Did Steve Morse 'Sell Out' by joining Deep Purple?

It does pay Morse a compliment to say "Purple" is him selling out, sort of like Holdsworth with Tempest or UK, Halsall with Patto, Vai with Alcatrazz, Roth, and Whitesnake, etc., It is unfortunate that virtuosity has painted itself into a corner of irrelevance.

 

How I wish they were coming to Toronto. I hold out faint hope for Jazzfest season...

 

Vai has, for over two decades now, been completely independent. Satriani didn't do Chickenfoot because he needed a paycheck, and Eric Johnson hasn't had to play in someone else's band since the 70s.

Virtuosity is completely relevant. It is just that for a brief time, it was mainstream (Winger, extreme, Mr. Big, etc.). It no longer is, but it is still there.

 

Nice to read a level headed comment.

 

Yeah, I would date relevance as early as the 50s with Mickey Baker, Cliff Gallup, Joe Maphis, Chet Atkins, etc., Through the 60s, 70s with the usual suspects mentioned here and more, and dying with hair/pop metal. IT got silly and empty. Nowadays, I'll stick to my guns and say I 'll say its irrelevant, Vai, Satriani, etc., communicate to smaller and smaller audiences than Hendrix, Page, Beck, Fripp, etc., (and even the 50s players)reached. It doesn't drive the music, it's not the forefront or cutting edge, maybe a curio at best.

 

Why wouldn’t the set list of their co-headlining tour of the US be relevant? They’ve been around for 50 years. They were closing the show every night. Surely they could play whatever the hell they wanted to play. You know why it’s a sell out? Because Ian Gillan insisted that this band had to be the band that represented them at the RnR HOF, and yet they still play the vast majority of their live set from a 3 1/2 period that happened 4 1/2 decades ago, and the two most vital parts of that band aren’t even around.

 

I guess we know why the Stones went with Ronnie Wood over Derek Bailey after Mick Taylor was out...

 

Barely listenable or not Bailey's free-improv approach would have gotten swiftly adapted if he had got that gig. Think of Keith Rowe's (of AMM fame) "sell-out" in the late 70s Amalgam when he ditched his guitar preparations for a ballsy fusioney hard-rock. And it worked.

I think that Derek would have given the band a wholly new identity and brought fresh audience to their concerts. I can perfectly imagine Bailey's Purple headlining a SONAR-like festival, with Fennesz re-mixing their live set on the fly, and Eugene Chadbourne sitting in for the closing 25-minute long free-country-blues deconstruction of Anyone's Daughter. I'd have been sitting in the first row to experience that!

 

And yet here we are talking about a virtuoso taking over the lead role in a classic rock band where the former guitarist, though living, is far less relevant. Hendrix is long dead, Page hasn't done much of value in 20+ years, Beck was last cutting edge in the 70s, and Fripp... well, he's Fripp.

Vai's albums still continue to push the envelope. I'm sorry, but only a person who hasn't heard them would say otherwise.

 

He stays for the money, not to be "challenged". He can be challenged at his no Deep Purple no money gigs that he plays because he wants to play. If he had millions in the bank then he would not be in Deep Purple. He's lucky he got the gig and I'm happy for him.

 

That's probable but I give him the benefit of the doubt that he actually gets something musically out of it.

 

"Reactivating the Dixie Dregs."

Yeah, and aren't they just playing stuff from the first album?

Do they play Smoke On The Water every gig?

 

I'll let you all talk about selling out...I just wanted to say that what he is able to do at about 55 seconds in is just insane. If you're a guitarist then you might be able to grasp how near-impossible this is to do pull off. One note per string alternate picked arpeggios.

 

Nobody is questioning his ability as a guitarist here. If anything, they’re giving him tons of cred as a technician thus the “sell out” question. I think everybody realizes he’s a unique talent on the instrument.

 

To be fair someone earlier in the thread made the claim that Steve Morse wasn't nearly as good as Joe Satriani. As a long time guitarist myself I personally am going to exclaim extreme POPPYCOCK to this sentiment. To me, not only is Morse better than Satriani in both feel and technique, but he's a lot more versatile as a player than Satriani. Satriani can't play the advance bluegrass chicken-pickin' stuff that Morse does. Morse gives guitarists of many styles a run for their money...similar to Steve Howe (but with better technique). I happen to think that Morse is better than Blackmore as well (though maybe not as influential).

 

I thought the earlier reference was to Satriani being a better songwriter, not player. And IMO, that is pretty hard to argue against.

 

I will be in the minority but at this point I would much rather listen to the songs from the albums with Steve Morse than the older stuff anyway. I think selling out would have been trying to reunite with Blackmore. I prefer Steve's playing anyway.

 

I must have missed that claim. Sorry.

 

Sellout? No!

I saw Deep Purple not too long ago for the first time. They were excellent. Solid show and great group performance.
Morse did a great job.

 

Hello,

A little Deep Purple history would reveal that the band was originally intended to be called Roundabout, with the intention of players joining & leaving as wanted or needed. Of course with the success found with the Mk-II line-up, they kept it together for around 4-years, with Ian Gillan handing in his resignation around 18-months before he left. Most bands & their incarnations in those times were lucky to stay together for more than a couple of years.

A1. Many musicians have passed through the band. I'm sure that if Steve, or Don weren't having fun enjoying themselves, they would move on. But they're all having fun & good-times together, & the music, especially for the current time frame is better than ever. You don't produce No.1 sellers for making shyte.

A2. Steve came into prominence in the mid-70's with the Dixie Dregs. And like Tommy Bolin before him, was contractually allowed to have both his solo-career as well as DP's.

A3. I've heard Steve play stuff that's beyond the reach of most people to appreciate, just like instrumental jazz can be for most folks. He's a far better guitarist in an imaginative & even technical way than Blackmore could ever hope to be. But there' no doubt from a historical point of view that Blackmore was the right man for the times, & Blackmore maintained the Roundabout approach for a constant change in musicians, aka Rainbow & their line-ups.

IMO, Ritchie Blackmore stopped growing & expanding as a musician by the mid-1980's & was detrimental to the well-being of the band, so that's one reason why he left. Steve Morse by contrast has lifted the band in a creative sense that Blackmore would / could never achieve.

As an example, when you listen to Steve Morse play, it's always new, different & exciting. When you listen to Blackmore, it's pretty much the same thing over & over.

It's a tough life providing for your family living & working as a musician. DP is certainly a trade-name, but if the quality of the music wasn't there, they wouldn't exist.

We're very lucky to still have DP, & still be receiving great music. Better to appreciate what we have, than what we may not have had. I feel that generations in the future that listen to DP will find that Steve was by far a greater "musician" than Ritchie. Don Airey was Jon Lords recommended replacement. Enough said about that one.

It's only natural to speculate & criticize, but DP won't be around too much longer IMO, ( time & age will end-the-deal ), so we'll all better appreciate the current & previous line-ups offerings when that time comes.

Cheers,

Gregster

 

Indeed.
Great post, Gregster.

 

I should have left out the "never even thought of" bit.....
Blackmore is a great player, and I'm a big fan of his...
I was being defensive of Morse, who actually I'm a lesser fan of.....
I do think Morse is better technically overall, and is melodic, original.
I admire Morse's lack of reliance on hammer on technique, picking every note often.
This was not meant to slight Ritchie, bad choice of works on my part.
As a fellow player who doesn't even enter their ballpark of skill,
I was trying to keep it real.. I respect arguments that Morse is the wrong guitar player for DP,
but not ones trying to say he sucks..

I would make a similar analogy for Moore/Schenker in UFO..... but only because of the impossible speed licks Moore pulls off. Both are so melodic, but I give the edge to Michael.

 

Thanks

Come on.

 

Hell no.

 

The OPs original comment is a bit misleading, as he did not "give up" anything, he's been putting out more stuff under his and a variety of band names since he joined DP than he did before...

Steve Morse

Living Loud
Flying Colors
Dregs
Steve Morse
Steve Morse and Sarah Spencer
Steve Morse Band

So maybe having the bread from a steady summer tour season gig and increased International profile actually freed him up to do more projects and not have to have a day job...