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Rarely trod the conventional path
Louder Sound has a recent (conducted in November 2024) interview with Ian Gillan about his Gillan the band years. Big Ian seems frank, not avoiding unpleasant topics, and does not mince words much.
Gillan the band’s forerunners the Ian Gillan Band had come to an end when keyboard player Colin Towns brought in a song called Fighting Man that was ridiculed by the rest of the group.
The end of the Ian Gillan Band had been coming. Things weren’t right, but it was so difficult because I was working with my heroes. I idolised Gus [bassist Johnny Gustafson, ex-The Merseybeats, Roxy Music] for being so talented. We needed to get back on track, but Ray Fenwick [guitar] and Mark Nauseef [drums] were happy with that jazzier type of rock, though I wanted to play rock’n’roll. Fighting Man was a catalyst. It was a simple song but it had a certain profundity, and when those two took the mickey out of it, that was it for me.
So you sacked yourself from your own band?
Yeah. I just left.
In forming Gillan, Colin Towns had to be there.
Colin was pivotal to it all. Rock’n’roll is good, but you also need a simple platform for virtuosity to shine. Colin kept that gravitas. He added texture and dynamics along with all of those musical elements.
Bernie Tormé was such a great guitarist.
Exactly. We had five guys that played equally well but Bernie was the one that stood out. I had spotted him some time earlier. He was amazing, and I marked him down for the future.
Shaven-headed man-mountain bassist John McCoy was almost a cartoonish character.
John was great. He made a big impact, just what we needed. He offset Bernie on the other side [of the stage].
Continue reading in Louder Sound.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
The venerable righteous Lord MacGregor dug this out first: @9 in the appropriately titled Honeysuckle thread, see there also for comments. No doubt his hand was guided/forced by the Wicked Witch of West Jylland (which musical buffs will know was actually a very nice and caring person).
https://youtu.be/4qfS4MsnDEc
But it‘s an interview of revelatory nature indeed.
March 11th, 2025 at 02:48The venerable righteous Lord MacGregor dug this out first: @9 in the appropriately titled Honeysuckle thread, see there also for comments. No doubt his hand was guided/forced by the Wicked Witch of West Jylland (who musical buffs will know was actually a very nice and caring person).
https://youtu.be/4qfS4MsnDEc
But it‘s an interview of revelatory nature indeed.
March 11th, 2025 at 02:49Most revealing interview he’s done on the subject. More so than his book.
March 11th, 2025 at 06:43This interview is a very interesting read!
I have read several times in here, that Ian remakes history as it fits in his narrative!
I don’t know about that, I guess journalists can colour their articles if the interviews aren’t word to word like this.
But this:
“Here’s a random memory: on the Magic tour in 1982, McCoy learned over the barrier to slap an astonished audience member in the front row who had dared to boo his bass solo.
I don’t know about that incident. But I did learn that John was prone to violence, and I had to put a stop to that.”
– made me sad 😞
I hadn’t seen John like that, not at all. And how did John McC make trouble for Phil B? (Was it the money-question all over again?)
But very exciting to learn that Gillan’s first songs were released in Japan only! I wasn’t aware of that, but it makes sense because I heard Gillan (the band) from friends who actually had lived in Japan in that period of time. (I guess I spread the news about this magnificent band 😇 in Denmark) (noooo I did not 🤣) (well I did my best ☺️😉)
Very nice to read (again) that Ian and Blackmore actually did talk, apparently on friendly terms! Even though there ‘were things that we disagreed on’!
And then ‘to me, rock’n’roll..is about an attitude’ – that’s true! Then let other people decide the definitions!
‘Categories are irrelevant to me’ – EXACTLY !
I wonder what the ‘I’m not quite so sure about Spandauer Ballet’ is all about?
Do any of you gentlemen in here know the story behind that?
And then I find it very amusing that Ian acknowledges only ONE (1!) song being about Ritchie!!!
Well, he wrote the lyrics, he should know who he wrote it about !
Thanks for the link to the interview 💜
Sadly I haven’t received the box-set yet.
March 11th, 2025 at 06:45On FB lots of people are happily sharing their thoughts about the box-set they have received 😊☺️
Can I bribe anyone?! 🙃
@4 Check the ‘Japanese Album’ by Gillan if you haven’t done it yet. It is like a beta version of ‘Mr. Universe’ of sorts, yet in many respects is superior to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1be4EzIgUA&pp=ygUVZ2lsbGFuIGphcGFuZXNlIGFsYnVt
Speaking of John McCoy, Ian has some really harsh words for him. If it is about money, I’m with Ian’s former bandmates rather than with him, though. Ian might have proven his point in court or so he says, but for John, Bernie, Mick and Colin it still hurt a lot. I can imagine what it was like being in a Top 5 UK band and yet living hand to mouth, literally.
Violence is another matter. Violence, consumption of illegal substances and molestation of minors have been all parts of rock’n’roll lifestyle (some still are). Some musicians would have been locked up forever had they done these days something they did back in the 1970-80s.
March 11th, 2025 at 08:02Karin – the only connection I can think of is that Spandau Ballet had a dig at Rainbow with their song, True. The line in question was: “Listening to more than All Night Long”. In the song’s video, a rainbow passes across the faces of band members to coincide with the reference.
Mind you, that’s something that would have resonated more with Blackmore than Gillan.
March 11th, 2025 at 10:52