Strange calling strange strange, in the editor's not so humble opinion.
For the very latest Dear Friends go without a smidgeon of delay to DF61.
New North American Edition of Ian Gillan's biography - foreword by Lars Ulrich
Lesser Gods publishing in the USA are "psyched to announce the first-ever North American publication of Highway Star, the legendary autobiography of Deep Purple's Ian Gillan. "An entertaining read from start to finish..." Learn more and read an exclusive chapter here: http://bit.ly/HighwayStar".
DEEP PURPLE NEW STUDIO ALBUM "inFinite"
ON earMUSIC.
LYRIC VIDEO FOR FIRST SONG "TIME FOR BEDLAM" LAUNCHED.
Ian Gillan has said:
"If you take it literally you may, quite reasonably, think the 'Finite' part of the word describes the life of Deep Purple, with a clear beginning and a nebulous end; but what of the 'in' bit? The word infinite is a three-dimensional double edged sword. It describes something that goes on forever in all directions; not unlike its temporal equivalent 'Eternal' What's that all about?
Stephen Hawking declared (in 'A brief History of Time') that, before the Big Bang there was nothing. That would put the kybosh on the idea of our universe being Infinite, as he provides a starting point, which is not acceptable to the concept. So, Hawking's universe in 'Finite'; by definition; whether he agrees or not.
Ironically, he is quite wrong (scientists always are eventually), therefore the Universe is infinite, which means it will never end, and also means that it never started, and the corollary to that of course is that we don't exist.
There is a metaphysical solution to all this, but it will have to wait until the tour is over because (thanks heavens) there are only 24 hours in a day (for the time being) or 10 hours in a metric day. More on that later..."
Ian Gillan biography updated
From the back cover:
"In 1970, Deep Purple burst on to the British rock scene with their hit "Black Night" and bestselling album "Deep Purple in Rock". This is the autobiography of their lead singer, Ian Gillan.
This book traces Gillan's career from his childhood in Hounslow and early days with bands such as Episode Six and The Javelins. It concentrates on the international fame he found with songs including "Smoke on the Water" and "Child in Time". His outrageous life continues with Black Sabbath and the Gillan band, with whom he toured worldwide, whilst also writing consistently bestselling albums and singles."
Demon Records has announced the release of a new must-have Gillan vinyl boxset on 2nd September. 'The Vinyl Collection 1979-1982' will feature 5 chart albums - 7 LPs in total - including Mr Universe (1979), Glory Road (1980, 2 LPs, with bonus disc 'For Gillan Fans Only'), Future Shock (1981), Double Trouble (2 LPs, 1981) and Magic (1982).
Ian Gillan was delighted with the vintage feel of the finished product: "It's a wonderful thing, vinyl... Best held in two hands and treated with respect, as you place it carefully upon the turntable. You just bought something significant, not easily disposable. And look at the sleeves" - he comments, observing one of the records - "aren't they cool. Read the lyrics and enjoy the artwork, while you are in the groove. No computers involved in the making of this music…enjoy".
The 180g heavyweight vinyl records will all be exact replicas of their first pressings; Future Shock, Gillan's highest scoring album, reaching No.2 in the UK chart, will include the same 16-page booklet as featured in its original release. An exclusive edition available via Amazon here http://smarturl.it/IanGillanExclusive will also contain a bonus 7" single for Spanish Guitar.
The Caramba competition winner was Robero Scortichini
Roberto wins 2 tickets / 2 passes to any on eo fteh current Ian Gillan tour dates.
Roberto was hot off the blocks with the mistake we were looking for: Ian sang on stage with his daughter Grace during 'Guitars On The Beach' in 2014.
Or, as Roberto put it: ""This will be the first time that Ian and his daughter Grace will have performed live at the same concert" Untrue:
they both did Guitars On The Beach 2014 and Gillan's daughter joined the backing singers in Zurich or Stuttgart 2000.".
There I was, minding my own business on a diving holiday with my family in Grand Cayman in 1984 (I think; thereabouts anyway), when I bumped into Steve Jarrell and Sons of the Beach; a fine band who were performing a season of great sunshine music at the Treasure Island Resort on Seven Mile Beach.
They invited me to step up and do a 'couple of tunes' which I was happy to do and ended up with half an hour on a hand held camera which Steve Jarrell showed me when we met up again in Nashville on the DP tour 2015. He has very kindly given us permission to put it up on Caramba first as an exclusive for CTV.
Answers to almost any question. Yes and it's come to that: a very special Q&A between ig and Stephen Crothers. (2 + 2) = 5, ig in dialogue with Stephen Crothers, when some become infinitely hot when the infinitely dense is challenged, or is it the other way about?
Cornucopic and challenging abundance is here! November 2014
Rock Overdose interview with Ian - April 2015
Online rock magazine Rock Overdose interviews Ian on preparing for the next Deep Purple studio album. HERE.
Great pic of Ian and Ronnie James Dio jamming at the House of Blues on Sunset, in Hollywood, Wednesday 13th September 2006, during the 'Gillan's Inn' tour of N. America. It's a bit small isn't it...but the pic links to a bigger exposition of the same.
Photo: Rich Trevino
Lenny Haze The Mayor of Hell
Died on Sunday 11/09/16
I went around the world a couple of times with Lenny, who lived for quite a while in a fancy dress 'banana' outfit (please don't ask) while on the road with 'Repo Depo'. During rehearsals he stayed at my house and was adored by my family, and also the regulars in the pub, who had never seen - or imagined - such a contradiction to normality.
Lenny Haze on athleticism "My wife isn't speaking to me. When I got back from the last Gillan tour I gave her athlete's foot."
(www.gillan.com - search for more priceless Lenny Haze with the Carambascopic advanced search)
We all miss you man, but we know where you are...see you later.
Total respect.
Souls, having touched, are forever entwined.
Ig
The Parallax Effect On Long Hair
I was surprised to get an invitation to address the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) in Berlin on 14th December 2012. It caused great hilarity in the band dressing room; Roger actually burst into spontaneous laughter; not sure if it was the cultural or diplomatic bit that set him off. Probably both.
When the director asked for the title and a copy of the speech I told him it would be entitled 'The Parallax Effect on Long Hair' and that it would be off the cuff, so to speak.
Basically it's about perception or how things are viewed differently, depending on where you're standing.
I was a little nervous to start with as it was unscripted and I'd never spoken publicly before, apart from the usual gibberish delivered on stage each night with DP before being gloriously interrupted by a drumist not known for his patience.
But I did enjoy it and may do another, one day.
ig
Rhino Poo Alert
RTL (a large TV station) announced the start of the sale for the Deep Purple tour in autumn 2012 in Germany. The message said that this will be the last tour of DP in Germany and therefore the last chance to see them live. what a shock! Is that true??? Is that an official/confirmed statement?
Yawning response from ig: "I must say that is an impressive heap of rhino poo!"
Coffee Kiev Some things in life should just be simpler
Deep Purple, Ian Gillan, Gillan, Gillan Glover....
Yes, all of them but the usual proviso of 'in due course' applies, of course. Such is the speed of this 'information age' that we could all know everything immediately but where would the fun be in that?
These don't replace the Wordographies, which also continue apace.
Perfect Strangers
'One Eye To Morocco' - the lyrics
Caramba takes the greatest of pleasure in unveiling the complete lyrics for all editions of 'One Eye To Morocco'.
These don't in any way replace the Wordographies, as these are winging their way to your screen at a speed significantly slower than the speed of light.
These biographies may be used by journalists.
This has been updated to include edel's latest biog. This way for.... biographies.
Deep Purple's official website. Click above.
On sending things in to be signed:
A number of people have over time sent unsolicited stuff into either Ian's or DP's management to be signed and returned. Such things can so easily get mislaid or just simply lost in a very busy organisation, which can be very upsetting for those who have sent their items in. Please don't do this as no-one wants to feel responsible for having lost what can be, for the owner, very precious items. Thanks. Steve/ED.
Can't be bothered to use the drop down menus above or the text menus below? Use the search engine, it doesn't bite very often. Mind you, if I could give it teeth I would.
Now, who was it who asked the poor old search engine this question: "could you sing burn". Search engines cannot sing. Take a moment and reflect.
And now......"can you sing in far away places". This search engine still cannot sing. This is clearly a failure in some people's evolution........
At least the latter was asking about the search engine's capability whilst the former, clearly somewhere further down the evolutionary ladder, assumed the capability was there...... ed.
Caramba in translation
Caramba is gradually being translated....
Click on the image above to access all the releases previously on this page. Go on, do it....
Gyumri Music School & WhoCares
Previous material on the Gyumri Music School and WhoCares makes itself available on a separate page, a page accessed by clicking on the above image.
Chopin's Story
Likewise, in an abovewise fashion, everything on Ian and Chopin's Story is available by clicking the above pic in time-honoured fashion.
an occasional series of random pics
Click on the above for the full glory of the photographic moment of truth or HERE if you're feeling lazy and/or curmudgeonly.
"There is nothing in the world that can prepare you for an interview with Ian Gillan! The British singer can’t stop surprising you, even if the topic is WhoCares the fund raising project he is handling the vocals, while Tony Iommi, Jon Lord, Nicko McBrain and Jason Newsted fill the rest of the spots. Our talk went beyond the music, and ended up in a rather impressive, and up to date approach about the political situation in Greece, for which the singer seemed completely informed.
A collection of various interview links which have appeared on this page. So, in the usual Caramba way of doing things, it's this way for the ... Interview Archive-orama
