A Strange Musical (Court) Case
The Allegation:
After five decades of records made chiefly of original material, Deep Purple’s 22nd studio album consists solely of songs written and previously recorded by other artists: a criminal offense commonly described by the rock police and purists Grand Jury as “doing covers.”
Precedent:
Early albums by Deep Purple contained a substantial number of cover versions, as well as occasional shameless occurrences present in the last three albums.
Evidence:
Studio recordings of songs previously released by: Love, Huey “Piano” Smith, Fleetwood Mac, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles & Quincy Jones, Little Feat, The Yardbirds, Lonnie Donegan/ Johnny Horton, Bob Seger System, Cream, plus the Caught In The Act medley feat. songs by Freddie King, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, The Spencer Davis Group
Partner in Crime:
Producer Bob Ezrin
Crime Scene:
UK, Switzerland, Portugal, USA, Canada.
Case File:
No contractual obligation or record label claim to justify the alleged crime was found.
Justification:
Paice, Gillan, Glover, Airey and Morse were already in home confinement during the entire period in which the alleged crime was committed, were forced to cancel all plans for the years 2020 and 2021, and were not in the position to play live or create new music.
Inculpatory Evidence:
Home recording equipment invoices, evidence of studio time spent at Peter Gabriel ́s Real World Studios, various emails with alternative track lists exchanged, taped phone calls with producer and business associates with various level of euphoria and skepticism about the crime.
Defendant Response:
With an oral statement, the accused claimed that “music is just music” and this is “just what we do,” showing no signs of emotions, regret or consciousness of guilt.
Sentence:
Guilty.
Dismissed without Prejudice.
Listen to the album here
