Deep Purple - Mark I - 5CD-Set "Hard Road" - July 2014

Nobody has them. Ok!

 

Lord, Blackmore and Paice didn't think so.

 

That is not true. Deep Purple knew if they wanted to get to the next level they needed a dominant frontman and approached Ian Gillan the second time. Gillan said he would join only if Roger Glover came with him which made Nick Simper expendable. Nick was one hell of a bass player and his firing had nothing to do with his playing.

 

From the In Rock remaster booklet:
The other three felt Rod wasn't really capable of fronting the louder more aggressive direction they wished to pursue, while Nick's bass playing was seen as a little old fashioned. Lord, Paice and Blackmore made the decision to sack them both - or at least, gave their managers the task - and find new players.

 

I'd file it under Undetermined. On the one hand, the official line is that Simper's bass playing was too old-fashioned, but Simper points to his work with Warhorse as evidence that he was more than able to handle the hard rock sound of Mk II Purple. On the other hand, listening to Simper's performances on all three Deep Purple Mk I albums seems to confirm that, at least in the context of Purple, his bass playing was pretty 60's. He did seemed to have turned a corner with Warhorse, but if all Lord/Paice/Blackmore had heard of him was what he did with Purple, you couldn't blame them for thinking that his style was somewhat antiquated. In conclusion, considering that Evans and Simper learned of their firing through the press, the real takeaway is probably that this band didn't really communicate very well and they had probably made up their minds to can Simper without really trying to find out if he was ready and willing to grow with them.

 

What I know for sure they wanted Evans out. And approached Ian Gillan twice. The first time Gillan declined. The second time Gillan accepted with a caveat Gillan wanted Glover as a package deal. That is the most logical scenario to my mind. But if they wanted Simper out that deal made it very easy to let Simper go.

 

I'm not familiar with Simper's work outside of Deep Purple, so I can't comment. I was only pointing out that they had never heard of Glover when they decided to get rid of Simper and Evans.

 

That's not right either! Glover knew Deep Purple before he joined them. He helped out Deep Purple with some session work before joining. So they Deep Purple knew Glover and he knew them.

 

I'm not sure what session work you are talking about. According to the official sources, when Gillan got the job, he recommended his Episode 6 buddy to them when he learned that they were looking for a bass player.

 

The band decided they needed to update their musical style from the pop-rock they had been playing into a heavier sound, and made a start on a début album but it was never finished. In June 1969 Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord came to see Episode Six play live in London, and then offered Gillan a job in Deep Purple. Glover helped Deep Purple out on a studio session and was also asked to join them. The pair helped Episode Six fulfill existing bookings in the short term, and then quit following their first gig with Deep Purple at the Speakeasy on 10 July.

 

I'd never really listened to DP Mk I until I got this set and the one thing that atruck me was that, while I can see that Evans' vocal style might not have worked with heavier material, the bass work on all three albums is really pretty darn good. If Simper was fired on the ground that his playing wasn't up to snuff then on the evidence that's not justifiable.

 

Simper always claimed he WAS the best bass player Purple ever had (his words), but it's not like Warhorse were doing anything radical or modern.

This sounds remarkably similar to Wring That Neck, but 3 years after the original.

 

Not quite so. Glover did not know any DP members till June 4th 1969 (Episode Six show in Ivy Lodge Club).On June 7th 1969 Glover and Gillan came to Jon Lord's flat to play him some songs they'd written. Same day Roger and Ian recorded "Hallelujah" with Deep Purple. Next day Glover accepted invitation and became DP member. There were no Glover's session works with DP before.

 

I never said Glover knew Deep Purple until June when Blackmore & Lord went to a Episode Six gig. The session work is the recording of " Hallelujah" which is before Glover Joined Deep Purple on July 10th. So what is not quite so? Glover did not officially join Deep Purple until July 10th 1969.

 

One track I'm curious about is "One More Rainy Day" from Shades. When Rod sings his lead vocals on this track are when I hear a crisp vocal sound. This may be due to the original tracking or mixing eq, as I don't often hear vocals sound like this on the rest of the new box set. Do the vocals sound exceptionally crisp with added treble to anyone, or has this track always had vocals that generally sound like this?

 

Those vocals have always sounded clear to me, probably as there is not a lot of Purple craziness going on in the background on that track.

 

Have you always felt that the vocals sounded excessively brighter on this track than on other tracks or have you felt that the vocals on this track were pretty much on par with the rest of the album, eq wise?

 

Not sure if they're brighter, but definitely much more upfront in the mix than on other "Shades" tracks.

 

As of today, Amazon UK dropped the price to £21.39

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KVKULVM

 

That's great, but I'm surprised that you haven't made any passing comments about the huge influence that The Monkees had on Deep Purple's first two albums.

 

All Mike Love.

 

Hard to resist at that price

 

Thanks for the heads up. I got a copy for about $4.00 more than that from a US seller. Still a good price either way.

 

I'll just park this here...

 

By the way, 'Emmaretta in stereo is AWESOME!!!
What a great song!