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In the nascent days of my 'Anniversary' project I called Craig Hooper. Craig had produced a documentary for ITV Wales based upon the career of Roger Glover, who is a Boyo himself. Knowing him to be a friendly chap as well as a fine producer and journalist, I asked him out of the blue if he would consider putting together a film about my life in music. We had a meeting soon after, and over a couple of pints we agreed to go forward. At this time we had no idea where we were going to end up, but undaunted - and unfinanced - Craig and I drew up a list of interviewees. The next day we started making calls and sending letters. Now, a year or more later, I'm looking at a trailer, the first tangible evidence that we're nearly there. There's Luciano Pavarotti, Jon Lord, Sir Tim Rice, George Best and Tony Iommi - out of a cast of thousands (well quite a lot) together with some live footage - it's only a few minutes in print so far, but those who have seen it turn round with daft grins on their faces, mouthing 'Wow!' I will let Craig tell you more about it, as I'm shy, but I will say this - it has been the most enjoyable experience. Barry Davies the lighting cameraman, who's beautiful picture of me in vaguely piratical pose on my boat in Lyme Bay - gracing the front page and destined to be the cover - is just one of the many stills he took, in addition to shooting great film work in Montreux, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pesaro and all across the UK. Brian Ullah the sound man, recorded high quality stuff whilst walking backwards for miles through Red Square, and sometimes hanging from the ceiling in bizarre locations. I mentioned Red Square…Craig wanted me to 'Walk and Talk' - it's not something I've done before and it was only because of his personal encouragement, innate knowledge of his subject and journalistic skills that we got away with it. Nice job guys, true professionals and good pals. It's my round.
IAN GILLAN is a true Rock Original, a pioneer of a genre of music that swept the globe in the late-60s and early 70s. Often imitated and never duplicated, Gillan has spent the last forty years blazing a musical trail with a stunning passion, urgency and commitment, and he's never looked back. This film takes a look at Gillan's life of forty years of hard road, recording, excesses, humour, riches, poverty, trend setting, and his complete and current devotion to rock and roll. In this film, you will hear friends, musicians Gillan has worked with and influenced, even Gillan's mum, tell their stories about moments along the way in Ian's life. Luciano Pavarotti was interviewed, and said, among other things about Ian, 'obviously, he's a genius.' Purple has twice been invited by the Maestro to perform at his Pavarotti and friends benefit. Tony Iommi was interviewed and talks about Gillan's uproarious days with Sabbath. It was many of the stories from the Sabbath days that inspired Spinal Tap, and you'll hear all about it, from the Stonehenge replica, the druids, to Ian's maniacal midnight car race that ended with a song called Trashed' - quite amazing that he's here to tell the story. Of course, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, are interviewed, as is Sir Tim Rice. The greatest ever British footballer - George Best was interviewed about his friend, Ian Gillan. There are plenty of previously untold stories and perspectives, gorgeously shot and produced, about the incredible and very rock and roll life of Ian Gillan. There is also considerable footage of Ian talking about the path of his career, as well as never before seen footage of Purple in concert. Gillan is most known as the singer for the rock group, Deep Purple, which he joined in 1969, and promptly created the ground breaking, speaker destroying "In Rock" which seriously raised the bar, if not solidified a genre of classical-influenced bluesy, full throated, progressive rock and roll. Jaws dropped around the world when he sang the parts of Jesus in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar. Purple also enjoyed massive popularity from 1972's Machine Head, which spawned "Smoke on the Water," and "Highway Star" among others. In 1973, Gillan decided for artistic reasons to leave Deep Purple, on the top of a then-current world-wide hit "Woman From Tokyo." During a ten-plus year hiatus from Purple, Gillan spun out a slew of solo records, toured constantly (often in some of the most remote places in the world), and joined Black Sabbath for a record and world tour. Back into Deep Purple in 1983, Gillan and the boys rekindled the old magic, and recorded their best selling record until that time, Perfect Strangers, which was followed by a journey that took them around the world twice on a several year sold out tour. To this day Deep Purple remains one of the world's most successful and hard working recording and touring rock bands. For most of their careers, except for the occasional synchronicity, Gillan and Purple have existed underground. The fans, as always, know what's going on -- they always have, but the press and the 'industry' have often not had a clue. One look at the full football arenas in Russia and throughout Eastern Europe, the two sold out tours in the UK alone, and the same throughout Indonesia, China, Japan, Canada and the US - on their most recent tour of 38 countries in eighteen months, to have a sense of how iconic and still relevant Gillan and Purple remain. Gillan talks extensively in this film about his reflections on the last forty years of hard road, making records, the personalities along the way, the history and inner machinations of Purple, and a record industry gone mad. We've had unrivalled access to the usually camera-shy singer, as well as to Deep Purple, including unique behind-the-scenes moments during Deep Purple's recent 38 country world tour. This documentary chronicles the amazing career and life of Ian Gillan, forty years on the road and counting, scores of studio, live and bootleg records, and still he looks forward every day to what's next, with the enthusiasm, optimism and zeal of someone a third his age. Never before has such intimate footage of Gillan, and about Gillan, been captured, and in my humble opinion, as Producer and fan, this will be a must-have for anyone who has been moved by Gillan's voice and music over the years. IAN GILLAN - (as yet untitled) is in final editing and will be released in the Summer of 2006***. Keep checking back for developments. --- Craig Hooper, Producer *** editor's note - early 2007 is the planned release date, at the moment | |||||
