11 '69

Back in 1969, when I first joined DP with Roger Glover, it was difficult for an English group/band to write a road song. That was an American thing and our heritage was nascent. Thirty years later it came naturally:

An old van crammed with gear, but never mind, we're in heaven.

All the places mentioned in the second verse are real venues that everyone will remember from that era. The Speak' is the ' Speakeasy Club', which was in Margaret St., in the West End of London, where we spent many an hour with other musicians, girls and 'liggers' (hangers-on, media types and wannabees).

I was asleep in my spaghetti having previously been overserved at the bar. I woke up feeling nauseous and, with half of my dinner dripping from my head, staggered in the direction of the Gents. Two guys were rolling around on the floor beating the crap out of each other, whilst the doorman looked on. Finding my way blocked I was sick all over the contenders, who lost all their enthusiasm for the fray. The doorman smiled and said 'Nice one Ian'.

'The Marquee' is probably London's most famous club and it was run by Jack Barry (who also put together the National Jazz Blues and Rock Festival, which later became The Reading Festival). I have great respect for Jack; he put me straight a few times.

The Paradiso is a club in Amsterdam where the audience was always stoned and oblivious. Roger Glover has collected an array of nicknames over the years…'Rugged Ferocious' is just one of them.

The Boat House at Kew Bridge on the River Thames was a rock/blues/jazz venue. Roger (also known as The Stinking Hippy) was leaning over the wall contemplating the meaning of life in the murky depths, when the entire contents of the patch pockets on his jacket leapt out in a parabolic cascade to fall, forever lost, into the river Thames.

The last verse touches on a cheap motel in L.A. and Hallelujah was the first song Rog and I recorded with Deep Purple.