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"Reflections" |
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In the early Summer of 1973... I successfully auditoned for the position as singer with one of the most popular rock bands in the world at that time...Deep Purple...Ahh...'t'was the stuff of dreams, I tell ya...or, at least, a publicity agent's dreams...A true 'rags to riches' story...I had gone from being a 21 year old singer with a semi professional local band in the North of England...I had never even made a commercial record...or played a gig more than 50 miles from where I was born...to fronting one of the biggest bands on the planet... It had been a mind-numbing whirlwind of activity for me from the moment I had been sitting After all...I had opened for Deep Purple several years before at a Sheffield University gig...just after Roger Glover and Ian Gillan had joined, and as I remember it...Jon Lord had been impressed enough with me to ask for my address...and promised he would be in touch if things with Ian didn't work out...I also remember Ian Gillan complimenting me...and saying it was a pity how bad my PA system sounded...er...thanks, Ian...
My first move was to call my friend, and local group manager, Roger Barker who also booked the bands in our local concert hall...Redcar Jazz Club...He had booked Purple several times over the years, and I thought he could help put me in touch with their management office...Well...after laughing for a while he finally said..."You're serious, aren't you???"...Then he offered to see what he could do... I also remember sharing my plans with my dear friend Tony Z, who blurted out..."But, you can't replace him...he was Jesus Christ!!!"...referring to Mr. Gillan's role as the Messiah in the original recording of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical 'Jesus Christ...Superstar'...I assured Tony I had no immediate plans of trying to become the new Redeemer...Mmmm...as if I wasn't intimidated enough... Of course the Purple office insisted I send a a demo of my
singing...and a photograph of The other off-putting thing was that it had recently been announced that Glenn Hughes had been confirmed as the new bass player/singer...so, I dutifully bought 'You Are The Music...We're Just The Band' by Glenn's band Trapeze to check out his pipes...and was duly mortified!!!...Yes...Mr. Hughes was an extraordinarily gifted singer...Oh...dear...My girlfriend at the time gave me a look that more or less said I may as well forget it!!! The next thing was Roger Barker going nuts telling me I was on for an audition and that he was going to take time off work to drive me down to London...It was to take place at Scorpio Sound on Marylebone Rd...just under what was then Capitol Radio... I sneaked a large bottle of Bells...(Afore Ye Go)...whiskey in my travel bag...although Roger found it before the audition, and hid it so I wouldn't go overboard...However...as anyone who knows my nose, knows...I can sniff out duh booze even if it's buried under concrete...So...I found it...and commenced to sneak a bit here and there... Well...it was a rather nerve wracking experience!!! Paicey and Lordy were already at the studio when I
arrived...Mr. Lord was exceptionally charming and welcoming, doing his best to put me at ease...whilst Ian messed around on his Ludwig drumkit...Ritchie arrived next with his then wife, Babs, and their two wolfhounds...whom Ritchie obviously doted on...He completely ignored me, other than a quick surreptitious look to check me out...a brief nod when we made eye contact...Without missing a beat I was off to the whiskey for a quick, nervous sip...er...make that a gulp!!! I had borrowed...(ahem)...what I thought were some 'cool' clothes from the shop I worked at in Redcar...a rather colourful shirt...a pair of Falmers brushed denim jeans...A pair of two tone clunky platform shoes...(all hopelessly out of fashion, I discovered later)...and...most embarrasing to recall...a modest moustache which I had to...er...'touch up' with mascara I'd borrowed from me Mam...(I thought it made me look terribly mature and 'butch')...Actually, it looked more like a caterpillar asleep on my top lip...My God...it's a wonder I was allowed through the bloody door!!! Glenn was late...and came tumbling into the studio with all his bag and baggage...Sunglasses falling off...laughing like a madman!!!...Ahh...this is a bit better, I thought...He apologised to everyone for being late...then proceeded to take his beautiful red Rickenbacker bass out of it's case... Glenn was one of the most natural musicians I've ever worked with...I never, ever saw him practice...When it came time to work...he simply picked up his instrument, and played flawlessly...Every time... I had actually borrowed a couple of their albums to learn a song or two for the audition...but, this...this was right up my alley...I loved jamming...Improvising as I go...and I am pretty good at it, if I say so myself... Afterwards we all sat around drinking and chatting lightheartedly until it felt appropriate to call it a night... The band asked me to stay overnight in London and meet with the Purple management the next day..."Oh, yes"...whispered Roger Barker..."I think you may be in, ol', son!!!"...OMIGOD...could this be it??? This one memory sticks in my mind...He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out some cash...peeled off exactly 50 pounds...thrust it at me...and told me to go and get a hair 'style'...(my hair at that time was very long and somewhat unruly)...and buy some new clothes...(what was wrong with the one's I had on???)...How terribly generous, I thought...I got a cab to the King's Rd, where I spent most of the...er...'loan' on a haircut at 'Scissors'...and decided to keep the rest...It occured to me that he didn't really know how much it cost to be in 'style' these days...I was from Yorkshire...but, even I knew it was going to cost more than 50 quid!!! If memory serves it was almost a week before I heard from the DP management...My girlfriend who worked as the personal secretary of the aforementioned Tony Z...and his office, which at that time was a few doors down from my apartment...came running in very excitedly telling me that Tony Edwards, one of the managers of Deep Purple was calling me...(Tony Z had graciously allowed me to give his office numbers to Purple as I didn't have a phone)... "So, David...how are you???"...Tony Edwards asked... "Er...fine, Tony, thanks...er...How are you???" There began an appalling game of cat and mouse, perpetrated by Mr. Edwards...padding out the conversation 'til I could hardly stand it... "How's the weather up there???" "Arrrggghhh!!!" ...For God's sake, Tony...GET TO THE POINT!!! He must have realised he was pushing it by going too far with his little bit of fun at my expense... "Oh...by the way...the boys have asked me to tell you...you're in...How soon can you get down to London???"
"I'll have to call you back!!!"...I slammed the phone down...Tony Z was offering me a glass of Glenfiddich...for either result...Commiserating...or celebrating..."I'M IN!!!" I yelled..."I'm in Deep Bloody Purple!!!"...and drank the large glass of golden elixir in one glorious gulp... I'd promised my good friend and mentor, Tony Zivanaris, that I wouldn't sign anything 'til he and his lawyers had looked everything over...So, innocently I said OK...I'll take them home with me to read through...
Ritchie Blackmore lived in quite a suburban, middle class community called Camberley, in Surrey...outside London...in a large house called 'Blockhutte' with his wife Babs, and his two beloved dogs...Stroiky was one, I recall, as Ritchie had written an instrumental about him...The other one was called...er...'Dennis'...or 'Barry' or something???...Mmm...the memory fails on that one...but, I distinctly remember lovely Babs Blackmore bringing us endless trays of Wensleydale or Cheshire cheese, pumpernickel and Branston pickle to fuel our creative juices...and it worked!!! Ritchie worked on a Revox reel to reel recorder...He knew how to double and triple track his song ideas, so, they were very full sounding and 'pleasing' to the ear when he played his demos to me...(ultimately, he used to take his tape deck with him to use during live shows to create a tape delay on his guitar sound...thus fuelling a rumour that he wasn't actually playing 'live'...which, of course, he was...) He also had a German beer cellar built at home!!!...Oh, yes...that's more like it...Have yer own pub on your own premises!!!...Not too shabby, Mr. Blackmore...So, as you can imagine...we adjourned there quite a lot to...er...'write'....(ahem)... I remember thinking how irritating it was that his phone never seemed to stop ringing...and I made up my mind to avoid having one of those 'instruments of the devil' in my home for as long as I could... Glenn arrived in his new Rover saloon, which he'd treated himself to on getting the job with Purple... The guys had been understandably blown away by Glenn's perfomance with his band, the very excellent 'Trapeze', enough to lure him away to join Purple...but, Ritchie had insisted on still having a 'frontman, lead vocalist' with a more 'manly' voice...(Ritchie's words)...which, as you can imagine, definately rankled Glenn, but, Ritchie's word was law in those days...(I'm delighted to say!!!)... Glenn and I spent more time hanging out in the Top Deck club downstairs than actually working!!!...But, we certainly had fun...and started to 'bond', as they say...A warm friendship that still exists today... We set up in the crypt of the castle...(cue the spooky music)...or, at least the skeleton Purple crew set everything up...the adorable Baz Marshall, the unforgettable Magnet, and Ritchie's guitar tech, the loveable and much missed Ron Quinton...and a guy named Colin Hart, with whom I was to have an unfortunate 'run-in' with pretty much immediately...and which led to his rather speedy departure... Jon Lord was a few days late in coming down to the castle...but, had called Ritchie to ask how things were going...and how was the new boy shaping up...Fine, says Ritchie...but, he
hasn't sang a bloody note yet!!! That would all change once the amiable Mr Lord came in...We had all gone out for an assortment of alcoholic beverages at the local pub in Clearwell...and on our inebriated return, Jon and I jammed on Beatles songs in the crypt...Ahh...'Dutch Courage'...a fine brew!!!...It was then I was introduced to how extraordinary Jon Lord was as a musician...The unique chord inversions he played to familiar Beatles songs blew me away...and inspired me to sing...and sing some more!!!...Thank you, Jon...for coming to my rescue the second time...I will never forget you or your generosity... |
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