|
AN
EDITOR REMEMBERS.........
|
The
Concert Publishing Fiasco,1981-1982 |
After
the publication of Stargazer Issue 24, we were approached
by a company called Concert Publishing who did tour merchandise
for rock gigs, including Rainbow and Whitesnake. They were
keen to branch out into doing fan-clubs, hoping to make their
money by selling merchandise on the back of club magazines.
They'd already started a Whitesnake magazine and I can't now
recall how they came to get in touch, though I did go along
to their offices in London. I think they'd asked me to help
on one of the tour programmes (or maybe the Whitesnake mag),
but however it came about, the offer seemed to be a solution
to the increasing amount of work involved in doing the magazine,
as well as giving it a quantum leap in terms of production
values.
The plan was for them to produce a properly printed
magazine, with colour pictures. I would supply all the content
and do the design. They would take over all the subscriptions,
and I would be paid a fee for each issue to cover my time
and costs. Thus emerged the very first issue of Darker Than
Blue.
Production
was a little complex. This was pre-desktop publishing, so
we typed up the content, which Concert Publishing then typeset
in galley form, and sent back to me. I laid this out as artwork,
left spaces for the pictures, and then shipped it all down
to their offices in Liverpool Street, London, for production.
While they commenced printing, we got in touch with all DPAS
members and explained what was going on. The deal was that
existing subscriptions would carry on, with members getting
the new magazine until they needed to rejoin. New members
would join directly via Concert Publishing, who would keep
the mailing list.
The magazine
came back and I was fairly pleased with it, despite a couple
of inverted pictures. We ran a special feature on the California
Jam show, using the new facilities to the full with a deal
on a bunch of great images from the gig taken by Rob Ellis.
There was a looking back feature, record reviews and news,
coverage of the Rainbow tour and a full Japanese singles discography.
In terms of word count there wasn't as much writing as in
a normal Stargazer, but it was a start.
To launch
the magazine, Concert Publishing printed a special folder,
which also contained a nice colour poster of all four line-ups,
plus a couple of stickers. All seemed to be going well until
a few weeks later when we began to get letters from existing
club members asking why they'd been sent a letter from Concert
Publishing asking them to subscribe to the new magazine. Calls
to their office seemed to get this sorted ("it was a mistake,
they'll get their issue soon") but the demands for subscriptions
kept going out, and it slowly became clear that Concert Publishing
had no intention whatsoever of honouring our original agreement.
My options were limited. Phone calls to the directors got
nowhere and we were increasingly distraught at the thought
that not only had we effectively lost the club magazine, but
members who we'd known for years were being ripped off.
After
several months I gave Concert Publishing an ultimatum; if
they didn't honour the subscriptions, then we'd have nothing
more to do with their magazine. They replied that they "couldn't
understand my attitude." As there was no change in their stance
we had to decide what to do next. Around this time I also
got made redundant - again - this time from my job at the
printers in Bakewell. Before long their head printer - who
had been given the elbow at the same time as me - was in touch.
He'd set up his own printing business and there was some freelance
work to be had if I was up for it. As money was very short,
this was a godsend (though it did mean a long commute from
Sheffield to Alfreton). I was also busy trying to get "Live
In London" together for EMI, so it gave me a chance to get
bits and pieces done for the artwork. Me and Ann then decided
to try and relaunch Stargazer. I began working on Issue 25
and we wrote to all members, offering a free issue to our
original members which we would pay for out of our own pocket
to try and make up for the mess. We were touched by the level
of support for this and I set to work finishing Issue 25 with
a vengeance, using some of the material I'd already written
for the second Darker Than Blue.
Just
as we'd sorted Issue 25 out, and well over six months since
the problems first arose, Concert Publishing came back in
touch and finally agreed to send Issue 1 to all our members
and not charge them. By this time we'd already committed to
printing Stargazer and didn't want to mess people around any
further, while as you can imagine our faith in anything they
said wasn't particularly high! Concert Publishing set to work
on Issue 2 anyway, which appeared in the "summer" of 1982
and followed a fairly bland pattern, with a general history,
and some two page updates on the ex-members. That nobody was
looking after the magazine would have been apparent to any
fan; a three paragraph story on Glover's basses was spread
over two full pages, accompanied by a photo of Tommy Bolin.
The Rainbow news had a photo of Purple Mk 3, as did the Gillan
news. Two pages of leftover tour merchandise rounded the magazine
off. It was the last issue they did. In July '82 we got Stargazer
25 on the go and slowly rebuilt the DPAS back up. Today the
two Concert Publishing magazines are very hard to find. Looking
back on these events after twenty years or more I tend to
chalk it all up to life's rich tapestry. At the time it caused
us much heartache and sleepless nights, but it did teach me
to be very wary of letting anyone near the DPAS ever again.
As neither
Concert Publishing magazine is available to buy as a back-issue,
we've reproduced most of the first issue here. Only the Japanese singles discography and California Jam photos are
absent. It also serves to give a fuller picture of the size
and scope of a DPAS magazine from the time than our usual
massively-shortened online versions.
|
DARKER
THAN BLUE, ISSUE 1 : DIGEST & INDEX
|
RAINBOW
|
NEWS
: 1981 European Tour, & UK Dates List |
RAINBOW
|
LIVE
REVIEWS: Ingleston, Edinburgh, & Granby Halls, Leicester |
RAINBOW
|
LIVE
REVIEWS: Bingley Hall, Stafford, & Apollo Theatre, Manchester |
RAINBOW
|
LIVE
REVIEW : Hammersmith Odeon, London |
RAINBOW
|
NEWS
: 1981 US Radio Broadcasts, & News Round-Up |
RAINBOW
|
RECORD
REVIEW : Singles Reissue |
RAINBOW
|
RECORD
REVIEW : Can't Happen Here + Vinyl Round-Up |
RAINBOW
|
BOOTLEG
REVIEW : MkII Rainbow |
page two
page three
RAINBOW
1981
European Tour - News
|
Whatever
we may think of the current Rainbow vinyl, a tour is different.
Ten to one all is forgiven the second Blackmore steps onto the
stage, and this tour was no exception. The band reached here
by way of Europe and America - dates there being preceded by
a few warm up gigs in small clubs. Quite a few members took
advantage of the Mead Gould trip to Brussels to get a preview
of the tour here, and reported a well organised outing, made
even better when the band found out about the British contingent,
and invited many of them backstage afterwards. Another of our
members, who happens to be called Ritchie Blackmore, was also
invited backstage in Germany to meet his namesake, and swop
autographs!
Def
Leppard supported the band on many of the European dates - one
Sheffield export I'd rather not talk about. 'Maybe Next Time'
was slipped in occasionally; sometimes just a taped playback,
but once or twice for real - and other times, just to confuse
us, a mixture of the two! The band finally hit Britain in early
July - and as there has been no end of change to the dates,
it's worth jotting them down here for the record!
|
Rainbow
UK Tour, 1981
|
July
8th & 9th, 1981 |
Rainbow
Theatre |
London |
July
10th & 11tth, 1981 |
Ingleston |
Edinburgh |
July
13th & 14th, 1981 |
Queens
Hall |
Leeds |
July
15th & 16th, 1981 |
Granby
Halls |
Leicester |
July
18th & 19th, 1981 |
Bingley
Hall |
Stafford |
July
20th, 1981 |
Coliseum |
St.Austell |
July
22nd, 1981 |
Apollo
Theatre |
Manchester |
July
23rd & 24th, 1981 |
City
Hall |
Newcastle |
July
26th & 27th, 1981 |
Hammersmith
Odeon |
London |
Ingleston,
Edinburgh, July 10th / 11th 1981 -
Live Review
|
The
sets in the UK followed the pattern set in Europe: Spotlight
Kid / Love's No Friend / I Surrender / Man On The Silver Mountain
/ Catch The Rainbow / Can't Happen Here / Lost In Hollywood
/ Difficult To Cure / Long Live Rock'n Roll. Encores: All Night
Long / Rule Britannia / Smoke On The Water / Since You Been
Gone / Fire, etc etc!
As
we've had loads of reviews, we'll take snippets from these,
to get as many views in as possible. Up in Scotland, fans had
to contend with a less than perfect venue: "The main fault
was the PA; I fear the engineers were jacking the sound up to
much, and much of the playing and vocals were lost," writes
Robert Strutthers,"Ritchie didn't seem too happy either
- fiddling with his amps, holding his guitar up to his ear,
and giving someone stage right the look. Things were better
in the quiet bits though. The drum solo was quite interesting,
ripping off John Bonham a lot (a comment echoed by a lot of
people) but powerful bass drumming." David
Kelly also saw the band there:"I thought they (or he) were
quite good, bearing in mind the restrictions that the generally
poor material places on them. Ritchie entertained himself with
feedback, fancy vibrato etc during the vocals, working all around
the riff but still holding the songs together. I loathed the
LP, yet I found some songs were enjoyable, even when Ritchie
wasn't soloing, and despite a trite vocalist. My faith in Rainbow
is restored - esp. during 'Catch The Rainbow', though as usual
I got stuck beside some fucker who wanted to talk about who
he'd met in the bogs before the gig. 'Smoke..' got the loudest
cheer, but he played it rather mechanically. Don Airey was underused
I felt, only a short section prior to 'Difficult To Cure' where
he played along with Blackmore showed what things could be like."
The unknown song one or two of you asked about was 'Fire', a
Hendrix song.
|
Granby
Halls, Leicester, July 15th / 16th 1981 -
Live Review
|
My
own first sight of the new line-up came at Leeds. Though it
wasn't a sparkling gig,
and the failure of drum monitors caused a break midway, I still
enjoyed the show, because Blackmore was well on form ,turning
out some particularly spine-tingling work in 'Catch The Rainbow'.
Leicester
was something else; two class shows, the second being up there
with the greats. Leicester always seems to get goodies - the
76 show there was superb, likewise in 77, when Ritchie hurled
his strat right over the arc of the rainbow. Leicester 81 saw
Ritchie pull out most of the stops - down on the knees, thumping
the old bass pedals, up and down the PA, and so on, but somehow
always managing to keep the show moving, rather than letting
his antics split it up. Likewise his solos, which he extended
at will, seemed to fit into the overall scheme of things whereas
on the 1980 tour they had been often the only enjoyable part
of the show. As if to set things right at once, some of his
best work came in the opener, with the 'cossack' bit, where
Ritchie turned his fingers across the frets like he was leafing
through a book. 'Love's No Friend' produced equally good solos,
particularly at the end, where he just launched into his own
little world, leaving the band to fend for themselves. In common
with the other shows 'Lost In Hollywood' signalled party time,
and the sets degenerated into a medley of greatest bits. Good
fun, with lots of riffs to try and recognise, but the keyboard
solo dragged for me.
Blackmore climaxed the show by holding his cheapo ($200) imported
strat up, and gave the crowd his amazing 'shall I?' look. Receiving
an affirmative, he took it to the top of the PA, and sitting
astride the cabinets, smashed it to smithereens. He took the
pieces back along the top of the PA and attacked the lights
before tossing the bits to the mob below. An ace show. My
only complaint was the ridiculous volume towards the end, my
ears suffered for three days after! The
band were booked to stay at the Grand hotel. Why? Because it's
haunted! Airey and Glover didn't like it and went elsewhere.
|
Bingley
Hall, Stafford, July 18th / 19th 1981 -
Live Review
|
On to Bingley, with the addition of several hundred fans from
Manchester, who were bussed down after the Belle Vue gig was
changed. Promised a special cordoned off area at the front,
they found it didn't exist, and had to join the crush. The canvas
PA covers used at Donnington in 1980 reappeared too, where from
I don't know - I thought Sounds had given them away as a prize.
The presence of a video crew may have had something to do with
it.
"Ritchie
was in good shape, producing an amazing demolition. Standing
by Glover, he hurled the strat like an arrow into the PA. He
took the broken halves, held together by one string, and slung
them over his shoulder to finish the encore! Cozy was at the
second gig, and I think Bobby (well, it's easier than spelling
his second name) knew it. My main criticism is that the set
was geared to the boppers, with the hit singles etc. Also, we
knocked Whitesnake for only doing three new songs, so we ought
to do the same for Rainbow. A new song could have replaced '..Silver
Mountain' I feel. End of sermon!" Richard Whitehead.
|
Apollo
Theatre, Manchester , July 22nd 1981 -
Live Review
|
Manchester was a poor show. It pissed it down, so we huddled
in a door way most of the afternoon, chatting with other members
who had travelled over early to exchange tickets. No one seems
to know why the venue was changed so late, as there had been
talk of cancelling Belle Vue weeks before. Purple managed a
good sound there back in 1974, so the official reason of poor
acoustics seems a bit false. Fearful of having my camera trashed
by the Apollo gorillas (who last year beat up the kids with
the strat to sell it themselves outside), I lurk at the back.
The crowd are noisy, and impatient, and Rainbow fail to really
respond, though Blackmore's guitar cut through the din to lift
things up from time to time. The set is short, with only a perfunc-
tory encore when we're all blinded by white light for 'Long
Live Rock'n Roll'. Ritchie's manager does a short detour before
doubling back to whisk Ritchie away from the Hyde Road exit,
but not before Neil Cutler's mate does a Sweeney like chase
to catch them at the hotel. Given a songbook to sign, Ritchie
ponders it for a while, before crossing notes out and putting
correct ones in! (The' Difficult To Cure' song-book came out
in July, and has four hazy black and white live photos in. There
was also sheet music for the single 'Can't Happen Here' with
another live pic on).
|
Hammersmith
Odeon, July 26th & 27th 1981 -
Live Review
|
The London dates were hastily rearranged, after Ritchie had
teased London fans by saying they wouldn't play there! Keith
Dyce: "Saw them both nights, the second was better, though
they were both pretty lousy. The sound was awful on the first
night. I was quite impressed by Rondinelli, but Turner is a
bit of a poseur even if his voice is better than Bonnet's -
not hard! I wish they'd left 'Smoke..' out too, his guitar solo
was non-existant. 'Love's No Friend..' was brilliant on the
second night, and Ritchie took an extended solo at the end -
couple of knocks of the tremelo arm and he was off; amazing.
The solo in 'Catch The Rainbow' was great too."
Overall
the tour was probably better than many people had expected,
due, probably, to Ritchie's enthusiasm with his new cohorts,
which inspired him to play a much more consistent tour. Turner
is a lot more suitable than old Bonnet ever was, as for the
drummer - well, I was never a great fan of Cozy, finding him
a little too heavy much of the time, but I did curiously miss
his power at times. Roger Glover looked happy, but only came
out of the mix occasionally, though when he did it was good
to hear. I wish he would ditch those horrible satin trouser
things though! Two girl backing singers on stage at Newcastle?
I don't believe it!
|
back
to the top
1981
US Radio Broadcasts - News
|
A couple of American radio broadcasts have gone out recently
and deserve a mention. Firstly Rainbow's concert at the Orpheum
Theatre in Boston in May was recorded, along with Pat Travers,
and aired on the King Biscuit Flower Hour in June. This show
is put out across America regularly, using live concert material.
The bands had half the show each, and Rainbow's numbers were
'Spotlight Kid', 'Long' Live Rock'n Roll', 'I Surrender' and
'Smoke On The Water'. It's a well mixed recording, but as the
band knew it was being taped, we don't get much from Ritchie.
Turner is caught on an off-night and sounds very poor. The drumming
sounds more powerful than it did here, and you get to hear Glover
a bit too. Curious to hear Ritchie do the 'Lazy' riff, with
no reaction at all from the crowd. Nothing to go mad over at
all really. My thanks to Steve Wunrow for his info on this.
Then in July a countrywide Blackmore special was aired, on a
show called 'Off The Record'. I'm fairly sure this is issued
on one of those radio-only records, so it may turn up in collectors
lists soon. Anyway, there are chunks of interview - fairly sensible
interview actually, though little worth printing, interspersed
with numerous Rainbow songs. Interesting to hear Blackmore say
he writes lyrics, but has 'no wish to use them in a band, they're
just personal things.' One or two naughty words get bleeped
out, and the show is sponsored by Budweiser and The American
Navy! Thanks to Steve Bradelman for details, and if anyone does
find it on vinyl, we'd like details.
|
Rainbow
Bits & Pieces - News
|
Diane Cowley in Bolton has managed to discover just what those
nasty looking things on the 'Difficult..' sleeve are! A Higgins
Syringe, Spencer Wells Forceps (p2), Balfour Retractor Mouth
Gag, Phenol Syringe (p4). Kidney Dish and a Bone Nibbler. So
now you know - they are not for any specific operation, just
chosen for their visual appeal. Page no's are from tour prog.
A quick blitz on the other Rainbow news: Glover will probably
finish his new solo album when the tour ends in August, but
he is being very secretive about it so far. Joe Lynn Turner
told members that he would like to try some older numbers, and
that they did run through 'Stargazer'. Ritchie gave it up though,
as he feels it is spoilt without an orchestra! Ritchie debated
hiring one, and having them play 'Stargazer' all night. He's
right though, one of the best bits on the album is when the
orchestra breaks in - ace.
Gear wise nothing new was visible to us on the tour. Ritchie
stuck with his cream / off white strat throughout. Many of the
European concerts were taped officially and the next album may
be live - though I would put money on a new studio LP first.
Polydor have the Rainbow LPs on special offer at present, but
plan to re- place them with single sleeve copies soon, so be
warned. Most of the 1981 tour prog pics came from America, while
going back to the 1980 prog. Marc Brans tells us most of the
pics in that came from Brussels on Feb 1st, as he is actually
in one! Ritchie's wife is called Amy Rothman, they were married
on May 16th this year. Amy slipped in a nice letter to Creem
about him, we'll try and print it somewhere.
Coming from a roadie, the next story might have been improved
- they'll do anything for a pint, but it's good fun. During
the 1980 tour in Germany Ritchie ordered a quantity of guitars
to be sent to his hotel room. 16 were duly delivered. There
followed 30 minutes of kerrannging! This works out at just under
2 mins per guitar - obviously a world record! Whilst with his
gear, lan Vevers says that about 11 or 12 years ago, Ritchie
paid a visit or two to the Orange amplifier factory in Huddersfield.
He was after a "crisper" sound, and spent some time evaluating
the orange gear. lan says Ritchie even road tested some for
a couple of gigs, though I've never seen him using any in photos.
Whether he preferred them to his Marshalls or not we don't know,
but as Jim Marshall gave him free gear he stuck with them!
Just
clearing up a point raised some time ago about Cozy Powell,
that is him drumming on the old Top Of The Pops tune each week.
David Harrison scored the album, called CCS and issued in 1972,
IRAK SRAK 503) - it even has a pic of Cozy on the back. We were
only joking last time when we suggested Rainbow rubber gloves
as tour souvenirs, but Lori Galloway tells us that Roger Glover
did in fact hand some out to lucky radio stations in America!
|
UK
Singles Reissues- reviews
|
I'm sure there must be a case under the Trades Description Act
for suing them, as nearly all the adverts used say "limited
edition" pic sleeve. However, they're here now, so it's worth
studying them closely in comparison with the original releases,
which will undoubtedly be more sought after still - if you can
spot the difference!
Kill The King EP - Polydor/Oyster 2066 845: Aug 1977 (old)
Polydor POSP 274:July 1981 (new)
Old version is easy to spot - rounded edge to the sleeve. Oyster
logo on the back, and the old cat. no. on too. The reissue has
replaced the original pics with the same ones, but copied off
an 'On-Stage' inner gatefold - so Cozy now acquires two folds
thru his kit! Square edge, Polydor logo, and new cat. no. all
make the reissue identifiable.
Long Live Rock'n Roll - Polydor 2066 913: March 1978 (old)
Polydor POSP 276:July 1981 (new)
These
two are completely different! The original sleeve was just the
Rainbow logo in white, titles in red, on a black background.
The new one instead copies the German sleeve, with the LP drawing
in black on brown! The back has the same design as the old back,
but in the new colours.
L.A.
Connection - Polydor 2066 968: Sept 1978 (old) Polydor POSP
275: July 1981 (new)
The
reissue implies that it was released before the 'Long Live..'
single, which it wasn't, so we're Including it in the original
sequence here. The old sleeve was printed on a thin paper, with
a pattern embossed into it - like vinyl wallpaper! The new one
is on glossy card, and has the new cat. no. on the back. Also,
a limited number were originally issued in red vinyl.
Since
You've Been Gone - Polydor POSP 70: Aug 1979 (old) Polydor POSP
70: Jul 1981 (new)
Gets a bit harder here as! they've retained the old cat. numbers,
but the old sleeve was on matt card, with the new one on gloss;.
All
Night Long - Polydor POSP 104: Feb 1980 /July 1981
Reissue has a very much greener front, and the browns of the
original are completely lost. The POSP system came in during
1979, but the old 7 figure system is still seen on the labels
usually, and also on nearly all foreign singles and albums by
Polydor.
|
Can't
Happen Here / Jealous Lover - Single
Review
|
Rainbow:
Can't Happen Here / Jealous Lover. Polydor POSP 251 :July 1981
:UK pic sleeve
Well, trying to ignore any irony between the title, and the
events which were going on as the record made slow progress
into the lower reaches of the charts, I still think they could've
made more of this song. The hook-line is so catchy that if it'd
been mixed up, they'd have had a much bigger hit. The b-side
was an unreleased item. Playing it through, it seemed to have
a different feel to it than the album, and I've been playing
it more often - might have made a better a-side p'raps? I was
interested to learn that the band in fact taped it during a
day off their American tour in April 1981. They hired a mobile
studio, and set up their gear in a church hall in Minneapolis!
As such, it's probably the first track that really comes from
the new band as a whole, being co-written by Ritchie & Turner.
Ace guitar riff behind it all, which is the main attraction
for me, and very upfront vocals which highlight Turner's strengths
and weaknesses. It's not a brill track, by any means, but is
at least some hope for the future.
|
Other
Rainbow Vinyl - Record News
|
Rainbow:
Difficult To Cure.
Since our review last issue, it now appears
that the UK copy of this album has a somewhat different front
cover photograph to those used everywhere else! The figures
are all in a slightly different position (eg the figure third
from the left is half hidden on the UK photo, but completely
visible on all other covers), the titles are down the sides
- rather than across the top as elsewhere, and the surgical
instrument in the bottom right is a different one to that on
other sleeves. There is no doubt that the UK cover is much better
as regards the quality of the artwork, but quite why we should
be singled put like this I don't know. From now on we shall
have to refer to UK and Non UK cover photos when listing covers
in the discog. Thanks to Andrew Sheard for putting me onto this.
Rainbow:
Can't Happen Here/Jealous Lover Polydor 2141 373: Holland: May
1981 (pic sleeve)
This 12" single was widely imported here
during July, hitting some shops even before the UK single was
out! Very well pressed, and I wasn't the only one who thought
the tracks sounded lots better for the extra clarity and volume.
I thought the production on the LP was fairly poor - maybe the
pressure on Roger was too great, but as usual it probably sounded
much better under studio conditions (I wonder if they bother
to listen to it under home hi-fi conditions?). The sleeve uses
the Non UK front photo, adding titles in red on yellow, together
with an advert for the Rotterdam concert.
Rainbow: Can't Happen Here/Jealous Lover Polydor 7DM 0020:
Aug 1981 Japan, pic sleeve. Cover pic taken at same time
as UK one, but closer in, and sloping. Titles in top left corner.
Lyrics on back for both sides.
The Best of Joe Lynn Turner and Fandango Polydor 28MM 0062:
Sept 1981: Japan. Emiko Okano kindly sent us a Jap tour
prog, which illustrates the above album. Joe Lynn's old band
Fandango had four LPs out over the years; Fandango (1977), Last
Kiss (1978), One Night Stand (1979), and Cadillac (1980). The
wily Japanese have made a compilation from these to cash in
on J.L's. new position. The cover has a pic of him lying down,
with Best Of J.L.T. in very big letters, and "and Fandango"
so small you can hardly see it! Anyway, shops are bound to be
importing it soon, so we thought it best to let you know what
it is.
Rainbow:
Down To Earth Polydor 2391 410:1980: Asia, or to be more
precise, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia! lt differs from
most versions in that this is a gatefold sleeve. The front and
back are the same as the UK cover, and the inner gatefold carries
the same pictures which were on the actual record bag in England.
It looks rather good too; I found mine in Manchester, so they
must be fairly widespread amongst market stalls around the country.
Rainbow:
I Surrender Chupops No 15
Tee hee! A 2" mini disc, made of bubble
gum. Front cover off US sleeve with lyrics to the single on
the back. Also includes tear off sheet advertising an album
to store all your sleeves in. My thanks to Lazy for loaning
it us (if anyone has a spare we might have let me know! Or for
that matter any old gum cards, esp Martian Invasion etc!)
|
Rainbow
Mk.II - Bootleg Album Review
|
Bootleg
R77 1: Kill The King / Mistreated / C16 Greensleeves 2: Catch
The Rainbow / Long Live Rock'n Roll 3:Man On The Silver Mountain
/ Still I'm Sad 4: Still I'm Sad contd.
Thanks
to Neil in Surrey for sending us a second review (I lost his
first!),we can provide some details on this item. Sleeve is
navy blue, pic of Saturn top left, title curving across from
bottom left to top right, and bottom right a head-up eyes closed
pic of Ritchie. Back also has a pic of Saturn, one of an aircraft,
and a more or less correct track list, typed, Jap plastic type
inner bags.
The
recording is from the audience, and comes from the Liverpool
Empire Theatre Nov 4th 1977 (which makes it Mk 3 not Mk 2 but
still!), the first of two nights there on the '77 UK tour. I
was at these, and feeling very down after the first night: the
second show was much better, and culminated in the balcony demolition
so it's a pity the boot doesn't come from that Still, this is
what Neil has to say:
"' Kill The King' is rather muggy, guitar low (out of tune?)
and Ronnie sounding rough. Good mono recording though, for an
audience job. Better balance on 'Mistreated', and very little
hiss in the quiet bits, though spoilt by loud mouthed Liverpudlians
shouting "Fuck Off" (one reason I was pissed off! ed). 'C16'
is ultra slow, with the original at the start. 'Catch The Rainbow'
is well executed, with a bit more effort from Ronnie, but the
group seem to be spoiling the audience's conversation. Keyboards
also appear. 'Long Live' starts with keyboard/gtr duet, and
sing-along-a- Ronnie, 'Long Live Liverpool' etc. 'Man On The
Silver..' is cocked up, but includes the usual bits - 'Starstruck'
etc., followed by the 'Night People' improvision (at last! now
everyone will know I didn't invent it - ed). Ritchie plays a
tinny riff throughout 'Still I'm Sad' and it ends with 'Beethoven's
9th' Side four continues this, and includes Cozy's solo. They
finish the song and that's it, apart from Judy Garland. My brother
adds that on the cover pic Ritchie is playing an anniversary
strat, with varnished head and normal frets."
Thanks
Neil. Rainbow only had themselves to blame for the rowdiness
of the tour
- people just took their cue from 'On Stage'. Phil Needham points
out that the LP is actually mk4 too, whoops!
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