![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse2.jpg)
A lot of presto for your vivace
Classical musician Amy Shafer (we’ve previously featured her take on Child in Time) listens to the Concerto for Group and Orchestra — well, the 3rd movement to be precise — and gives her analysis, praise, and critique of Jon’s opus. It is always interesting to see a fresh look on a familiar piece of music, particularly when it comes from a completely different angle than we’re used to. The things she liked most, and was disappointed in, will probably surprise you. We encourage you to view the analysis to the end before jumping to conclusions.
First listen/reaction:
In depth analysis:
The timings she mentions in the analysis refer to this clip, so here it is for your convenience:
Which made this editor to revisit the ’99 version of the Concerto to see if and how it differs from the original:
…as well as the 2012 version, which Jon himself regarded as the definitive:
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
First impression.
I think that really good drummers are essential to hard rock bands, and I am a percussionist who likes to play African and Middle Eastern drums. But I generally find drum solos to be boring. The drummer can show his chops on complicated grooves, flashy fills, and short 5-15 second solos, but I lose interest if the go longer than that. So I am happy that Pace gave up doing solos on concert quite a while ago. I am also surprised that Amu singled out her enjoyment of the drum solo.
May 20th, 2023 at 04:39In depth analysis:
I have to agree with Amy that Ritchie’s solos in the 3rd movement while sounding good just didn’t fit the piece. It is true that he just wasn’t into it, and the story is that he did a much longer than expected solo in the 1st movement and probably put all his good ideas into that one. Steve had a lot more power in his version and what a better fit for the movement.
May 20th, 2023 at 05:41The guitar & being critical of it, Amy eventually reads about what Blackmore’s attitude was to this orchestral music. We have to laugh. It is a difficult one to listen to her analysis in some ways. Amy doesn’t know the music but is more than qualified to know musical theory & has the playing ability etc. Many of us do not have that knowledge of musical theory but know the music rather well from 50 years gone by.
May 20th, 2023 at 07:02I think of that also when listening to Doug the Herbal enhancer. Having said that, it is probably the best way to analyse the music, no possible bias etc. Thanks for posting the review. Cheers
Ritchie has said in interviews he deliberately played out of line because he was upset with how pompous some of the musicians in the orchestra were, how they looked down their noses at rock music. It would’ve been wonderful if he had played like he can in sync with the concert.
May 20th, 2023 at 14:12Bloody hell.
May 20th, 2023 at 19:27Paul @5:
May 20th, 2023 at 21:18care to elaborate?
I don’t want to be unkind. I’m sure she means well. But I did listen to everything she had to say, and it seems to me a great example of the way the internet gives a ready-made platform to people who don’t really know what they’re talking about. Her judgements about the structure of the music, in so far as they make sense at all, remind me of that old thing, misattributed to Einstein, about judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree.
May 20th, 2023 at 21:48Yo, everyone’s opinion is correct, as it’s your own assessment of a situation or occurrence, etc etc…
As a musician, your sound generally affects the way you play, & RB’s sound for all intents & purposes was that poor-snarly-angry ES-335 Gibson played loudly, & likely through a Marshall, that really goes a long-way to knocking-a-few-points off being a stellar evening & performance. It has its place, but not at a gig like this.
Should he have chosen the Stratocaster to play that night, “everyone” would be talking about how great it all sounded to this day. The other-side-of-the-coin suggests that the angry ES-335 & RB’s playing gave the distance between the two ideals that was needed.
We’ll never know how awesome it would have been with the Stratocaster, but the sounds / tones heard on MiJ speak for themselves.
And let’s not forget about the great performances of both the band, & orchestra, plus the conducting ! IG sounds great, & introduces himself singing a tune in 5/4. RG has arguably the hardest job of the band & excels well with the orchestra, never being too loud, but present. IP always has a good time & plays well too. Jon would have been very pleased & happy with everything, & it gave the bands reputation locally a tremendous boost.
I love it !
Peace !
May 20th, 2023 at 23:58I do remember reading about some of the orchestra members not being too happy with playing with the rock ‘n rollers, although many of the musicians are seen to be tapping their feet & bopping along with the band at times. We could easily think that Blackmore would have been really frustrated & definitely not in the mood, but we don’t know for sure as most of us were not there. I do remember reading or hearing about his comment to Jon Lord regarding moving onto rock music ‘let’s do the heavy rock thing & if it doesn’t workout I will play classical music for the rest of my life’, something like that from my memory. I would think that would be enough for him to play anything he felt like at that time & hope it is over really quickly & then get the hell out of there. A shame indeed. Cheers.
May 21st, 2023 at 08:32As to Ritchie’s mood and commitment on that fateful evening, I am very pleased with how it all turned out. Exhibit “A” being the unbridled guitar solo Ritchie did here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqW0JpKZJBA&list=PL-ZKdxn0uhJaI8TF_5FVWrRszuFO7OTEg&index=18
Catharis perhaps? Putting it up the noses of all those stuffed shirts in the orchestra?!
Classic Ritchie. And it’s why we love him.
May 21st, 2023 at 14:31Jon’s memory of it was that, although there were differences of opinion, in the end it was basically judged to have been fun to do, and a success with the audience, if not with all the critics. I also wonder if Ritchie Blackmore’s negativity towards it has been somewhat overplayed by history. His playing on the night was, after all, pretty astonishing, arguably even more so because it was despite the misgivings he had about being outside his natural habitat.
The reviewer on these videos seems not to have listened to the later versions. Having done the revised version so many times now, I tend to forget how many things Jon changed from the 69 version. Although he was never going to turn it into the organically evolving symphonic thing that she seems to wish it was – he wasn’t writing that kind of piece – he was still concerned to tighten the structure. She may also be interested in the fact that, towards the end of his life, Jon was commissioned to write a second Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Although he tried, he gave up, thinking he would just be writing the same piece twice. So if she wants to see the mature Jon’s take on the form, she could try “Boom of the Tingling Strings”.
May 21st, 2023 at 14:31Paul @11:
Thank you for your input. But let me play the devil’s advocate for a moment here.
could it also possibly be that Jon’s memory after 30 years had been skewed towards forgetting the unpleasant bits, like we all tend to do?
I don’t think her goal is to explore Jon as a composer per se. she started listening to rock music a few months ago, with varied success. Somebody suggested her the Concerto as an example of orchestral/rock fusion, and as such it would easier for her to digest. So here we are 😉
May 21st, 2023 at 19:51Yes I’m sure you’re right about Jon’s memories. His view of it changed over the years.
May 21st, 2023 at 20:14I don’t have an issue with certain classical musicians being supposedly ‘snobbish’ etc in regards to popular music & it also seems to work both ways in some aspects.. But then again I was raised hearing Classical music along with male & female vocalists, Opera & Cabaret etc. I have always enjoyed the mix of rock ‘n roll with an orchestra, with this collaboration & a few others since the late 1960’s. It is a perfect mix in some ways, the best of both worlds depending how it all turns out. All the rivalry & mind games makes for a good laugh, if it ever means anything to start with. Regarding Blackmore’s solo I have always found that to be a tad boring. As Gregster said not having a Statocaster doesn’t help, not that that has everything to do with his playing at the time. We all are familiar with Blackmore’s moody guitar playing, it is pot luck indeed if it turns out ok. Gillan & Glover would have also been chomping at the bit to get stuck into some serious rock music no doubt. Jon Lord did really well with this at the time & also years later. It was a big task & kudos to him for pursuing it along with Malcom Arnold. Cheers.
May 22nd, 2023 at 06:08@12…There’s no denying that finances helped decide a traveling musical groups participants & size, in that their sizes grew smaller & smaller as time went on through the last century…So in a way, R&R is the result of economics, where we went from say 120-piece orchestras to the 3-piece Jimi Hendrix experience…
There is some excellent Rock music for Amy to get blown-away by, & sure DP is a great start for obvious reasons, but I’d love to hear what she thinks of say “Fanfare for the Common Man” by ELP from 1976…
@13 The Duke Ellington Orchestra really had-it-all there through the 1940’s, with awesome tunes / arrangements, great singers & players, & in some tunes, you even get to hear the beginnings of R&R with really magical drumming, where the ride-cymbal holds the time, & the rest of the drums lay-back-easy behind-the-beat…
Peace !
May 22nd, 2023 at 09:20If someone as musical as the guy here on the far right liked it
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/queen/images/3/37/Opposition1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100812095617 ,
and it made him happy at the time witnessing it, then – to quote Sheryl Crow – “it can’t (have) be(en) that bad”. The young man used words such as “enchanted”, “magic night” and “having been privy to something very special”.
No idea what became of him, joined some other band later on, name escapes me, they were never really champions for anything …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMlUcKu7MZ8
*******************************
As for me, the Concerto has enduring naive charm and innocence. It’s not Jon’s best, most sophisticated or organic classical work (that is Sarabande for me, but I’m also one of those weird people who actually dig the difficult to digest Windows because it is so left-field). Blackmore was a jealous sourpuss about it and has always underestimated how much the Concerto bolstered DP’s image as musicians at the time. It got them taken serious even when they became a hard rock band and kept them from becoming “just another” hard rock band. They fed off the Concerto image for years, it was their “We’re actually serious musicians and don’t just smash Fender products.”-undercurrent. For the band, it was a brilliant publicity move, the Purple management was right to push Jon to do it.
Also, Jon’s first daughter Sara was conceived in post-Concerto elation/inspiration that night. So any which way you put it, lots of good came out of it.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-hdld_qsMSrDLGpd76lw-EPxWlAUATAYL4uqaOIx3M1p8Hig7w16ckrfxWCBHLzZBvaM&usqp=CAU
https://www.musicweek.com/interviews/read/women-in-music-roll-of-honour-2020-sara-lord/081731
[PS: I love her comment on her notoriously nocturnal and late-rising dad:
“‘Nothing good ever happens after 2am’. My Dad used to tell me that.
May 22nd, 2023 at 12:37He definitely tried to disprove it and I have had a bit of a go at disproving it too but, ultimately, it is probably right.”]
“Blackmore a jealous sourpuss’? I couldn’t imagine that, he had a vision & he was probably thinking this is getting in the way. DP In Rock is what it was all about & without that vision & determination, well it wouldn’t have obviously turned out the way it did. In Rock is what cemented Purple’s image as a serious rock band. The Concerto as wonderful as it is, was not what British rock music was about at that time. Cheers.
May 22nd, 2023 at 22:28Amy most probably has been overwhelmed by all the popular or ‘rock’ music since starting her foray into that genre. From not knowing it at all to going in at the deep end. So many suggestions for her to grapple with, far too much & it was predictable what could happen. Trying to pass judgement on something you have never heard before is taking a few risks indeed. I am sure if she had more inclination or time on her hands she may listen to certain music more often to come to grips with it before analysing it. Too much time wasted doing that for her though, she has her life to lead. Cheers.
May 22nd, 2023 at 22:40Uwe said…
qt.”Blackmore was a jealous sourpuss about it and has always underestimated how much the Concerto bolstered DP’s image as musicians at the time”.
LOL !!! It seems that RB is never really happy about anything !
He did let’s remember include his own diminished-scale-colored version of Beethoven’s-9th Symphony known as “Difficult to cure” in the Rainbow & DP set-lists for a number of years, so he recreated & supported Jon’s original intentions imo, at least a little down-the-road…( He also played this with a full “string ensemble” in 1984 at the Budokan gig, which was recorded & appears on Finyl Finyl )…
And allowing Cozy Powell to pound away to the “1812 Overture” at Rainbow gigs more than hints at the Classical angle into the stage act, so I suggest that he obviously changed his mind about matters of the “Concerto” soon after lol !
One wonders what Amy might think about Cozy’s efforts here ???…
Peace !
May 23rd, 2023 at 00:25I don’t believe for one minute that Jon had in mind that DP would forever be playing with orchestras after the Concerto – it wouldn’t have been economically feasible. A special event gig yes, but organizing a tour with one or more orchestras is a nightmare. ELP tried it and almost went broke about it.
That was all projection on Blackmore’s part, who feared DP might become the new Moody Blues or Procol Harum when all he wanted to do is simply outrock Led Zep II and be the guitar hero bad boy.
The Concerto was a landmark event to introduce the new line-up and get DP who were seen as a slightly quaint novelty act with some US success into the English papers. It did just that and in addition gave Jon’s classical ambitions gravitas which in turn rubbed off on DP as a whole. Post Concerto, DP weren’t the guys with that psychedelic Hush single and the unfashionable back-combed hair anymore. Musically, the Concerto could have been much worse than it was and still have made good commercial and PR sense.
That Ritchie would later on play Beethoven (rather than have him roll over) is one of life’s ironies. But if truth be told, I found Ritchie’s forays into classical music always gimmicky with none of the love and deep understanding apparent in Jon’s work. I take Jon’s Sarabande over Ritchie’s “drawing-by-numbers”-cello arrangement in Stargazer any day. Difficult To Cure always sounded heavy-handed to me, but I liked the string arrangement on Rainbow Eyes. Actually, a lot of BN songs wouldn’t be out of place in an orchestral setting – it would even be the obvious thing to do, but Ritchie seems to shun away from it, possibly because the Concerto experience still lingers and he doesn’t like to be relegated in any way.
May 23rd, 2023 at 10:39My father who managed a record store from the mid 1960’s to the late 1970’s was well aware of the Concerto. He sold a few vinyl lp’s of it no doubt & knew who DP were. He always said that someone in that band knows what is going on. He sort of appreciated that at the time. Not after that of course as he heard In Rock etc being blasted out from my bedroom, ha ha ha things do change rather quickly. “That Ritchie would later on play Beethoven (rather than have him roll over) is one of life’s ironies. But if truth be told, I found Ritchie’s forays into classical music always gimmicky with none of the love and deep understanding apparent in Jon’s work.”
May 23rd, 2023 at 22:21They are two totally different approaches to ‘classical’ music by two totally different people. It’s horses for courses again. “Gimmicky’ or playing around with or joking or just having a bit of fun is what many ‘rock’ musicians do or have done throughout their life. Jon Lord was always a lot more into it than the banjo player & you will find that in other bands also. The musicians who take it more seriously usually do that outside of a rock band, the rock music thing can drag things down a little at times. That would be one reason why Emerson, Lord & Wakeman left the bands they were in or did solo work outside the band at different times.
Talking of other bands Francis Monkman who passed away recently, RIP. What a musician & the band Curved Air & of course Sky, all stellar musicians. Now there is a band of rather creative musicians in Sky, who were somewhat ridiculed by many for not being serious enough with the classics. It inspired them to do more of the same. They were simply enjoying themselves, isn’t that what it is all about. John Williams still finds that amusing to this day. There will always be people, ourselves included that like or don’t like certain arrangements, composition & playing etc. Cheers.
Uwe said…
qt.” (re – RB ) – all he wanted to do is simply out-rock Led Zep II and be the guitar hero bad boy”…
Yes, he certainly managed that with the “In Rock” performance, that’s for sure, even if some would argue that DP were no-where near as “heavy” as Black Sabbath were…
I’d say that “In Rock” does push “LZ-II” off-to-the-side, but what a great album too, possibly the best all-rounder from LZ of their first four releases, though they’re all book-ended to one-another to my ears, & equals. ( Not unlike how the studio Mk-II releases are to my mind, or even the first 4 BS releases for that matter ).
Peace !
May 23rd, 2023 at 23:23Talking of Rainbow, I never ever thought about the so called Orchestra on Stargazer, is it a Mellotron I always wondered, or something similar, it is hardly audible is it. Why oh why do certain heavy rock or metal artists think an orchestral arrangement of sorts actually works? Pointless. On another news front & Rainbow & the song Kill the King, did anyone notice the issue regarding the song recently? Cheers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65576684
May 24th, 2023 at 04:14Herr MacGregor, the idea came from Blackmore, he was displeased how the professional string players performed it in the studio, “you could see the disgust on their faces”, our hobby cellist said.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/54/e4/c2/54e4c2c3186f15f4ee0e5691e70901d2.jpg
The New Musical Express deadpanned at the time: “Well done, you and the boys sound just like a rampaging synthesizer. It’s amazing what one can do with an orchestra these days.”
I had to laugh hard at that one back then, it was typical NME wit.
PS: Hey, I found the original review by Bob Edmands (which for NME standards at the time was in general very positive for a non-Punk/New Wave release):
https://geirmykl.wordpress.com/tag/bob-edmands/
Cited courtesy of Geir Myklebust and his fabulous site:
“Blackmore`s Rainbow
Oyster (Purple)
By Bob Edmands
Ritchie Blackmore, the world`s loudest musician, sees an amazing new role for himself – as a medieval minstrel.
Hard to believe, right? Like Lou Reed campaigning in support of Real Ale: or George Harrison opting for atheism; or Tony Blackburn playing music; or Bob Harris shouting.
Well there it is in black and white. “An interest in medieval music… reflected in the Rainbow sound,” says the press handout. “Many of the songs make use of medieval modes.”
You gotta be joking. If Ritchie had to get the Sword out of the Stone, you can be sure he`d use a pneumatic drill.
Blackmore pours out the notes like burning oil from battlements. The band`s menace suggests the rack rather than the maypole. Their unhinged attack is enough to dissolve the monasteries all over again. The sound is fat, powerful and brutish, like Henry the Eight. Domesday Book? Doomsday machine, more like.
Medieval modes or not, the important thing is that with one album, Blackmore has transcended anything he did with Deep Purple. It was Blackmore, with Ian Paice, who kept Deep Purple from being Shallow Sepia. Paice is sadly still with Purple, but on hand (and feet) is the great Cozy Powell, hammering away like the sort of octopus that could inspire a new Peter Benchley bestseller.
The combination is the hottest heavy in years. Lots of snarling riffs snapping at you, compelling, ferocious presence.
Blackmore is never gonna be a new Hendrix. He`s not into that sort of frenzied inspiration. It`s a sense of dramatic effect and dynamics that he`s built his reputation on, and those instincts have rarely been put to better use than here.
“Stargazer” is the track that says it all, taking up half of one side, with a satanic majesty and a perverse epic grandeur that make it a classic.
Blackmore turns in one of his most stunning solos on “Stargazer”, precise, calculated, soaring and shimmering over the melee. And the song thunders for the exits with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra taking up the riff. Well done Konzertmeister Fritz Sonnleitner, you and the boys sound just like a rampaging synthesiser. It`s amazing what they can do with orchestras these days.
Not content with one gold-plated monster cut, Rainbow turn to “A Light in the Dark,” the sort of crazed, flat-out blitzkrieg the Purple tried for on “Machine Head”. When this baby rumbles out of the speakers, there`s not a grey cell left intact within a five-mile radius. No matter. Who needs grey cells to review this kind of mind-mangler?
Rainbow is different to Purple, and it`s not just the range of musical colours they produce. Most of those are varying shades of black, anyway. What this band have created is a bad guys` mutant of orchestral rock, the perfect antidote to the pious mysticism of Yes and other yesmen. Proof at last that rock music doesn’t have to be twee to be ambitious.”
********
Some more reading on the late Fritz Sonn(e)leitner, who was also responsible for the string arrangement on Rainbow Eyes. Obviously an open mind:
https://www.feenotes.com/database/artists/sonnleitner-fritz-1920-1984/
We learn thus, meine lieben brethren, that Rainbow Rising, that perceived antidote to a disco record, shared the same string section with Munich’s poor man’s answer to The Three Degrees and their stellar Phillysound success, namely Silver Convention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op0e-6g8Hk0
I shall obtain all their albums then.
But nowhere as good as the original, they share that fate with Rainbow (as opposed to Purple as the mothership):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaDA-CBxiKI
May 24th, 2023 at 18:28Thanks for that Fritz Sonn(e)leitner information Uwe & the nice melody, good to hear first thing in the morning. NME rock journalism at it’s best eh, have to laugh at that, ta very much. “Rainbow is different to Purple, and it`s not just the range of musical colours they produce. Most of those are varying shades of black, anyway. What this band have created is a bad guys` mutant of orchestral rock, the perfect antidote to the pious mysticism of Yes and other yesmen. Proof at last that rock music doesn’t have to be twee to be ambitious”. Classic humour from him, he is a good writer indeed, I like it. Regarding Rainbow Rising & we have discussed the need for it to be remixed for the bass & bottom end sound, but also the orchestral sound on Stargazer. It is terrible. However as we are aware does the Man in Black have any interest in doing anything like a revisit to the bad old days? As I previously stated, orchestral music with hard rock is not a good partnership to my ears, so a remix most probably will not improve that situation at all. Cheers.
May 24th, 2023 at 22:25@ 23
I tried posting KILL THE KING when our Dutch king s anniversary was there and when Charles was crowned.
In the past they d have banned me for life at Twitter and FB.
May 24th, 2023 at 23:43So maybe there s hope ….
Comrade MacGregor @23: That just goes to show that Labour not only has the better politicians, they also have much better musical taste!
Don‘t think that the Purple guys are anti-Royalists/closet-Cromwellians,
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTexVw-4icigHcfF0kivsiMvHqn-tTMnhyy1raW_Vfbxg&s ,
but then with that tax-dodging, teabag-chucking, Native American-culture-misappropriatin‘ Yank looming in the background you never know. Look away for a second and he‘s sneakily crossed the Delaware River and next thing you know turns Rugby into this aberration called, gulp, American Football.
May 25th, 2023 at 00:56@24…What a hilarious post !!! Talk about cream, sugar, maple-syrup with a cherry-on-top review LOL !
What really made me laugh was this line however…
qt.”( re-Cozy )-but on hand (and feet) is the great Cozy Powell, hammering away like the sort of octopus that could inspire a new Peter Benchley bestseller”…
ROTFLMAO !!!
Perhaps what the writer forgot to mention, is that the “theme music” to “Jaws” is as good as it gets, for as being instantly recognizable, just like SOTW…In fact, John Williams would have to be one of the greatest composers to be with us in the last century…The list of instantly recognizable melody with his movie soundtracks is incredible…
*( And for the younger people who didn’t know, Peter Benchley wrote the incredible novel called “Jaws”, that was later turned into a block-buster movie about a Great White Shark, that runs-amuck in a US-of-A sea-side small town called Amity from circa 1973-75 )…
Peace !
May 25th, 2023 at 01:51Hi,
Something out of subject…
Wow. I think it’s amazing that a man like “sir” Paul Mann is writing a review here and follow ” the highway star”. Finally someone who knows what is talking about as we don’t have Jon and sir Malcolm anymore on this earth.
And of course the same old one complaining about something that over 50 years later should be regarded as a monument in music. For those people…. What if DP never did that “chef d’oeuvre”. Oh ok , they will be complaining about fireball or MIJ.
Lol.
Be happy with what these men created and love them for the happiness they gave us all these years.
Long live DP family.
Richard.
May 25th, 2023 at 04:40@ 27- “but then with that tax-dodging, teabag-chucking, Native American-culture-misappropriatin‘ Yank looming in the background you never know. Look away for a second and he‘s sneakily crossed the Delaware River and next thing you know turns Rugby into this aberration called, gulp, American Football.” Ha ha ha., I like that.
May 25th, 2023 at 09:09@ 28 – Jaws now that was a thriller of sorts for us younger audiences. That underwater scene with the diver looking into the hole in the boats hull & that (spoiler alert) decapitated head rolls out. Looking back these days that clunking mechanical old shark seems a bit out of place, mind you CGI didn’t exist back then, which was a good thing. Cheers.
For the record and seconding the Honorable Elprupdeep: Irrespective whether he finds the time to grace our lowly quarters with a comment or two or not, Paul Mann’s contribution to the Purple legacy is immeasurable, both what he did for the band and resurrecting Jon Lord’s work (and keeping it alive, Jon would have loved that). Vielen Dank dafür. I saw you at the RAH in 1999 and in 2000 in Frankfurt restaging the Concerto plus, of course, in 2014 again at the RAH commemorating Jon. Every time a so much better orchestra performance with a rock band than I have witnessed on any other occasion!
And for those of you who perhaps don’t know, Paul is family in more ways than one: He’s a relative (nephew?) of Colin Hart who for decades kept Purple and Rainbow functioning units on the road.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4f/49/1b/4f491b707e827d74554598fca01de4e6.jpg
**********
PS: Herr MacGregor, yup, that “dead man popping up” underwater scene stuck with me too. And I agree, when I saw snippets of Jaws again a few years ago, that shark had aged real badly. It looked awful.
I like Selachimorpha as animals, great evolutionary design. I keep their closest freshwater relatives, namely sturgeons, in my pond. They swim exactly like sharks, elegant and sleek, unperturbed.
May 25th, 2023 at 11:38Yes I agree regarding Paul Mann’s contribution big time. What about that Dutch chap Marco de Goeij who transcribe the ‘lost’ concerto & then contacted Jon Lord. What a magical moment that was & what passionate dedication to such a difficult task. And to every other performance that has followed & will continue to forever & a day. Talking of the original concerto, I watched it yesterday & it was glorious as ever & it has been a long time indeed. The two things that remained with me after viewing the entire performance were Ian Gillan’s unsullied & sublime vocals. Pre hard rock screaming & all, it was surreal & I haven’t heard that for as long as the concerto of course. The other ‘surprise’ moment was Blackmore looking so happy at the end of it all. It would have been a buzz for the band members being involved in that concert. A wonderful orchestra performance also & the audience should be commended, the were so enthralled by it all. A joyous concert indeed & it still stands the test of time. Cheers.
May 25th, 2023 at 22:36@ 31 – yes I do like sharks & there related ancestors, elegant indeed. I am a land based individual as you may have detected in that shark comment. I have crashed into a few waves in my youth & ended up in a few metres of water & then freaked out, so to speak. I could never be a surfer, snorkeler or diver etc. A friend told me years ago he was surfing & sitting on his board waiting for a decent wave & he noticed underneath his board a large shark cruising past. He freaked out & very slowly made his way to shore. He said he could never get into surfing again after that, it just had him thinking of what could have easily happened. So sturgeons in your pond are best Uwe, much easier to deal with. Cheers.
May 28th, 2023 at 02:48Hi all.
To Uwe Hornung #31.
Hahaha. Honorable elprupdeep. ?????
I am just a fan of these guys and IMO you are honorable Uwe. With your knowledges and input you give to this website.
But is nice to be appreciated for a comment. So thanks.
Long live Uwe and DP family.
Elprupdeep. Richard Legris.
May 28th, 2023 at 05:17On sharks and such: Just because I like sharks and most other predators, doesn’t mean I like to be near them as potential prey! Man doesn’t have to intrude into every animal habitat – it’s fine to leave some environments to them. If you really feel the need to live among bears or surf among sharks, then do it, but don’t complain if you end up as their lunch.
That said, my sturgeons have worrisome homoerotic leanings, whenever I have to get into the pond for maintenance work, they keep gently and inquisitively bumping into my crotch (some of them are about four feet long).
May 28th, 2023 at 19:07@ 35 – Ouch!!!!!!
May 29th, 2023 at 05:33