Posted by Nick on Friday, December 20th, 2024,
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Roger Glover was right, DC’s barebones Fender Rhodes piano playing for T&A (no, for once in connection with WS that is NOT the abbreviation for tits & ass, I just hate how you guys all think …) gave the song additional emotional impact, it sounded like he was alone in a hotel room with headphones plugged into the Rhodes composing a love song for Julia. The new remixes with strings or exquisitely embellished acoustic piano all sound great, make no mistake, but not as intimate. But then Julia has long left his life too.
For someone who prides himself on how organic and passionate he is, DC is a real stickler in the studio. He overproduces things in search of that all-encompassing sonic masterpiece and the end result then suffers for lack of immediacy – it is why all WS studio albums since Slide It In have sounded so bloated.
But that is Zep style, Fla76, billowing clouds of guitar sounds everywhere and you can‘t really discern what each one of them is playing. I always disliked that about Zep, their music was much less clear-cut than Purple’s, it sounded “unordentlich“ (messy) to me, with no clear delineation between parts. The German engineer‘s son in me, no doubt. In comparison, everything within the Purple wall of sound folds in and out neatly like a Swiss Army Knife. With Purple, you are always aware what each instrument is doing at any given time, they are like a LEGO kit where everything fits snugly together, but you still see the cleft lines in the finished model. Zeppelin is colors and mist flowing into each other on Jimmy Page’s canvas of imagination (I phrased that nicely, don’t you think?, Zep fans should gratefully acknowledge).
Of course, the difficulty in discerning and separating parts within Zep‘s sonics is a huge part of their mystique, artsy image and ethereal quality. Page was a sound architect and wizard (and you all know how I don‘t like those! 🤣), the Purple guys were accurate engineers. A Gandalf vs Henry Ford approach. It explains why in the history of heavy rock, Led Zep are adored as the hallowed artists and DP perceived as the craftsmen, skilled, but thoroughly of this Earth and not divine.
Uwe @ 3…..indeed….the mystique and attendant hype have made Led Zeppelin into a household name, while Deep Purple continue to toil in relative obscurity. Zep is even getting its own movie, coming to a theatre near you soon. The hype machine keeps turning.
Yes, Frater, Jon was a crucial part of Purple’s respected muso image. While not surrounded by Zeppelinesque mystique either, he gave the band artistic gravitas and was the adult in the room. People who were sometimes bewildered by Ritchie’s antics could always latch onto Jon Lord’s elder statesman demeanor which was present with him even as a young man already.
Don is no less a musician than Jon, but he doesn’t project that same respect-inducing image and, of course, cannot represent band history as much.
Beyond Jon’s playing + sound, his stage charisma + showmanship as well as his musical ideas, he was key for DP being taken more serious than their heavy rock contemporaries as a “musicianly” force. The role of the Concerto – neither a huge seller nor really decisive for Mk II’s later sound – is often underestimated in creating that lasting image, at least in Europe.
Yes indeed Jon Lord’s persona certainly didn’t fit the image of the gangster in that absurdly named ‘Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre’ band in 1967, or did it? Not with the longer hair anyway, short back & sides & he would have fitted in big time with that suave sophisticated business man appearance. I watched that original movie from 1967 last night & couldn’t keep myself from thinking about that ridiculous band name the manager, agent or record company or whoever it was that came up with that. Seasons greetings to one & all here at THS and thank you for keeping the faith. Another year beckons. Can I survive another year of Uwe’s postings, time will tell. All the best to everyone. Cheers.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride3.jpg)
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Roger Glover was right, DC’s barebones Fender Rhodes piano playing for T&A (no, for once in connection with WS that is NOT the abbreviation for tits & ass, I just hate how you guys all think …) gave the song additional emotional impact, it sounded like he was alone in a hotel room with headphones plugged into the Rhodes composing a love song for Julia. The new remixes with strings or exquisitely embellished acoustic piano all sound great, make no mistake, but not as intimate. But then Julia has long left his life too.
For someone who prides himself on how organic and passionate he is, DC is a real stickler in the studio. He overproduces things in search of that all-encompassing sonic masterpiece and the end result then suffers for lack of immediacy – it is why all WS studio albums since Slide It In have sounded so bloated.
December 21st, 2024 at 00:21#1 Uwe
nothing compared to the 50 or so guitar tracks overdubbed by Paige on the album with DC!
December 21st, 2024 at 13:34But that is Zep style, Fla76, billowing clouds of guitar sounds everywhere and you can‘t really discern what each one of them is playing. I always disliked that about Zep, their music was much less clear-cut than Purple’s, it sounded “unordentlich“ (messy) to me, with no clear delineation between parts. The German engineer‘s son in me, no doubt. In comparison, everything within the Purple wall of sound folds in and out neatly like a Swiss Army Knife. With Purple, you are always aware what each instrument is doing at any given time, they are like a LEGO kit where everything fits snugly together, but you still see the cleft lines in the finished model. Zeppelin is colors and mist flowing into each other on Jimmy Page’s canvas of imagination (I phrased that nicely, don’t you think?, Zep fans should gratefully acknowledge).
Of course, the difficulty in discerning and separating parts within Zep‘s sonics is a huge part of their mystique, artsy image and ethereal quality. Page was a sound architect and wizard (and you all know how I don‘t like those! 🤣), the Purple guys were accurate engineers. A Gandalf vs Henry Ford approach. It explains why in the history of heavy rock, Led Zep are adored as the hallowed artists and DP perceived as the craftsmen, skilled, but thoroughly of this Earth and not divine.
December 21st, 2024 at 23:47Yep. And then there’s the loss of Jon Lord…
December 22nd, 2024 at 02:48Uwe @ 3…..indeed….the mystique and attendant hype have made Led Zeppelin into a household name, while Deep Purple continue to toil in relative obscurity. Zep is even getting its own movie, coming to a theatre near you soon. The hype machine keeps turning.
December 22nd, 2024 at 20:42Hello everyone,
I like the spontaneous version of time and again. But my favourite song is and remains “northwind”. A very sincere and spontaneous song also!
Merry Xmas to all!
December 23rd, 2024 at 21:13Yes, Frater, Jon was a crucial part of Purple’s respected muso image. While not surrounded by Zeppelinesque mystique either, he gave the band artistic gravitas and was the adult in the room. People who were sometimes bewildered by Ritchie’s antics could always latch onto Jon Lord’s elder statesman demeanor which was present with him even as a young man already.
Don is no less a musician than Jon, but he doesn’t project that same respect-inducing image and, of course, cannot represent band history as much.
Beyond Jon’s playing + sound, his stage charisma + showmanship as well as his musical ideas, he was key for DP being taken more serious than their heavy rock contemporaries as a “musicianly” force. The role of the Concerto – neither a huge seller nor really decisive for Mk II’s later sound – is often underestimated in creating that lasting image, at least in Europe.
December 24th, 2024 at 13:21I can’t say that I was enlightened by either the questions or the answers!
Festive salutations to all.
Right – Back to DP Toronto 1985 bootleg for some festive cheer.
December 24th, 2024 at 15:26Yes indeed Jon Lord’s persona certainly didn’t fit the image of the gangster in that absurdly named ‘Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre’ band in 1967, or did it? Not with the longer hair anyway, short back & sides & he would have fitted in big time with that suave sophisticated business man appearance. I watched that original movie from 1967 last night & couldn’t keep myself from thinking about that ridiculous band name the manager, agent or record company or whoever it was that came up with that. Seasons greetings to one & all here at THS and thank you for keeping the faith. Another year beckons. Can I survive another year of Uwe’s postings, time will tell. All the best to everyone. Cheers.
December 24th, 2024 at 23:24I will continue to test your endurance, Tasmanian, promise!
Frohe Weihnachten everyone!
https://youtu.be/yHP1Rfh_wsU
And if Christmas isn’t your thing, no worries, it’ll be over soon!
https://youtu.be/yHP1Rfh_
… What do I hear, what do I hear?
Chit-chat, and clinking glass
Cheap talk, a lady’s laugh
After hours
… What do I see, what do I see?
Some sunken hideaway
Where people go to play
After hours
… There I’ll spend the night
Meeting fancy things
At bistros and old haunts
Trying very hard to sin
… Then it is day and in a way
The pattern’s much the same
In-spots, a matinee
Everyday
… Blend with the crowd, blend with the loud
Hypnotic ebb and flow
Until the day goes slowly
Into night
… See the same old crowd
At bistros and old haunts
‘Til the lights grow dim,
The not-so-subtle hint to be gone
… Thank God it’s not Christmas
When there is only you
And nothing else to do
… Thank God it’s not Christmas
Where there’s just you to do
The rest is closed to public view
… Caroling kids, caroling kids
A trifle premature, in tones so rich and pure
And crystalline
… Call for the day, the popular day
It’s fast approaching now
But will the mood allow
One dissent
… If this were the Seine
We’d be very suave
But it’s just the rain
Washing down the boulevard
… Popular days, the popular ways
Are for the chosen few
Not meant for me and you
Obviously
… Popular nights, poplar rites
Great things to say and do
Aren’t said or done by you
Obviously
… If this were Seine
We’d be very suave
But it’s just the rain
Washing down the boulevard
Songwriter: Ron Mael
December 25th, 2024 at 17:51