th, 2024 at 05:12“From then on until the 2012 Ezrin era the albums are poor songwriting wise, flat & boring.”
Woa, I’m not english, and I don’t get if you mean the lyrics or the structure of the songs, but I think you’re being a bit tough, dunno. The three albums have great stuff, hard, bluesy, ballads…, Any Fool kno that, Seventh Heaven, Walk On, Bananas, Clearly quite absurd (“wouldn’t it be wonderfull if you could read my mind, magine all the stuff that we could leave behind”), Before Time Begun…
October 29th, 2024 at 11:10I love absolutely all the albums and I’m sad to believe maybe Gillan was a bit tough on Morse here. More over considering that not any kind of Purple would be here today if Morse had not been there on 95.
Long live.
Yo,
IG may suggest that the song arrangements are easier, but they are not. These tunes on =1 are just as complex to play as anything Steve did, except for the odd odd-meter tune that appeared now & then. The tunes are shorter now, but he has to say something, & no-doubt his body swings differently to the beat, & perhaps that’s all that’s changed a little, & that’s IP’s dept…( I play along with the tunes, so I have some idea of what’s going on ).
=1 features IP imo…It’s his best effort / input in a _ucking long time, meaning decades.
I will defend Bob Ezrin & the incredible work he’s done with the band. Anyone who thinks otherwise really needs to question why they make these statements, & explain why……No clues…
On the basis on viewing a number of bonus DVD’s that feature ( in part ) the recording process, it’s clear that Bob is working as per his contract arrangement, & as a friend too. In the studio, he listens back & explains his likes & dislikes, & he also plays the music back loud, so everyone can both hear, & feel it. He loves the band & the music.
A song is a song, & if you like it great, & if you don’t move on…The album has reached No.1 in many countries, & the singles are starting to reach the same position, & we have people complaining ???…WTF ???…
LOL !
Adonai vasu !
October 29th, 2024 at 11:54@2 I wouldn’t say that pre-Ezrin Morse era albums suffered from poor songwriting. Abandon was too much riff based to my taste, and there was an occasional weaker tune on other albums but that was not critical. And if something wasn’t perfect, I wouldn’t blame that on Steve with his prog/fusion approach. He can write memorable tunes and he does, as proven by his work for Kansas and Flying Colors, which both sound proggy yet accessible.
All that said, I did enjoy DP with Steve and I do enjoy it with Simon.
October 29th, 2024 at 12:09I agree with John (#4). Some excellent songs on those albums. As for =1, the less said by me the better as I had enough arguments on previous posts. 🙂
October 29th, 2024 at 12:57Much as it pains me to disagree in public with my luminous percussionist Tassy friend, I really have to go with Georgiv’s more measured stance here. Those Aussies, fearsome bushwhackers they are, always get carried away in argument …
Steve gave all to DP and he wrote and co-wrote great stuff. Granted, no SOTW or Burn among his contributions (he wasn’t a man for infectious simplicity or brute riffing), but there was a lot of beauty in his songwriting, he was never perfunctory. Would most of his songs also work as instrumentals with Gillan’s voice wiped? Yes, but that is just Steve Morse, he doesn’t write songs “around” a vocal line and he’s rarely simplistic in his backing (Ritchie wouldn’t mind chugging on a fretted single root note when playing rhythm, he had zero ego to demonstrate ability while the singer was busy at the mic). There is a reason why Steve opted for instrumental music for most of his career, but that is something Purple were well aware of when they hired him – they hired him on the strength of what he had done with the Dixie Drehs and his own band, not for his work with Kansas.
What you might say though is that if Gillan was really waiting for the return of a songwriting foil that allowed him to develop vocal lines more freely and naturally, then not doing anything about it for 28 years and seven Morse era studio albums is perhaps a bit long. But I guess it goes to show what a “good citizen” Steve was, that Big Ian didn’t want to rock the boat, and that in any case hindsight is 20/20.
October 29th, 2024 at 14:19I love RnR and blues, so I know where to stay..
October 29th, 2024 at 15:21“What you might say though is that if Gillan was really waiting for the return of a songwriting foil that allowed him to develop vocal lines more freely and naturally, then not doing anything about it for 28 years and seven Morse era studio albums is perhaps a bit long. But I guess it goes to show what a “good citizen” Steve was, that Big Ian didn’t want to rock the boat, and that in any case hindsight is 20/20.”
Mmmh… I get it less and less. I went to see my first DP concert the 22/09/98 (got it recorded), Jon Lord still there, and it was magic. I saw them several times on the Bananas tour, went to Azkena Rock to see them playing Wrong Man and Rapture even before the album was released. And so on and so forth. And in all the concerts, and the official stuff that were released on DVD, there were always good vibe and great time between the components on the band. Good vibe and great time that rarely were there with Ritchie. Morse was a… what, much too difficult composer for IG to fit the lyrics in?! I love the new album and the new band and what Simon has brought them, but I think MK IX was just a kind of serendipity: Morse’s sad family’s situation, Simon there, Airey and Gillan already knowing him and forseeing his talent… Steve phisical problems were killling him more and more; an “=1” (or a “Purpendicular”) wouldn’t have been possible with him nowadays and, at their age, time was running out. So, they took the chance. Which is sad but great, at the same time (kind of a paradox). But imho they should never never have a regret or say a bad thing about the beautifull times spent with that wonderfull guitarrist and man.
October 29th, 2024 at 16:06Blaming Steve for allegedly subpar songwriting seems like a weird “revisionist” notion now being put out. Back when he was in the band, they would always go out of their way to emphasize that the songs were written by all of them together, through “jamming”.
Indeed, putting Steve in charge of songwriting might have seemed like a natural move, given that was his role in Kansas, as well as the fact that, during MK 2b, 5 and 2c, Blackmore singlehandedly did the vast bulk of songwriting, as the official credits reflect (“songwriting” here obviously excluding lyrics). Yet they very pointedly did *not* adopt that approach during mk 7 & 8. Or at least, that is what they would have us believe in those years.
Against this background, it seems somewhat odd for Steve to now suddenly get blamed for supposed songwriting shortcomings.
October 29th, 2024 at 17:07@9
AndreA have you been in the presence of pure perfection, that is of course Ian Gillan’s ‘I thought no’? Ohhh man it’s wonderful, amazing, chilling and completely breathtaking magnificent 😍
Sorry if I’m (over-) doing superlatives here, but nothing less does it justice 🤩😃
October 29th, 2024 at 21:09Not sure why some people here think it is Steve Morse being ‘blamed’ for anything. The Ian Gillan comment is obviously a generalisation, regarding his take on certain songwriting etc. He isn’t blaming Morse & neither is anyone else. It is about the chemistry between certain musicians, that is what it is more than likely about. Some people click much better together than others, it happens everywhere in any facet of life involving any collaborations(s) or partnership etc. As has been suggested here in past comments, is it that British /American thing, is it that easy to suggest that in itself? Or is it the ‘instrumental’ approach as we have also discussed here many times. Steve Morse worked out ok with Kansas, a different chemistry & scenario & there were only two albums, not half a dozen or more to hear a broader selection of songs over a longer period of time. We are not present of course & some of use here offer our thoughts. NOT complaints as some too easily suggest. We like what we like & vice versa, just because someone likes one thing doesn’t mean another person will, why should they. Simple really. Every artist has highs & lows, depending on ones perspective & heaven forbid even the artists themselves are ‘allowed’ their own perspective it seems as time rolls by. The same with the Blackmore era, plenty of ordinary material at times & also a few bland albums & comments made over time looking back on it all. How many bands or collaborators look back on their own output & make a comment on what they think may or may not have worked out? For me I always thought from the start, how is this going to work out, knowing SM past music with both his bands. New material wise & great from the first album, then a sudden drop off. It was always going to be a different output with a different guitarist & composer & the same could have easily happened if Satriani joined DP, another instrumentalist guitarist & writer. Cheers.
October 29th, 2024 at 21:36AG, I don’t think Big Ian is trying to be outright nasty or badmouth Steve, he is just being honest about his feelings and at his age the diplomacy filter is somewhat switched off. He’s not like DC who always lauds anyone he has worked with in interviews, but then never explains why all these people are no longer working with him, which makes a lot of things he says a little shallow. If you read DC’s interviews and booklet notes, then everything Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden, Neil Murray, Ian Paice, Mel Galley, Colin Hodgkinson, John Sykes, Cozy Powell, Aynsley Dunbar, Adrian Vandenberg, Rudy Sarzo, Vivian Campbell, Steve Vai, Denny Carmassi, Marco Mendoza, Doug Aldrich and Tommy Aldridge did for him was always great, yet he disassociated from them all.
Big Ian’s surmising about the Steve Morse years is in essence not that much different to what he said about IGB where one day he woke up in the morning and found the music way too complex with them – mind you, after having recorded three studio albums and a live one with their brand of fusion-inspired music! Colin Towns once said: “There was just too much music in IGB for Ian’s voice.” Maybe that applies to Steve’s songwriting too.
October 29th, 2024 at 21:47“Not sure why some people here think it is Steve Morse being ‘blamed’ for anything. The Ian Gillan comment is obviously a generalisation, regarding his take on certain songwriting etc. He isn’t blaming Morse & neither is anyone else. It is about the chemistry between certain musicians, that is what it is more than likely about. Some people click much better together than others, it happens everywhere in any facet of life involving any collaborations(s) or partnership etc.”
What the drummer says.
October 29th, 2024 at 23:08Big Ian’s historical revisionism is absolutely legitimate for me.
It is undeniable that with Simon new blood has entered the band’s songwriting.
if Ian and the whole band realize this, it must be true, right?
then it’s clear that the fault is not only Steve’s, but all 5’s if the last albums have veered towards the prof they are at times boring, at times with a rhythm too flaccid, and with melodies insufficient compared to the Purple standards.
I still think that Purpendicular and Abandon were the best albums with Morse, then Bananas also had many pearls, and Don arrived with enthusiasm to fill the lack of riffs that was already about to become chronic with the subsequent albums.
the other albums after Rapture, too many weak tracks, (you have to make a best of with the 3/4 best songs to be memorable)
and now I’m putting the 90 on the plate: Uncommon man as a tribute to Jon Lord I think does not adequately represent him!
October 29th, 2024 at 23:39now you can even insult me!
@12 not 9
Oh Karin!
It is one of my best favourite song of my life.
October 30th, 2024 at 07:22I love it very very much.
I like to play it with my harmonica..
I love his rnr soul and I think I missed Gillan’s best concert ever
https://youtu.be/T7NXt9K3B4g?si=HjRKPA4rZK3juvtV
Ciao Karin
Wishin’ well.
@16
October 30th, 2024 at 08:56You know what could be really neat? Being able to go back in time and revisit all those fantastic moments with Ian G and Deep Purple 🥰🥰
Have a lovely day 😊
And please let me know if you ever invent a time-travelling machine 😄
Let‘s put things into perspective: Are we sure that Simon would still sound as fresh as he does now after 28 years and numerous studio albums? He‘s the new broom now, but biology (of the others) has it that he will never be put into a situation where he has to actually prove whether he has Steve‘s longevity.
Steve was never a riff merchant like Blackmore or Iommi and, yes, his guitar playing and composing with DP became more “spherical”/sound landscapish as time went on, I wouldn’t hold that against him, he did lots of good to great stuff (riffs with Blackmore style immediacy were very rarely among them). And there was always something going on in even his most mediocre songs while Ritchie’s not so great ideas could sometimes be mind-numbingly trite, especially when he attempted to write in a more American or Zeppelinish way. Some of the more throwaway tracks both by Rainbow and late Mk II are pretty high on the moron-o-meter if you ask me. I’ll never have to hear “No Time To Lose”, “Power”, “Rock Fever” or “Lick It Up” again, nein, vielen Dank, völlig hirnlos.
October 30th, 2024 at 14:23I have enough time-traveling when I have to see Ritchie with BN, thank you!
October 30th, 2024 at 14:25Sorry for the confusion, @18 was for @17, for AndreA 😉
October 30th, 2024 at 14:47@20
And here I was convinced that we lived in the free part of the world where we can decide for ourselves what kind of music we wanna listen to 😂
Btw: that AMAZING song ‘I thought no’ with Ian G and a band, I guess it’s Steve Morris on the guitar?
October 30th, 2024 at 21:34Oh boy he is good!
How come he wasn’t used more?
@2 “From then on until the 2012 Ezrin era the albums are poor songwriting wise, flat & boring.”
@16 “the other albums after Rapture, too many weak tracks, (you have to make a best of with the 3/4 best songs to be memorable)”
Boys, you have already destroyed two bridges.
keep on, maybe in the end the only bridge without holes will be the one they are crossing now.
Long live!
October 30th, 2024 at 22:34Karin, Steve (Morris) once sent a demo tape with songs to Big Ian’s office during his forced vacation from DP and Ian gave it by chance a listen, liking what he heard. That is how they got together.
Steve M is a capable guitarist and musician, but his less than rock star image/looks on stage led to Ian – as recommended by his manager Phil Banfield – replacing him with Dean Howard (who looked the part and did then en vogue modern day acrobatics on guitar) and christening the band then Repo Depo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkze_-rqKjo
There is also an Argentinian TV studio performance of this line-up, but this is (very sloppily) mimed, i.e. you see Dean Howard but you hear Steve Morris who played both on Naked Thunder and Toolbox.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjXdSh_OYQA
Big Ian is not a good mimer.
Steve Morris is also the musical director whenever Ian’s old band The Javelins get together: He plays all the guide tracks and the Javelin guys (not really accustomed to recording work since none of them became a professional musician) then copy what he did slavishly.
October 30th, 2024 at 22:37#19 Uwe
it’s sure that Steve is an incredible guitarist with a refined taste, his sounds and arrangements in Purple’s songs are unique and recognizable, I will always appreciate him for the work he did, but as you say he was not a “riff merchant” and the music had become too aseptic.
in this sense Joe Satriani could never have been the guitarist of Deep Purple, and in fact after the tour he continued on his Guitar Hero way…
October 30th, 2024 at 22:40with Chickenfoot he did more roots things than Steve, but the direction of Chickenfoot was established at the table while Purple with Steve paradoxically were much more experimental,
and then I think that Chickenfoot was a pure marketing operation like most of the nostalgic supergroups that have sprung up like mushrooms in the last 20 years.
Looking through that wonderful crystal ball that we all have (even better than a time machine Karin, because we know where we are actually going to. A tad risky are time machines, we could end up anywhere). I do think Uwe should don the garb at the BN gigs he attends. That way he would feel much more like he was actually living in that time, not just visiting. As long as he doesn’t attend a concert straight after a work court appearance wearing his wig, you know the ones they wear in court that look like a sheep. Although having said that, the crowd would probably embrace that even more as a genuine part of the attire from that era & also as possibly getting intimate with sheep and all. Back to the DP dilemma & the pre Ezrin era without any new material for a rather long time, was that a moment that the band could have possibly changed direction. However as we know the camaraderie within the group most probably prevented that from occurring. I do remember reading the odd article from that time where some were saying that the desire to record new music had a few hurdles to overcome. There was some dissatisfaction at a few things & the online streaming factor was one issue mentioned from my memory. Uncle Bob turning up on his white horse obviously changed things for the better, songwriting & direction wise & may have prevented the inevitable from happening. So yes indeed the Steve Morse era with Ezrin on board received a new lease of life as such, until Steve’s unfortunate situation with his wife’s health issues intervening. Cheers.
October 30th, 2024 at 22:43“And here I was convinced that we lived in the free part of the world where we can decide for ourselves what kind of music we wanna listen to 😂”
Seriously, Karin, there must be limits in some shape or form.
October 30th, 2024 at 23:18@22
October 31st, 2024 at 07:23Ciao Karin:
no, I don’t think that Morris plays in that song.
I always liked his guitar style: I think his masterpiece is TOOLBOX.
This album is so brilliant, full of power and colours..
@24
Oh yeah Uwe, I remember from the, often spoken about, autobiography by Ian G, that Steve Morris send him a demo, but it was wrapped so thoroughly tight that Ian throw it in the bin.
Later on, maybe playing billiards, Ian heard a nice tune on the stereo set, asked someone (can’t not remember the name, but someone close to him) what that music actually was, and got the answer that the person had picked it from the trash can and that it was from Steve Morris! Ian says that after that he always open all his mail conscientiously.
Another question:
I tried to Google Steve Morris, which is actually quite difficult because Google is of this perception that Steve Morse is the same as Steve Morris!
Some postings suggested that Steve Morris is dead, he isn’t, is he?
Ian G tells in the autobiography (sigh, I need another book to read 😉) that Phil B wanted to get rid of Steve Morris because , quoting from my memory: ‘the pyramids move more on stage than Steve Morris does’ 😅
October 31st, 2024 at 10:30I’ve seen several tunes where the good guitarist is playing and I just have to say: he moves definitely more than any pyramid I’ve ever seen ☺️
@26
I laughed out very loud when I read your post MacGregor 😄
I would simply love to see Uwe with that wig on!
Would also really like if there were photos of us all in here, it’s nice to know who you are chatting with.
October 31st, 2024 at 10:41Is that a possibility or do I have to do like Tom Hanks did in ‘Cast away’ where he drew a face on a volleyball 🏐, so he didn’t feel quite so isolated 😄
@28
You’re so right AndreA, I also love that album 🥰
Hey, now you mention colours! Do I sense that you might have the same thing like me where you hear colours?
When ever I listen to music it’s in colours in my head! 😅
Also numbers have their own colours, so does letters, and indeed also people’s names.
It’s not often I meet someone who has the same weird thing going on!
I remember I read about a conductor who tried to help the orchestra to perform their very best and he wasn’t completely happy. In the end he yelled: ‘No no no, more yellow in the middle part and end with green’. And apparently all the members in the orchestra had no clue what so ever he was talking about 😄
October 31st, 2024 at 10:50(Sorry I know this sounds completely bonkers, but I can assure you it’s real 😜)
😂🤣😂
Alas!, my dear Tassie friend, the pictures of Hollywood-produced Anglo-American courtroom drama stick all around the world (even among Germans).
No wigs in Germany. No juries. No “Your witness!” (judges do most of the questioning in Germany). No judges with a gavel. The judge’s bench is not elevated, but on the same level as parties and the courtroom public. Witnesses don’t swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth (instead they are instructed that they face criminal repercussions if they tell the deliberate untruth).
We do wear black robes though.
I never forget: In the early 90s, I had a case where German witnesses had to be heard by the Local Court in Nürnberg in aid of a US-litigation (the technical terms are letter rogatory or request for international legal aid). So a whole plethora of US attorneys was also present to gain a firsthand impression of the witnesses and also to depose them after the German judge was done.
The youngish Bavarian judge came in in denim and a sweatshirt, his robe around his arm: “Do I need this?” he mused aloud, but then donned it sloppily, not buttoning it.
The depositions took time. After about two-and-a-half hours it was latish afternoon, he said: “Let’s all grab a coffee. Our canteen is closed and the public coffee machine ain’t working as usual, but I think if you all come up to my room, we can manage with my little coffee machine.” The eyes of the present US litigators/trial lawyers from both sides widened, but they dutifully followed along with the witnesses to a tiny room where the judge then proceeded to prepare coffee for everyone (about a dozen people, all crowded in), pour milk and sugar and small-talk about the world. One of the hardened US trial lawyers couldn’t help but utter in disbelief: “Your Honor, I’ve been a litigator for 20 years, but this has never happened to me anywhere in the US. When I get back to Boston, no one will believe any of this!” To which the judge said laughingly “We’re not that formal here.”
So there you have it, formal Germany sometimes just isn’t (and you never call a German judge “Your Honor” either unless you’re poking fun at him, you call him Mr Judge or Mr Chairman). It’s a bit like the surprised reaction people have when they learn that Germany’s WWII Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units were less hierarchical than their US and UK counterparts (let’s not even talk about the Red Army, the French one or the Imperial Japanese Army). German soldiers were trained to take the initiative, think for themselves on the battlefield and stray from orders if the ultimate goal warranted it. A German Feldwebel/NCO had more instructional authority and room to decide things on his own than a US Army Captain. That was actually the reason for the Wehrmacht successes early on in the war – not better equipment, superior numbers, fanatical fighting spirit or a better trained general staff. It’s one of military history’s ironies that the armed forces of a totalitarian system were less rigid in their top-down management than the forces of the Allied Democracies fighting against them.
October 31st, 2024 at 16:36@ 26 MacGregor,
If you had a time machine to take you back to the 1500’s… You would have to know how to speak the old English, dress appropriately to the times, behave in the appropriate way for the area you visit, observing the unique cultural differences & so forth. I mean, you wouldn’t want to get lynched by an angry mob for being a witch or a foreign spy!. Blackmore’s Night are only playing at it. The reality of going back a few hundred years would simply be far to problematic & primitive to contemplate. Let’s face it, how are you gonna microwave the tater tots?! The following video link will take you to some interesting olde English…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y63dBBlHlSk
October 31st, 2024 at 23:50Thanks for the reply Uwe, much appreciated & very enjoyable regarding the Bavarian judge & his amusing coffee break, well done to him for that. I didn’t seriously think that you would wear a wig, but I also have no idea what attire certain countries have for their legal representatives to wear other than our own or the British I should say. I have watched too much Rumpole of the Bailey though, he he he, my learned friend. Cheers.
November 1st, 2024 at 06:01@31
November 1st, 2024 at 08:59Karin,
another album that I find full of colors is Hysteria by Def Leppard..
are you tuned to the same frequencies as me?😅
I just realized an incredible faux pas, I wrote:
“and you never call a German judge “Your Honor” either unless you’re poking fun at him, you call him Mr Judge or Mr Chairman“
Ouch! It should of course read:
“and you never call a German judge “Your Honor” either unless you’re poking fun at him/her, you call him/her Mr/Mrs Judge or Mr Chairman/Mrs Chairwoman”
Nino and Karin, I apologize for my woefully male perception 😳which also distorts reality: By now, 47,5 % of German judges are actually women – and the numbers keep rising. Among new judge appointments, women are a whopping 75%; of our highest court’s 16 judges 9 are women …
See, even Uwe can be pc at times!
November 1st, 2024 at 13:49John, @33, you bring up an interesting thought: Led Zep fans from the future being lynched by angry mobs – maybe the 1500s were the true Age of Enlightenment after all?!
😈😈😈
November 1st, 2024 at 13:57IG and GH have one thing in common 🙂 Their current band/project is where it’s at. This right here is no exception.
November 1st, 2024 at 16:42@ 33- thanks for the language barrier video John. Yes indeed a time machine would be risky in all aspects & even the old Dr Who’s Tardis was rather unreliable. And the Black Death & the Medieval Inquisition would also add a little spice to the journey if we ended up anywhere near the glorious 1500’s. It all looks so innocent at a BN gig according to images I have seen. I don’t watch any videos & the images are only what I might see attached to a Blackmore article. I avoid BN like the plague, although Uwe is rather experienced at travelling down that joyous route, so maybe he can enlighten us as to any possible unforeseen obstacles that may arise. Thanks for the link, I enjoyed that. Cheers.
November 1st, 2024 at 20:33@35
Ahh Def Leppard!
I can certainly see what you mean, but I’m not very fond of those hard rocking gentlemen 😄
In my head Deep Purple is wonderful cool ice with flames underneath and Ian G’s voice is beautiful tropical juice with ice cubes in 😄
I tried to explain it to some friends the other day, and they almost threatened to get me committed 🤣
Well on a more serious note, not many others than Deep Purple get my motor running!
November 1st, 2024 at 23:12@36
November 1st, 2024 at 23:13Vielen danke Rechtsanwalt Uwe 😉
BN gigs are a bit like Kelly Family gigs, both musically and visually – our German readers will know what I’m alluding to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOd39107EY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn5_d9E_R4A
I just hope that Autumn and Rory don’t have singing voices or are at least committed death metal fans or something. The Gods of the Forest may help us! 🤣
November 2nd, 2024 at 02:15‘No disrespect to Steve’ my arse!
Ian says they have returned to making “joyous rock n roll” again – does that mean that the rock n roll made with Steve was not joyful to make for Ian or the others?
How can you not take the comments that basically imply that making music with Steve was not joyous or that the music didn’t groove (which is implied when Ian says the body rhythms have returned to the music again – meaning, the groove wasn’t there when Steve was writing in the band) as anything but disrespectful to Steve and his craft as a songwriter?
If Ian had an issue, why didn’t he speak up to Steve and say something during those last 28 years? Why did he tolerate songwriting that he considered inappropriate to Deep Purple for so long? Why did the others?
Steve’s a professional – if the guys wanted something a bit more direct in terms of the riffs, I’m very certain Steve would have been happy to find a balance between that and his more sophisticated style of writing – I’m sure he would have enjoyed the challenge of writing something simpler and more direct a bit more often!
While Steve was in the band, we heard nothing but positive comments from Ian and co about how great a guitarist Steve was and how he was the right guy for the band.
Ian’s words now seem to imply the opposite and to me, he comes across here as dishonest, which I really do not like.
Honestly? I feel lied to as a fan.
The more I find out about what went on with Steve and how the band treated him and how they are currently treating him, the less I like them, Gillan especially.
If there’s an issue, communicate and work it out instead of just going along with things you aren’t happy with – don’t string your guitar player along for 28 years and say how great he was to the public, only to slag him once you’ve kicked him out of the band!
Honestly, first the mishandling of letting Steve go, and now this. I’m not sure which I’m more upset about to be honest!
November 2nd, 2024 at 06:15@40: Can you please explain Kelly Family for me? I know they are/were big in Germany but I have a feeling they are virtually unknown everywhere else? And they are not German? I can see the parallells to BN, except that KF is a bit scary to me. Seems like a religious cult or something. But then again, I know hardly anything about them other that seeing posters over the years when visiting Germany. And they are always playing crazy big venues!
While we’re at it, Karin could just as well explain Flying Superkids! 🙂
November 2nd, 2024 at 09:46@44
I’ll be glad to!
Well, to explain it properly, it’s kids that are super and are flying 😄
Wait a minute, I’ll find a link….
https://flyingsuperkids.com/
They are truly magnificent.
November 2nd, 2024 at 13:03#43 Mike
Mike, the speech is complex, when as a musician you are inside your music you don’t have a critical eye, you never realize what you are doing, it seems to you that the direction you are taking is the best possible.
you realize after many years what you’ve done, just like you realize how your relationship with your wife or partner is going only after many years, because when you’re in a band for many years you can say that the band is a family.
Deep Purple were a family at the beginning of MKI, at the beginning of MKII, at the beginning of MKIII (but only for Burn), at the beginning of MK II bis up until the recordings of HOBL and with Steve they have been a family for more than 20 years, an absolute record for them!
but like in a marriage, when you divorce, you look back and realize that everything wasn’t 100% right, and with Purple everything wasn’t right about the music, because in the end for a band the music is the real feedback, both for the audience and for the band itself.
if you pay attention to Purple’s history (only counting the historical members of MK II in this reasoning), after several years they all changed their point of view on the albums they recorded, that when they record an album for them (as for all musicians) “it’s always their best album since….”
then after years everything is scaled down by themselves, and this only depends on how memorable the music contained in that album was if it left an indelible mark on the band itself and on the public.
Perfect Strangers left an indelible mark on both the public and the band, who remember the period as a happy oasis where with the reunion everyone was motivated, happy to see each other and the writing was fertile, in fact the album is full of classics, something that with THOBL the magic was already over.
the first albums with Morse are also remembered by themselves as important albums for rebirth, and everyone in the band was motivated to seek new stimuli, and the quality of the songs testified to all this.
No one will ever tell you that Purpendicular and Abandon weren’t great albums, fundamental in Purple history.
the real watershed was the death of Jon Lord, with the entrance of Don there was initially a new freshness, but the band slowly changed the writing and the style of the songs more and more, and when the MKII left without Morse takes stock looking back, it cannot but be objective about this.
fans will never be as critical as they are about their own musical output.
Sometimes Purple are even hypercritical of their albums.
Big Ian makes a retroactive speech, purely musical and not about the human side.
then on the dynamics of the separation/dismissal it could be that they behaved badly, but we will never know the truth within their conversations.
November 2nd, 2024 at 13:55@44
November 2nd, 2024 at 16:43Do you know if it’s possible to get a dvd of DP’s concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in London 2005?
I might be mentally challenged because I just can’t find it anywhere…😊
@47 Karin
November 2nd, 2024 at 19:23It is a bonus feature on the Live in Montreux 2006 DVD. 😉
“Can you please explain Kelly Family for me? I know they are/were big in Germany but I have a feeling they are virtually unknown everywhere else? And they are not German? I can see the parallels to BN, except that KF is a bit scary to me. Seems like a religious cult or something. But then again, I know hardly anything about them other that seeing posters over the years when visiting Germany. And they are always playing crazy big venues!”
Are you serious, Svante? Ok, here we go “Cultural Learnings of Germany to Make Benefit Glorious Site of The Highway Star” 😁:
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/101728066967081866/849A527AA821F126804F8A69FAA7580B06694E26/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
Imagine if The Jackson Five hadn’t been black, but white. And Irish (= Catholic, not Jehovah’s Witnesses like The Jacksons). And a lot more of them, you know how Irish are, no contraception to speak of. The Kelly Family shared with The Jackson Five that ominous all-controlling father figure, in this case the late Daniel “Dan” Jerome Kelly, an Irish-American former Jesuit and school teacher:
https://image.stern.de/31890392/t/Qz/v5/w960/r1.3333/-/kelly-family.jpg
Dan was this mix of cult leader, family patriarch and dropout, also someone who generally never got along with any administration/authorities in any country. Homeschooling conflicts led him to leave the US with those of his kids already born and an odyssey through Europe began where the large family lived in deserted farmhouses (without running water or central heating), double-decker buses, moored houseboats and eventually (after they had made it) a German castle. They lived off busking in city streets for a long time, the scourge of German pedestrian zones/Fußgängerzonen, Irish Folk, spirituals, covers, Christmas Songs, you name it.
They developed into a successful busking cottage industry, aided no doubt by Papa Dan’s general stance that paying taxes was for idiots only (which would later on lead him and his offspring into conflict with German fiscal authorities). By the mid 90s, The Kelly Family wielded such a commercial clout, that EDEL signed them and their subsequent records with own-penned folky pop unafraid of schmaltz components sung by an assortment of family members dressed like extras from a Les Misérables staging went multifold platinum in Germany. Historically and going back to the Kaiser, we had always supported the Irish cause against the Brits, I mean smuggling guns to the IRA and all that, I don’t what we did so wretchedly wrong to deserve all this! 😂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUpmd4nm7YM
You know that phase where children stop listening to fairy tale cassettes/CDs on repeat in cars (driving the rest of the family mad!), but haven’t quite gotten the hang for real pop artists yet? That was The Kelly Family’s market, which they mercilessly grabbed and ran away with. Deemed non-threatening to their kids by most parents, the “singing discarded clothes garage sale” (“singende Altkleidersammlung” – as their detractors called them 😂) became a mass phenomenon.
Like you, Svante, I always thought them creepy. Cringy too, but there was something unsettling about them as well. But most people only saw that seemingly harmless hippie commune/huge family/band of merry minstrels image and did not ask the question how these kids were schooled and why the financial dealings of the family were so murky on purpose.
Patriarch Dan died in 2002 due to a brain hemorrhage, his 12 children became equal heirs. Eventually, the sibling ties fizzled. But one of the Kelly kids became a sought-after German session drummer (Angelo, the former baby face one) and one of his brothers a respected singer/songwriter (Michael Patrick, who much like his dad, retired to a monastery for six years before returning to music).
But every few years or so, they overcome their differences and get together for a Christmas Tour – still managing to sell out German venues within minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvoK8O0I4bE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-_o-eDeBSA
So now you know, but still cannot understand. Neither can I. It’s every bit as unlikely as the guitarist + enfant terrible of a well-known Brit heavy rock band getting together with a woman 26 years younger than him, dressing up in Renaissance garb, playing cheesy lightweight folk tunes where she as a Jewish-Polish-American Princess from Long Island badly affects a Brit accent and having her mother (who is his age) manage them: Carol, Candice & Ritchie rather than Peter, Paul & Mary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z15pxWUXvLY
(Lyrical content handpicked for Herr MacGregor!)
A preposterous thought really. Only a bad dream, phew!
November 2nd, 2024 at 20:07Karin @45, oh, now that does look familiar, just like the bad old days!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzjaUsIjsN4
November 2nd, 2024 at 20:33@46 – “No one will ever tell you that Purpendicular and Abandon weren’t great albums, fundamental in Purple history”. The song writing on Purpendicular is of a high class, very melodic & well arranged. The following album Abandon is poor in that regard & is also trying to be too heavy. I am not sure if Jon Lord has a lot to do with the songwriting on Abandon. Well not as much as Glover, Gillan & Morse we would think. Perhaps he did on Purpendicular though & a much more cohesive effort from everyone there by the sound of it. Bananas is the worst DP album ever, woeful songwriting, poor is an understatement & why would they co write a few songs with the producer Bradford, terrible songs all over that album. At least Rapture has a couple of decent songs on it, but not enough to lift the album up to a ‘good’ ranking to my ears. DP needed something from somewhere for the link to better songs that they ‘lost’ after Purpendicular & Bob Ezrin seems to have provided that. Very experienced in that department & getting his way more than a few others perhaps helps big time in that regard. Don Airey isn’t the problem with any poor songs as he isn’t really a songwriting man. Arrangements yes of course he would be involved I imagine, but the core of the songs, that would be Gillan & Glover with Morse & later on Ezrin me thinks. McBride coming in changed the angle & there is a renewed vigour in that department, something different in certain aspects, but similar in others. Many other ensembles have dealt with similar situations over time, some new members work out ok, others not so, it happens. It is horses for courses again, some like this & others like that. Cheers.
November 2nd, 2024 at 21:45We had our own ‘Kelly Gang’ out here in Australia, but they were a little bit more radical as bushrangers & approximately one hundred years before this lot. I did read about The Kelly Family, interesting & keeping it in the family was obviously their intention. I have never heard of them but that isn’t surprising as many others probably haven’t either. European based & much more suited to that side of the pond it seems, folklore & troubadours & whatever else some may like to label them with. I suppose it is our fault, well a couple of us here at least in that recommending a ‘time machine’ for Uwe gets us to this point. Maybe we had better cease all travelling anywhere in time for the Hornung individual, who simply refuses to wear the garb at a BN concert & I couldn’t imagine Uwe doing the same at a Kelly Family gig. Seriously though the Kelly Family seemed to do rather well in Europe, although most of the money has disappeared according to what I have read. Not to worry as it shouldn’t be about the filthy lucre anyway & kudos to them for entertaining many folk in a rather joyous fashion. Plenty of sing along songs there for all & sundry to enjoy. Thanks Uwe for bringing another musical ensemble to our attention. Cheers.
November 2nd, 2024 at 22:20Mike, settle down. Steve did what he does best with Purple, why should have Gillan talked him into something he isn‘t? That never works and would have been in fact insulting to Steve. I remember when Bob Ezrin voiced his expectations to Steve in the studio, all the Morserites here were up in arms about the insolence of it all. Now Big Ian all of the sudden gets stick for not having told Steve to dumb it down in the past, go figure.
There are things Steve excelled at and others that were not his cup of tea. That is fine, Ritchie and Tommy had their limits too.
No one has accused Steve of not being a groovy player, he is and has a very American groove to boot. What Steve lacked/didn‘t feature was swagger, he always sounded playful and accomplished. THAT IS NOT A KNOCK, it is a description of his traits as a musician.
Have we ever thought about it this way: Maybe, just maybe, Steve and Purple had simply gone as far as they could after 28 years and seven studio albums? Perhaps creative juices had dried up – and not just his? People always go on about had Ritchie stayed in 1993, I don‘t know whether that would have been a good thing. I certainly didn‘t hear anything on Stranger In Us All that would have made a remarkable Purple album after TBRO. Maybe Ritchie was spent too. It happens to the best of us.
The years with Steve were good years. Not everything was gold, but a lot. His departure could have been handled better in places, but was not the human tragedy it is now sometimes painted as either. Gillan‘s words are not the gospel and he has his own agenda within Purple, he‘s not Mr Selfsacrifice, he pulled the plug on both IGB and GILLAN, couldn‘t leave Sabbath fast enough, got rid of Steve Morris for merely optics and in hindsight missed some raunch with the other Steve and found his more cerebral approach to music not always that compatible with his own. But that is far from slagging Steve Morse off.
PS: During the complete Morse era, there was ONE – =1☝️- track that featured no-holds-barred mind-numbing headbangin’ “Beavis & Butthead would like it”-riffing and that was House Of Pain which started Bananas in such rambunctious fashion. Now look at the writing credits for that song. It’s the only track of the Morse era that doesn’t feature him as even a co-writer, the pleasantly dumb riff is from Michael Bradford. I think that’s telling.
https://youtu.be/CrG7gjRp_P4
November 2nd, 2024 at 23:22@36
November 3rd, 2024 at 00:34There is no gender in the Georgian language, not even the small number that there is in English, these words in my native language would sound the same regardless of whether they are addressing a man or a woman, so it doesn’t bother me when gender is not specified in a conversation. 🙂
#46
I understand what you are saying – I got out of a relationship in the last year – only with hindsight did I realize he was not a good fit for me. I suppose the situation with Steve can be viewed through a similar lens.
That said, why air all this in public? Same with Roger’s comments recently – I don’t understand why the band members are just continually saying how Steve didn’t quite fit the band so publicly – and pouring salt in the wound for Steve in the process, quite possibly!
All that’s needed to be said was “the band needed to move forward and couldn’t wait for Steve, and we’re very happy with Simon and he’s a great fit for us *in this moment*” without taking away from all the time Steve was in the band.
To continue to reiterate that Steve didn’t fit the band just adds insult to injury, imo, and why on earth every one is slagging poor Steve so publicly regarding the songwriting not quite fitting DP, I’ll never understand!
Keep it to yourselves, it what I’d say. Airing dirty laundry in public interviews usually doesn’t end too well with bands, but I digress and continue scratching my head!
November 3rd, 2024 at 05:59#55 Mike:
I’m sorry to tell you that your measure of purple “dirty laundry” is far from reality.
trust me, what you heard in Roger and Ian’s interviews is just a small part of the dirty laundry that everyone (including Steve) is fortunately keeping private.
you can understand a lot of confidentiality from the few words in the interviews, the boys are not chatterboxes, and at the same time they try to be honest by saying as few words as possible about the delicate situation for them.
#51 MacGregor:
November 3rd, 2024 at 11:04dear Mac, I will never be surprised how different points of view can be, for me Abandon is by far the masterpiece of the Morse era, everything in there is perfect…
I put Purpendicular and Bananas on the same level, both have 2-3 weak songs, sometimes Bananas sounds more varied than Purpendicular to my ears.
Abandon doesn’t sound varied, it’s crystal clear hard rock from the first to the last note.
It sounds compact and uniform like no other album of the Morse era,but the choruses and melodies are not repetitive either within it or in other previously written songs.
for me that’s its merit, for you perhaps it’s its limit.
@48
November 3rd, 2024 at 11:48Oh thank you so very much 🤗
In my opinion all the DP records have their charm whether Steve plays or Simon or Richie all the songs are fantastic and a real joy to listen to and superb when you go to a live show. The only beautiful ,magnificent, phenonemal and breathtaking singer ,performer ,lyrisist is Ian and he will always be my all time favourite.
November 3rd, 2024 at 15:30@53
November 3rd, 2024 at 17:55Uwe, how do you define a ‘groovy’ player?
(I really don’t know, NOT trying to argue, only curious 😉)
@56
Sorry for interfering in your interesting discussion, but please let me add a feminine point of view here:
Normally people who have disagreements and who don’t like each other anymore, do not hesitate to explain their individual perception of the event. And blame the other(s)
Honestly I can’t find ANYTHING from any of the band members that suggest that they did not split with Steve Morse on a friendly note.
November 3rd, 2024 at 18:05Yeah, I‘m with the Fla76 kid, Abandon is not a bad album at all, just a very dark, narrow, focused and almost brooding one. It doesn‘t sound as varied and lighthearted as Purpendicular, but the songwriting isn‘t bad, PROGish in places, Seventh Heaven, Watching The Sky and Fingers To The Bone (the lyrics about farmers facing financial difficulties were written by Big Ian at the instigation of Steve to whom the subject matter was close) are Mk VII classics.
November 3rd, 2024 at 19:43Maybe just maybe the Purple MK II guys have a problem with guitarists. That Blackmore dude, he casts a spell oh so well, he he he. Or is it Gillan? More than likely is, look at the history there. It is all good for a classic soap opera though, get out your streaming device & popcorn. Oh & the Irish lad had better keep an eye, although maybe the other lads had better, they can get rather fiesty at times those Irish. Cheers.
November 3rd, 2024 at 21:39Gillan and Glover’s recent comments referring to Steve Morse are unnecessary and unseemly. There was no need for any of this to be made public.
Steve revived and helped keep Purple alive for almost 30 years, and is from all accounts a team player and a great guy, in addition to being an accomplished musician. I remember countless comments from band members over the years citing the positive vibes and praising the abundance and variety of musical ideas he brought to the table. Nothing against Simon — =1 has several memorable tunes and musical performances — but there are more duds on the album than on any of the Morse-era recordings.
Sure, Morse-era music wasn’t as heavy as “In Rock” or some of the stuff on =1. It was proggier, musically more mature, and challenging to play, but that was befitting their years.
Gillan should take a listen to some of the live recordings of “In Rock” tunes during this tour. His croaks his way through the songs, making for a painful listening experience. If Morse bothered to listen to them, I bet he’d be too classy to comment on them.
November 4th, 2024 at 00:30Bananas gave me confidence that Purple could continue without Jon Lord – different, but still Deep Purple. After listening to it I was reassured that Don would slot in, if not immediately then at least midterm (and he did!). That was a nice feeling to have. After all, Whitesnake never sounded the same again after Jon left, his departure from Purple, where his role was much more prominent, might have proved devastating, who knew?
Bananas sounds a little ragged in places, like a rough mix or even demos, but it had spirit, that was most important to me at the time.
November 4th, 2024 at 04:03#53
Uwe – I can see where you are coming from, and that’s just not the way I see it – the band’s behaviour as of late is incredibly upsetting and disgusting to me, and I am allowed to state how this all makes me feel as a longtime fan. I am not happy!
Body rhythms to me doesn’t just imply swagger, it implies groove and music that you can dance to – and I really disagree with Ian if he’s saying that you can’t dance to Morse era Purple. or that it wasn’t “joyous rock n roll” (which is deeply implied when he says that such rock n roll has returned to the band) – there are tons of danceable Morse era songs – Silver Tongue doesn’t have body rhythms? Or Any Fule Kno That? Or Ted The Mechanic? Or Girls Like That? Body Line? Razzle Dazzle (one of Ian’s favourites!) ? Rapture? Hip Boots?
Ian is simply overlooking the fact that much of the Morse Era catalogue has those body rhythms and totally grooves and is something you can dance to – what he’s saying is his opinion, and his opinion is simply incorrect as a matter of fact and record, imo.
Whether or not he intended to disrespect or slag Steve, he’s still done it, imo, and I don’t like how he’s put things, or that he’s even stated them in public – that even Roger would make it public that they fired him by management is still so confounding to me – if I were in Steve’s shoes, I’d feel humiliated and embarrassed if someone did that to me and made such details a matter of public record!
I don’t feel it is okay or appropriate to be publicizing such details or opinions, as it really could be quite hurtful to Steve – there’s a way to say things without diminishing someone’s accomplishments sub textually, and that’s what I think you’re missing here – there’s no intent to harm, and yet harm to the relationship with Steve is still being done because of the subtext behind Ian’s words that basically say “making music with you, Steve, got old and stale for the last while and now making music with your replacement is fun again” – perhaps he’s not aware of it, it’s entirely possible, and so I’ll recant my position that he’s being intentionally disrespectful here – either way, no matter how you slice it, that message is still there, and it is a hurtful and disrespectful one, imo.
That said, I still don’t think it’s ok to air such feelings so publicly – some things are better left unsaid, and it’s too late for that now.
#56
That’s true – it might be the tip of the iceberg, it might not be.
Whatever the case may be, too much has already been said – by doing these interviews, Ian and Roger have poured salt on Steve’s wounds, and quite possibly have burned a bridge. They should have left the public statements thanking Steve for his time and letting him go with dignity be the public record. There was no need to say any of this publicly.
Those hoping for a possible guest appearance with Steve and the band down the road on stage one day, like what happened with Jon in Japan that one time in the aughts, will be sorely disappointed, myself included, because like it or not, these comments have quite possibly trashed any future friendly interactions with Steve going forward.
These interviews and comments are a huge mistake for any future reunions down the road. If people can’t see the harm that’s been done here by them, then so be it. It’s still there, though.
November 4th, 2024 at 07:19@56 Fla76
November 4th, 2024 at 07:45Yes, me too I think that ABANDON is the best with Morse. Really hard rock. The last with Jon Lord and I feel the difference by Airey.
Another way to play the keyboards: there is a particular charm..
Yo,
@56 stated…
qt.”Abandon is by far the masterpiece of the Morse era, everything in there is perfect…
I put Purpendicular and Bananas on the same level, both have 2-3 weak songs, sometimes Bananas sounds more varied than Purpendicular to my ears.
Abandon doesn’t sound varied, it’s crystal clear hard rock from the first to the last note.
It sounds compact and uniform like no other album of the Morse era, but the choruses and melodies are not repetitive either within it or in other previously written songs.
For me that’s its merit “…
*** Well stated, +1 here, at least for the first 3 x albums. The remaining albums with Steve took on a more concept approach, with a generally softer production, & more progressive elements shining through, including more & more comedy lyrically.
The beauty of a band that’s played together as a unit for 20-years ( from when Don joined ) is that you can usually guess everyone’s moves musically, which in this instance means the music continues to grow & evolve, since everyone has a knowing confidence in each persons ability to hold-their-own. The live performances on DVD or CD reflect this. The band never ever went stale, & everyone respected everyone. Too bad life circumstances & unforeseen bogus-flu’s messed the flow of things.
Anyone doubting the quality of the music made during Steve’s era needs to re-listen with the volume way-up so that your complete attention is gained. The band became a fresh entity once again, & stayed that way, leading the way forward & expanding the DP envelope of new & exciting music. The music with Steve will take a very-long-time to sound dated, or go stale, if ever at all.
DP is dead, long live DP. Kudos to Simon for slipping right in !
Adonai !
November 4th, 2024 at 10:06@56
November 4th, 2024 at 12:53Absolutely agree with you. Abandon is the strongest album with Steve.
Mike Nagoda @43 & @65
I completely agree.
“It’s sad to see a man’s faith fail”, as Father Calahan says in a book of SK.
I repeat myself as onion: no life of any kind would have been there from 95 on if not for Steve. He’s a genius that got DP to different paths and higher levels. I think the boys should thank him to the bottom of their hearts for that. And, after having said so, loud and clear, move along with the, also, great Simon.
(I hope -to the bottom of MY heart- there won’t be no more of this kind of shit. I think they are wise enough to do it.)
Long life!
November 4th, 2024 at 17:11Mike, I hear you. You want to keep it all in the family and wish not anybody’s sensitivities to suffer, that is commendable.
Yet at the same time, all or many of us here want to know about the inner workings of DP and how certain decisions/developments within the DP inner circle came about, the band means that much to us. We’re not interested in salacious details of tabloid matters, like if DP also had a member who always had handcuffs with velvet lining in his suitcase for close encounters with female fans like the well-known drummer/lead singer of a popular Californian country-tinged band had (I would be a real desperado to tell more, let’s not take things to the limit, but rather take it easy, however vivacious life in the fast lane in the 70s might have been), but yeah, I’m interested why certain members left or joined.
Honestly, I don’t think that anything of what has so far been revealed about Steve’s departure would stand in the way of Steve being on stage with DP one day again. As it has transpired, Steve’s and Purple’s ways separated because of musical differences/disenchantment after an inordinately long time and tragic circumstances in Steve’s private life that made committing to international touring for him impossible in a band that is first and foremost an international touring act. None of this denigrates Steve as a person.
And I’m relatively sure that we will see Steve guesting with Purple before they call it a day one day.
*************************
Re Steve’s groove: I never said he’s a stiffer and he certainly isn’t. Ritchie’s rhythm playing with Purple (to the extent he could be arsed into doing it) was actually more rigid than Steve’s. Steve is after all a darn Yank and a (naturalized) Southerner to boot, just because he’s accurate as hell doesn’t mean he doesn’t swing. Of course you could have put him in the Allman Brothers and he would have slotted right in. The guy’s from Florida! The only stiff thing there are alligator bones. And Ron DeSantis’ opinions on schooling and education of course.
*************************
“Normally people who have disagreements and who don’t like each other anymore, do not hesitate to explain their individual perception of the event. And blame the other(s).”
Wise words, Frau Verndal. There is your truth, my truth and THE REAL TRUTH! Plus, this is a more recent phenomenon: ALTERNATIVE FACTS. 😁
*************************
“Uwe, how do you define a ‘groovy’ player?”
Easier said than done, Karin! Let’s give it a try …
Groovy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PhuGGaexKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ERDVZ0UVjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgdQx2mC6BQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYvFnkSo6ro
Not so groovy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hVHGtJEUtA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tyn8_UWOlg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwWNQklXWfo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwWNQklXWfo
The comparison is not wholly fair. Geezer Butler, Ian Hill, Oliver Riedel and Gene Simmons, who are all heavy metal’ish players, have a groove too, but it is much more tied to the basic rhythm, they don’t “bob around” on the strict meter and show all these human imperfections that make a bass track lively as opposed to mechanical.
November 4th, 2024 at 20:04#64 Uwe
you perfectly conveyed the idea of the transition between Lord & Airey that occurred in Bananas and that made us understand that the band would continue, and continue on a slightly different path.
Bananas is exactly as ragged as you say, a bit ramshackle, and I think a lot of credit for that goes to Ian & Roger in composing without Jon, before the Morse-Airey duo developed their union in the subsequent albums.
#65 Mike
you said that the subtext behind Ian’s words basically say “making music with you, Steve, got old and stale for the last while and now making music with your replacement is fun again”
that’s absolutely true, and if that’s the truth I don’t see what the problem is in admitting it and saying it in public when one realizes this as the months or years go by….. why would Ian and Roger say something that isn’t true?…what’s the problem in saying something that’s true?
#67 Gregster
you are right when you talk about the evolution in Purple’s music, and the evolution in Purple’s music with Morse, despite the lack of immediacy and groove of their latest works, they have always written music of a more or less digestible quality, but certainly the songs of the Morse era will always sound modern and UNCLASSIFIABLE, much more than all the songs that Purple have written in the previous 30 years
#63 George
talking about Gillan’s “croaks” during the In Rock period, when he “only” wrote the history of Rock, with great songs and legendary performances, is senseless and I don’t understand what it has to do with the fact that Purple’s music with Steve was no longer easy and fun for Big Ian, Little Ian, Roger (and maybe even for Don, but I think anything goes for him).
Steve was definitely a golden boy for the other Purples, he wrote the history of the group, great songs, he injected new life and they will always be grateful to him for this.
I know this is a very factual, low-emotional speech, and it’s not easy for many romantic fans to accept this.
I remember when in 1989 as a boy I subscribed to “Purple Glow” the Purple fanzine by Pericle Formenti… it was a mine of articles, photos and interviews in a pre-internet era that was incredible….well, the first issue opened with “my heart bleeds, Ian Gillan has been fired etc…..”
November 4th, 2024 at 22:02when I read that sentence I burst into tears for 10 minutes and threw the THOBL tape against the wall!
Dear friends in here 😊
Could Ian G and Roger G’s words be to consolidate SMcB’s position in the band?
I agree wholeheartedly with Uwe (ain’t I always 😉) that Steve very well one day could play with DP again.
I wish I had some proper inside wisdom here – (do you know the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Well knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is to NOT add it in a fruit salad ☺️) but Steve doesn’t strike me as a man who is easily offended!
November 4th, 2024 at 23:20And Ian G certainly doesn’t seem to be the type of man who willingly hurt other people’s feelings! (Yeah Uwe I know: gushing again 😍)
@70
November 4th, 2024 at 23:25Thanks for letting your knowledge and understanding flow in abundance to me 👏🏼🤗
I just have one question: I didn’t see Steve’s condolences when Bron died, maybe you saw them?
November 4th, 2024 at 23:47Karin, I had Rammstein twice as a link @70, it should have been Kiss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CWHMDTDpHI
November 5th, 2024 at 03:07@ 69- john, with respect there is NO way in 1995 that if Steve Morse declined their offer, would the other DP guys have pulled the pin. They would have found another suitable guitarist. That isn’t a slight on Steve Morse at all as he deserved to be a successful contributing member of DP. When Ian Gillan rejoined DP in 1992/3 there is no way in Hell he was ever going to leave or be removed again, unless carried out in a wooden box. Glover & Paice were just as determined & even Jon Lord could have easily moved on, as his classical music wasn’t that far away. I do think Jon Lord remaining steadfast was a key to DP moving forward a little easier than if he had also left at that time. A smoother & more constructive transition. They found McBride recently & I don’t see how that wouldn’t have been any different back in 1995 if DP needed to find another banjo player. Cheers.
November 5th, 2024 at 06:37@71: Does everything these guys do have to be done in public?
November 5th, 2024 at 08:16@75
Thanks Uwe, I was wondering if you just are gushing about the German band as I am of DP 😉
I have to say I have great respect for Bassists!
I really love the constant they – well, you are – making!
Bassists and drummers are the foundation where the rest of the band can play ☺️
Oh man I wish I could play an instrument, any actually.
November 5th, 2024 at 08:29So far I can only sing, unfortunately my dog hides every time 😂
@74
Nino the only one I read commented anything was the big man himself.
Some fans made a memory on YouTube, guess you have seen it?
https://youtu.be/kvpu0__nC0U?si=xdERc52B-eePdpmW
November 5th, 2024 at 08:32@77
Yeah! Don’t you know us at all 😄
No of course you’re completely right here Svante.
November 5th, 2024 at 08:34But as long as there are unclear messages, we’re doomed to be wondering, discussing and thinking out loud 😉
The major (or one of many) problems with ‘social media’, a much larger version of town gossip & hearsay. Certain people who think it is their right to stick their nose into other peoples lives. No respect at all. Many people lead private lives & good on them for doing that. Why should it be perceived (well we know why) that their private lives are open to the public. Cheers.
November 5th, 2024 at 08:54@76
‘Carried out in a wooden box’, oh hope that doesn’t happen the next couple of decades! (I mean, the way that man is carrying on, with the stamina he is blessed with, I guess he carries on until at least he is 110!)
‘Banjo player’! 😃
I never thought I would like banjo playing, but then I heard this one:
https://youtu.be/uwretNcjJUY?si=PBspG1y6GQFbD0ef
November 5th, 2024 at 09:10#77 Svante
If you’re referring to private conversations, of course not, and I don’t think they were leaked to the press and kept inside the band.
If you refer to the words of Roger and Ian in these two interviews, if they talk about renewed enthusiasm and the music that was no longer how they wanted it, I don’t see anything wrong with that.
and then how many interviews have they done in these months?
November 5th, 2024 at 10:37if in a couple of interviews sincerity prevails in a sentence, I don’t see private facts being flaunted in public, I see the truth that pushes underneath and for a moment it surfaced from the soul..
no alarm, big brother is light years away from here.
@81
But dear MacGregor, isn’t the nosiness the main thing that sell tickets? And people wanna buy their records because of the ‘looking through the mirrors (or is it curtains?)
What do you think of bands or solists who are completely anonymous?
There have been some (and of course now I can’t even remember their names 🤣) who made a strong point of their privacy, and haven’t they faded into oblivion?
I don’t like to poke into public known peoples lives, but I’m afraid it’s a common thing that goes with the territory.
November 5th, 2024 at 10:52@82
November 5th, 2024 at 12:54Let there be banjo:
https://youtu.be/JNGDFbNzz8U
@71 Fla76, I was referring to Gillan’s performances of the In Rock tunes on this current tour that I’ve heard on YouTube. He doesn’t come close to pulling it off, and that makes for a painful listening experience. I think when he sticks within his greatly reduced range, it still works. See “Lazy Sod,’’ for example. On other tracks, both live and on the recent LP, there are several passages where he should sing down an octave or the song should have been performed/recorded in a different key. To give praise where it’s due, his singing on “I’ll Catch You” is as expressive and moving as just about anything he’s ever recorded. Also, I don’t believe we know that it’s a “fact” that Purple’s music with Steve was no longer easy or fun for the other lads in the band.
November 5th, 2024 at 12:55“Thanks Uwe, I was wondering if you just are gushing about the German band as I am of DP 😉”
You should know me better by now, Karin! Rammstein are way too static and monolithic in their music for me and I find the Leni Riefenstahl-imagery plus the “let’s-break-taboos-for-the-sake-of-breaking-taboos”-lyrical approach tiresome and samey after more than 25 years. They have created a trademark sound and image, yes, but their art has become a stereotype. It’s all a bit too Grand Guignol/Geisterbahn for me, an image dwarfing the music.
November 5th, 2024 at 13:29I agree with Svante: If and how condolences about lost spouses are exchanged is none of our fucking business.
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It was Joe Satriani not Steve who showed to remnant Mk II that there is life after Ritchie. They have all said so again and again and Joe received after all an offer to join (which he declined). If Steve had said no, they would have indeed found someone else, if perhaps not with the 28-year-longevity of Steve. I don’t think that he was the first guitarist approached by them either, there were contacts to Michael Schenker for instance (who said no – just like he said no to the Rolling Stones, the Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith and Whitesnake) and Gary Moore was considered at one point too.
Off the top of my head I could have named a dozen guitarists who could have played with Purple and made “musical sense” there, ignoring all personality issues. Not just Yngwie Malmsteen as the usual suspect (who would have done it if just to feed his vanity I think), but also people like John Norum, Craig Goldie, George Lynch, Uli Jon Roth or Glenn Tipton.
Well, they did get Gary Moore in a way eventually … that Belfast DNA … 😁
November 5th, 2024 at 14:00“I never thought I would like banjo playing …”
It’s a much more intricate and versatile instrument than people think. Also takes a high amount of coordination to play, I could never do it, don’t have that dexterity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFutge4xn3w
November 5th, 2024 at 16:07#71
This is something I struggle with myself – being honest to the point of damaging a relationship.
.
Here’s the problem:
You can be honest and that honesty can be hurtful or even harmful to a relationship.
Now I’m not suggesting Ian or Roger should have lied about the whole thing.
I’m suggesting it would have been kinder to Steve to not say anything at all publicly about the situation beyond what was said in the press release wishing him farewell.
The problem is Ian and Roger were both blunt in their honesty and that can really hurt if you’re on the receiving end.
If they absolutely needed to say something, saying very little and in a much kinder way would have been better.
Ian was not kind in his honesty here – he was brutally honest about his feelings – and that will have consequences to his relationship with Steve down the road, I assure you.
Sometimes how you are truthful is just as important as being truthful itself – because I am aware of this, this is why I say a bridge has likely been burned and an on stage reunion down the road is unlikely.
I know Uwe and yourself and others may think differently, and that’s fine, however, I’ve put my foot in my mouth enough times to know that sometimes there’s no saving a relationship after.
I’m learning and changing and growing – I hope the guys in the band do the same
November 5th, 2024 at 18:16@87
November 5th, 2024 at 21:29Well I don’t appreciate them either!
I just thought of your ‘mentioning them twice’ as a Freudian slip!
You know we Jungians never do that 😉
Yo,
@90…
I like your POV ! I would suggest however that by stating the truth, you create a rock to stand on, & your story will never change, & in time, everyone benefits.
Once you lie, it’s like a snow-ball that keeps adding to itself, because you forget the original lie, & have to keep adding nonsense to it. So it grows & grows into an out-of-control mess that everyone wants to avoid.
Steve’s error of judgement was that he didn’t say “I’m leaving the band for personal reasons”, he wanted to end the band too, & that’s a no-no, & not his right to say, or even suggest such a thing. He was under great duress however, & decisions had to be made.
The other members were hurt, as those words affected them too, & that’s over-stepping your bounds. The DP machine sustains all who are part of it, no single person will ever be able to shut-it-down…Look what happened to RB when he tried lol !
Venting is good, & the truth is good.
Adonai !
November 5th, 2024 at 22:17“I just thought of your ‘mentioning them twice’ as a Freudian slip!”
Yes, mother, you’re of course right.
“You can be honest and that honesty can be hurtful or even harmful to a relationship.”
That’s true, Mike. OTOH all these things come out eventually. And Steve slipping of the rest of DP being distraught about his departure “for like 5 seconds and then moving on” wasn’t that close-lipped either.
But really, compared to what has gone on in other bands on the verge of breakup like Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Oasis, UFO or Wishbone Ash, the current irritations in the Purple Family camp are mild and should not prevent anyone showing up at a family dinner, even a man who is sensitive like – I have a hunch – Steve. From a historical perspective, Steve has been one of the great shapers of DP, no one can take that away from him.
November 5th, 2024 at 22:48#86 George
sorry, I didn’t realize you were referring to today. Yes, you’re absolutely right, it would have been better if they had immediately removed the songs from In Rock and Space Truckin from the setlist for the sake of Ian’s vocal cords!
#90 Mike
November 5th, 2024 at 23:04I also believe that we will never see Steve on stage with Purple, but not because of Ian & Roger’s words, but because of the wound that Steve still carries inside.
George M, frankly I could live with all songs from In Rock being decommissioned, that was 54 years ago a groundbreaking album by angry young men finding their feet with some production and songwriting issues (dwarfed by its impact at the time, I’m not denying the album’s importance, especially for the birth of the Mk II wall of sound), except for maybe the occasional surprise encore.
I’d rather hear something off WDWTWA, THOBL or a forgotten Morse era track. If The Beatles were all still alive and did a reunion gig I wouldn’t fever to see ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ on their set list either.
November 5th, 2024 at 23:05The Great Gregster, a man of far-reaching analytic powers (as long as it doesn’t concern Glenn Hughes! 😁), has a VERY VALID POINT here:
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“Steve’s error of judgement was that he didn’t say “I’m leaving the band for personal reasons”, he wanted to end the band too, & that’s a no-no, & not his right to say, or even suggest such a thing. He was under great duress however, & decisions had to be made.
The other members were hurt, as those words affected them too, & that’s over-stepping your bounds. The DP machine sustains all who are part of it, no single person will ever be able to shut-it-down … Look what happened to RB when he tried lol !”
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A most brilliant post mortem, I pull my hat, Tassie boy!
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ec/c2/12/ecc2124116aa5a0ee1bc466c7b69dd8a.gif
November 6th, 2024 at 15:36@76, @88
You may, or might, be right. The multivers may have colapsed in one of those directions, or in any other one. The number is infinite. But I keep thinking that none have worked for more than an album or two, and never for 28 years. It’s just a hunch, that nobody can prove wrong or right. Call it determinism, call it a stupid approach, call it what you want. What they, in time, achieve with Simon and the large Mark IX will be able to last may give my words some sense or cover them in shit, although of course, were it the first, you could always blame it on their age, which wasn’t such an issue 30 years ago.
Steve Morse had been considered, more than once, the best guitar player in the world when their paths crossed. His solo albums are brilliant. He poured those skills and inspiration into the mighty Purple and they flourished together. I don’t think it would have worked out with any other. And, IMHO, this thing now is a nasty piece of work that should have stoped before it begun.
That’s all, by myself, no more on the subject.
Long life.
November 7th, 2024 at 00:44Yo,
@96…Thank-you Herr Uwe ! Sometimes through a discussion it’s important to remember the circumstances of what created & ended an amicable situation, in this instance DP Mk-VII & VIII ( I think )…
It’s also reasonable to assess that Steve was hinting at closing down the band during the “InFinite” sessions, simply because of what’s said through its contents. And then again with the “Whoosh” sessions too.
We all know the result that ensued, & yet, when “Turning to Crime” appeared, it seemed that everyone was wanting to get-out-on-the-road once again due to the lock-downs. So this decision-making-process was underway for a few years, that’s for sure.
Adonai !
November 7th, 2024 at 00:54Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives.
November 7th, 2024 at 01:23@95 Uwe
Agree on removing In Rock tracks from setlist. A groundbreaking LP, indeed, Side 1 in particular. But I’ve been listening to WDWTWA, HOBL, and each album from the Morse era more often than In Rock for many years now. If Gillan could still pull off Speed King or Child in Time, I certainly wouldn’t mind hearing them live now and then. But that’s not going to happen. Nor should we expect someone who’s nearly 80 to be able to do that.
November 7th, 2024 at 13:22John, @97, I don’t doubt for a second that no other guitarist would have had Steve’s longevity in Purple. He was a model band member and maybe exactly what they needed after the tumultuous Ritchie years. I have nothing but warm feelings and gratitude for his contributions to my favorite band.
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“Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives.”
OMFG, the Tassie percussionist is drumming up his poetic side – women and children first!!!
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS_EYkiUhqYfqP5sMheRPF-LuJTxwwAYW25_A&s
November 7th, 2024 at 20:22Yo,
Herr Uwe stated…
qt.” The tumultuous Ritchie years”…
***This is a great title for a book. !
Adonai !
November 7th, 2024 at 22:45@ 101- In regards to approximately 28 years of Steve Morse in DP; “I don’t doubt for a second that no other guitarist would have had Steve’s longevity in Purple. He was a model band member and maybe exactly what they needed after the tumultuous Ritchie years”. Do you mean he ‘toed the line’ perhaps, especially in the later years. Regarding the ‘poetry’, as you did reside over in the USA in your early days Uwe, I just thought I would remind you of your ‘soap opera’ beginnings. Cheers. Soap USA tv series intro below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98T3PVaRrHU&t=15s
November 8th, 2024 at 02:01Herr MacGregor, no, I did not intend to say that Steve hung on to DP just to have a job, he’s simply a very decent person (though that doesn’t seem to count for much in the US anymore) and easy to have around as a band member. Unlike what’s-his-name who was regularly offended when everyone else was happy and then decided to ruin it for the others. Steve was like James Stewart (the actor) in DP.
I do think the endless touring and the frustration about his physical decline as a guitar athlete (mind you, even a Steve Morse at, say, 80% of his potential is still miles ahead of the pack) got to him, but not in a nasty way. I guess he did want to wrap up DP (like Gregster succinctly observed) to bring that part of his career to a ceremonial conclusion. It’s just not what the others wanted, touring is essentially their life and they are fine with it if it is one day their death.
Steve’s character and abilities would have made it near to impossible for DP to sever ties with him had he wished to continue to tour with them, occasional misgivings of Big Ian about the music having become too cerebral or not. But Steve becoming road weary and Janine’s condition changed everything and created perhaps not a portable door, but a window of opportunity. Without wishing to sound callous: Life has a way of sometimes creating new options even from tragedy.
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I think I’ve seen something like 30 seconds of Days of our Lives ever, probably sometime in the late 80s when I was seconded to NYC from work. My immersion in US Culture in the 70s actually took place in Africa where I went – in absence of a German one – to an American international school which was a microcosm of 70s US culture.
But if truth be told: I preferred this here
https://youtu.be/Eri_0OgkaZM
to Days Of Our Lives, I could never make up my mind whether Kate, Farrah or Jaclyn was the hottest one! That can be stressful for a male teenager, choice overload.
November 9th, 2024 at 14:15#104 Uwe
November 9th, 2024 at 18:25perfect analysis
I share every single syllable!
@ 104 – indeed an easy going individual is Mr Morse & that lead me to the comment, ‘toe the line’ rather than ‘rock the boat’. In regards to the comments of Morse wanting to put an end to Purple. I have never heard or read anything along those lines, but I certainly do not read or hear everything that is out there or necessarily believe it. What I have read or heard is that Morse wanted to see it out to the end, him being the guitarist there at the end whenever that may have been. This is where my recollection of the ‘sands through the hour glass’ saying came from. That awful tv soap series that was repeatedly on televisions here in Australia back in the 1970’s. No I definitely didn’t watch it, but trying to avoid it was impossible & that opening intro has embedded itself into my memory, as sad as that may sound. However as we all know our lives are just that, sand sifting through the hour glass, less & less time left as each day passes. Cheers.
November 9th, 2024 at 20:56