78 years of Ian Gillan: 8 songs that changed the Deep Purple frontman’s life [LISTA]

Responsible for giving voice to “Smoke On The Water”one of the most memorable hits in rock history, Ian Gillan turns 78 this Saturday (August 19) and, from an early age, music has been an ever-present constant in the life of the lead singer of deep purple.

O deep purple and its musicians not only altered the course of rock, especially in the seventies, but also positively affected the lives of many of its fans and, perhaps in recognition, the portal louder sound offered an opportunity for Ian Gillan reveal which songs inspired him to find his voice in the music scene.

Check out the selection in full below – and the reasons why Ian Gillan was marked by the songs.

8. Chuck Berry – “Rock And Roll Music” (1957)

“Chuck Berry it was the first and the best. He’s the guy who wrote “Roll Over Beethoven”that wrote “No Particular Place To Go”, “Johnny B. Goode”, “Sweet Little Sixteen”, “Memphis, Tennessee”… speaks seriously! AND “Rock & RollMusic”I mean, the lyrics here are so expressive of the era”.

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7. The Crickets – “It’s So Easy!” (1958)

“When children of my generation first heard this song, it was via a radio plugged into the wall and it was the BBC playing. Frank SinatraPerry Como or dean martin. Fortunately, someone invented a transistor, so we could escape our parents and the BBC and take our music to the schoolyard or a park and listen to Radio Luxembourg.”

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6. Ray Charles – “What’d I Say” (1959)

“I think I heard Eddie Cochran do this song first but Ray Charles made the definitive version and this is the arrangement we made with The Javelins. Ray Charles was a soul, jazz and blues singer with rock’n’roll leanings and he was as talented and multi-faceted as a musician and songwriter. That rhythm and that little lick…it had you by the balls right away.”

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5. Roy Orbison – “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)” (1962)

“At the time, when someone bought a new single, we’d all hang around the house and listen to it together. Someone bought it “Dream Baby”, and none of us had heard a voice like that before. It was very pure, which was intriguing to me. It’s such a fantastic song and it builds up beautifully. Roy Orbisonfor us, it was like a pop version of Johnny Cashdressed all in black with his sunglasses, but with a better voice”.

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4. The Beatles – “Chains (Please Please Me)” (1963)

“This was originally recorded by a girl group called The Cookies, but I only heard that version about ten years ago. The real charm of this recording is the composition – the lyrics, the concept and the structure. It was written by Gerry Goffin It is Carole Kingwho were part of that whole New York Brill Building scene, and when the Beatles did it, it had a real groove”.

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3. Faron’s Flamingos – “Do You Love Me” (1963)

“This song has been recorded by various artists (The Dave Clarke Five It is The Hollies among them), but the version we liked the most was Faron’s Flamingos, from Liverpool. It’s a pretty obscure album and it didn’t do very well commercially because the original recording of The Contours it was a success. It’s a great song, with a high impact live.”

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2. Buddy Holly – “Heartbeat” (1958)

“What I like most about ‘Heartbeat’ is actually the delicious guitar solo, but then again, this is just another pure and perfect song. With the recording techniques of the time, working on just two or four tracks in the studio, you can hear every breath taken by the singer, every creak of the guitar strings and there is a real purity and immediacy to the songs, as if he were singing directly into your ear. No wonder the girls adored him.”

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1. Bo Diddley – “Mona” [Single B-Side] (1957)

“Bo Diddley he was an outrageous showman, with his homemade rectangular guitar and his wild clothes. He had this unique rhythmic sound as well. This song has simple boy and girl lyrics, but it’s so cute and the music is so powerful, with a really catchy rhythm. I think that song was a big part of the evolution of rock’n’roll. I still come back to that pace.”

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