I am sorry to hear of the passing of John Lawton. I met him in 1975 when he sang on The Butterfly Ball concert at the Albert Hall. Ronnie Dio was unavailable for the live show and John bravely stepped to save the day. As one can imagine, replacing Ronnie was a huge challenge, but John was more than capable. As an adjunct to the album, he recorded Little Chalk Blue before the concert.
The Christmas season is perpetually tied to the turning of the year, and have little to do with each other other than proximity. But the greetings of the season will always instruct us to have both a “Merry Christmas” (or holiday) and a “Happy New Year”. My desire is that all the love, joy, and warmth of the former carries over into the latter.
In memory of Toots Hibbert R.I.P
In the 60’s, Toots and The Maytels were a ska and rocksteady band that were instrumental in bringing reggae to the world. I was captivated by Reggae Got Soul in the 70’s. Pressure Drop was another great song, covered by many, including Robert Palmer. The third song that lives with me is Never Get Weary.
Very sad to hear of Martin Birch’s passing. Meeting Martin at the start of the 70’s, was a pivotal moment in our lives. He was our sound engineer at a time when the experience of live shows was coming into the studio. He managed to capture the beast, particularly on Hard Loving Man. He bonded with us immediately, had the same sense of humour, and was thoroughly professional.
It would be an enormous understatement to say it’s a drag that all touring has been postponed until next year. That means that our crew is out of work. One of the ways to support them is with a special tee shirt offer, with all proceeds going to them.
We hope to be ready to tour again next year.
To find out more, please visit…
https://deeppurple.com/blogs/news/exclusive-crew-merch
Thank you,
RG