Friday, August 19, 2011

Deep Purple "Phoenix Rising"


Everybody has an artist or band which excites them so much that they'll buy their album full of various fart noises, belches, etc. (Me?  I have several that qualify).  Deep Purple is one of mine.  As a 10-year-old, I was a fan of Hush, Help, and Kentucky Woman.  Then Ian Gillan joins on vocals and you get Child in Time, Space Truckin', Highway Star, and Woman From Tokyo.  Oh, yeah, and Smoke On The Water.  Then comes Lineup #3 (MKIII) with an unknown singer in David Coverdale, along with Glenn Hughes of Trapeze.  Maybe because I was a little older (16) and wiser (questionable), the two albums that followed, Burn and Stormbringer, were my favorites.  Then Ritchie Blackmore exits the band and Tommy Bolin steps in to fill what arguably could have been the biggest six-string shoes of the time.  Bolin had established himself with his work on Billy Cobham's "Spectrum" album and by also filling in for two albums with the James Gang after Joe Walsh left the band.  MKIV only produced one album, "Come Taste The Band", and it may be one of my Top 10 albums of ALL TIME!  Bolin was simultaneously working on his first solo release at the same time, pulling double duty in the studio.  Those of you who know me are aware of my passion for the work of TB, all of it.  He played uncredited leads on a couple of tracks by a Canadian band called Moxy.  He played with another jazz drummer, Alphonse Mouzon.  I own box sets, live albums, outtakes, etc..  So imagine the joy that filled my heart when I saw this DVD/CD release featuring live cuts from MKIV.  I already owned the CD of the rehearsals Deep Purple had after Bolin joined, culminating in many of the tracks on "Come Taste...".  So now I would possess a concert recording of one of the greatest, albeit brief, rock lineups ever in "Phoenix Rising." 

The disc opens with "Burn."  The only other live recording I can think of with an opening number of such power and energy was Grand Funk Railroad's "Caught In The Act" from 1975, which opened with "Footstompin' Music."  The next two tracks are from CTTB, one being "Love Child", written by Coverdale and Bolin.



Next is the obligatory "Smoke On The Water", but late in the song the band segues into a version of "Georgia On My Mind", sung by Hughes.  Blackmore would have never allowed that to happen!  Next comes a very good version of "Lazy" from Machine Head.  Then we get a track from Bolin's solo album, which is something that must have been agreed upon when he joined the band, one track a night on stage.  Following that is the closing track from the CTTB record, and the CD ends with a 9+ minute version of Stormbringer. 

For the faithful, like moi, this is a wonderful addition.  However, not all was rosy at the time of these recordings.  Bolin had become quite the heroin user, and it showed here, as his fretwork wasn't up to his capability.  However, this allowed the rest of the band to shine, especially Jon Lord and his keys, as he normally took a back seat to Blackmore's talents in the previous lineups.  Another fault was the attempt at Gillan screams by Coverdale and Hughes.  Ouch... No one could replicate that howl.  The only other downer was the version of "Smoke...Water".  It was downright painful as it was obvious that none of the new guys wanted to play it, but knew they had to. 

You could see and hear the development of Coverdale as a singer and songwriter.  He went on to have a nice career with Whitesnake, but do yourself a favor if you're a blues fan and search out any of the pre-Slide It In recordings (he even covered Bobby "Blue" Bland!).  And who knew that Hughes would survive his own drug demons to be the legend he is today, thirty-six years later (if you haven't heard Black Country Communion 2 yet, you're missing possibly one of the greatest rock/metal albums in years, post to follow soon).  Bolin recorded a second solo after DP broke up, and went out on tour supporting Jeff Beck.  I was a freshman at college, and a friend of mine had tickets to see the show in Tampa on a Sunday night, but I had my radio show on WPRK and opted against going.  We found out late that night that Tommy had died from an overdose the day before, just after the previous stop in Miami.  When I saw my buddy the next morning at breakfast, he had no idea that Bolin had died.  They made an announcement at the concert that he would not be appearing and the Jan Hammer Group played an extended set to cover.  Wow... I will never forget the look on my friend's face when we told him why.  Bolin was 25 years old. 

Deep Purple is now on its eighth edition, touring with a 38-piece orchestra.  Gillan, drummer Ian Paice (the one constant through all the various personnel changes), bassist Roger Glover (gone only during Hughes' three-record tenure), Don Airey on keys replacing the semi-retired Lord (who recently announced he is battling cancer), and Steve Morse on guitar.   Stilll quite the formidable group.  One report hints of a new album, another wonders why bother.  If it happens, I'll own it, even if resembles group flatulence. 

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