Made In Tokyo (Tarantura TCDDP-1-1,2)
Budokan Dai-Hall, Tokyo, Japan – December 15, 1975
Disc 1 (52:11) Monitor Check, Start, Burn, Lady Luck, Love Child, Getting Tired, Smoke On The Water, Georgia On My Mind, Smoke On The Water, Tommy Bolin Introduction, Wild Dogs (From Teaser)
Disc 2 (76:13) MC, I Need Love, Soldier Of Fortune, Jon Lord Keyboard Solo, Woman From Tokyo, Toccata And Fugue In D Minor, BWV 565:I. Toccata, For Elise, Lazy, Ian Paice Drum Solo, Lazy, This Time Around, Owed To “G”, Jon Lord Keyboard Solo, Tommy Bolin Guitar Solo, Drifter, You Keep On Moving, Stormbringer, Encore: Highway Star
With the re mastered Anniversary edition of Come Taste The Band due later this fall we are treated to a Mr. Peach recording of Deep Purple’s last date of their Japanese tour in support of the aforementioned release. The tour was infamous due to the poor shape of guitarist Tommy Bolin’s arm but fortunately by the end of the tour he was in good shape, as this recording shows.
The show has been the source for the officially released Last Concert In Japan, a shabby release for sure, a video commonly referred to as Rises Over Japan, and finally the release of the full professionally recorded release, This Time Around – Live In Tokyo. This should be considered (unless a full video surfaces) the final statement for this concert, a very good recording that at times borders on excellent. There are times where it sounds a little muffled but most of the time the instruments are well balanced and discernable, the vocals are nice and clear and it sounds great at loud volumes.
There is virtually no interference from the audience, a strange thing for the Japanese audiences who love to clap and enjoy themselves. The band takes the stage to rapturous applause as the blast into Burn, a natural opener and one of only two tracks from the Mark III band. Tommy keeps to just the main riff leaving the soloing to Jon Lord but is effective enough. A song about a woman who sells herself for money and a sigh from David Coverdale starts the next trio of songs, all of which are from the Taste record.
The first two songs, Lady Luck and Love Child do not stray much from the recorded versions but the band stretches its muscles with a great Getting Tighter. Clocking in at over 17 minutes the band improvises into a great groove again led my Jon Lord with some tasty interaction from Glenn Hughes and Tommy Bolin. Smoke on The Water is next, after a few listens to this cd I had to put in the DVD of this gig, the band not only sounds like they are enjoying themselves but there is clear evidence that they were with Tommy Bolin sharing some vocals with Coverdale, the formers solo is not much but he did not seem to put a lot of effort into the older Purple songs.
A great version of Bolin’s solo track Wild Dogs is next and has a great solo from the guitarist, one of his best from the night. In a weird way this song wind of sums up his time in Deep Purple. The second disc opens with another new track, I Need Love. The band felt strongly about the record, playing seven its nine tracks. The song ends with some somber playing from Jon Lord that leads into a great version of Soldier Of Fortune, a standout track from Stormbringer that was not played live by Mark III.
A series of solos comes next with a instrumental version of Woman From Tokyo and a disappointing version of Lazy, mostly played by Jon Lord as Bolin does not seem interested in playing it, only during the songs reprises does he seem to. if only briefly, come alive. What do you get when you mix Purple with Gospel, This Time Around. Glenn’s chance to really get into his R and B influences that is a nice interlude Owed To “G”, a vehicle for soloing from Lord and Bolin.
In Fact Bolin has almost fully recovered and is played great by the end of the show and dazzles the audience with his use of effects. His solo leads directly into a fine version of Drifter and a great version of one of CTTB’s best tracks, You Keep On Moving. The crowd can be heard ever so slightly clapping as the band breaks into the song as Bolin’s echoplex howls, dramatic indeed. a powerful and well received version of Stormbringer ends the main set and the band is brought back for great version of Highway Star that brings the house down, you need to throw in the DVD again to see the crowd going crazy with a few members getting onstage to hug and hold their heroes.
It is nights like this, at times uneven and other times incredible that show the promise this line up had. Full color glossy fold open cover with pictures of each of the band adore the sleeve with the pictures of Coverdale on CD 1 and Hughes / Bolin on CD 2, what we have come to expect from Tarantura. The mastering should also be noted, not over done or heavy handed giving this incredible master tape the justice it deserves.
I am sure the fans of the Blackmore era Purple would disagree but to me this is and essential tape to have, I love the Bolin era Purple and it is great to have a great sounding show from the Japanese tour. Tarantura is on a roll with their current run of Rainbow titles and this one is no different and with new releases from Mr. Peach’s amazing archive coming on a frequent basis lets hope there is more Deep Purple on the horizon.
14 Comments
I was excited when I heard this release announced. As mentioned above there are very few Deep Purple with Bolin titles period and when I got and listened to this I was not disappointed. This is one I can crank up loud and enjoy the ambiance. I also have the official release and would recommend to any DP collector of this era however this Tarantura has a entirely different vibe and at times I feel that I’m at the concert next to Bolin. I also wanted to mention that the 1st edition is sold out and it’s possible there will be a 2nd edition in the future. I do believe this is the 1st “DP” Tarantura release and here’s hoping there’s more material in their vaults.
I’m very excited about the new “Super Group” with Glenn Hughes.
The sound quality is very good, similar to the Mr Peach Rainbow recordings from 1976. It is not close to the official sound board release of this show, it is a well balanced recording that is very enjoyable and has a different perpective thn the officla release. If you are a fan of the Come tase era or Tommy Bolin this is a great release. I am not sure but this may be the first Tarantura Deep Purple boot.
Dear zeppy, please, go deeper in your sound quality feedback. The sound on the official release is *great*, IMHO. Is it really the sound quality or is the “feeling” from the audience?
Great title!!! I love it!!! Sound quality is much better than official release.
Thanks for the help!
no offense taken or given, I was just trying to explain myself. I was very excited about this release, I have the official release, the dvd, and now the audience tape. I really enjoyed this release and hope others who bought it do the same. I guess the bottom line is there is nothing new here other than another great Mr Peach recording of a very well covered show, the iceing on the cale so to say.
Relayer67, as DIMIP wrote, don’t get angry, my friend! ;) I do consider myself a collector and the question was posted to learn more about the release itself or, in other words, to convince myself to order the title. I like the show and I like Deep Purple a lot.
tmoq, a person whom you know on the internet, dlee, whose pc i use sometimes when i show up here, but who may no longer be submitting his own responses or messages here, says that if you have the official very best of deep purple 1cd by warner archives/rhino, you can find the detailed info. about the different band lineups on page 14 of the front insert booklet. on page 15 there’s also some recommended deep purple web pages that may help you.
Wikipedia does a good job.
Or search for Deep Purple Appreciation Society.
Can anyone recommend a website that details all the different Deep Purple line-ups; Mark I, Mark II, etc.?
I can never keep them straight and could really utilize a site that breaks down all the line-ups over the years. Thanks in advance!
No need to get angry mate, I was not critical towards your review or the fact that you did it, but just wondering the point of the release itself which apparently is nothing more than an audience version of the official tape (which is already great, complete and in remastered soundboard quality), and inquiring about the real need to have it or not.
Cheers and a (virtual) brew for you !
I guess the point is if you like the show / band you will get it, I do and am happy with it. It has a different vibe and feel to the official release. Everything on this site is all a matter of preferance, look at Zeppelin collectors. How many versions of 6/21/77 or 9/4/70 does one need but people still buy them. people discuss the new Stones get your ya yas out that is nothing more than an official release with the tracks in the right order but still people buy it. if you dont like it dont buy it.I reviewed the title for people who are interested in buying it but what to know about the recording quality, packaging etc. For me there are not alot of Tommy Bolin era boots so when one comes out in very acceptable quality I am on it.
I was about to ask the same question DIMIP just did. What’s the point of getting this show as it was released officially in its entirety?
Is there really a point getting this while the pretty great official soundboard This Time Around – Live In Tokyo is widely available ?