Nick Simper - Latest news will be posted here

A Special Message From Nick

At the end of last year, I had to cancel several shows in Austria and Germany with the Nasty Habits, where we were to perform the Deep Purple Mk I songbook. The reason for this was the sudden ill-health of my sister, Liz Palumbo. Sadly, Liz passed away on October 4th 2008, which was a huge shock to everyone that knew here. Always a lively, bubbly person, she was a lovely lady, well known in her home town of Hastings as a dance teacher and leader of a belly-dancing troupe who gigged all over the country. She was also a great Mum to her four daughters, Liz, Angelique, Sophy and Kate. Always extrovert and great company, she was a real inspiration to me. Without her enthusiasm for music I may never have played an instrument myself. Her stores and experiences certainly fired my imagination, spurring me on in the right direction. The huge crowd that gathered for her funeral was a measure of her popularity. She would have loved the performance that her belly dancers gave at her graveside, a fitting send-off for a great lady and a great personality who will be sadly missed. This web site is dedicated to her memory.

Nick

April 2009

Part 10 of Nick's Story

Nick recalls the Summer of 1966, which as everyone knows ended in tragedy. Read his story here.

In Austria With Nasty Habits

Many thanks to all the Deep Purple fans who attended my recent gigs with the Nasty Habits in Austria. It was tremendous fun to revive the Mark I act, and the enthusiasm of the audience proved that the original Purple songs still sound good, even after 40 years! The Nasty Habits were excellent, as usual. They really deserve to be recognized as one of Austria’s most original bands, writing and performing great songs. Thanks to them, I was able to play the old numbers once more, in front of some lovely people. I hope that we can do it again in the near future and I will look forward to meeting you all once more. Thanks again, and all good wishes.

Nick April 2009

Here is an e-mail I received from Ralph Grille shortly after the Vienna gig:

Nick Simper & Nasty Habits Live at Reigen/ Vienna 2009

The Reigen Club in Vienna is a well known location for people who have an interest in highbrow music. It is permanent venue of the Blues Spring and the Jazz Festival Vienna and a lot of famous musicians like Al Di Meola or Brian Auger for example performed there.

It was Mr. Simper's third concert there and the Nasty Habits were once again much more than faithful accompanists. Together they celebrated the beloved, but seldom to hear live Deep Purple hits from the early years.

The Nasty Habits are a powerful Viennese rock band, specialized to support rock stars in Austria. The first part of the show contained a couple of usual Nasty Habits songs to warm up. For the second part, Nick Simper came on stage to make true a dream.

I met fans from all over Europe - Poland, Croatia, UK, Germany, Switzerland and of course, from the high mountains of Austria.

Needless to say, it was a unforgettable show, powerful, rousing, I wish they could do it one more time.

Set list: And The Address / The Painter / Mandrake Root / Emmaretta / Chasing Shadows / Lalena / Wring That Neck / Why Didn't Rosemary / Roadhouse Blues / Kentucky Woman / Hush / Gimme Some Lovin'

Thanks to Ralph and Christian for some fantastic photos of the Vienna gig - sorry it's taken so long to get them posted! You can see them all here.

Deep Purple - History, Hits & Highlights 1968-76

Due for release on 1st June 2009

The ultimate package for Deep Purple fans includes many rare performances, never released before, including some that haven't even circulated amongst collectors! Essential purchase.

Pre-order now at mbtp.wymeruk.co.uk

Blagards & Cowboys

White Horses of Lyme Bay

Nick and Pete were in the studio recently, helping out their old mate John Kerrison with a three-track sampler of country-tinged rock 'n' roll. You can listen to the tracks and see the CD cover here.

I have at long last set up a web site for the band. It's still under construction but it's going to be at http://www.blagardsandcowboys.com

Nick interviewed by Martin Popoff

Nick was interviewed by Martin Popoff in July, for the Brave World web site. Nick talks about the Good Ol' Boys, Deep Purple and Austria. Click here to read the full interview.

Chapter 9 of Nick's story

Nick finds Mick Stewart, and the new Pirates begin rehearsing. Any initial nervousness is soon dispelled as the band get new stage clothes and hit the road to packed houses. "These guys are the best Pirates I've ever had!" says Johnny Kidd. 1966 is shaping up to be a really good year..... Read his story here.

Dr Jim Marshall OBE

Nick was proud to be a guest at Jim's 85th birthday celebrations at Wilton Hall, Bletchley on Friday 25th July 2008. Many of Jim's old friends and colleagues were in attendance, and messages were received from satisfied customers such as Yngwie Malmsteen and Billy Gibbons. Happy birthday Jim!

Message from Nick

Once again I would like to extend my gratitude and best wishes for your interest and kind messages. Last March saw the 40th anniversary of my joining with Bobby Woodman, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore to begin the embryonic Deep Purple. No-one could have guessed back then that our records would still be remembered in 2008, with our first single, “Hush”, being used to advertise Jaguar cars!!

The Good Ol’ Boys were invited to Austria at the end of April, where we celebrated the anniversary, together with the great Austrian rock band “Nasty Habits”. We really enjoyed the two gigs at Graz and Vienna and it was lovely to meet so many great people. My old “Renegades” pal Rich Bennett came from Atlanta USA with his son Jeff, also my son Rich and webmaster Mike MacKechnie made the trip. A great time was had by all, due in no small measure to the wonderful hospitality of Peter Brkusic, the other members of Nasty Habits and their friends. Thanks lads! We look forward to doing it again next year!

Thanks also to everyone who attended the other 40th anniversary gig at the Esquires Club, Bedford, on May 3rd with the Good Ol’ Boys, Glenn Hughes and Burn. Everybody had a great day, due mainly to the sterling efforts of organiser Jerry Bloom. Cheers Jerry!!

Nick Simper 8th May 2008

Deep Purple Convention

Nick meets Glenn Hughes at the Deep Purple Convention at Esquires on Saturday May 3rd. Well done to Jerry Bloom of MBTP for putting together a fantastic event. Click here for more details...

Tribute Gig for Lord Sutch & Carlo Little

Ace Cafe, London
Friday 20th June 2008
7p.m.
£7 on the door, proceeds to charity.

With Paul Neon & The Saints, Bessie & The Zinc Buckets, The Good Old Boys, Tonto's Horse And special guests.

http://www.carlolittle.com/suchnight.htm

Interview with Dimitry Epstein

Nick has done another e-mail interview, this time with Dmitry Epstein from the excellent "Let It Rock" web site. You can read Nick's interview here, or you can pay a visit to Dmitry's web site.

Message from Nick


left to right.... Mick Ralphs, Nick Simper, Simon Bishop behind
I have recently done a couple of gigs with an all star line up, featuring Richard Hudson of the Strawbs on drums and two other "Good Old Boys" Pete Parks and Simon Bishop on guitars. On vocals we had Ali McKenzie who featured with the "Birds" in the 60's, and the addition of "Bad Company's" Mick Ralphs really put the icing on the cake!! With Pete Parks on my right and Simon Bishop and Mick Ralphs on my left I really was in guitar heaven! A good time was had by all, during which Mick swapped me a wide Gibson strap and short guitar lead for my narrow Fender strap and long lead. Just for an extra bonus he presented me with one of his signed plectrums! (see photo above) Using the working title "Pieces Of Eight" we all enjoyed ourselves immensely and hope to do it again in the near future.

left to right..... Ali McKenzie, Nick Simper, Richard Hudson, Mick Ralphs	left to right..... Pete parks, Nick Simper, Simon Bishop plus assorted guitars

Message from Nick

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has taken the time out to visit my web site, and to say thank you all for messages of support, which I do read carefully.

Whilst it is not possible to reply to everyone individually, I realise that many messages contain questions. I am unable to supply music, photographs or lyrics, but I will endeavour to supply answers to questions asked in the near future.

Thanks once again, and best wishes to you all,

Nick Simper May 2007

Warhorse Poster

Another rarity from Gerhard Koritnik; a Warhorse poster, autographed by the members of the band!

Click on the picture to see it full size. You can then click on the autographs to see them close up.

This picture has been watermarked, so no copying without permission from Gerhard!

Nick on YouTube

Danny Vaughn has a few clips of the Good Ol' Boys at the Jolly Anglers in West Drayton, Middlesex in October 1997, which you can see here.

Meanwhile here is the Deep Purple performance on Playboy After Dark in 1968. Most of you will have seen the performance of "Hush" before, but this clip includes the intro to And The Address and a bit of Hugh Hefner mucking around on Ritchie's guitar.

Other YouTube Deep Purple clips:

And The Address Chasing Shadows Shield / The Painter	Photo collages with the album tracks.

River Deep, Mountain High Wring That Neck Help Kentucky Woman Hush Hey Joe Mandrake Root	recently discovered videotape of Deep Purple at the Inglewood gig in October 68. The picture quality is poor but the sound is reasonable.

The performance of "Ritual" for the Beat Club session has reappeared, although this time it's a dreadful second generation copy that looks like it's been recorded on a mobile phone from a cheap TV screen.

Pete Parks remembers: "..the Beat Club session in Bremen like it was yesterday. The German engineer walked off the set and left the production to us. Apparently the volume we were playing at was affecting the cameras. As a result were ended up with a decent rock video instead of a Euro-Pop travesty."

There is also a YouTube clip of Nick playing with the Marsha Hunt band at the Bilzen Festival in 1969, here. Deep Purple MKII also performed at that festival! Thanks to Gerhard Koritnik for the link.

Here's a rarity, kindly given to us by Gerhard Koritnik; a flyer from Deep Purple's show at the Salem Amory, on April 5th 1969, autographed by all 5 members of the band!

Click on the picture to see it full size. You can then click on the autographs to see them close up.

This picture has been watermarked, so no copying without permission from Gerhard!

Johnny Kidd - a personal message from Nick

Saturday 7th October 2006 was the 40th anniversary of the death of a much loved and much missed hero of the British 60's music scene.
Nick was with Johnny Kidd and the Pirates from May to October 1966, and was a passenger in the car that so tragically took away "the Kidd".

Visit the Johnny Kidd web site to find out more.

Nick interviewed by the Deep Purple Fan Club of
Argentina!

In the Summer of 2006, Nick replied to an interview letter received from Gabriel Gonzalez of the Deep Purple Fan Club of
Argentina. The letter was translated into Spanish and published in their fanzine "Deepest Purple". and we have been given permission to reproduce it here. We have translated back into English, using our Collins dictionary and a very rudimentary knowledge of Spanish... here.