![]() There was also something very unusual about Coverdale’s performance that day. “It helped set me on my way with Whitesnake.” “When I saw the DVD I realised I learned shitloads from that performance,” added Coverdale. ![]() “I love playing in front of a lot of people,” says Hughes. Footage from Purple’s performance has subsequently been released on DVD. It did look impressive though, and unequivocally made them band of the day. It looks great, I agree, but Ritchie got burned. “It went a bit too far,” remembers David Coverdale, who was plucked from obscurity to become Purple’s vocalist for the Burn album. He then went on to destroy several more guitars before a huge explosion in his Marshall stacks set his hair on fire. As the epic Space Truckin’ came to a close, he smashed his Fender Stratocaster repeatedly into a camera operator’s lens. Purple’s performance was truly sensational, and clearly won ABC ratings points.įuelled by backstage aggravation, their set climaxed in an orgy of destruction by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. The network took a gamble on rock and managed to get four special programmes out of it. It was a great moment for us.”Īs it was their brainchild, major portions of the California Jam were broadcast live on America’s ABC TV channel. “The California Jam was really, really huge. The fences came down and they all rushed in,” recalls Glenn Hughes, who joined Purple as bassist/vocalist in 1973. The official attendance figure of California Jam was 250,000 but “there were maybe 350,000 or 400,000 people there altogether. The first notable happening – for a rock show at least – was that opening act Rare Earth actually took to the stage 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.45am.Įmerson Lake & Palmer may have been the headline band, but it was a newly invigorated Deep Purple who were the scene stealers of the day. And despite Stogel wanting to be in control, that didn’t mean there weren’t gatecrashers. I had to be in control – for the preservation of my sanity.”īut that didn’t mean that the first Jam was uneventful. I used to get a funny feeling in my stomach whenever I thought about it. Two hundred thousand kids was a big responsibility. I wanted to be in total control and know exactly what was happening that moment and what would be happening in the next few hours. “When I knew I was putting on a show for 200,000 young people, I didn’t want anything popping off unexpected. Crowd control was something that was foremost in the promoter’s mind, as Lenny Stogel recalled shortly before his death. Thankfully, the police chief’s fears were unwarranted and the day passed peacefully. It was too late though, the permits were issued and the show went ahead as planned.
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