When it comes to the great rock singers of the past 30 years, someone who warrants this accolade, yet doesn't always receive it is Joe Lynn Turner. Joe is of the same caliber as some of the all time greats, yet due to the lower profile of some of the bands he's been in, he doesn't always get his due. But make no mistake, this guy has played with some of the best in the business and has earned his place among them. From Ritchie Blackmore to Yngwie Malmsteen, he always has the perfect foil for his powerful and soulful voice. Unlike some of his peers, Joe has not only maintained longevity, but has actually gotten stronger and stronger vocally as time goes on. From stints with Rainbow, Yngwie's Rising Force, and even an album with Deep Purple, as well as a half a dozen solo albums. Currently Joe has released one of the most exciting albums of his career: the Hughes Turner Project. The album teams Joe with another Deep Purple alumni Glenn Hughes, who like Joe, is currently doing the best work of his career. While talking to Joe his excitement for this album was not only evident, but overwhelming. After listening to the album I can confirm that this album indeed is a MONSTER! It is an incredibly satisfying album for fans of both Glenn and Joe, as well as Purple, Rainbow, and just about everything in between. Joe Lynn Turner proved to be quite an insightful, frank, articulate, and intelligent guy. He very graciously and candidly discussed his past present and future.

BallBuster: How was the writing handled on the new HTP album?

JLT: Actually Glenn and his guitarist JJ Marsh who is a very cool swedish guitar player, we sat around in California doing music tracks. Then Glenn and I took our respective tracks, then we just went on a writing spree. I took a few things back to New Jersey and finished 'em here. He finished a few things over there. We also finished some things during the recording process. John Sykes also collaborated on a track with Glenn, a really killer ballad. Paul Gilbert did a guitar lead on one of our tracks as well. He was nice enough to send it in from Tokyo.

BB: Glenn was saying that he gets pigeonholed by certain audiences to stay in that classic hard rock vein. Particularly in Japan.

JLT: People don't want you to change. They want to be sure of certain things. One of them is "We know who this guy is, and this is what we want from him." That's also another thing that prompted this record, which I think we beat them at their own game. We have some big rockers on there. Some shredding. But at the same time we have some metal funk, some bluesy funky rock shit. Some artistic moody stuff. It just turned out that way. We became our own entity during the making of it. Originally we were like "Well, they want the Purple and the Rainbow stuff" so we'll keep it rock. Pretty soon, we were just having some fun and we just said "You know what? Let's just do what we do!" We've got enough rock to cover 'em. And we also have some serious musical stuff going on in there. I think everyone will love it, because the quality is just so good. Let's put it this way: Glenn is always on 10 when he sings. He has a lot to make up for (he feels) I am talking personally with friendship and admiration now. So what I tried to do was temper it. Like everytime he would go a little bit more left, I'd swing him right. It came out so that he's still doing his vocal chops, but it's a little more understandable from a rock point of view. He's still Glenn Hughes, but he's just a little straighter about it. I mean there is still 20 notes in every line. I mean, I love all that stuff, but somebody had to hold it down, and that somebody is me!

BB: That's an interesting thing to think about, him being tempered by another singer.

JLT: At first he didn't think he could do it with another singer because of personallity, ego's and things like that. We have a great friendship and understanding of each other spiritually and all that. So we work great together. As a matter of fact, he sent me a beautiful card the other day. I was really moved. In one of our songs it says "You can call me brother" and he put that in the card, and "It was great to work with you, and this was an experience" and on and on. I was just like "Wow, this is so deep!" It really is a deep union here. I think you'll hear it.

BB: That's the impression I get of him as a person. He's got that depth and sprirituality.

JLT: Oh, he's totally there. Now let's not forget his massive ego! But he knows it, and he's working on that.

BB: It's a bit of a british thing!

JLT: It's also a bit of an addiction thing as well. The Addiction album says it all. Glenn full well knows who he is and what he's gone through. Let me tell you, he is a shining star. The guy has always been one of my fucking heros. He's still my fucking hero. You gotta remember, I was listening to him when I was growing up. He had 10 years in the business before I even got in. I saw Trapeze live at the university of Columbus Ohio. I was in the fucking nose bleed! I love Trapeze and I was flipping the fuck out!!

BB: Yeah, I was going to ask you if you were into the Glenn Hughes David Coverdale era of Purple.

JLT: Oh yeah, absolutely! I like the whole soul aspect of it. David's got a very thick and soulful voice. Glenn's got the whole white Stevie Wonder thing. Sometime's he scares the shit out of me with it. Although David turns around and says "Glenn, don't derail me with your vocals!" (laughs)

BB: Have you ever seen the old footage from back then where Glenn is like on 10 and Coverdale is........

JLT: Pacing himself? You know there is a point to that. I had a producer tell me a long time ago when I was a young whipper snapper, that you can't sing your whole life in three and a half minutes! I was doing like what Glenn would do. On 10 every note and every trick, and he said "You can't sing your whole life in three and a half minutes" meaning the single. He said "You have to temper it. First verse is first verse. Second verse, and so on." And he's right. You've gotta climb a mountain so to speak. There's a color and a theater to it that you've gotta create. Other wise you're just jerking off on the sheets! I hate to use that term, but that's what he said to me as well.

BB: It's like Yngwie blowing his wad before the first verse!

JLT: Oh, first three songs Yngwie blows his wad! Nobody knows better than me about that! I tell him "Pace yourself!" People are bored after that. You threw out a hundred picks. You swung the guitar around 20,000 times. You did knee kicks and all that shit. And this is in the first song!! Where do you go? The rest is like "Let's go get a beer and forget about it!" You have got to save some stuff.

BB: How pro is Glenn in the studio? Is he knocking shit out in the first couple takes?

JLT: Oh yeah. That's all we did actually.

BB: He is constantly recordable isn't he?

JLT: Oh yeah. Everything he does is recordable. Very rarely would there be a fix. We did fix a few things, because we found out that the energies were misinterpreted. I'd start it off with a certain energy and that would feel fine. And then he would come in blasting away. And I'd go "One of us has to fix it. Either I have to come up to your energy, or you have to come back down to mine." It's tough for him to come down.

BB: That had to be so incredible with the both of you......

JLT: On one mic! We had two mic's and we're standing next to each other, and I go "This fucking blows! This is like jerking off instead of making love." And he goes "You know what? Fuck it!" So we took the AKG and put it between us and we took the other mic away and we said "This is the mic we're going to use!" He stood on my right, I stood on his left for the whole session. We would over lap singing. There was a spontaneity about it. There is a "liveness" about it. The main thing is that we captured on this record, and I think you'll find; it's an incredibly musical record. The players as well. Shane Galas on drums. Incredible. Akira. Paul Gilbert. John Sykes. Plus Glenn has used Johns vocal too.

BB: This is my fantasy dream come true record!

JLT: This could be one of the highlights of 2002! You will not be disappointed by the playing or the songwriting. We've got things in there that are like Yes meets Led Zeppelin in Bad Company's dressing room! Even my manager, who manages a lot of jazz artists, said "Man, I've listened to this thing like 50 times and I never get tired of it. There are so many new little things that you discover each time. This is definately not basic rock n roll" We've got congas on there. We went the full route. At first we thought we were going to put out a staight five piece rock band sound. Uh uh!

BB: Having Sykes on there is a thrill for me.

JLT: What happened was, Glenn had written a ballad. We each have a ballad. Mine is like a mid tempo Street of Dreams type of thing. So Glenn had a ballad, and I thought the chorus needed help. So Sykes got it and he just went miles above where Glenn was on the chorus. Of course Glenn wrote a brilliant verse. So now there is this collaboration on all these lead and background vocals. Glenn just said "I'm just going to kind of step in and sing around John in the chorus!" So this is just incredible. You know, we both have our solo albums out. My stuff has gotten good reviews. They are what they are, but this record is just on a whole other level.

BB: The other collaboration I was interested in was the Nostradomus album. Were you in the studio with the other singers and players?

JLT: No. What Nic had to do, because of a small budget, was to have each singer seperately. I would have liked to have been there to interact with the Glenn vocals that we did between us. But it actually works. It's supposed to be an opera with dialogue going on and so on. Then we had Bruce Dickinson for the inquisitor. But he pulled out because his management said "Oh well Iron Maiden is coming out with a record so you better watch your p's and q's" so he got scared and pulled out. So we got Jorn Lange who is the David Coverdale of Norway. He is in another project called Arc. I think he did a very credible job. Others wise Goran Edman and all these guys are just fucking phenomenal. Doogie was great as the story teller. It's another really brilliant musical project.

BB: A lot of Blackmore ties in that lineup!

JLT: Well, it's hard to get away from it. Because those are the guys that started it all for me. I mean, Blackmore was the guy I fashioned my guitar playing after. Little does everyone know that. I'll probably come out this tour playing some guitar.

BB: Did you hear what happened to Yngwie in Brazil. How he played the Star Spangled banner and they bood him, and then went into an Osama chant? What's up with that?

JLT: I don't know! If they're in the mind set of this Osama thing, that country's got a lot to fucking learn.

BB: Aren't you surprised to hear that though?

JLT: I am extremely surprised. I really had no idea that that was their feeling. In fact if anything, I thought is was completely the opposite. But then I started to think back and realize that this country is basically third world. There is no fucking money. The rich are really rich. The poor , there is no middle class.

BB: I think they are pissed about our prosperity.

JLT: Yes! You gotta remember, there are a lot of people who are jealous of America and the people living here with all the opportunity that we have. So in a way, they applaud what these fuckers have done! Now if these bastards had come into their country and done it I'm sure they would have a different feeling. But because we are the power and we're the one's with the money. And we're the bully of the world. We do bully people around. I mean let's not for get what this (9/11) is really all about. I'm not the only one who's saying this. I have read countless articles where people are saying "Look, we've got to get to reasons why this happened. Not just that it happened and there's gotta be justice". I am all for that. Why this happened, not many people realize, that on the day of September 11th, that was the day the Camp David treaty was signed a few years back with Clinton. We kind of muscled the Palistinians into that. We literally had their fucking right arm behind their back, pushing them into signing the treaty. That was September 11th. They don't do anything without significant dates and reasons. I am into (the study of) conspiracy, and terrorists and all this stuff. I've been into it for years. I am into this whole covert, world domination, new world order stuff. I mean, I am way into it deep. My album Holy Man had a song on it called Babylon on it which was spelling it out. Slam has a song called Cover Up. You know, as far as government cover up's and things. I am not saying that America is wrong or anything or that there shouldn't be justice. What I am saying is that there is a lot of hatred out there for us. And rightfully so. I was reading an article the other day that said "Americans are surprised when they find out they aren't loved." Because we are so isolated, like children to a degree. We have never had anything like this happen on our front. This is the end of the innocense as far as that's concerened, where we actually have an attack on our land. We always go over to somebody else's land and do it. So this is the first time someone came over to our house and went BAM! And kicked us in the teeth. And were going "What did we do?" Little to we reflect and see that we have pushed people around for a long time. I am not suggesting these towel heads are correct or anything. I am still red white and blue, let's put it that way. My father fought in two wars. I almost had my ass in Vietnam, but I got the fuck out. Because I saw six of my friends come back in body bags. It was an unjust war. We should have never been over there in the first place. We have over 150,000 boys that are dead from it. And that's what the government can do to you! Four dead in Ohio. Remember that was at Ohio State right around the same time I was there at Trapeze and things like that. We went through the draft and a whole bunch of other stuff that you guys have never seen. There is a lot more to this (9/11) than meets the eye. There is a whole lot more to the world politics than meets the eye. What I am trying to say really is not that we deserved any of this. That was bull shit, this was a dirty trick. It was a cowardice move. You want to fight you call me out we go out side. It's a declaration. None of these sneaky fucking pot shots. But we've got problems here. And we have to resolve the United States role internationally as well. But I have a feeling that this is the kick off of the new world order. Bush was SELECTED president, not elected. It was written up in all the books I've read years ago that he would become president. And it would not be through a popular vote by any means. But he still would become president or made president, and he would get us into a war. If you read David Icke, or Bill Cooper, or any of these special information type authors. If you want to really get knocked off your socks go to davidicke.com and you're going to get your "potatoes fried"! This guy deals with everything from super natural, ufo's, right down to the government coverups. There is a book called the biggest secret. In fact on my album Slam I say "It's a cover up the biggest secret. We get the burden of proof." That's what I'm refering to. You read this book, and you will be absolutely floored! Did you know that George Bush Sr. and Osama Binladen's father were in cahoots together? This is not a big secret or anything. They made BILLIONS on oil deals. And had also orchestrated terrorist attacks in different places to change boundaries, and territorial designations and things like that. Plus Osama Bidladens father was admitted into the CIA! Because George Bush was head of the CIA. There is a long history of these two together. What happened a couple of weeks ago, was a guy named J. H. Hatfield who wrote a book called Fortunate Son, which was all about George Bush Sr. and Osama Bidladens father being in cahoots in depth. The Government had broken the plates years ago so the book couldn't be published. Every major publisher turned it down. It ended up going to soft skull publishing. If you can find the book you'll be lucky. Well, J. H. Hatfield was found mysteriously killed in a hotel room three weeks ago. So Troy, there is more shit going on here then meets the eye. I don't know how much this has to do with rock and roll, but it's one of my big things that I'm into.

BB: Tell me about your mosts recent solo album Slam. Is it a logical progression from Holy Man?

JLT: It is to some. It's more of a hard rock album. It's in your face. Real dark. There's a great ballad on it, which really gives a great relief to the record. Other than that it's just kick ass and riff oriented. Very much in the Blackmore/Purple vein. I've had people say "This is phenomenal because nobody's doing this anymore, not even Purple. This sounds like Machine Head Purple" that era. It's the kind of record I set out to make. Everyone was bitching and moaning "Oh you're too flowery, you're too this, you're too that, you've not arrived" and all that. So I went "You know what? Here's some rock n roll."

BB: I can never understand the way people react to ballads. Like, unless it's got "kick you in the face" guitar riffs it's not good, you know? I love your ballads!

JLT: I am a ballad guy!

BB: If it's a good song, it's a good song!

JLT: Thats it! Thats it! Somebody said to me "Why did you succumb to record company pressure, because we read that you didn't want to put a ballad on it and then you did?" Well number one because it's good. I had something lyrically to say. It did come about in the eleventh hour. But it would have never been on the album unless it had that level of integrity and quality. So I didn't succumb to any record company. But after writing it, recording it, and listening back to it I said "A) It provides relief to the record and B) It's fucking great so I'm putting it on!". They were infering that I wasn't in control of my own shit. I said "Believe me, I'm the fucking one who's got the name on top of these cd's. I'm the one who takes responsibility if it sucks or if it's great or whatever. I'm the one that has to deal with the record company, and management and stuff like that. Let me explain something to you: I don't know how many records YOU sell, If you sell any at all, but you have to play ball with business. There's just no fucking way that you're going to get out scott free and say "Well I just do what I want!" BULLSHIT buddy! Because then you're selling records to your family! That's the long and the short of it. Then you've sold 10 fucking cd's and it's mom and pop who bought 'em! The audience is the one who makes or breaks you. And if you turn your back on them and what they really want and expect out of you, then it's just a self indulgent jack off!" In my opinion. I wrote this whole thing because it was an email interview. I said "Art is supposed to be a reflection of society, and you're not reflecting anything but your own self indulgent ass! You're not doing anything for anyone but your self. You're not in control, you're out of control. You're not an artist you're an indulgence." I was talking to Don Dokken a couple of weeks ago out in L.A., and he's a fine chap and everything, but he was saying "Dokken's doing one more record, but I hate it. They are all playing these heavy riffs. John Norum is in the band. I'm getting out of that, I just want to make music that I wanna make!". And I said "So that only YOU can listen to it?" Don said "No, no, it's good music, but it's acoustic". I told him "Don, that's all fine, but you sound bitter in a way, about all the success you've had. You sound bitter about music in general. Don't you realize that people liked what you did?"

BB: You said that to him?!

JLT: Yeah, I actually told him this. We had a very in depth chat. We ended up writing a song actually. To make a long story short, he understood. I said "Look, I respect where you're at. I respect your feelings about all you've been through. You're tired of doing this, and tired of doing that. But you've got to remember, with fondness, what got you here to where you can complain about it!

BB: It's a privelage to still have a place.

JLT: Thank you! That's it. I look at my whole situation as a privelage. I had this conversation with Glenn. I said "You know what your problem is? You're a fucking genius. A freight train that's run off the rails! Your albums are all over the place. They're brilliant. You're brilliant. But no one knows how to pin them down! They don't understand too much information. You're giving people too much information." He said "You're fucking right!"

BB: You were probably the first one to tell him that!

JLT: Well, his wife was saying the same thing and backing me up the whole way. We were all together in a restaurant. He took it very well, considering that he is very sensitive to all that shit. At the same time he said "You're right!" And when we came into do the HTP record, he was looking more or less towards me, to keep that guidance. He'd come in saying "I'm gonna sing it straight! Don't worry, I'm gonna sing it straight!" I said "Glenn, don't sing it straight, but just temper it will you?!". I have people guiding me through my albums because I tend to go a little over the top as well. Even though I think I remember these words of wisdom, it's still very difficult.

BB: Going back now, how did you originally get the Rainbow gig?

JLT: It was after Fandango on RCA records. We had four albums that were big in Casper Wyoming or something. To make a long story short, I had my guitar on my back, I was looking for gigs, stuggling around New York city. Usually I wouldn't get hired for gigs because every time I tried out, I was stronger than the front man. So I thought "You know what? I've got to be my own front man!" I got a call from this guy named Barry, who was Ritchie's personal assistant at the time, although I didn't know it. He asked me all kinds of questions. He said "I'm sitting next to Ritchie Blackmore, and he want's to speak to you." I said "Yeah right, put him on" He get's on "'ello mate" and all that. I said "Hello mate? I'm a big fan of yours!" He goes "Well, I'm a big fan of yours!" Because he had heard the Fandango records. I was like "OK, what's up?!" He said "Well, are you familiar with I've been doing with Rainbow?" I said "I'll be perfectly honest with you. I got Rising with Dio. But after that, I kind of lost it. I went in other directions. But I know where you're at. Deep Purple was my favorite band!" He said "I'd like you to come down and audition to sing." So the next day I got on a train to Long Island to a place called kingdom sound. I'll never forget. I met Roger Glover and the manager Bruce Payne. They threw me on the mic without much being said. "Hi nice to see you, right threre is the studio". It was very cold. (The reception I got) I walked in and BAM they started playing these tracks and said "Can you improvise?" I said "Well, yeah." I started improvising on what later became Midtown Tunnel Vision and so on. And they were all really impressed. All of a sudden they threw this song I Surrender at me. So I started to do my version of the lead, which meant that I changed some melodies around and things like that. Then I started to do backgrounds on them. About an hour and a half into it, I realize that they were wiping Graham Bonnet's tracks off! They were working me! Like some donkey! So I took a break and said "Hey whats up with this?" Ritchie came in with a couple of beers and went "You want a job?" I said "Yeah!" He went "You're in the band!" I said "You're fucking joking!" He said "That's it! Now get back to work!" So I never went home or anything. They got me a hotel room out there. I bought some clothes at some department store. I didn't go back to the city for about three weeks! I just stayed out there and finished the Difficult to Cure record! It was a dream come true really.

BB: In the beginning was Ritchie as dominant as he is portrayed? Were you instructed?

JLT: Well, he's a dominant guy, but he's very laid back. Ritchie's more passive agressive. He gets what he wants more by just being very quiet about it. It's not what he says, it's what he doesn't say. There's a big lesson to be learned, that I take to heart now. In a room full of people I try and listen more than talk, and just try and check out whats coming from whom and why. Then sort of anylize it. That's all Ritchie's wisdom. I was still pretty young for the business and Ritchie sort of "grew me up". What he did guide me on was, he would say "You like Paul Rogers right? I love him too. Just wrap your leg around the mic stand and sing with all your heart. Forget about all this posing, forget about all the notes. Just do everything soulfully." That's where I wanted to be, so he really helped me focus on soulfullness. He also taught me less is more. Because I would go off like Glenn, since I can do all those tricks. He kind of said "Look man, nobody understands that. You've got to calm down. A) You're not black. B) One note sung well is better than ten notes, because there is more heart and emotion in that one note." That's pretty much what I was trying to tell Glenn, that Ritchie had told me. You know what note to hang on and pull out the emotion from. That's what people want to hear. That's what moves them. That's what will seperate the men from the boys in the end. Regardless of a guy who's got an eight octave range, and tons of tricks up his sleeve. The one who sings that one powerful note will be the winner. Absolutely every time. So Ritchie would guide me like that. He also wanted me to sing really high and pure. I've had a lot of people say that on my solo albums like Slam, that I'm really dirtying up my voice a lot more. It's not because of age or anything. Because I can. I always could. But Ritchie never really wanted me to go that nasty. I started to a little bit on Bent Out Of Shape.

BB: He was after commercial success at that time.

JLT: Yeah, and we got it. Stone Cold and Street Of Dreams and all that stuff. We achieved it. One more record and I think we would have been like top 10. That's a terrible story because the manager really broke us up for money and he wanted to put Purple back together. He told Ritchie one thing, he told me another. He divided and conquered. Which is pure Machiaveli. Let's seperate the two. Don't let them talk. The next thing you know, we're broken up! I thought it was a wonderful thing because he promised that Rainbow would get back together inevitably. I had this huge deal with Elektra Records to do a solo record. So I was quite content. That's the way that went. Only years later did we find out we were duped, Ritchie and I. We had both said that one more record and we would have become like the heavy Foreigner or Journey. Because we were heavy. We had that credibility, but we still were going more along those lines.

BB: How was the writing process with Ritchie?

JLT: Collaborating with him was excellent because he's a very big song guy.

BB: Did he just give you riffs and have you put melodies and words on them?

JLT: It's even stranger than that. He would go in with the drummer and these moog pedals and a guitar and crank up to 10 and jam. Then he would tape the whole jam. He would spontaneously come up with these riffs and these sections and different things. Then he would hand me a two hour tape, and go "Here, sort it out." Then I'd have to listen to these tapes and put different parts together. Street Of Dreams was completely writen in parts. Each part was somewhere else on the tape. I would say "OK this is going to be the B section here". So I needed two tape recorders to do everything I needed to do. Sometimes we would sit down and actually go from start to finish and do an idea that he had. But let me tell you, he was a very collaborative guy. More so than Malmsteen even. Although I think Odyssey is still one of the best albums ever. Ritchie was really in my opinion, very easy to get along with. The only thing he wants is perfection, and a lot of people can't handle that. So they call him difficult. But because I wanted the same thing, I guess we were both difficult. I guess we were difficult to cure!

BB: So was it Bruce Payne that put Purple back togerther in 1984? Ian

JLT: Well, it was not as much Ritchie's idea as it has been said to be. Ritchie does not like Gillan! Look at what happened in the end! Put two and two together: Ritchie quits because he can't stand Gillan. Why would he put it (back) together? I'll tell you what put it together: a lot of fucking money! They were offered a lot of fucking money. So of course it was Bruce. He got a lot of money to put Purple together. It was the kind of offer you can't refuse. So, Ritchie said "Ok, I'll come together for an album and we'll see how it goes." So he bit his tongue. He bit his dislikes. And rode it out. Thankfully they came up with a great album called Perfect Strangers. Which I thought was one of their better works. Where as Battle Rages On sucked! There was like one song that was any good. But if the money wasn't there, Ritchie wouldn't have done it. What he wanted to do was another Rainbow album. The manager had told him "Oh, Joe wants to do his solo record. He wants to fuck off Rainbow. He's got a big ego now." Which really hurt me later on. Because that was not the way I felt. Ritchie, I heard, got hurt from it as well. He got a little disappointed in my attitude. And that was not my attitude. That was Bruce Payne (saying that). There was a lot of non communication going on in those bands. I never thought twice about it. I think Ritchie said it perfectly about me in an interview he said "Yeah Joe was crazy. But he was innocently crazy." And that's true. I was never malicious. I was nuts. I was into the rock n roll, chicks, the drugs. I was into having a party. But I never wanted to hurt anybody. Never wanted to backstab anybody. I never had any designs like that. Where as those guys had been through a hell of a lot more, and let me tell you: they're not so innocent. I got back stabbed real good. Not by Ritchie. Because Ritchie was always up front with me. But by the other three (Roger, Jon, and Ian) who wanted Gillan back. The rest is history. They got Gillan back. Ritchie was given an inordinate amount of money to reform Rainbow at some point. They did The Battle Rages On. He quit. They got Satriani. And Ritchie went and reformed Rainbow.

BB: Roger Glover has said that he was against you joining Purple when your name was brought up. But after you auditioned, he was totally won over.

JLT: Well, that's just it. When you deliver the goods, it's hard to say no!

BB: Was it uncomfortable? Did you ever really feel apart of it?

JLT: In the begining I did. I think they were totally enamored. I came in and I blew them away. I came in with cockyness and assuredness and this voice. Jon started with what later became The Cut Runs Deep. (Mimics the keyboard part) he said "Alright jam on that". I pulled some lyrics out of what Ritchie used to call my magic bag, my lyric bag. I just started (singing) what later became What About The Heart Ache, which later became Cut Runs Deep, which I was singing right then and there! So they were all like "This is magic!" No singer had done this before with them.They were very into it in the begining. I was getting patted on the back and "Welcome to the club" and the whole bit. Then we had the Slaves And Masters album. Which was a damn good album. I mean regardless of whether it was Deep Rainbow or what. It's got three members of Rainbow and four members of Purple. It's going to be pretty hard to seperate. So that was all going pretty well. But during that, things like publishing and money entered into it. Ritchie was tired of giving them the songs for free. Because none of these guys would really come up and write except me Ritchie and Roger. Then we had Jim from Survivor and Jim Vallance coming in and writing. We were really going to try and make this Purple record a very modern type of hit but heavy record. The other guys just went off because they knew that they were being cut out after all these years. That kind of seperated the ranks as well. So jealousy on top of money on top of "Well fuck this, let's seperate the Ritchie and Joe show. Lets get Gillan back in" which Ritchie was totally against. For six months he refused. Until BMG said "Well here's a million dollars" and then he went "Well, OK".

BB: I think that Slaves And Masters is the unsung gem of the Purple catalog. I don't think it's more Rainbow than Purple. I think it's a great combination of the two, and that's what makes it so cool.

JLT: You've gotta judge it on it's own merit. Simon Robinson and all these people from the Deep Purple fan club were bitching at me and slagging me off at first. They were all Dio and Gillan fans. I was standing alone. It was pretty tough for a while because you felt like all these people are against you. But I had the last laugh because you turn around, and Purple doesn't even sound like Purple anymore! They sound like Deep Dregs! How about the Dixie Purple's?! Now I sound more like Purple than Purple does! So how do you like that up your ass!! You know, if you wait long enough, things come around. You give people enough rope to hang them selves with, they usually do.

BB: I wanted to talk about the Yngwie period also. Who is more difficult? (Ritchie or Yngwie)

JLT: Well you could say "Who's more difficult my mother or my father? Well, my mother because of this, and my father because of that" But who was more egotistical? At the time that I got ahold of him it was Yngwie. That's his flaw, but also the fire that keeps him burning I think. Because he is just SO egotistical. I had told the press that we had broken up over religeous reasons and they looked at me strange and I said "Yeah, Yngwie thought he was God and I don't agree!" Yngwie is a brilliant brilliant innovator and guitarist. Let it never be said that he isn't. But his ego would just not allow room enough for a person of my stature and ability. Because we had a real good thing going there. In my opinion, and others as well, he has been trying to recapture that odyssey sound on every record he's done since! I was kind of there to launch his popularity. Before that he was pounding out Krakatau and I Am A Viking! OK? So it was a cross between some instrumental classical bullshit pieces to..........What we did, I'd hate to say "I" did, but my part in it was really to turn that whole thing around. You go listen to that Odyssey record and put on any one track and you'll go "Fucking incredible!"

BB: That's my favorite Yngwie album.

JLT: That's everybody's favorite Yngwie album! Now Yngwie is running around, I'm told, saying that I didn't write the lyrics or the melodies. He's saying that he hates the lyrics on the ballad Dreaming so he's playing it instrumentally. This all sounds like sour grapes! It sounds like he's jealous. Because my publishing statements say different. I know what I wrote. He makes a fool out of him self when he does these things, because anybody can tell that that's me! It's so "Turneresque"!

BB: It always seems that he has these generic singers in his band.

JLT: Yeah! The Marc Boals' and all this!

BB: There is no room in the band for someone who can bring something to the table.

JLT: That's it! He tells them what to do. He can kick 'em out, he can kick 'em in. He doesn't have to pay 'em. He treats them like second class citizens. He can't do that with me. Even live, I'd be singing a verse and all of a sudden I'd feel this big ass come push me over. He was jumping into the spotlight, doing kicks and everything, while I was singing a VERSE! What kind of performance is that? He was unbelievable in that way. He's brilliant and all that, but he's like a megalomaniac with low self esteem or something.

BB: How did the end with him come about?

JLT: It just fell apart like a bad love affair does sometimes. It didn't even get nasty, it just fell apart. He didn't care to put it together and I was completely discruntled along with several other members of the band. We all were just like "Fuck this shit". So we had really quit before the Russian tour. Then we got a call saying we can go to Russia and all this stuff. The money was good and I had never been to Russia. So I said "Well fuck, I'm going to Russia! I'll fucking put up with his shit ass!" Just to broaden my own horizens.

BB: Was it over by the end of the tour, or was there work started on the next project.

JLT: At one point there was some work started, but it never really got off the ground. I saved Yngwie's ass in that accident. He really just doesn't know how to handle life experiences. I knew his mother very well, and she was a little crazy and gifted and all that. His father who was a veritable spy, came to Russia with us. Yngwie just doesn't have a lot of life knowledge. He thinks he does. I think he's matured a little bit now, but not much. He's brilliant though. I would never tarnish his talent. His genius is his madness. Same thing with Glenn. Genius is madness and madness is genius. It's a fine line. I like Spinal Tap's line: It's a fine line between clever and stupid! I mean, I'm no day at the beach either, but you're not going to find anyone who's got any kind of talent to be that easy to get along with sometimes. You've got to take the bitter with the sweet. With my age and wisdom I've tempered it so much, that I'm almost a different person! But it's still there. The demons are locked inside. It's just that I keep them in a cage now. Instead of letting them out every five fucking minutes. It was like, too much before!

BB: I saw a picture years ago of when Yngwie and Ritchie met. Were you around for that?

JLT: I don't know. Did they ever meet? I remember Ritchie talking to me on a plane and showing me a picture of Yngwie and saying "This guy tries to be me!". I'm sure they have met, but I'm sure that Ritchie was very low key about it.

BB: When you were in Purple, did you have any say in what songs from the old days went into the set list?

JLT: One of the songs I said that I wanted to do was Pictures Of Home and they did it live. I played that in local rock bands in churches and high schools when I was young. That one and Rat Bat Blue, Strange Kind Of Woman. We were big Purple fans. So to do Picture Of Home with Purple was just fucking unbelievable! They were real collaborative about that. It wasn't ALL bad. They were respectful. There was some really good times there.

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