DEEP PURPLE's 'California Jam 1974' To Be Released On Blu-Ray For First Time

November 16, 2016

DEEP PURPLE's "California Jam 1974" will be released by earMUSIC on December 2 on DVD and Blu-ray formats. This release, never before available on Blu-ray, has been newly restored, features a brand new edit and comes with new artwork and liner notes.

In April 1974, DEEP PURPLE's Mk III lineup consisting of David Coverdale (vocals),Ritchie Blackmore (guitar),Glenn Hughes (bass and vocals),Jon Lord (organ) and Ian Paice (drums) had just released the album "Burn" when they climbed the stage of the soon to become legendary festival California Jam. The phenomenon now known as "arena rock" was born there — and DEEP PURPLE were at its epicenter. In many ways, the California Jam was the equivalent of the Woodstock festival to a burgeoning generation of hard rock and heavy metal fans.

The Jam took place at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California on a hot and sunny spring day on April 6, 1974. The event attracted an enormous crowd of a quarter-million people and represented a baptism of fire — in more ways than one — for PURPLE's "new boys," frontman David Coverdale and bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, who in '73 had replaced Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, respectively, to usher in the band's so-called Mk III lineup.

DEEP PURPLE were literally on fire during that time: due to some behind the scenes "feud" with the promoter, DEEP PURPLE's performance was full of fire and fury – no wonder their opening song was "Burn". At the climax of the show, a still-furious Blackmore trashed several of his guitars and chucked his amplifiers off the edge of the stage. Blackmore also struck one of the cameras with his guitar. The chaos continued when a massive onstage detonation created an out-of-control fireball — pun most definitely intended.

In the midst of all this mayhem there was also some awesome music being created, PURPLE's set focused strongly on their then-current "Burn" album, the first by the Mk III line-up and only included a handful of songs from the previous Mk II era.

Even in 2016, Glenn Hughes has very vivid memories of DEEP PURPLE's tempestuous California Jam performance. "It was a moment in time for us all," he said. "It was a great statement of what rock was all about in that pre-MTV era. It's also a great testament to the Mk III line-up. It's big, it's grandiose, it's funky, it's rock... it's Mk III in all its glory."

"California Jam 1974" track listing:

01. Burn
02. Might Just Take Your Life
03. Lay Down, Stay Down
04. Mistreated
05. Smoke on the Water
06. You Fool No One / The Mule
07. Space Truckin'

deeppurplecaliforniajam1974dvd_638

Find more on Deep purple
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).