Every band could do with a great singer; talented, good-looking, wild and charismatic. When Deep Purple poached Ian Gillan from Episode 6 they got all of that, and the added bonus of an excellent bass player and producer in the shape of Roger Glover. These two new recruits were to catapult Purple into the premier league of 70's rock as they churned out thumping anthems like 'Smoke on the Water', 'Highway Star', 'Child in Time' and 'Black Night'.
Gillan recalls that just about the first thing that Purple's management said to him was, "I knew you were trouble." Gillan claims he was just asking for money to buy some stage clothes which seems reasonable enough but one's never very sure if the big G is telling the whole story. One thing is certain. He is an intelligent and observant man who loves singing and performing, and telling tales is all part of being an entertainer. So what if the reality is pulled about here and there!
Thank goodness that Gillan stuck with rock music despite singing the part of Jesus on the first recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. The silver-throated scream became like a siren call for Deep Purple fans. He appeared first on the album 'In Rock', debuting with the utterly amazing 'Speed King'. This was certainly not the first vocal line or lyric that Gillan wrote for the song as evidenced by the first studio recording they made of it for the BBC. But Gillan is a grafter and out of all the ideas emerged this enduring flight of fancy, full of dextrous twists and turns. And two tracks later he introduces us to that 'high A' scream of his on 'Child inTime'. 'Fireball' and 'Machine Head' saw Gillan produce highly inventive and powerful work before the relationship with Ritchie Blackmore became too much to sustain.
Beneath his roguish ways, Gillan has a deep sense of integrity and thee band he loved was grinding itself into the ground. The split enabled him to explore other avenues as he formed the jazz-rock Ian Gillan Band, and then return to more conventional rock with Gillan. He certainly gave Rainbow and Whitesnake a good run for their money over those years, but it always seemed that Purple was his first love. He was the first to say publicly (to Tommy Vance on BBC Radio 1) that he thought a reunion would indeed happen.
Since 1985, Gillan has been a driving force of Purple, despite briefly relinquishing the singer's post to Joe Lynn Turner. He has also found time to record some excellent solo material; most notably 'Naked Thunder' and 'Toolbox'. He has developped a style of recording that is quite unique, and which is probably best exhibited on 'The Battle Rages On'. Behind the main vocal there are all sorts of other vocal lines adding colour and texture, and filling out a voice that has sadly become a little 'pinched' in delivery through the last 15 years. I have had the privilege of seeing the man twice in concert. First during the IGB's 'Clear Air Turbulence' tour and then with DP when they were promoting 'The House of Blue Light'. The second show at London's Wembley Arena surprised me in that Gillan and Blackmore seemed so at ease with one another, enjoying themselves and fooling around on stage. After all the press stories of mutual animosity it is hard to imagine that in the band's early years the two roomed together during tours. If only they could sustain this friendship!
The Blackmore Gillan partnership is amazingly powerful in terms of the music they make. But perhps it is the uneasy stormy relationship that has provided the seedbed for the exciting music they made together over the years. And who knows...maybe one on these days we may be delighted again by these two masters working their magic together. I do hope so.