KevB

Deep Purple without Gillan Gillan without Deep Purple

Just when I thought I'd heard all of those early 70's heavy psych/rock with touches of prog I happened upon this band from Finland no less. There's harmonica, flute and sax chucked in at times with strong guitar and bass as a foundation. Apparently its quite rare which probably means it didnt sell very well but I really liked it. Stop laughing at the back over the title or it's detention.

Not saying it's my favourite necessarily but I still remember watching this as it was broadcast and being quite mesmerised.

It's the musical equivalent of some blokes buying a Harley when they get to a certain age.

Lighting man was Curry Grant.... or 'Jammy bast@rd' as I refer to him.

Don't know about specific songs but Joni had an album called Mingus so could claim that a bass player has had a whole album dedicated 😉

There weren't any in 1985 though. I'll have to make time to reacquaint myself with it. 😃

I remember getting the sheet music book of this album from the library when I was trying to teach myself to play. Coincidentally Ruby Baby was the one that stuck out to me to learn. Totally forgotten any of it by now though.

Me and a mate went to see Styx at rock city which was far better than we expected, full show no problems. Both being Deep Purple fans we were delighted when Styx were added to the bill at a DP gig. It was 3 bands and Styx were in the middle. However there was a major technical issue after first band and in order that DP got their full allotted time it meant when the problem was fixed there was only time for Styx to do 3 songs and they weren't long ones either. Really felt for them, they were totally professional about it to be fair.

I like Greenslade too, but I wouldnt suggest Pentateuch as a good introduction to them which I think was the point being made.

Having not played vinyl for so long I forget about Out of the Blue since it fits into a single CD.

I guess the real acid test is which double albums do you still play all way through. I certainly do that for The Wall and War of the Worlds. Though it doesnt come round in rotation very oten I also do that for Ayreon's Into The Electric Castle but that's another story telling album that would sound odd if you left big chunks out.

Topographic Oceans failed all the way to No1 in the album chart and was the first UK album to be certified gold on pre sales alone. It was always going to divide opinion among fans and non fans alike. Personally I prefer sides 1 and 4 but I've known people who prefer 2 and 3 so what to leave out? I wouldn't edit out a note of either of the sides I like.

They were both influenced by Entwhistle to some extent too.

I don't do much recommendation stuff but based on your list, if you are not familiar with them then maybe worth checking out Pallas, especially The Sentinel album

Yes, of course they're all totally abstract and about goblins.... here's an excerpt from a yes song Julie's sick and tired of her job 'n all the reasons lately She took it out on God and laid her soul to hell and let the baby die Julie's child was born without a need or a reason for being She took it as a message from a real and distant life Shirley gets to help her with the child though she's strung out on crack time Shirley never knew what it was to be held in real love Together getting high to get to mess up their night Anything to get up so they're losing their mind Just to get high, breaking out from this life, gotta get them a drug to get higher

Can you point out which song he sings falsetto about goblins? Must have missed that one 😃

I didn't adjust the truss rods on either my P or J basses when I joined a band that played half a step down, seem to play and sound fine though obviously not gigged for ages now.

I think LL were the first 'proper' tribute band I ever saw, they must have been going some time now? The gig I saw was interesting as Brian Robertson turned up and played a couple of songs with them.

As an alternative to Drama and Fragile I'd actually go back and check where they came from with Time and a Word. OK, its their second album rather than the debut but since it doesn't have either Howe or Wakeman on it it's an interesting diversion. And the bass is massive on it due to a quirk in the mixing process (apparently). Rather jazzy in places but often overlooked IMHO.

If you've given it a decent shot and it's not for you then fine, move on. I stopped trying to turn people on to stuff I liked at least 25 years ago. Don't fall for the 'well if you like X you must like Z' either. I had a number of people pointing me at Radiohead and Muse back when they broke and I remain indifferent to either of them to this day.

In one of the bands, not only a better bass player than me but also a better drummer than the official one. Better singer than either of us. Still a mate though😄

Re King Crimson cover. Yes, give him a proper song and hopefully he won't ruin it. Let him do his own thing and it sounds like an outbreak of mice in a rubber band factory. each to their own though.

Obviously the good weather was a factor but it surprised me that during the time I was furloughed how little time I spent with music and really didn't miss it that much. I visited nearly 25 different bits of countryside/country parks etc, some of which although relatively local I'd not been to before. I've picked up the bass a few times, knowing full well from when I've between bands in the past and not practised much my playing goes south very dramatically and quite quickly (I'm not a natural at all, its all graft with me). Sure enough my playing is pretty awful to the point I wonder if I've reached a tipping point where I might consider selling up the gear and resign from the bands, both still mothballed. If the regulations get strict again for another long period or its on and off for another couple of years then I'll be pushing 60, a point where I've thought in the past would be a good time to spend doing a bit more of other things I enjoy away from music just as I found in lockdown. I'd be surprised if either of my current bands survived another full year of no gigs at all even though the other members of both still seem relatively positive at the moment (despite neither doing anything since about February, not even a rehearsal). If we ever get back to a true 'normal' gigging wise I might already be happily in self imposed semi retirement from music. I started later than most gigging players my age so maybe it's never ingrained itself as a full on lifestyle.

It's only a matter of time before the singer starts propping up lyric sheets on them ' just as a reminder, honest'.