PAICE ASHTON LORD
'Live In London'
dvd details

Paice, Ashton, Lord emerged from the collapse of Deep Purple in 1976, the first new ‘supergroup’ in many a year. Like many previous supergroups it didn’t last long. One great studio album and a few out-takes, plus a handful of live concerts, before the sheer costs of keeping it going on such an elaborate scale brought it to a halt mid-way through a second album. This new DVD is therefore an important addition to the band’s catalogue, including their only complete filmed appearence (for British TV) and a promotional documentary.

It had been back in 1970 that Tony Ashton (from Ashton Gardner & Dyke) and Jon Lord (Deep Purple) first met. They worked together on a number of projects over the years including the “First Of The Big Bands” album in 1974, a prototype for the PAL project.

Following Deep Purple’s demise in March 1976, Paice, Ashton, Lord emerged amidst much fanfare six months later. Tony Ashton: “Ian (Paice) and Jon approached me with the idea of forming a band. I was into doing commercials and jingles for television which is quite lucrative. I suppose I was in a bit of a rut”.

He went for it. The trio auditioned for players, which Jon described afterwards: “If you want to know what hell on earth is like... it’s not that the musicians were bad or anything, it’s just that there were so many of them”.

Paul Martinez, from Stretch, played bass, Bernie Marsden (then with Babe Ruth) the guitar. Jon Lord; “We were already looking at other guitarists but we wanted to keep the rock and roll element there. Another point in Bernie’s favour was his ability to sing”.

The line-up was announced on August 21st 1976 and by September they were in Munich recording, with female backing singers, Howie Casey (from Wings) and a brass quartet added to the group, giving the band their unique sound. Ian Paice feels they’d cut a good album, “PAL was trying to do something ahead of its time, the sort of thing Level 42 became, a cross between jazz and rock”.

The post recording period saw the construction of a large stage set at Pinewood put together by the guy who had done the stages for the “Spy Who Loved Me” movie.

“We’ve sunk about £100,000 into this band. With that financial and professional commitment there’s no way we’re not going to be doing our damndest to make PAL a success.” Jon told a reporter. A lot of this went on a special white stage for the shows, designed by the guy who did the “Spy Who Loved Me” sets. The album came out in March 1977. “One of those rare combinations of musicians which catches fire and becomes something really exciting”, wrote one review.

A full European tour was cancelled with just British dates going ahead. The group made their debut on the TV show “Sight & Sound In Concert” on Saturday March 19th. A week later they opened their tour in Birmingham. Musically the band were a force to be reckoned with, turning out some ferocious r’n b flavoured rock, with a great duel keyboard style which was very adventurous. However Tony wasn’t comfortable fronting a band on this scale. They began a second album but, as Tony recalled. “The impetus had gone and we never finished the album.”

In early 1978 they folded the band. Bernie Marsden joined Whitesnake in February 1978. Tony Ashton returned to his role as a producer. Paice, Lord and Martinez went off to back Maggie Bell, before Jon Lord and later Ian Paice also joined Whitesnake.

PAL were undoubtably overambitious. Ian Paice looks back without regrets. “PAL was a brave experiment! It was built around Tony Ashton and his ability to make an audience love him but you put him on a big stage and it’s not in him to do it and he doesn’t enjoy it. It was an experiment that cost Jon and I a fortune but I’m glad we did it”.

Sight & Sound In Concert: Ghost Story / On The Road Again / Silas And Jerome / Arabella / The Ballad Of Mr. Giver / I’m Gonna Stop Drinkin’ / Steamroller Blues / Malice In Wonderland / Remember The Good Times / Sneaky Private Lee.

Lifespan: Documentary. Includes auditions, rehearsals, back-stage footage, live footage from the UK tour.

All regions / PAL. Audio format details to follow.

The PAL studio album “Malice In Wonderland” is available on Purple Records, with bonus tracks.