Well the last time I saw them Ian Gillan,Ian Paice & Roger Glover were in the band with Don Airey(Gary Moore fame) & Steve Morse.. I'm not fond of Blackmore(he does have a sound & I like it,but..)Ian Gillian one time was weak the next time he was pretty good. I beleive the talent in the band is Paice & Glover!! Don Airey was good but NO John Lord.. When they did the old stuff I missed John's heavy organ sound & Blackmores guitar sound, but they still did the old stuff pretty good, just missed that sound, I'm sure you know what I mean. The new stuff was really decent & of course you didn't know what the sound was if Blackmore was in the band.
I really liked the older stuff myself, like Hush..Casing Shadows, but it was a different band. Rod Evans was a great singer to me.. The best IMHO era was the Fireball..Machine Head time.. I did like the Heavy In Rock(who could not like Child in Time!!!!!!) and even liked some of the Who Do We Think We Are..after that, to me, the rest was weak..even with Bolin , Glenn Hughes & David Coverdale.. They did have some moments, so a Deep Purple greatest cd would be filled with a variety, for me.. Around House of Blue Lite & stuff I thought that was the best "comeback stuff", also sounded a little like Zep..but they did rock..then they just fizzled again. It's hard to maintain a style over, what.. 1968 this band came out..till 2006..For that alone my hat is off..And they had some great musicians over the years!!! Even Joe Satch played with them..wow.. But Machine Head had so many great songs..My favorite is LAZY!!!!! Then Child In Time for In Rock..I always think of Highway Star when I think of Deep Purple..high energy, great signing..all the elemnets of a great song. By the way, anyone heard of Point Blank?? They did a pretty good version & did Beautiful Loser by Bob Seger.. If ya get a chance pick up the self-titled Point Blank..Great album, sorry neither song is on that one,,see the later albums..but not as goos as the 1st!! I did see the Dixie Dregs & was right in front of Steve Morse in a small club & that is how I became a big fan..he smokes!! I really like the Dregs Of The earth album, but think that Cruise Control would be their best song, Also like the way they blended a variety of music into their sound..Rock, hard rock, jazz & the instrumental jam style(some call fusion..ok I'll buy that description). One other thing about the Dregs, they got all the members back and did a live album called California Screaming, a fantastic version of the allman Brothers..jessica..This band had 2 bass players..2 violinist.. they were great.. Gotta go cook lunch for the Grandkids I have them this weekend, cool..And bro Bill had a real rough couple days.thought we was gonna call the ambulance..Hold on Bro. Bill..I Love ya man..take care everyone. Peace..

Yeah, as far as their "new stuff"(wich is an EXTREMELY relative term now), I liked the song "Perfect Strangers" alot, but also thought it had a "Zeppelin vibe" to me.

The only think I am sure of about Deep Purple, is that on their web site, it was mentioned that Freddie King's was born with the name "Billy Myles", then he changed it to Freddie King. A rather bizarre mixup.

Here it is under the heading of:

Songs Covered By Deep Purple

Going Down

Originally written by Don Nix and recorded by Freddie King (with Nix's help) on his 1971 album Gettin' Ready. This excellent album featured the original version of the much-covered Going Down. Don Nix was born 27 September 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee and was an original member of the Mar-Keys.
Freddie King was born Billy Myles on 30 September 1934 in Gilmer, Texas and died on the 28 December 1976 in Dallas, Texas.

In the studio:
No studio recording.



Jon

YOU ARE TRUELY A MAN WHO KNOWS OF WHAT HE SPEAKES JON.I REMEMBER NOW WHAT A BIG FAN OF PERHAPS THE GREATEST GUITAR PLAYER WHO EVER STRAPED ON THE OLE GUITAR (MR. FREDDIE KING)YOU ARE I,AM SURE THIS IS NOT NEWS TO YOU JON BUT, OF ALL THE GREAT GUITAR PICKERS WHO FOLLOWED FREDDIE THERES NOT A ONE WHO MATTERS WHO DOESN,T CREDIT FREDDIE WITH HELPING THEM FORM THERE STYLE. E.C. SAYS (FREDDIE KING WAS SIMPLY THE GREATEST GUITAR PLAYER EVER)COMING FROM ERIC ONE HAS TO INDEED CONSIDER THAT I HAVE MOST OF HIS WORK JON, BUT MY WIFE GOT ME FOR X-MAS (THE VERY BEST OF FREDDIE KING VOL #1)WHICH IS HIS WORK ON THE FEDERAL AND KING LABELS IN 1960- 1961 #25 REMASTERED SONGS THAT KICK AS. FOR THE ERA AND STILL HOLD UP TO THIS DAY ,JUST AMAZING GUITAR WORK JON THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY UNSURPASSED BY ANYONE OF THE DAY VOL#2 IS 1962, WITH VOL #3 BEING 1963-1966 IT,S NOT HARD TO SEE WHY EVERY GREAT GUITAR THAT FOLLOWED HIM SAID THAT FREDDIE WAS IN FACT THE BEST GUITAR PLAYER EVER PERIOD IF YOU DON,T HAVE THESE THREE JON CHECK THEM OUT FOR SURE , WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE TRACKS STARTING IN 1961 YOU ARE JUST BLOWN AWAY WHEN YOU LISTEN TO EVERYONE ELSE WHO WAS PLAYING AT THE TIME TRUELY I THINK THE BEST BLUESMAN EVER AND WELL AHEAD OF HIS TIME (FOR SURE) PEACE PAUL

Wow, this is cool, I also like Freddie King, but Albert King was no slouch either. And who could take away what B.B. King has done. Just try to count how many albums B.B.King has out. Thank god for our blues heroes..What would music be without them. And then we have to give credit to the British Rock artist who used the blues influence like Alvin Lee/Kim Simmonds/Eric Clapton & more, and revivied the blues scene what it is today.. I've been fortunate to see some greats, never had a chance to see Freddie or Albert(what a bummer) but still enjoy their music today. I also missed Albert Collins who was to headline the Pocono Blues fest the year he died. I would've been there. I was fortunate enough to see Luther Allison, Johnny Copeland,Fenton Robinson(who is my fav)check out Somebody Loan Me A Dime!!!! and more prior to their deaths. As I've said before Luther Allison smoked for like 3 hours in concert!! What a showstomper!!! He never did make it BIG here in the states, maybe just starting to, but did in France & Europe. Remember Luther Allison played the Ann Arbor blues festival in 1969, was great but the music industry wasn't ready for him, so he booked to Europe for 20 years. Became big over there. His son Bernard Allison is no slouch either. One thing these newer??blues artist did, was get more exposure than the old guys. So now the up & coming blues artist have it a little easier. If I remember John Lee Hooker never received royalities(they all didn't but he was more vocal on the subject) for his early stuff. They weren't credited in them days. That's why I stated about having some rare Johnny Copeland. There are 45's out there with these guys on, cause that's how they cut records then, couldn't do albums, no support. So if your lucky on obscure labels you might find some of these early songs, and they are pretty good for what they are.Any info about how many are out there is limited, cause even the artist forgot what they did.
Here's an interesting story about Johnny Copeland: He had a heart problem & there was a benefit for him in Albany. I drove up, it was an acoustic show(very rare Copeland performance) !!! I recorded it on a hand held cassette. Came out pretty good. So the next time I saw Johnny Copeland I told him I had a little present for him, he gave me his address & I beleive it was Easter, I sent him a package with a cassette tape in it & some 8 x 10 photo's of him from the benefit. I told him I was sorry for recording the show, but hey a fan like me just had to. Here is a copy of the show for you, there are only 2, mine & yours. So if it gets out there I know who to blame!! LOL.LOL..I saw him again live after that & he told me the cassette was in his truck & he would listen to it alot, & thanked me!! Wow, how cool. Johnny was always a true humble gentleman. & a pretty great bluesman himself!! I cherish those moments. He died prior to the next show I was going to see him. At the same time he died I found out Luther Allison had a Brain tummer & he died right after that.. What a bummer.Well enjoy...more later..RIP Luther/Johnny?Fenton & all the others that made music what it is today. Just think if music was never invented???How cruel!! I would have no life, being a collector & big music listener...Unthinkable!!