![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse5.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/gillan.jpg)
To burn or not to burn
A piece in Ultimate Guitar goes all drooling over this guitarist’s take on Blackmore’s solo in Burn:
Here’s How Ritchie Blackmore’s ‘Burn’ Solo Should Sound in 2025
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What do you mean it ‘should’ sound like anything?” Of course, you’re right, Ritchie Blackmore’s solo section in “Burn” is the stuff of legends. Just listen to it, he really did a number on that guitar, definitely made it scream like never before (possibly). “Burn” simply stands out among Deep Purple’s songs because of how well the solo complements the energy of the other sections.
But, if for a second, we tried to imagine this solo in a new context, modernized to meet the standards of rock and metal music in 2025, we’d really have to open up our minds to the possibilities. Let’s not go too far and imagine some kind of proggy, techno-industrial nightmare spin. We could just imagine a shredder taking the solo to the next level.
Feel free to discuss. 😉
Credits:
Andre Nieri — guitar
Levi Clay — transcription
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Not bad. But the feeling is somehow lacking. It’s just much pyrotechnics. I appreciate the skill though. Who wouldn’t? It just doesn’t beat the original no matter how modernized you may say it is.
February 18th, 2025 at 20:31Sounds like, or taken from Whitesnake’s Purple album. Both are big whiffs on the original.
February 18th, 2025 at 20:31It’s actually nice 👍🏼
What’s hilarious is the t-shirt 🤣
February 18th, 2025 at 20:41The shredder’s playing is okay. His t-shirt is not. It’s a mauvais ton of the worst kind wearing the t-shirt of that other band while playing DP.
February 18th, 2025 at 21:03well, there are many parts of this solo that don’t convince me, if I have to hear a faster shredder version I’ll go for sure: Malmsteen
in any case the solo of Burn and the one of Highway by Blackmore are the best solos in the history of hard rock, and they are perfect just the way they are!
February 18th, 2025 at 21:33Done in a Led Zep t-shirt?!?! Ffs
February 18th, 2025 at 21:42This guy’s got a prolapsed sense of taste.
February 18th, 2025 at 23:29I could do with slightly less pyrotechnics and a couple more nods to the original – the phrasing and tone reminds me very much of Guthrie Govan, who I adore. Nicely done, although, yes, that shirt is in terribly bad taste, I agree. What the hell dude?! lmao
February 19th, 2025 at 04:05This just goes to show what the unsupervised wearing of Led Zep T-shirts for prolonged periods of time can do to the innocent mind of an otherwise likely healthy young man. There should be laws against it. If you tolerate this, your children will be next.
As necessary and valuable as a colorized, overdubbed and CGI-enhanced new cut of Friedrich Murnau’s Nosferatu. GRAUENHAFT enough to make even a centuries old vampyre seek the sunlight and just disappear.
https://giffiles.alphacoders.com/229/22953.gif
February 19th, 2025 at 04:31It’s not a crime to admit that RB guitar parts in THWS, SOTW, CIT, Burn and so on is unmatched by anyone one else either in improvisational element or copying note for note.
February 19th, 2025 at 09:02There is no doubt that there is an element of enjoyment from hearing these musicians having fun but let’s keep things in perspective and not to lose sight of the purity of the original.
Peace ✌️
Marvelous use of the language Uwe. I concur.
February 19th, 2025 at 10:26If you want to hear a really good shredder take on this song, check out Richie Kotzen’s version with Mr.Big. You cannot beat that. I like Hoekstra’s version and the one from Glenn Hughes From Now On album but Richie’s version takes the prize in my oppinion.
February 19th, 2025 at 11:13it is a simple and banal interpretation. It felt like listening to Tony Mc Alpine… who I love.
February 19th, 2025 at 11:15How boring is that? Made in a contemporary way where guitarists have no character. Trivial approach. Simon MB could sound the same, ex-tribute man Frank Pane even better. Their stile just doesn’t fit the integrity of this song. You just can’t fix perfection!
February 19th, 2025 at 11:47Tumeni notes ;)…and with no feeling. Hard pass.
February 19th, 2025 at 13:47Some pertinent comments in current social media would be:
1.Wasn’t Blackmore in Led Zeppelin too? Always liked that one song of theirs, “Smoke on the Stairway” I think it was.
2. What’s the best guitar and amp to play a solo as fast as this?
3. Pah, I could do that.
4. Sounds just like the original, only better.
5. Where can I order the T-shirt please? I don‘t have the money though, can you crowdfund me?
6. My older brother’s friend has a cousin who is even faster.
7. “What is and what should never be.“ 😑 (Robert A. Plant)
8. I saw Led Zep way back. That is NOT one of their songs.
9. I prefer girls in cropped string tops sitting cross-legged on tables replicating classic rock solos. They smile more too.
February 19th, 2025 at 14:18Fretboard wankery,2025.
February 19th, 2025 at 14:3945 years ago,this might have impressed me,
Today, I couldn’t make it thru the whole clip.There are acoustic versions on YT which are far more emotive & expressive.
@2- Yes indeed,Martin. The Purple Album is filled with shredding,sweep picking and over the top electric noodling. Only Holy Man,Sail Away and Soldier Of Fortune rose above the metallic mess for me.
February 19th, 2025 at 16:22General comment: I think on Highway Star, Ritchie outshone Jon solo-wise even though the latter’s Bach’y excursion was excellent. On Burn it was the other way around to me, Ritchie’s solo was wonderful and nicely ferocious (but not quite as artful as Highway Star with its tension-creating harmonic dissonance in places and great double stop bends), but Jon’s was simply fucking breathtaking.
Jon all alone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0_ibIPq1EY
Ritchie all alone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADCOHQPkar0
But in both cases it’s a close call.
February 19th, 2025 at 16:42I’ll take Ritchies version over this every time. This reminds me too much of Yngwie Malmsteen. Play as fast as you can regardless of wether it sounds right or not.
February 19th, 2025 at 18:09Uwe @9….Agreed, but it could be worse! I’d really be concerned if that young fella was sporting his mother’s blouse.
February 19th, 2025 at 19:01Just horrible!
February 19th, 2025 at 19:10As Frank Zappa put it “Too much dweedle dweedle dweedle…” Fretboard wankery indeed.
February 19th, 2025 at 20:40Yngwie would have bent more notes, I actually prefer his style of playing to the LZ T-shirt guy‘s approach which sounds robotic to me.
Of course you can‘t really bend notes if you play that silly fast. Or show a decent finger vibrato. It becomes mechanical very quickly. You ask yourself what the point is if the guitar, an instrument where steel and flesh interact, is reduced to being played like a piano. It simply isn’t and loses a lot of its individuality if played that way. That is why all these lightning-fast guys sound so interchangeable.
February 19th, 2025 at 22:25See, you CAN smile playing that solo too, das Auge isst mit:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hyutsdUOQZ4
This guy does Jon & Ritchie at the same time (and thinks he’s really très hot):
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/u6OAGL4BsnU
It really is only child’s play, some Thai talent here …
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DJsgp4Dx4So
PS: Auntie Purplette, with some bands cross-dressing actually works!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmvMFXWzc8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXks3Xjydh0
PPS: The WS version of the song is pretty horrid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2i9Jwt331k
but there is one scene that always draws a smile to my face and that is when Reb Beach first plays the classical part like Ritchie at 03:23 and then repeats it at twice the speed modern tapping style at 03:33, thus both tipping his hat to Ritchie and then showing off a little (not that Ritchie was above showing off with his guitar playing as a young man!).
February 19th, 2025 at 23:01Dead on right, Uwe @ 19. While there are similarities in the method as to how the Highway Star and Burn solos came about and were constructed, I agree – Ritchie’s HS solo is an absolute revelation, and takes precedence over Jon’s turn (even though Jon did come up with the idea for the Bach-like progression). But Jon’s take on Burn is perhaps his best solo ever (even though I still have a soft spot for Hard Lovin’ Man) and is clearly the (as you said) “breathtaking” highlight of the song. Well…except for maybe Paicey’s drumming – I’ve always felt that Burn represents Little Ian at the top of his game. See, this is why Purple is who they are – Ritchie writes a killer riff and gives a stunning guitar solo on one of their most iconic songs, and there are two other contributions to the song that (IMHO) supersede him. Pretty high standards all around, I’d say.
February 20th, 2025 at 02:37My oppinion – it´s simply excellent. With honour to Ritchie and to the song, which is precious treasure in whole history of rocknroll. It inspires new and new generation of musicians, orifinal is truly collossal tune, absolutelly stunning after all these years.
February 20th, 2025 at 11:55Ohio George: No contest from me that Burn is Paicey‘s Purple tour de force, he doesn‘t have “a” solo in the song, he basically solos throughout – and brilliantly so.
Good observation on how Ritchie’s idea were elevated by the executions and contributions of other Purple members and how that is part of the band’s magic. That mostly didn’t work with Rainbow though Carey’s intro to Tarot Woman and Stone’s off-tangent chords during Ritchie’s solo in Gates of Babylon were exceptions from the Rainbow rule.
February 20th, 2025 at 13:20I prefer the Organ Solo on Made in Europe.
February 20th, 2025 at 13:21Would you believe that Coverdian @27 just had me look up the word ‘orifinal’? 😂 I thought it had something to do with orifice and was wondering whether we were discussing the virtues of anal sex yet again. 😑
Well, anyway, good that at least SOMEONE likes that solo. It’s technically well-played, I’ll give it that.
Coronarias, the MIE Jon solo in Burn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt8h2iipU_M
is no doubt nice too (@ 05:17), the way is ascends to the climax, but it’s a live solo as opposed to what Jon worked out in studio. Different worlds, he was good at both.
And that’s my orifinal word on the matter! 😉
February 20th, 2025 at 16:14Nothing more than aural masturbation. I’ll stick with the original, thank you very much😉
February 20th, 2025 at 16:32tout ceci est du bla bla et n’a aucun intérêt!
February 20th, 2025 at 17:12Don’t mess with the original.
February 20th, 2025 at 17:15Oral or aural? Oral masturbation would require some limber flexibility one would think, not that the young man playing the guitar would seem to be in lack of the necessary supple talent.
February 20th, 2025 at 17:40Mick Box talking recently in regards to retiring etc: “We can play in sixty-four countries, so [rock music] is still alive and well. But, for me, the business has changed so much, and not for the better. A lot of the individuality has gone. Too many bands look and sound the same. Guitarists go to college and spend two years learning how to play, but you can’t tell them apart. Back in the seventies, Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore and myself all had strong individual sounds. It was the sum of each musician that gave the bands their different flavours. Unfortunately, I don’t really see and hear that any more.”
February 20th, 2025 at 20:57You can’t improve on perfection.
Ritchie’s solo in Burn was exquisite and superlative. It matched the ambience of the song and complemented Jon’s keyboard solo perfectly.
To my ears, this new solo is just generic shredding with no stamp of the player’s individuality.
Just my twopence worth.
February 20th, 2025 at 23:20Uwe, RE: “orifinal” WTF? Its not in the OED or any other… please enlighten me.
February 20th, 2025 at 23:24Someone compiled his favorite Jon Lord solos here (HS is #1, Rat Bat Blue #2 and Burn #3), it‘s a nice trip down memory lane covering Mk I, II, III, IV & VII and they are of course all great.
https://youtu.be/juq9PWh0YWk
I would have likely chosen Rosa‘s Cantina as the Mk VII era song, here @02:39:
https://youtu.be/HVGKElEbl4Y
I love that song, to me it always sounded like IGB and PAL (the acronym bands among the split groups!) had met for a jam.
February 20th, 2025 at 23:39Sometimes music doesn’t need to go to the “next level”. The original level was just fine.
February 21st, 2025 at 01:41whilst admiring the technical brilliance on display (and ignoring the t-shirt) Ritchie’s genius was to take Fascinating Rhythm and turn the riff into a rock song and to create the solo. I’ve no idea who the widdler here is but has he ever created anything as memorable
February 21st, 2025 at 08:31TAFKADilligaf: ‘Orifinal’ is Coverdian’s accidental, yet creative mistype of ‘original’ – after all the f and g keys ares temptingly close together. But I – just like you – misconstrued it as the potential fruit of yet another dirty mind here! 😂
February 21st, 2025 at 14:54Uwe #38, that is indeed an interesting link. Regarding Rosa’s Cantina, I love it, and in many ways Jon’s contributions on Purpendicular are as strong as any of Purple’s albums – they are not always front and center, but virtually every song on the album would be significantly diminished without Jon’s work. True of any Purple album, but especially evident on Purpendicular, IMO.
That said, the deal with the Rosa solo is that it is essentially a jam on one chord instead of improvising over a riff or a chord progression. That can limit the quality of the solo in the hands of a lesser keyboardist. With Jon (and Don), obviously it’s not a problem. But the opportunities for exploration are inherently greater when you have more chords to work with. I’ve been a keyboard player for 70 years, and if given a choice I’d much rather work with a riff than a single chord. Essentially, it’s two different types of soloing.
As for the list, you can’t argue with the quality of any of the solos that were chosen. But for my money, any list of Jon Lord’s 13 best solos that ignores Hard Lovin’ Man borders on criminal. I can’t think offhand of any other keyboard solo in the entire rock canon that even approaches Jon’s masterful way of dancing over, under and around the base tonality of the song. That alone makes it unique; Jon always said it was one of the solos he was most proud of.
February 21st, 2025 at 16:03but why publish such useless things here?
February 21st, 2025 at 16:34🤷♂️
I want ‘Burn’ to be actually taken back in time to the ‘previous’ level and be played in Django Reinhardt style. Can anyone do that?
February 21st, 2025 at 18:40@ 42 – indeed Purpendicular is Jon Lord’s ‘swansong’ with Deep Purple. One of the reasons it is a special album to my ears. Proud to have that album in my DP collection. We do have to return to the early DP for his next ‘best’ work. Best meaning my favourite and I do like In Rock for similar reasons. Plenty of the good Lord on that one. WDWTWA is another one. Cheers.
February 21st, 2025 at 23:57Not quite Django Reinhardt, but they have re-Gershwined it nicely here, Fascinating Rhythm was written 1924 (50 years ahead of DP releasing Burn), this is how Burn might have sounded back then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXYS8zg1hEY
Fast forward to 1941 and you even have a tap dance routine to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veNXiv4kP-c
The Burn riff melody comes in @01:56 via the vocals.
And here’s a real gem: A recording from 1926 where George Gershwin actually plays the piano – from the original Broadway Musical ‘Lady Be Good’ [which incidentally had nothing to do with the 1941 film’s script, they just used some of the songs and the title of the Broadway musical to which Ira (George’s elder brother) & George Gershwin had written the words and music, respectively]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JxsgLIMT1Q
You hear the riff @0:39 as the chorus of the song sung as a duet sung by Fred & Adele Astaire.
The big dif to Ritchie’s take is that with Gershwin the melody is set to a major key backing – hence it sounds so jazzy-jaunty. The Man in Black, however, placed the riff before a minor key backing, that is why it sounds so dark and menacing.
It seems like Blackmore did not know whose melody he had picked up when he showed up in the rehearsal room with the Burn riff, but Jon recognized the origins immediately. Ritchie has never denied that it must have come from there, who knows, maybe he heard a version of Fascinating Rhythm, which became a Big Band classic of sorts, on the radio or saw it on TV as a youth in the early 60s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2eUF3sPL_w
Lots of different versions abound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwfwC0KHnVs
February 22nd, 2025 at 01:29Same guy as in the Burn organ solo … 😎
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlC3f6Issls
February 22nd, 2025 at 04:02@46 Thank you, Sir. Very enlightening and musically gorgeous.
February 22nd, 2025 at 19:15@32
Pourquoi lis-tu ceci alors ?😊☺️
February 25th, 2025 at 17:43@ 32 Touché…
February 26th, 2025 at 07:21The previous was meant for Karin not Francis… oops!!!
February 26th, 2025 at 07:23Russ has changed identities so many times (775x?) himself, he’s all confused now … 🤣
February 26th, 2025 at 19:34As to Lord input to DP songs – I know that no one (but me) likes Battle Rages On but one of best Jon works imo is his job in Solitaire.
February 27th, 2025 at 15:24Together with Anya, Solitaire is one of the few high points for me on TBRO, Stavik. And I agree that Jon did his best to make that album work – possibly in a vain attempt to get Ritchie and Big Ian back into being a functioning working team again. It’s not his fault that TBRO sounds so emotionally desolate to me, he was almost desperately battling against it.
TBRO is by no means musical shite, it is just so darn unhappy, forced and awkward:
– Blackmore losing interest (again) after having lost the battle for ultimate control of DP,
– Ian still unsure about his new role, hurt and insulted by feeling to have been “put on probation” by what he rightfully saw as his own band plus confronted with song material he mostly couldn’t relate to as he hadn’t witnessed its gestation,
– Jon, Little Ian and Roger soldiering on, doing their effing best TO MAKE THIS BETTER WORK, with Roger scrambling around to pick up the pieces from a discarded JoLT album to turn it into a local hero’s return for his buddy. All very valiant against all odds.
I never listen to the album with pleasure, but I always listen to it with great interest, it’s an almanac of Mk II’s last muffled roar. Happy if you like it though. I’ll probably give it another spin now .. thanks for reminding me.
February 27th, 2025 at 17:10Plenty of DP aficionados enjoy The Battle Rages On album, well at least half a dozen songs on it and that is enough to call it a good album. After S&M it was a pleasant relief indeed. Classic Mark II. A good song is Solitaire, strong in melody and a good arrangement and one of my favourites. Cheers.
February 27th, 2025 at 20:14@ 52 Like you never had a brain-fart. 😉
February 28th, 2025 at 06:48@56
A brain-fart?! Russ, thank you for teaching me new and meaningful words 😄
February 28th, 2025 at 15:51After Slaves & Masters TBRO was a relief for me. And it stood the test of time far better. Plus: the following tour was a triumphant crusade. Blackmore was on fire for the last shows he played. Stuttgart 1993 will always be remembered as one (if not the best) shows I have ever been lucky enough to attend. So the songs from TBRO sure are looked upon as positive here… I liked the live renditions. Pity A Twist in the Tale and Time to Kill fade out on the album even before they really get the chance to take off.
February 28th, 2025 at 16:48Slaves & Masters was a deviation/detour for me, but an interesting one (though JoLT was my least favorite Rainbow singer), I had my popcorm bag on my lap, I followed it with the inner conviction that Gillan would eventually return, I never believed he’d be gone for good. Let’s face it: Outside of DP his commercial fortunes have never been noteworthy*** except when earning good money with Sabbath. Similarly, to the majority of DP fans, he is the bands’s singer. Blackmore just never understood that.
***except in the Kingdom of Denmark where – one hears – he must have achieved vast sales numbers and established himself as a cultural icon
And when Gillan returned, I likewise did not believe that Ritchie would stay very much longer. He’s not a good loser. I was expecting Purple to implode in the aftermath of TBRO. Yes, there were magic gigs on that tour (but also mundane ones), but Blackmore was listless. He remained listless with the Doogie White-incarnation of Rainbow until that folded too. I think Blackmore came to the realization that he was damned to see stellar success only within DP, but that was not something he wanted to do anymore. And the repeated Rainbow experiences of no pots of gold being at the end of them led him to the realization of (i) If I no longer want to be with DP, and (ii) anything I do with Rainbow is just a pale shadow and forces me playing music similar to Purple under much less professional circumstances, (iii) then I might as well sod it and do something completely different – I don’t need the money anymore – that can work as a cottage industry and not require the machinations and overbearing management environment of a touring rock band. Enter a fair maiden from Long Island and a pair of tights! 🤗
March 1st, 2025 at 02:55You’re welcome Karin… Anything I can do to help you expand your vocabulary, you just let me know. I know lot’s of words like that and many of them are even more colorful. 🙂
March 1st, 2025 at 07:44@59
“except in the Kingdom of Denmark where – one hears – he must have achieved vast sales numbers and established himself as a cultural icon”
Now you got it sweetie!
It’s absolutely right!
Ian Gillan and his band Gillan, made an irreversible impact, that changed not only the Danish music scene forever, but also our own understanding of our nature as human beings, as well as the way we look at the world 😊
March 1st, 2025 at 13:22(And if there now please would be some Danes in here who would back me up, I’ll be forever grateful ❤️)
@ 59 – “Similarly, to the majority of DP fans, he (Gillan) is the bands’s singer. Blackmore just never understood that.” Blackmore understood that very well Uwe. You are letting the issues of personality differences get in the way of common logic. As much as it looks like that on the surface, it would not have been so. The problem with ego battles is that there is always one person who likes to eventually come out on top, no matter what. So we see the inevitable mind games taking there toll. Blackmore would have known this at the 1973 era, and again in 1989. Replace the vocalist, gives him a ‘victory’ of sorts. Just like Gillan’s return (1992) did for him & Blackmore’s eventual departure would have suited Gillan’s ego big time. We have also observed that in the following years with Gillan’s comments that he seems to think that matter at all to anyone in the public domain. But the sad ego rules doesn’t it, especially if it is in the public domain, the deliverer seems to falsely think they have done even more, so to speak. Blackmore isn’t a fool, he knew exactly what he was doing, even if it was to anyone else’s detriment, including his own.. Not a good situation for anyone, the ‘getting on top’ scenario. After all Blackmore also knew that the 1984 reunion would only ever have the main DP vocalist in it, didn’t he. I am still surprised that you thought Purple would implode after TBRO. I never thought that at all as it was obvious what was going down and the other lads in the band were rightfully fed up with it all. They had an axe to grind (hence those deplorable interview snippets on the CHOHW video). A point to prove probably sounds more correct. We noticed a worse case scenario with Pink Floyd post mr grumpy Roger Waters attempting ( he was always going to fail miserably) a court victory with the b(r)and name and continually slagging off the other guys in public for years to follow. A sad ego that one. At least Blackers didn’t ever do that with Purple when he departed both times, he just moved on. The best case scenario for all isn’t it, someone has to eventually walk away and no doubt Ian Gillan thought the same in 1973 and 1989. Cheers.
March 1st, 2025 at 21:57@ 58- you were incredibly fortunate to witness that 1993 Stuttgart concert Max. The band is on fire & Blackmore is possessed, in a glorious way. As much as I loved the reunion ’84 concerts in Sydney and they were fresh off the boat & we also had the George Harrison nostalgia cameo and all. However that gig in ’93 is on a higher level than any other level imaginable, especially since the glory of the early 70’s. I will actually watch some of that again today, Anya in particular. Magic does happen at times, rare and even rarer as time passes us by. There was still plenty of that energy around with a few bands during the 90’s and a little after the turn of the century. All gone now of course but that is ok. Thanks for the comment. Cheers.
March 1st, 2025 at 23:04@ Dear MacGregor, yes, lucky me….that night stays with me. Although I have seen some very memorable shows like the Royal Albert Hall concerto in 1999 Stuttgart will remain my personal fave. Couple of years in Ulm promoting Purpendicular the band were in very good shape and mood and I was so proud of them, they played funky and dug out songs they had never played plus half of the new album…but it wasn’t as magical because Steve Morse simply could not provide that sort of magic as far as I am concerned. The reuinion show in Mannheim 1985 was magical for being.the return of the chosen few…but the music and the sound did not reach a level like they did in 1993.
March 2nd, 2025 at 12:55What was your favourite DP moment? And: did I miss something? I havn’t seen footage of Stuttgart 93… I only know of the Birmingham video and the Stuttgart audio.
Cheers!
I disagree about Ritchie realizing/admitting to himself that IG is THE DP singer. For the longest time, Ritchie was of the opinion that any new formation of DP or Rainbow he creates would eclipse the previous line ups. He thought DC and Glen would be better than IG. I love them both, but in the hearts of most DP fans they weren’t. Same thing with the change to JLT which according to most DP fans (I’m an exception) was an unmitigated disaster. It doesn’t stop there: Blackmore broke up the Blackmore/Dio tandem in Rainbow – beloved by most Rainbow fans to this day. He then gets a force of nature singer like Bonnet only to let him go after just one album and look for and find JLT, technically a good singer, but not as individual and idiosyncratic as either Dio or Bonnet.
Blackmore is a disruptor – and more often than not that disruption did not lead to better music in a lasting way. The formation of Mk II was the one disruptive move he did that was fruitful in the long term, yet he put the axe to that line up repeatedly (and after only a few years – or less – every time).
I actually think that Ritchie fell out of love with Ian’s voice and the way he constructs vocal melodies in 1972 or so. All singers he implanted in either DP or Rainbow subsequently were more conventional, that seems to be Ritchie’s preference. Coverdale, Hughes, Dio, Bonnet, Turner, White, Romero and even Candice – there is not a single lead vocalist among them that pushed boundaries the way IG did. They are all on the conservative/conventional side of rock/pop performance, where Blackmore wanted and wants them to be.
Max, I was in Mannheim 1985 too! While not an inspired gig, it has marked historic relevance for Jon’s Hammond dropping out for much of the performance – with the result of him having to resort to playing hammering piano. Never have DP been as Elton John’y as on that gig. 😂 I really enjoyed it, thinking “Uwe, you’re witnessing something very special tonight!” DP without an organ sounded quite a bit different.
March 2nd, 2025 at 17:09@ 64 – Max, this is the one I watched a year or two ago. Anya @ 1.04.30 is special as it has that jam improv section in it. There are other great moments throughout the concert too. Gillan is a bit off at times vocally, but then again on other nights it could be Ritchie having an off night. Those two again eh? Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g__6p-mhg4&t=37s
March 2nd, 2025 at 21:30Yes, Stuttgart was a great gig (Frankfurt was almost as good, Mannheim was the pits), but to everyone building an altar around these two hours: IG and RB still go out of their way to not have to communicate with each other – Ritchie basically just plays to Roger and Jon – and more importantly even gigs like this did not give Blackmore second thoughts about jumping ship again, he just did. Which simply means that whatever that gig meant to us, it didn‘t mean it to him. Lest we forget: He had only agreed to IG‘s return for filthy lucre and and the promise of a major record deal for Rainbow. In his heart he had already signed out.
March 2nd, 2025 at 23:35Meet Elton John with Deep Purple: Jon‘s organ (which had been giving him issues right from the start of the Mannheim ‘85 gig) finally drops out completely at 20:40 during Gypsy‘s Kiss, the band continue without him for a while, by 21:40 he has regained his wits and plays the synchronized run with Ritchie on piano to then continue the verse accompaniment and his own “organ“ solo valiantly on piano as well. 😎
https://youtu.be/zIcv_h4_9FQ
March 3rd, 2025 at 01:17@ 58, 64 Living on the wrong side of Iron Curtain I had only one chance to see MK2 live.
March 3rd, 2025 at 15:3331-10-1993 Zabrze, one of last shows of MK2. A great one indeed, few minutes of it can be found on UT. After encores Ritchie stayed alone on the stage trying to shake hands with fans. I missed his hand maybe by 5 cm…
I can’t remember who said that average level of the show with Steve was higher than concerts with Ritchie but when he was in a mood to play – there was no comparison.
@66
Thanx a lot, Sir! I didn’t know there was a decent fan recording online to watch. Should be thrilling to relive that 2 hours some 30 years later… very much appreciated!
March 3rd, 2025 at 15:44Anya was stunning indeed. Not sure if I remember it or just know so from the cd …:-)
There is no argument: When Ritchie was hot, he was breathtakingly good.
Steve never dipped under a certain standard, he took his art too serious for that. When Blackers is displeased with himself, the audience or the band, he doesn’t give a shit about the performance anymore.
March 3rd, 2025 at 19:55@ 67 – “Yes, Stuttgart was a great gig (Frankfurt was almost as good, Mannheim was the pits), but to everyone building an altar around these two hours:” The alter was built in the early 1970’s and then resurrected in the mid 1980’s for anyone else to worship at. Management and or record company were sucking up to Ritchie and the band obviously in the 1992 era. They wanted that so called 25th anniversary didn’t they? That is what happens when you do that sort of thing, you can get taken for a ride. “Ritchie basically just plays to Roger and Jon – and more importantly even gigs like this did not give Blackmore second thoughts about jumping ship again, he just did.” He is playing within the band for the music at hand, what part of that do you not get Uwe. So what if he and Gillan cannot stand each other, tit for tat eh? Get the popcorn out! “Which simply means that whatever that gig meant to us, it didn‘t mean it to him.” Uhmmm, doesn’t that potentially happen at any concert, audience expectations and reactions usually differ from the artist performing wouldn’t you think. How many musicians can’t wait to get off stage after a concert and get the hell out of there, and that could be for any number of reasons. Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill, and I thought Hollywood was on the other side of the pond!” Beat it up all you like Uwe, everyone seems to be enjoying it, unless you had some form of insight into everyone’s minds that is and you know different. Concert attendees can be disappointed at times (most of us have been there) with any artist performing, it can happen, no one wants it to, but it does sometimes with any act performing live in concert. The expectation of it having to be a ‘certain’ way, it is fine line. When you purchase a ticket for an event, anything can happen despite what your expectations may be. It is what it is, or was in this case. Cheers.
March 3rd, 2025 at 20:22Gypsy’s Kiss, a fast song played even faster, too fast. Not to worry and yes the piano taking over from Jon Lord’s faulty organ. Keep it going no matter what. Sounds like Ian Gillan was more worried about his ‘organ’. Cheers.
March 4th, 2025 at 09:15Where have I denied that Stuttgart was special? It was. Even a dissatisfied Blackmore can still play impressively if he puts his mind to it. But a good gig doesn’t make DP Mk IIIc happy campers, they weren’t. And there is zero communication between RB and IG during that gig, not even an acknowledging smile once in a while. Regardless of the music, that is an unhealthy environment.
I saw two gigs on that tour – Frankfurt and Mannheim. You had to be blind not to realize that relations on stage were strained.
So for the record: DP played well in Sttuttgart and Blackmore showed devil may care inspiration. But nothing during that tour indicated that it would last. It wasn’t even intended to last, Blackmore wanted to take time off after the tour and restart Rainbow 🌈 to see where that might go (not very far as we all saw). And he and Gillan had not met once in the studio during the recording of TBRO, Blackers basically boycotted continuation in the recording process once record company, management and Roger, Jon & Little Ian had forced him to acquiesce into Big Ian returning (with an uncertain status for the latter). TBRO is a cut & paste job courtesy of Roger’s labors to accommodate the material to IG’s voice in the aftermath of its creation. And I hear that, I can even envisage how Joe or that Riot guy would have sung over it. Roger has said that it was the hardest production job for him on a DP album ever.
Now don’t tell that all that was normal – even by fractious DP standards. All I’m saying is that Blacker’s departure in 1993 came hardly as a surprise.
March 4th, 2025 at 16:15@73
Oh Macagregor, I LOVE ‘Gypsy’s kiss’, (René on the other hand can’t stand it, he leaves the room if I play that song, so I only listen in solitude or in my ear-thingies 😔)
In a live performance it seems like Ritchie has some difficulty keeping up with the tempo ☺️
https://youtu.be/UNacKTzsTw0?si=xf_x4G5Koy-nWBQc
No matter what, it is a lovely, wonderful tune 😃
And Ian’s roaring in the end 3:50 is breathtaking 🥰
Btw – a gentleman in here mentioned that Gypsy’s kiss supposedly should be a cockney translation of urine, but – even though I’m not saying it isn’t, the rest of the text in the song actually is about how gypsies lived and was treated 🥰
March 4th, 2025 at 16:19@ 74 – Most music lovers would go to a concert to enjoy the music wouldn’t they? They don’t go to watch people playing tiddlywinks. You clearly put far too much emphasis on the other things that are not musical. And you did NOT deny that Stuttgart was special, you implied that people think that that concert was how others were and that is what I commented on. Does the soap opera rubbish stop fans from buying tickets to concerts? No it doesn’t. Most DP aficionados at that time were very well aware of the tiddlywinks not being a favourite part the Blackmore and Gillan rubbish. It takes two to tango Uwe. Now back to the music, which is why most of us are here, not to watch Blackmore and Gillan throwing spaghetti at each other. Regarding TBRO album and songs, it worked out ok didn’t it? What is it supposed to sound like, a tea party or something. We have been here before regarding the angst in some musical ensembles that actually ‘helps’ create their ‘best’ work in many aspects. We often see this mentioned with reviews by other people who follow other artists. Now I am not saying that is necessarily a good thing, I am repeating myself again from years gone by. But with some, it seems to get the job done, whether it lasts much longer is another matter. Thom Panunzio co produced the album with Glover as we are all aware. The songs were re- arranged & with different lyrics etc to fit Gillan’s take on it all. That is what makes it a classic Mark II sounding album, not S&M Rainbow. You don’t like that TBRO album Uwe, we know that, however many others do, horses for courses again. THOBL album also has that angst to it and also WDWTWA. Time passes us by, and it really doesn’t matter anymore does it. All the band members survived it all. The music is still there though, thankfully. Cheers.
March 4th, 2025 at 21:08Make that Mk IIc rather than Mk IIIc @74, sorry!
March 4th, 2025 at 21:18@ 75 -Karin I really enjoy the song Gypsy’s Kiss too. They played it live in 1984 however I cannot remember if it was played THAT fast. The 1993 version I heard yesterday sounded like it was about to trip over itself. Even Ian Gillan seemed to be trying hard to keep up vocally and he wrote the lyrics to it and what wonderful lyrics they are. The fast song on a DP album began, well it became in that Rainbow & Gillan band format a set thing with the reunion of 1984. One song on each album: Gypsy’s Kiss, Dead or Alive and Twist in the Tail. I like it, just one song though. There is even one on Purpendicular “Hey Cisco”. I guess that gets poor ole Ritchie off the hook as he wasn’t there then. However Steve Morse does have a few instrumentals in that vein on his pre Deep Purple era albums, so no surprises there. Ian Paice possibly played a few on his live appearances with Gary Moore before the DP reunion, so at least he was ready for the onslaught that followed. Cheers.
March 4th, 2025 at 22:07It started with Rainbow that Blackmore (egged on by Cozy Powell no doubt) developed that unfortunate habit of playing a lot of songs too fast, Tony Carey has mentioned on that too. I don’t know what he was trying to prove? Demonstrate energy and youthful vigor? I generally identify playing songs too fast with the inexperience and nervousness of garage bands. During the reunion phase he really ruined Child in Time’s middle shuffle part for me by having Paicey have to play it so darn fast that all the swing went out of it. Same with Lazy. The immortal words of the great Missourian Charles Edward Anderson Berry ring true:
“I have no kick against modern jazz
Unless they try to play it too darn fast
And change the beauty of the melody
Until they sound just like a symphony”
Remember, all of rock’n’roll is originally dance music.
Re comparing TBRO with THOBL, Herr MacGregor: The latter was experimental while the former sounded ungainly, there is a difference. TBRO is filled with song structures in Rainbow’s tardy Jealous Lover vein: Lick It Up, Talk About Love, Nasty Piece of Work and One Man’s Meat. Big Ian wasn’t inspired by them and you can hear it. A Time To Kill is throwaway, with IG so hapless at what to do with the song that he simply repeats what the guitar plays on the chorus, something Blackmore hated as JLT had created a different melody over it (one which by all accounts IG did not get – or want – to hear).
March 5th, 2025 at 14:42@78
You mention ‘Twist in the tail’, MacGregor – even this gem makes René looks like he has been transported into a time and place he really doesn’t like at all!
What can be done?
Faithfully I listen to whatever he presents to me, so I’m equally sorry and confused how he can think these wonderful songs are supposed to be oppressed 😐
Maybe I ought to approach the situation in another way…
Suggestions are accepted thankfully 🥰
March 5th, 2025 at 16:49@ 79 – Oh dear, the old chestnut, pull out a few songs and deliberately leave out the others. Lick It Up & One Man’s Meat, two of the worst examples of poor clichéd songwriting indeed. THOBL had a couple of those also, remember Mitzee? The bog standard blues with tardy lyrics, but I digress. We hear that on many albums by ex Purple members. Meaning Rainbow, Gillan and Whitesnake. Who wrote the lyrics and re named these songs on TBRO Uwe and the melody would have changed somewhat too me thinks. However what about those other songs? The title track a killer indeed and Anya still gets played live today and that says a lot. Nasty Piece of Work is classic Gillan and A Twist in The Tail also hinges on that style. Solitaire and Talk About Love are good rock songs, Gillan feigning JLT, well I never! I am not here to attempt to sway your flavour of the month at all. When you have a dislike for something, it will never improve will it, that is ok though, we all have music that grates us and annoys us beyond all annoyance. Now in regards to the ‘alleged’ comparison between TBRO and THOBL, well enough said there. The ‘comparison’ was in regards to the ‘angst’ issue, remember that one? WDWTWA was also mentioned in that vein. The Gillan band were just as responsible for the ‘fast’ songs too, don’t leave out the protagonist Uwe, it looks one sided old son. Both of those bands, Rainbow and Gillan influenced the reunion Deep Purple significantly and that was never a surprise to me and no doubt many others. JLT an influence too, well I had better tip my hat to the old boy then, hadn’t I? Cheers.
March 5th, 2025 at 20:13GILLAN played songs they had recorded ultra-fast in the studio ultra-fast live – I have no issues with that. Rainbow, however, rushed mid tempo songs from the studio to death live. Every band plays live a bit faster than in the studio, but Rainbow sometimes lost might doing so excessively.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQOwOVzyaw
The song loses grandeur when you play it like that, it becomes jaunty. The band is also a little sloppy if I may say so.
Let’s not even talk about what Cozy did here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU5ECC57Ul8
For all his undeniable charisma, he sometimes wasn’t a very good or reliable mid tempo drummer. His timing, btw, is all over the place here.
But he’s still better than John Sykes in that recording who must have been busy curling his hair when “keeping time” was taught in music school. 😁 It is how I remember him from the one gig I saw him with WS, over-excited puppy peeing on the rug and rushing the beat to the extent of sometimes losing time.
March 5th, 2025 at 21:01@ 80- I understand why people don’t like fast rock music Karin or indeed the faster up tempo pace in any genre of music. It is that adrenaline related thing & usually associated with youthful energy. However the faster the music the less melody it will have, so it does leave a lot to be desired in many aspects. I don’t like most of it either and I have to be in a heavy rock ‘n roll mood to enjoy the little bits I do enjoy. Otherwise there isn’t a lot of it in my music collection. I did learn the hard way when younger playing the drums at local jam sessions. Starting off at a frantic pace was a big mistake. Stamina becomes a crucial issue after a couple of minutes, (Uwe, keep this in a musical context please) and everyone else seemed to be able to keep going much longer than I could, so I quickly learnt to control my adrenaline in those situations. Some sessions there were a few other drummers there to take over at different times, giving each other a rest of sorts. It was all very loud and over the top in many ways. Youthful vigour eh? Of course we always blamed those pesky lead guitarists and their loud amplifiers and heavy metal influences. Cheers.
March 5th, 2025 at 21:35@83
You’re spot on why René doesn’t like ‘Gypsy’s kiss’ and ‘Twist in the tale’
His explanations are the same you give here.
“Uwe, keep this in a musical context please” – 😄 you could also ask the sun to stop shining! Or the water to run downwards!
March 6th, 2025 at 07:52“Stamina becomes a crucial issue after a couple of minutes, (Uwe, keep this in a musical context please) …”
It would be a stiff one to comment on that with the usual durable elasticity of my creative mind. 😇
The Danish woman provoked me. 😑
March 6th, 2025 at 15:15@85
“The Danish woman provoked me. 😑”
Well excuse me (still completely confused because of all the innuendos 😰)
March 6th, 2025 at 20:59