Steve
Morse
Deep Purple
So what is he doing with Deep Purple? Well have you had a close look at them these days,
or listened to their music? No. Well I suggest you do. Something has infected them and taken root. They seem to have found new life and inspiration and perform like a well-oiled engine on stage. They all look happy too - unnerving!
We can probably thank Roger Glover for all this, for he saw Steve playing and had the vision to realise they could work successfully together. When the rest of the band heard what he was capable of, it seems they were of one accord. They have found an ingredient they had been missing for quite some time. Not only does Steve play some of the finest guitar you will ever hear, he writes with the band and has obviously had a big influence on their music. I really hope that when we look back on Deep Purple's long and illustrious career, we will remember 'Sometimes I feel like Screaming', with it's incredibly beautiful riff from Steve, as much as we do 'Smoke on the Water'.
So don't think of him as a replacement for Ritchie. That is not fair to either of them, or to Deep Purple. There is room for both in this story. Each has his strengths and weaknesses, each his unique style and value.
If you have any doubts about how he fits into the band, this letter appeared in the October 1999 issue of Guitar World
Thanking Heaven
Regarding your Deep Purple article in the May issue - specifically the paragraph ending with "The band is still carrying on today, with Steve Morse in Blackmore's former lead guitar position, but even the current band members admit that the magic they had in the early Seventies is long gone."This we read with some surprise; if it wasn't so completely opposite to the truth, we would maybe not have noticed it. It is, however, false in word and spirit.
Some years ago, this band was in a nosedive, approaching terminal velocity, when we pulled out with the aid of an exceptional pilot. After some load-lightening and a meaningful contribution from Joe Satriani, we were lucky enough to have been flying high; magic carpets don't come into it. The assertion/statement is, quite simply, wrong, and should not have been attributed to us.
The lyric "...and then I fell upon my knees and gently kissed the ground you walk on" "Seventh Heaven," Abandon is an open-hearted reference to our beloved guitar player, who is also a damned good pilot, by the way.
Sincerely,
Deep Purple: Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
You have their words for it.
