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Ian Gillan - The Autobiography of Deep Purple's Lead Singer
In 1970, Deep Purple burst on to the British rock scene with their hit "Black Night" and bestselling album "Deep Purple in Rock". This is the autobiography of their lead singer, Ian Gillan.
Here he tells his life story, and that of the band he helped to make great. Stories of friction and violence, groupies and non-stop partying, drugs and alcohol, and how, finally, it all spiralled out of control to destroy the band.
This book traces Gillan's career from his childhood in Hounslow and early days with bands such as Episode Six and The Javelins. It concentrates on the international fame he found with songs including "Smoke on the Water" and "Child in Time". His outrageous life continues with Black Sabbath and the Gillan band, with whom he toured worldwide, whilst also writing consistently bestselling albums and singles.
Here he tells his life story, and that of the band he helped to make great. Stories of friction and violence, groupies and non-stop partying, drugs and alcohol, and how, finally, it all spiralled out of control to destroy the band.
This book traces Gillan's career from his childhood in Hounslow and early days with bands such as Episode Six and The Javelins. It concentrates on the international fame he found with songs including "Smoke on the Water" and "Child in Time". His outrageous life continues with Black Sabbath and the Gillan band, with whom he toured worldwide, whilst also writing consistently bestselling albums and singles.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2016
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December 9, 2024
Whilst Freddie Mercury might take the title of rock's greatest vocalist on showmanship, Ian Gillan is arguably rock's best vocalist full stop, Ronnie James Dio included. Whilst he is best known as the vocalist of Deep Purple, the proof of Gillan's abilities as both singer and lyricist are, in my opinion, those 5 priceless Gillan albums from 1979 to 1982 where the wide range of expression and the sheer exuberance of delivery is consistently astonishing. They are a clutch of albums that, like the best marathon boxsets, I can play from first to last song during one evening sitting.
Mind you, Gillan doesn't dwell on any of that and if he is aware of his greatness in his field, he certainly does not acknowledge it much, far less indulge himself on his success - apart from mentioning a few chart positions and awards along the way.
This autobiography gives a selection of anecdotes which give a fair overview of the rock'n'roll lifestyle warts and all during the 1960's to 1990's. Despite the publishing date of 2016, it stops well before that point in time and of course, does not cover Deep Purple's latter-day classics which would make an update worthwhile. (At the time of this review, Gillan is nearly 80 but vocally still firing on plenty of cylinders and full of surreal wit on stage.)
It is told in an engaging manner which makes the book very readable. He comes across as a decent, well-meaning guy whose heavy drinking and too much trust in others invariably gets him into silly scrapes where he is openly apologetic. Alcohol is his drug of choice so there are no life or death scrapes with drugs. Instead, he tends to shoot himself in the foot before picking himself up again and getting on with life. He does not analyse himself too closely and there is no self-pity when anything goes wrong. So, his story is humorous and positive for the most part despite the setbacks that would have others on their knees with despair.
Personally, I would have liked more focus on his songs' lyrics and his view of his vocal approach to them, which are fairly unique to say the least, but there is not too much depth on that aspect. He seems to regard it as merely incorporating stories but that is too unassuming given the skill on display when you listen to the albums. I would have also liked more on his relationship with Ritchie Blackmore but he expressly holds back on his ultimate views of the guitarist when he clearly has strong views. Even so, the Blackmore anecdotes are revealing in their own way.
Generally, I get the impression that he could have easily written twice as much from what is an interesting and varied life during a unique time in music history. The book was enjoyable to read but left me wanting just a bit more especially on the analysis of the music.
Mind you, Gillan doesn't dwell on any of that and if he is aware of his greatness in his field, he certainly does not acknowledge it much, far less indulge himself on his success - apart from mentioning a few chart positions and awards along the way.
This autobiography gives a selection of anecdotes which give a fair overview of the rock'n'roll lifestyle warts and all during the 1960's to 1990's. Despite the publishing date of 2016, it stops well before that point in time and of course, does not cover Deep Purple's latter-day classics which would make an update worthwhile. (At the time of this review, Gillan is nearly 80 but vocally still firing on plenty of cylinders and full of surreal wit on stage.)
It is told in an engaging manner which makes the book very readable. He comes across as a decent, well-meaning guy whose heavy drinking and too much trust in others invariably gets him into silly scrapes where he is openly apologetic. Alcohol is his drug of choice so there are no life or death scrapes with drugs. Instead, he tends to shoot himself in the foot before picking himself up again and getting on with life. He does not analyse himself too closely and there is no self-pity when anything goes wrong. So, his story is humorous and positive for the most part despite the setbacks that would have others on their knees with despair.
Personally, I would have liked more focus on his songs' lyrics and his view of his vocal approach to them, which are fairly unique to say the least, but there is not too much depth on that aspect. He seems to regard it as merely incorporating stories but that is too unassuming given the skill on display when you listen to the albums. I would have also liked more on his relationship with Ritchie Blackmore but he expressly holds back on his ultimate views of the guitarist when he clearly has strong views. Even so, the Blackmore anecdotes are revealing in their own way.
Generally, I get the impression that he could have easily written twice as much from what is an interesting and varied life during a unique time in music history. The book was enjoyable to read but left me wanting just a bit more especially on the analysis of the music.
Displaying 1 of 1 review