Swedish rock legend Jerry Williams has passed away. Born in 1942, he became famous with Jerry Williams & The Violents in the early 1960s and he remained a working artist all his life. Not sure how far his fame reached but he was a true survivor and a Swedish Icon.
…
It was 50 years ago this month that the first version of Deep Purple were formed. Technically the band was still called Roundabout after the aborted first moves towards forming a band in 1967 with Jon Lord, Ritchie Blackmore and Chris Curtis. The group had a management team (HEC) that believed in Lord and Blackmore and Nick Simper was brought in from The Flowerpot Men (that had also featured Lord, they left in late February) for putting the project together in a Georgian Farmhouse called Deeves Hall in Ridge (Hertfordshire). The designated drummer was Bobby Woodman. Terry Reid and Ian Gillan (!) were both offered the job as vocalist but both turned it down (Gillan still had high hopes for Episode Six). An ad was put in Melody Maker for a vocalist and some time was spent checking out hopefuls. Rod Evans fitted in well and was offered the job. Woodman was not happy about the choice and was consequently the first guy to get the boot as drummer Ian Paice (also a member of Rod Evans band The Maze) auditioned behind his back. Suddenly, by the end of March, they had a functioning unit. When the name came up they discussed changing it and when Blackmore suggested Deep Purple he was initially shot down in flames. The idea would not be accepted for some time yet. Producer Derek Lawrence popped up one day and offered his services, which would mean a US deal. Decca had already shown interest, it was all coming together (as we all know, Derek won the fight). Songs were written and gigs were booked for April in Denmark and Sweden, still billed as Roundabout. During this trek, discussions came up again and this time Deep Purple was decided upon, beating Concrete God. In May, Deep Purple would enter a London studio to cut the first album.
Good days.
…
This is interesting. The surviving members of Led Zeppelin has worked on a book – the one and only – that will give the world their side of what went down back in the day. “Led Zeppelin” will be published in October by Reel Art Press. 368 pages.
Nice.
…
Here is a nice anniversary for you. David Coverdale released his second solo album (after having quit Deep Purple in March 1976) “Northwinds” in March 1978. At that point his contract with Deep Purple expired (meaning he could do gigs again) and he was right out the door with his own band, that would soon enough morph into Whitesnake. It did not take long before Jon Lord was sucked in and the rest is history. I feel that his early solo work is largely forgotten but those records has some of his finest moments as a vocalist/songwriter on them.
(Seen here is full page UK press ad and album cover)
…
I just saw the 2017 film (documentary) “Superswede” by director Henrik Jansson-Schweizer. It took my breath away, it is like being trapped inside an emotional rollercoaster and you know how it is going to end. Ronnie Peterson was the greatest Swedish Formula One driver that ever lived and also one of the all time greats that the world has ever seen. He was also a very nice guy. To me and my friends back in the day, he was somebody to look up to, to be proud of. A hero of sorts. I recall that when news broke that he had died in 1978, a lot of people cried. Certainly at my school. It was very emotional. To see such a well put together documentary now (and it stars legendary drivers like Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sir Jackie Stewart and others), with all the highs and the lows, it drains you on a certain level. This is how you know that you have seen something good, something worthwhile. Ronnie was living the dream. Right on the edge.
On a lighter note, fans of Deep Purple will enjoy seeing that a good chunk of “Speed King” from the “In Rock” album is featured about 20 minutes into this film. Again, another soundbyte of my life…
(Thank you Kalle for pointing me to this)
…
Well the 2015 Sakura Gakuin “Graduation” book has arrived and what you have here is pictures from 2010-2015 with highlights on Moa Kikuchi, Yui Mizuno, Hana Taguchi and Yunano Notsy. They left Sakura Gakuin in March 2015 and so this book is largely dedicated to them. You get one page of old school (no pun intended) Babymetal from the early days – leaving out the triumphs of selling out Budokan twice and touring the States and Europe – but my guess is that since Babymetal was not strictly a Sakura Gakuin project anymore it simply did not belong in this book. However, for fans of Babymetal the contents within these pages is all still great fun to behold. It was a wonderful thing. And it did give us Babymetal.
(My image of said book – thank you Kalle San for your help)
…
I have been listening to the new Judas Priest album “Firepower” now for a few days and it is a top notch product. You have to go back to the 1980s to find them in this kind of shape. Rob Halford sings like a dream, the guitars are melodic and fierce and then there is the drums. Never been better. Is it the production then? Could be, but the songs are all good too, there are no filler tracks here. I have to say that listening to this record is easy, joyful and delightful. This is perfect Priest, cruising into the sunset like champions. Even the cover (by Claudio Bergamin) is right up there.
Buy it now!
…
I blogged about this 2013 Sakura Gakuin book a couple of weeks ago. Pretty sure now that the “Graduation” book was signed by Suzuka Nakamoto herself although I still need details. Here is a snapshot of that particular page. Now this could be in print, but it looks real to me. Also, I have heard talk about these Sakura Gakuin books having autographs within them, making them just a little more special. Or in this case, incredibly special. Well Su, if you see this, know that this copy is safe in Östersund, Sweden.
Babymetal rules.
(My image from said book, cover inserted)
…
Today is the first Anniversary of me being a devoted fan of Babymetal. I added the first blog post about them on March 9 last year and you can watch the sudden interest blossom on the blog – today you will find many blog posts about them here. It has been a wonderful journey to have experienced their music (and especially the live DVDs), not to mention their superb history. One that can never be replicated. In the last few days I dived into the old collection some more and found an additional four magazines with Babymetal content from before I took notice of them. The worst example of me missing the boat was the two page article I found inside the pages of Classic Rock (issue) 215 (published in October 2015). I do recall reading this article back in the day, but for some reason I did not check them out on YouTube. I kick myself for this now but there you go. At least it has been a wonderful ride for the last year and that is something to be grateful for. And I am. Also, the reason I checked them out on YouTube on March 9 last year was the fact that the “Gimme Chocolate!!” video I saw listed had some 68,000,000 views. Well, now it is closing in on 85,000,000. Imagine that!
(My image of Classic Rock 215 spread)
…
trinkelbonker 