I recently received my pre-ordered download of Whitesnake’s The Purple Album, which is David Coverdale’s nod to his time in Deep Purple from 1974-1976. I’m not typically a fan of these things as they always feel like a cheap way to grab a quick buck from fans, but any time MK III and MK IV Deep Purple is pimped in this day and age, I have to support it.
I actually really enjoy hearing Coverdale and his band taking on these classic Purple tracks. They’re not so much covers as they are re-imaginings, which is not a unique concept in itself, but it sounds good in this particular instance. Especially “Sail Away”. That song, the original and this newer version, are amazing.
I’ve always loved Deep Purple’s many eras, and the arrival of Coverdale and Glenn Hughes in early 1974 ushered in an exciting era for the band, starting with Burn, moving along to Ritchie Blackmore’s swansong, Stormbringer, and the criminally underrated lone MK IV release, Come Taste The Band, with Tommy Bolin on guitar. 
Coverdale has been eager to revisit his time in Purple for some time now. A few years ago, before keyboardist Jon Lord passed away, Coverdale, Lord, Hughes and Blackmore spoke briefly of reuniting the MKIII lineup for some shows, but the talks – to my knowledge – never included drummer Ian Paice, and broke off once Lord was diagnosed with cancer, which would eventually take his life.
Coverdale and Hughes, in particular, still play these songs in their own respective groups, but this definitely feels like Coverdale’s ‘scratch-to-the-itch’ when it comes to Deep Purple.
Hearing these songs again has been really fun and it’s my hope that it motivates newer people to revisit those Purple albums. They’re phenomenal.
AN UNCOMFORTABLE PAST
Listening to this album though got me thinking of classic bands and the relationship some of them have with their extensive pasts. In particular, bands with multiple lead singers, eras, etc.
Immediately coming to mind are bands like Purple, Black Sabbath and Van Halen.
There’s really nothing more shocking for a band’s fans then when that band replaces the singer and keeps the band’s name. You can replace bass players and guitarists, keyboardists and other musicians, but singers are always sensitive switches.
Fans get divided into factions and the singers are almost always pitted against each other in the media. Things get nasty.
It hasn’t happened much in the internet age, but a few have delved into the realm – Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Thin Lizzy have done it to name a few, though Alice and Lizzy did it long after the original singers passed away, that unique angle can still bring up a lot of nasty feelings.
But in thinking of bands like Sabbath, Purple, and Van Halen, there’s a unity in their past plights – all three replaced their wildly popular frontmen relatively early in their careers and moved on to make landmark records without them, as well as not-so-landmark records.
Sabbath in particular has a very uncomfortable relationship with its history.
If you were to wonder over to Sabbath’s official website and check out the discography, you’ll be met with all of Sabbath’s albums, from 1970’s Black Sabbath all the way to… 1979’s Never Say Die?
Oh, pardon me.
They also included Iron Man: The Best of Black Sabbath, a disc which contains the exact same material as every other official Ozzy-era Sabbath compilation released throughout the years. How exciting! (Curiously, Sabbath’s Ozzy-fronted record, 13, is not listed. Likely due to lazy site managers.)
So, if you were a new fan and you wanted to learn Sabbath’s story, the band’s official statement on their 45 years of work is that they released those albums and… that was it!
No mention of the iconic, platinum-selling Ronnie James Dio-fronted records Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, or Dehumanizer, nothing on the Ian Gillan-fronted and “Spinal Tap”-inspiring Born Again record, or Glenn Hughes’ ill-fated Sabbath run, and, of course, not a whisper of Tony Martin’s reign as frontman in Sabbath, a reign rivaled in length only by Ozzy himself (seriously, someone start a Tony Martin-era Sabbath fan site. The guy needs love).
Even after Dio’s return to the fold in 2007, ushered in with the wildly successful compilation album Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, which ended with his tragic death in 2010, the band instantly regressed back to the hush-hush nature of the modern Ozzy-era. “Those other albums can exist, but they’re not to be seen or heard.” Ridiculous.
In the case of Van Halen, the ‘David Lee Roth vs. Sammy Hagar’ war is ongoing and seemingly everlasting. It even managed to swallow bassist Michael Anthony.
As Van Halen continues on its less-than-stellar reunion with Roth, their new live album, Tokyo Dome In Concert, offers a stark reminder that, in the case of Mr. Roth, while everyone may have indeed “wanted some” back in the day, that sentiment is not observed today.
Dude sounds terrible, and while I have a great understanding and even affection for aged voices (Geddy Lee is a great example), I can’t let this pass. He’s not even singing. It’s all just weird shrieks and coke-fart talking.
But as the barbs continue to fly, the band’s 11 years of history with Hagar is completely ignored. No songs in the setlist, no respect for those massively popular years by the current band, and – again – no mention of them on the band’s official website.
No one’s asking Roth to sing songs he didn’t record, or to welcome Hagar on stage to sing songs while he wrings out his leather pants, but why the silent treatment to a crazy-successful era? Same for Sabbath – why omit Dio, Gillan, Hughes and Martin?
Call it lead singer syndrome or being a prima donna, but bands with histories this vast owe it to the fans to get past it and, at the very least, acknowledge that those musicians existed and those songs and albums do exist.
Much like the annual baseball Hall of Fame vote and the steroid mumbo jumbo that goes along with it, these bands seem to be cherry-picking the parts of their history they want people to know about, even though everyone knows the whole thing. It’s an exercise in futility and one that only serves to make the bands themselves, or their aging frontmen, seem like old turds; self-conscious to the bitter end.
Ozzy hated Dio for years simply because he replaced him. Ditto Roth to Hagar.
That brings me back to Deep Purple.
For a band that has featured four different lead singers, three guitarists, two keyboardists, three bass players, and one drummer, they are refreshingly at peace with their entire history. All of their albums are for sale at their official website, their entire story is told, and no childish animosity exists between current and former members.
You’ll never see or hear Ian Gillan performing Coverdale or Joe Lyn Turner tracks (he does sing a couple of Rod Evans tracks from time to time), but he recognizes Purple’s entire history and holds no animosity for Purple continuing without him.
That’s how it should be done. If you’re going to utilize the internet as a way to promote yourself and tell your story, then tell your damn story. Don’t hide things older fans already know about and newer fans are being cheated out of.
Be the authority of your own story.
Thankfully, sites like Joe Siegler’s Black Sabbath site and the Van Halen Newsdesk exist to give fans and casual listeners alike a full view of these groups.
OTHER MUSINGS
As if we haven’t had enough Deep Purple, the band announced yesterday that my new favorite band these days, Rival Sons, will be opening for them throughout their six-week trek through Europe, starting Oct. 25 in Poland and culminating in a special performance at the O2 in London on Dec. 3.
Though my disappointment over the lack of Rival Sons shows in the Midwest during this American trek is palpable, this is a huge tour for them. While Purple is not exactly the world-beater it was 30 years ago, they’re still a major draw throughout the world, and the visibility Rival Sons will gain will only strengthen their grip on the world.
Deep Cuts 