IAN GILLAN - Pullin' Pints At The Inn Page 2
by Martin Popoff

This all becomes apparent when one sees the whimsical (and very orange) cover art. "The cover is basically the pub we used to hang out at, a place called The Pink Flamingo, otherwise known as The Pink, in Buffalo. It's just a little building that stands alone, with weird art on it. And we've often stood outside of it, having been over-served, and looked at the thing and said, 'Well, this could be Gillan's Inn, so we took a couple of photographs from a local guy, and added some other bits in. And that's me dancing in the snow outside."

Inside its modest walls, Ian cooks up a storm of hot rock, including songs from the much derided Toolbox and Naked Thunder albums that here, come alive, Trashed from his nasty and unkempt Born Again album with the Sabs, a handful of Deep Purple tunes, and twin highlights for this unswerving Gillan fan, Bluesy Blue Sea and Men Of War.

"Everyone came in with such affection," says Ian of his numerous lodgers (he'll tell you some in a moment). "Everybody played their hearts out. But there were some great moments. Satch is so cool. When we were selecting the tracks, we had to put them together with the artists. And we had bits of paper all over the walls and all over the carpet, trying to figure out which guitarist or drummer or bass player is going to be with what track. And I was thinking, 'Yeah, gotta have Joe Satriani on Unchain Your Brain,' and Speed King he wanted to be on. So we go to the studio in San Francisco, and 'Hey mate, how you doing? Cup of tea?' 'There's a lovely restaurant,' he says, 'We must go have a bite to eat after the session. So like, what would you like me to do?' So I just played him the track, and he said, 'Yeah, let's go for it.' And he was in, like a rat up a drainpipe, unbelievable. Just fantastic. And I just said, 'There's a bit more on the outro, Joey. Take two passes at the solo. There is a bit more for you to be on.' 'Yes, fine, just give me a nod when I'm to come in,' and it was first take. He'd never heard the track before. An absolute maestro, brilliant."

"Other things weren't necessarily about performance, but actually about chemistry. Getting Tony Iommi together with Ian Paice and Roger Glover on Trashed, was... I mean, when us guys were planning it, when we put the names together we went, 'Oh, this is going to be fun.' Amazing. A Black Purple kind of lineup. It was wonderful. Jeff Healey, of course, was just unbelievable. I mean, if I have to say, to answer your question honestly, honestly, if anyone moved me... I mean, Mickey Lee's groove, Ian Paice's drumming on No Laughing In Heaven - all these things were fantastic. But I think Jeff's performance on When A Blind Man Cries, in juxtaposition with Jon Lord's Hammond organ, is just as cool as it gets. Very moving. After he played that solo, I don't think anyone went out for coffee without their hair standing up on their arms; quite incredible, and what an amazing guy."

IAN GILLAN - Pullin' Pints At The Inn Page 3