Scott Henderson Discussion

TaeKwonDonut · Joined: 20 Apr 2015 Posts: 101

From a few days ago.. I think I spy a reel to reel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR4t0TjgDxk

Solos from gig the day before. the sound is clearer. Still killin on Mistreated (second tune)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTbDUyX4FVE

Scott Henderson · The Man Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2135

Very cool - welcome back to rock n' roll Ritchie!

TaeKwonDonut · Joined: 20 Apr 2015 Posts: 101

I grew up more on the Rainbow Dio era stuff and didn't really get into Purple until much more recently. I was reading that after Gillan, Blackmore wanted 2 blues singers capable of harmony and so he got Coverdale and Hughes.. those 2 albums are great with them.. Stormbringer has some funky stuff but you can hear how it started to be almost 2 different bands.. so Blackmore split cause he hated that direction (the less heavy rock).. then a few yeards later, Coverdale started to have some commercial success with Whitesnake in the UK, Blackmore was pissed and took Rainbow in a commercial direction which produced hits but was wuss music.. although I like Graham Bonnet.. everyone else was long hair and leather.. He had a completely different look with the suits, short hair and shades... not to mention he had a great raspy voice.. it's a shame that kind of rock talent with all those guys couldn't go on to produce some classic stuff post-Purple..

Scott Henderson · The Man Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2135

I was never a big Rainbow fan even though Ritchie played some great solos, but I'm more familiar with the commercial version of the band. I'm sure there's stuff I haven't heard that I'd like. I took my wife to see them - she has her doctorate in classical piano. The band looked funny with their huge hair, but when the keyboard player did his solo "classical" piece, my wife was on the floor laughing. It truly was an unbelievable Spinal Tap moment. Actually the whole night reminded me of Spinal Tap - Deep Purple was much more modern sounding in my opinion, and my favorite Ritchie playing and tone was with them.

TaeKwonDonut · Joined: 20 Apr 2015 Posts: 101

Hah I could totally see that.. the first Blackmores Rainbow band was actually Dio's band Elf, that had some really solid players on it.. a few them went on to other bands and had success. Then they fired them all lol.. but that first album had really solid playing all around and the writing was good. The other 2 albums with Dio are great as well but the first one always sticks out to me cause, well it was the first one and the backing band was more creative then just the straight up rock dudes that followed on the next few albums.

tribalfusion · Joined: 10 Aug 2009 Posts: 45

TaeKwonDonut · Joined: 20 Apr 2015 Posts: 101

Isn't there a hidden track on Thick I think where you guys spoof prog rock?

muddytrane · Joined: 18 May 2016 Posts: 55 Location: Herndon, VA

I like both Purple and Rainbow but they, to me, have different feels to them and it's because of the vocalists. Purple has that definite more blues feel to it with Gillen/Coverdale and Rainbow is more metal because of Dio's sorcery/fantasy lyrics. Richie's playing is still deep in the blues but he does a little more classical soloing in Rainbow, especially live. I wonder what made Richie decide to do the handful of shows as Rainbow again after all these years. Could be as a stab back for his uninvite for Purple's induction in the HOF. That would have been interesting to see Richie and Gillen together on a stage again, plus Richie and Steve Morse solo together.

Hey Scott, I want to throw this discussion a big 180 turn. I'm interested in who your wife likes/listens to as keyboardists in jazz, blues, rock, etc. With a doctorate in classical piano what does she think of pianists like Cecil Taylor, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Jaki Byard and more mainstream traditionalists like Monk, Red Garland, Ellington, Horace Silver. What does she think of keyboardists like the late Jon Lord, Keith Emerson, and others like Rick Wakeman.

Scott Henderson · The Man Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2135

That Rainbow link - sorry, it’s just not my thing. It doesn't sound anything like Yes or Gentle Giant to me - it sounds like 80's harmonic minor metal. I'll be honest and admit that if I had a least favorite kind of rock, that would be it. Deep Purple was way more bluesy, and BTW I'm not really sure which rock musicians decided that using the harmonic minor scale made their music sound "classical" - it just sounds pompous and funny to me. That's why I make references to Spinal Tap when I hear it.

My wife loves jazz piano - she knows the music of Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, and although she likes straight ahead jazz, she doesn't know a lot of those pianists by name. She also likes Rick Wakeman, and appreciates the music of Yes and Gentle Giant for the great composing. She's not into rock keyboards, and obviously thinks metal keyboard solos are as funny as I do.

Yes, there's a comedy tune at the end of the Thick album, but it's not spoofing prog rock per say, it's just a joke on how we jammed when we were kids. I think the prog rock comparison comes mainly from Kinsey's use of the glissando mini-moog notes - way overdoing the Rick Wakeman/ Keith Emerson thing.