A dream’s a dream whatever they say
As the reality of the end of an era continues to sink in, let us recall selected moments from the ocean of awesomeness that is Steve Morse’s body of work with Deep Purple.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan2.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/gillan.jpg)
As the reality of the end of an era continues to sink in, let us recall selected moments from the ocean of awesomeness that is Steve Morse’s body of work with Deep Purple.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
For some reason I want to cry
July 24th, 2022 at 22:27Miss you, Steve😢
July 24th, 2022 at 23:16The great moments of the band, the greatest moment of my life as a fan !
July 25th, 2022 at 01:36Thank you for the beautiful memories in the last 28 years, Steve.
Bring back blackmore lol
Like in the good old halcyon golden years
Ok i wish steve and janine.all the best health and his wife does a speedy recovery
July 25th, 2022 at 05:42Thank you for those clips, great summary of Steve’s legacy.
July 25th, 2022 at 11:01Well Dressed Guitar is sensational.
My personal highlights are the ‘Purpendicular’ album (Ted, Screaming, Touch Away), numerous gigs in between (RAH – Purple & Friends) through to ‘Infinite’ (Birds) and ‘Whoosh’ (Throw My Bones, Nothing At All, Power of the Moon).
Definitely finishing on a musical high, all the best to Steve and family.
Thanks for that… I could shed a tear too…
The man (before Don) is responsible for the most innovative and open minded music DP produced, apart from 69-72…
I mean I LOVE the other line ups but with Steve on board they were so much more interesting as writers.
What a wonderful wonderful musician.
July 25th, 2022 at 11:19Maybe it’s not the final goodbye,… I believe, I hope for another new studio album by the big six (Paice, Gillan, Glover, Steve, Airey and Bob) 23 final album .. for the year 2023, rounding off the great ten-years decade (Now What? !(2013),Infinite (2017),Whoosh!(2020),Turning to Crime (2021) .
God bless you Steve and Jannice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03lItdEAhvo
July 25th, 2022 at 11:54Intro (with Jon) solo one, solo two..Ian voice… musical magic
He’s a great player and a fine fellow, I met him briefly a few times, and I thank him for the memories and wish him and his family well, but I’d have gone for When A Blind Man Cries from Live At The Olympia rather than Rosa’s Cantina.
July 25th, 2022 at 12:20Let’s not forget that before Deep Purple there was glorious DICK PIMPLE where Steve played alongside, inter alia, the great Diana Spencer on drums. This, children, is where it all started many moons ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKn050P-lZs
IIRC, the CD was at the time only available via the Deep Purple Appreciation Society as a stop-gap lifesign from the band and then became largely consigned to oblivion, but I remember listening to it at the time (Steve had just joined, there had been a few gigs with him, but no new material out yet) and thinking “this is going to be good”. I shows some tasty playing from all and evidences how quickly there was a musical rapport between Steve and the boys.
Also a good way to remember how Jon was perhaps a more natural blues player than Don (who has of course other strengths).
July 25th, 2022 at 13:05The Live at the Olympia recording is real jewel from the early Morse era and the Bananas tour was really good too!
July 25th, 2022 at 14:49You know what would be a befitting testament to Steve’s contribution? If they now finally released a box set spanning the Mk VII and VIII years and entitled it “The Morse Code”. With Steve doing a track by track commentary and perhaps some of his demos to songs.
Goin forward, I don’t believe we’ll hear a lot of live renditions of Mk VII and VIII stuff (in some aspects, Steve’s style is more difficult to replicate than Blackmore’s and Simon has a choppier style of rhythm playing). Mk IX will concentrate on 70ies Mk II and their own new stuff they will hopefully commence writing once the current tour is done. That will be interesting.
You’ve got to grant it to them, Purple is never boring.
PS: Unless I’m mistaken, there is no official announcement yet of Simon becoming a permanent member, no doubt the attorneys are still wading through the exchanged draft agreements …
July 25th, 2022 at 16:43“Contact lost” :
Einzigartig!!!!
Danke Steve
July 25th, 2022 at 17:22Sad news, but a lot of good memories remain. Especially the 96 tour was great and we got some inspired and challenging (for the band) shows where the band really stretched out, fx in Speed King and Hey Cisco. I was lucky to meet Steve in 96 in DK after the show and we discussed the future of the Internet haha. In 2000 he gave a masterclass in Gothenburg before the show, and as I was reluctant to leave the room as the last guest, he carried on the conversation quite professionally and then went on stage a couple of hours later for the concerto ++ – no stress. Always a gentleman and strongly contributing to the band’s further development throughout 28 years. All the best to you and your family.
July 25th, 2022 at 18:32I agree Uwe! A box set would be Great!!!
July 25th, 2022 at 19:50Beautiful happy chapter in the DP history.
July 25th, 2022 at 19:52Sometimes you appreciate something more when it’s gone. Steve will be missed but his head is held up high and his contribution speaks volume.
Peace ✌️
You don’t know what you got until it’s gone.
July 25th, 2022 at 23:54I hope for a last album after that atrocity of covers “Turning to Crime” please no more covers.Bad bad idea
July 26th, 2022 at 01:34Would it not be a really apt and dignified point for Purple to wrap things up now and leave us with the great memories of the various Marks over the years. Complete the current tour and then draw a line. I would really hate to see the superb legacy tainted by declining performances and negative reviews.
July 26th, 2022 at 05:41When Steve joined Deep Purple back in the 90ies I immediately felt that this has to be their second spring. Considering how long ago that was and what has been accomplished since then, that sentiment should apply. Apart from the musical greatness, though, there’s this humble, nice, down-to-earth guy who would always smile and enjoy himself with the band. This positive energy was the ingredient that had been missing all those years before and that ultimately revitalized the band. The fact that he has now decided to quit because he is needed more at home rounds off the overall picture even more conclusively. However, any way you slice it, it’s a big loss for the band, no matter who will be the replacement. That said, my gut tells me that the timing is not at all inappropriate. I usually enjoy watching a making of by Deep Purple, but I had a bad feeling about the one where they recorded the Infinite album. I don’t know if it was the pain in his wrist or Bob trying to make a different guitar player out of him – something was off. He didn’t seem to enjoy himself any longer the way he used to. Maybe I’m wrong.
July 26th, 2022 at 11:26The first time I saw Purple was at Manchester Apollo in March ’96.
They kicked off with Fireball (as per the “Live At Olympia” set list) and it was great, but there were a band of people at the front of the stage screaming for Blackmore. After “Cascades” and Steve’s extended solo spot, they weren’t screaming for Blackers any more, he’d completely won them over.
He’s going to be missed a lot, but in Simon they have a very good replacement.
Kind of hoping (probably a forlorn hope now) that there’ll be another album with Steve making some kind of contribution in the studio.
Sad way for your tenure to end but totally understandable and we wish you and Janine all the very best for the future.
July 26th, 2022 at 11:43I was lucky enough to watch the band with Steve Morse several times in Brazil. In addition to being a brilliant musician, Steve has always been a very humble and friendly person. I hope your wife recovers as soon as possible.
July 26th, 2022 at 12:35Tommy @19: I know what you mean, it wasn’t always hunky-dory between Ezrin and Morse and, yes, if you hear Steve’s live recordings from the 90ies and early 00ies, there is a certain, almost Vai’esque fluidity in his playing that is not as apparent today anymore (he can still play the ass off most guitarists though). For someone with an as impeccable a technique and control as Steve, it must have been especially bitter to accomodate his playing to his ailing right arm/hand/wrist. In gigs of, say, the last 10 years, I’ve even seen/heard him make a few physical mistakes (something I never noticed in the years before) and he sometimes looked like he was in discomfort or even pain.
And there is the touring thing. Purple both as a band/going concern and as regards its current individual members will die with its/their boots on. They’ll tour and tour and tour – it’s the life they know, it’s what they all have been doing since they were young men/teenagers, it’s how they earn money and soak up adulation. Steve didn’t really live a touring musician’s life until he joined Purple in his early 30ies, the Dixie Dregs were never an international act and he was with Kansas for a comparatively short time, mostly touring the US. And he’s said it again and again, the heavy touring schedule was what he liked the least about life as a Purple member. He’s also the only Purple member not living in Europe, but in the US – yet Purple do most of their touring outside of the US. Transatlantic flights can grate and you cannot just hop over to see your family for two days off either.
Finally, lest we forget: Purple in 2002 were not prepared to cut back on touring for Jon so he could devote more time to his side projects. And they were not prepared to do it now for Steve (his wording that he could not “commit to” to their touring schedule was telling; mind you, Deep Purple is also a commercial enterprise/partnership). That doesn’t make them a mean or heartless outfit, none of them (Simon now excepted) is a spring chicken, anyone of them could everyday be hit by some physical condition putting an end to touring life – so they still want to do as many gigs as they can. Jon and Steve didn’t want to do that, so a parting of ways became inevitable.
But I’m fine with them opening another (very much shorter than previous ones) chapter with the Irish kid. If they record one more album with Simon and tour that, I’ll be content. We’ll have almost made it to Mk X then!!! I want to curate that live box featuring all line-ups one day …
July 26th, 2022 at 22:25Thank you for saving Deep Purple from oblivion back in the day…sending strength and good thoughts from Graz, Austria…may the sun shine again for you and Janine
July 27th, 2022 at 06:19I’m trying to just be grateful for the Morse-decades and the beautiful, stunningly amazing and creative music and all the joy.
But I must admit I’m sad.
July 27th, 2022 at 16:22Sometimes I feel like screaming….
Deep Purple would have folded if they hadn’t recruited Steve when they did. He administered the save shot that the band desperately needed. Suddenly, they became revitalized and even hungry again. I was ecstatic when Purpendicular was released. They said they would stop whenever one of them could no longer continue but it looks like they’re not going to keep their word. It’s too soon to give a verdict on Simon McBride but I don’t think he can bring anything that special to the band. Chops aside, he strikes me as a very workmanlike player I welcome them to prove me wrong and amaze me once again but I doubt they will.
July 27th, 2022 at 21:57@ 25 – I doubt that the band would not have pursued another guitarist if Morse didn’t join the band. Luckily for them & Steve Morse it worked out ok. Joe Satriani would not have worked to my ears as he isn’t melodic enough. Having said that who can tell within a songwriting band of experienced Purple members. They may have dragged him into a more melodic approach. DP always has had very melodic guitar players. Blackmore, Bolin & Morse are technically great, however more importantly or as equally important, they all play melodies. Not sure about McBride though as I have not heard enough of his playing to warrant a take on it within the confines of DP. He may not even take it on. Cheers.
July 27th, 2022 at 23:48The 1st time I saw DP with Steve he did a version Well Dressed Guitar like this going through a series of legendary classic rock riffs & solos culminating with Smoke on the Water. I felt like he expressing what songs he played with his college band and I was thinking “and now you are a legend too”. I am sure that this was the origin that eventually evolved into Caught in the Act.
July 28th, 2022 at 22:17@26 “Luckily for them & Steve Morse it worked out ok.” I think after 26 years with the band it was better than just OK!!!!
July 29th, 2022 at 10:15In my opinion Steve sounded his best with Roger producing. I do like the Ezrin albums, but always felt Steve was somewhat low in the mix.
July 30th, 2022 at 23:04Yeah, Ezrin brought out Don a lot more. Roger’s bass too. It’s not that I didn’t like the sonic end result, but Steve was more integrated in the grand picture than on the Glover and Bradford productions where he was very much the lead guitar.
July 31st, 2022 at 23:42