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Never meet your heroes
Many a fan who got the chance to meet members of our favourite band made a remark to the extent of how nice and down to earth gentlemen they turned out to be. Here is a story of a lad from Edinburgh who through his work connections to Gillan’s manager Phil Banfield ended up in the studio when the band were working on Purpendicular.
I sat in for about two hours and all that was being recorded was Ian Paice’s 10 second drum break between two of the verses.
‘He’s a real perfectionist’ whispered Roger Glover to me after about 12 takes, and only then did I realise how important a 10 second drum break could be (think of In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins with its iconic drum break which was immortalised by the Cadbury’s gorilla and you’ll get the gist.)
After two hours Paicey still wasn’t happy and left the studios frowning.
‘He’ll worry about that all night’ remarked Roger.
Afterwards I adjourned with Mr Gillan to a nearby bar along with some of the band members and road crew in the expectation of hearing lurid tour-related stories concerning naked groupies, outrageous imbibing of alcohol, excessive intake of Class A drugs and the old rock’n’roll favourite, destruction of hotel rooms.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. All were respectable married men in their 50s with kids and grandkids and as such the bar room banter circled around families, schools, gardens, finances, football and the other staple conversation topics of middle aged men sharing a beer after work.
Read the whole story in Once Upon a Time in The ’70s.
Thanks to Yvonne for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Sometimes it’s OK to shoot the breeze with your heroes when their heart is in the right place… For example:
https://youtu.be/K8KgP2aOXcA
March 24th, 2021 at 15:55The story about Little Ian’s drum break concerns is cute, committed to his art.
And Roger’s dry humour about it as well.
March 24th, 2021 at 20:01Speaking of heroes…
We haven’t heard from Tracy “Zero the Hero” Heyder for a while.
Hmmmm….
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCpSRa8U194bixRyDWJj5UeA
Well done, Tracy! 👍🏻 🍻
March 25th, 2021 at 07:37@ 3 …He in Coronavirus lockdown.
March 25th, 2021 at 12:22I always meant to say that I met Gillan ( my hero …big moment for me ) at a book signing in Bournemouth in April 2007 …and he was absolutely amazing ! He made me feel like the star ! He was so humble and kind ..nothing was too much trouble …photos , signings etc …there was a massive queue to meet him and he took his time with every single one and treated them all as if they were the only person on the planet ! …what a guy ! !
March 25th, 2021 at 14:01Forgot to mention , after the signings , he walked through Bournemouth with wife Bron ( his mum was at the gig too )eating a pie and chips …past the fans ..back into the international centre …done the gig …and sang amazingly …never forget the screams on ” into the fire “
March 25th, 2021 at 14:12What?! No stories of random sex and heavy drinking? Gosh, I’m disappointed…
March 25th, 2021 at 14:19This old interview with RB from 1993 turned up on my youtube browser. It’s around an hour long & although I’ve already seen some parts of it before, here’s the whole enchilada on one plate:
March 25th, 2021 at 22:50👁️👁️ 👂🏻🦻🏻
https://youtu.be/r4goh4BLfss
🎸🎤🍻
Steve at 5 & 6. Same for me. I met Ian Gillan in Montreal during his Gillan’s Inn tour of 2006. He was very gracious with the time he took for all the fans who were there to meet him after the show. Signed everything put before him and chatted briefly with all. Then in Singapore in 2010, I along with just a tiny handful of fans were outside the venue near the loading dock waiting for a glimpse of the Purple men after the show. Steve Morse came over and was a real gentlemen. And later Ian Gillan was walking out briskly towards his van, but when he saw us standing in the corner, he immediately made his way over to us, signed our items and took the time to speak with all. I was very appreciative of the conversation I had with him. A great concert memory.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:45The DP 1996 line up after their gig in Zwolle Holland. All very kind to us fans (about 10). Jon was a true gentleman with a nice touch of British humor. Roger had all the time in the world. Colin Hart, the tourmanager, also had some time to talk with us. He was so happy with Steve Morse and pleased with the departure of Ritchie (his own words). Steve is a very down to earth guy. His son Kevin was with him on tour.
Ritchie Blackmore I met in Abenberg 2004 after a fanclub concert. Had a little chat with him while he was sitting next to me (I tought I was dreaming). He was in very good mood that evening. Very polite and very nice to all his fans. The first clip of Christmas Eve was filmed that evening and me and my wife were sitting behind Ritchie and Candice. So plenty of proof I was not dreaming afterall.
March 26th, 2021 at 16:55Hey…. I posted a response to Blackwood Richmore @3 and it hasn’t appeared yet….. 🙁
March 27th, 2021 at 16:44@11: Nope, haven’t seen any other comment from you on this post in the queue that this one.
March 27th, 2021 at 18:06@ 10
Forgot about that show in Zwolle, Johan.
I did attend Rotterdam and wanted to see them in the south of France because I though picking grapes would be a nice experience.
Unfortunately it went sour soon , pun intended,and I travelled back home , soon feeling more and more ill.
Later I regretted having acted so depressed and not having continued my journey and find employment somewhere else.
March 27th, 2021 at 18:14@ 3 Blackwood Richmore:
Thanks for the accolades regarding our band “JUzT CAUz”. Those are old clips. We are a 3 piece band now. You can check out newer vids on our FB page. Just click my name, it will take you to the page. We have 14 original tunes and are also working on some covers.
As for this post, I can say that meeting my Heroes over 20 years ago and being able to see and speak to them many times over the years after and before various shows has been a dream come true. These guys are the real deal and are as down to earth as you can get. Covid messed up 3 shows we had tickets for last year and am praying they get back out soon. Got a few more things I want to chat with them about. Another thing I pray for is that one more album they are stipulating to maybe be in the works. They really should use this down time for that. Not having to slip into the studio between gigs would really give time for some real focus and quality creation time.
CheerZ!!!!!
March 28th, 2021 at 02:08@14 Tracy, it’s all good!. The more you’re mentioned & advertised, the more you grow as word of mouth gets out & around… & then the more you sell, etc… The cycle repeats ad infinitum.
March 28th, 2021 at 23:19Keep the faith!. 😇🎸🥁🎤🎵🎶✝️☮️🇺🇸